Free Missing Abby by Lee Weatherly

with a girl who despised me to even notice how upset I was!
    Finally Jo glanced over at me, and had the grace to look guilty. ‘Oh, Ems, I'm sorry! You were talking about Abby.’
    ‘No, that's OK. I don't really feel like talking about it, anyway.’ I rotated my coffee cup on the saucer, carefully aligning the handle at a perfect angle. Karen was sitting back in her seat smiling sadly at me, like she
so
understood what I was going through.
    Debbie shut her sketchbook, shoving it down intoher bag. ‘Listen Ems, I've got a great idea … why don't you and Jo come around to my house Monday night? Kirsten is coming over for tea, and we could all sit around and work on my designs. You know, sort of get your mind off things.’ Kirsten is her older sister, who's studying art at Southampton University.
    ‘Well – yeah, OK. Sounds good.’ The knots in my stomach relaxed enough for me to smile at her, and she and Jo looked really pleased. Bollocks to Karen. These were my friends; she couldn't ruin it for me.
    But then Debbie said to Karen, ‘Hey, you could come too, if you like. You had some great ideas.’
    I probably looked like I had swallowed a flapping great moth. No one noticed; Jo and Debbie were too busy smiling at their new best buddy. She grinned back at them, brushing a strand of her honey-coloured hair off her face. ‘Oh, I'd really like to, but we're having a birthday party for my gran on Monday night. Some other time, OK?’
    And the next thing I knew, the three of them were exchanging mobile numbers.
    When I got home I escaped upstairs, scooping Pippin up from his favourite perch on the landing and shutting myself in my room. I popped a CD in and curled up tightly on my bed. Pippin cuddled beside me, purring, and I stroked him, trying not to cry.
    I hated Karen. I hated her. It wasn't enough that she had made my life hell at Balden; she had to ruin things for me now, too! And Jo and Debbie—
    I blinked back tears as my gaze lingered on DarthVader in his menacing pose, black cape swirling. And I remembered the first time Jo and Debbie came around to my house last year, and how they had thought Darth was just a scream. Like, that I was being
post-ironic
or something, having a Darth Vader alarm clock.
    So of course I had to go along with it. Flip my hair back and drawl, ‘Yeah, pretty sad, isn't it?
Use the force …
It makes me cringe so much every morning that I get up just to avoid it.’
    I wiped my face on Pippin's fur, sniffing. Well, now that they were best mates with Karen, they'd soon figure out the truth – that I was light years away from being the person they thought I was. Because Karen was sure to fill them in on a few things, wasn't she?
    I saw Abby's round face, crinkling up in confusion
. Just don't let her get to you. Why do you let her get to you so much?
Ha, easy for her to say! Miss Confident. Miss Bolshy Goth Maiden.
    I cringed, remembering the worst time of all – Karen's voice ringing around the tiled walls of the changing rooms as she read my notebook, while I huddled by the lockers, trying to hide, trying to disappear. A sickening flush raced over me, remembering how everyone had laughed.
    It had all been Abby's fault, in a way, that was the
really
ironic thing. Because if I had never been friends with her, Karen wouldn't even have noticed me.
    I buried my face in Pippin's fur until he meowed and twisted away. Wiping my hand across my eyes, I slowly opened my desk drawer. I took the dragon outfrom its hiding place, and ran my fingers over its spiny wings.
    Oh, Abby, I miss you so much! I miss being friends with you. I'm sorry, I'm really sorry; I just couldn't take it any more. But it's all gone wrong anyway, somehow.
    So what are you going to do about it?
asked the tiny dragon's eyes.

Day Eight
    ‘My god, poor Ann,’ murmured Jenny for about the thousandth time, staring at the paper.
    ‘Is that the story about
Crimewatch
?’ Dad glanced up from where he was sitting on the floor