Free Polly Plays Her Part by Anne-Marie Conway

THWACKERS for days but when I logged on I saw I was still second on the leader board. The game wasn’t even that great, but the more I played the less I thought about Mum leaving. I carried on until I could hear the birds singing outside my window. I sat there hunched over the computer eliminating one baddie after another while my score went up and up.
    It was almost light outside by the time I’d finished. It seemed like ages since I’d been on the bus with Mum. In three days she’d be in Spain and there was nothing I could do to stop her.
    A message flashed across the computer.
    CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY MADE IT TO THE TOP OF THE LEADER BOARD.
    I wasn’t even that bothered about being top, I just enjoyed playing. I tried to find another game but they all looked stupid. I searched around for a bit but there was nothing. I was just about to give up and crawl into bed, when I remembered that website they were all talking about at drama, friend2friend. The site Dad had forbidden me to go on. I knew he’d go mad if I even looked at it, but right at that moment I was too tired and too angry to care.
    It was easy to find. It came up straight away. I sat there for a bit, my palms suddenly sweaty even though my room was pretty cold.
    The screen was completely empty except for a sparkly silver door.
    A message appeared on the door handle.
    It said: “Click here to enter…”

I clicked on the door and waited. Nothing happened for ages and I wondered if Dad had actually blocked the site or something. Finally I heard the sound of a key turning and the silver door swung open. The screen was blank for a second and then another message appeared: “Welcome to friend2friend, a special place for special people to meet, hang out and chat. Please click on the Sapphire door.”
    The friend2friend home page certainly didn’t look particularly dangerous or sinister, but I was so tired it was difficult to think straight. It was divided up into different rooms and each room had the name of a precious stone. To go any further you had to click on the Sapphire door and enter your personal details.
    I knew I shouldn’t give out any personal information. Dad had warned me about that a million times – along with more or less every teacher at school – but I was really curious to know what was so special about friend2friend.
    I wondered what would happen if I pretended to be someone else; someone with a completely different life. It’s not like I actually had to say I was Polly Carter. It would be brilliant to be someone else, even if it was only made up – but what if somehow the computer knew I was lying? I was still trying to work out what to do when Diane called me down for breakfast.
    â€œWhat, on the computer already?” she said, popping her head round the door.
    I smiled at her as if I didn’t have a care in the world. “Don’t worry, I’ll be down in a sec.”
    As soon as she’d shut the door I clicked on the Sapphire door and my fingers started to fly across the keyboard.
    Name: Marcia Moon (Well, I was Marcia in a way.)
    Age: 13 (That was the minimum age.)
    Hobbies: Singing, dancing, acting, hanging out with my friends (That bit was true.)
    Best friend: My twin sister Phoebe (I’d always wanted a twin!) and my cat Cosmo
    The second I clicked “enter” my personal details were sort of sucked into the Sapphire room and I thought that would be it, but a minute or two later another form appeared with more questions. What school year was I in? What were my best subjects? Who was my favourite singer? The list went on and on. The last section was all about my family. It was fun writing about Mum and Dad and my fantastic twin Phoebe. And of course, we all lived together with our beautiful cat, Cosmo.
    Eventually the questions stopped and a new message flashed across the screen.
    â€œThank you, Marcia Moon, your details have been