I'm so happy. I wake up happy, I go to sleep happy and everything in between just makes me more happy. I didn't know life could be like this and all it took was leaving my mum. I should miss her, Laura and Dane keep asking if I do and they exchange looks of disbelief when I tell them I don't, and maybe at some point I'll feel something other than relief when I think about never seeing her again, but right now, it's all too raw. Billy's getting on better with his Dad, which is good, I think? I'm a little worried since he's got some plan to get his parents back together, seeming to have forgotten that his dad was constantly cheating on his mum and making her miserable, but the last week he's been busy with some drama in his friendship group, so the parent intervention plan has been put on hold. It's also meant I've

Isaac looks relieved when I go back to the table without Billy and, when I say he's gone to his dad's, he immediately suggests a film back at mine. I agree, feeling awkward about his obvious attention towards me, knowing if he's going to make a move it'll be while we're watching a film. That was always his way when we were together. I'm hoping it doesn't happen, because I really like him, as a friend, and I'd really like us to continue being friends without having to have any awkward conversations, but then again, if he does and we have to, at least we'll know where we stand. "Billy's still here?" He asks, watching as I unlock the car with the keys. "No, he left the car for me. I'll meet you at mine. Yeah?" I climb into the drivers seat, moving the seat and the mirrors into place before driving back to mine. We get back at the same time and my stomach drops as he hurries over to open my door, offering me his hand to help me out and letting it rest against my lower back when I pret

The week has somehow simultaneously flown by and dragged on, each day felt a week long in itself, but then Friday night came and Billy and I were climbing into his car and joining the convoy of his friends all driving up to stay at a pretty little Travelodge so we can spend the weekend looking at houses. I'm getting more comfortable around his friends, or at least I'm really trying to. There's just so many of them and they're all really quite in your face, I don't mean it in a bad way, because it's really not. It's just that they have this way of being with each other, they argue, take the mick and make up, all in the matter of a few minutes and again, there's so many of them. I have one friend and even though I've known her pretty much since the beginning of school, our friendship is very different from theirs. It's more of a comfortable companionship, I'd d

I have no idea what's going on, Luke just turned up on the doorstep and now we're climbing into a car with him and another older guy who waits for us to settle into our seats and reminds us to buckle up before he starts driving. "Go left on St Peters Street." Luke tells the driver after glancing at his phone. "Luke, Nathan, you want to tell us what's going on?" Billy asks and I'm slightly relieved that he seems to be finding this as bizarre as I am. The driver, Nathan I guess he's called, grins at us through the rearview mirror. "I was round at Shane's for dinner." Luke starts and it feels like this might be a long version of the story. "Well, we were telling Nathan and Jake about what was happening to you tonight and how we knew you weren't cheating but this Isaac g

Apparently there are things that happen during your life that can make you re-evaluate everything you've ever done and from the moment Billy tells me my mum has tried to kill herself, my mind has replayed every cruel thing I've ever said or done to her, especially recently.I might not have been the pretty, outgoing, fashionable daughter that she really wanted, but I worked hard at school, kept my room tidy, I didn't go out to parties or take drugs, she never had to worry that I wouldn't come home or would be in a dangerous situation.I figured if I couldn't be the daughter she wanted, I could at least try to make her happy and proud of me. I was a good girl. Liar! Immediately the memory of the night I lost my virginity is thrown into