your place anyway. Full of pervs.”
Tia touches my arm. “I’ll look out for you,” she whispers, catching the rain in her palm and turning to go.
I don’t want to go and have fun with Henny and I don’t want to go to Tia’s. I don’t want anything except Beckett, but no one will help. How do you even begin to find someone in a city as big as Manchester?
“Come on!” says Henny, grabbing my hand. “Let’s go and see a film.”
When we get to the cinema, Henny goes mad buying stuff with the cash she got from that man. We get two super-sized Cokes, two boxes of popcorn, a packet of Minstrels and a packet of jelly babies to share. While we’re standing in the bustle of people she winks at me then slips her hand in a lady’s bag, pulling out a purse and a mobile phone. I glare at her and shake my head. She taps her finger on my lips and smiles.
“Right,” she whispers, pointing to a crowd of people lining up to give their tickets to the girl. “You just have to look like you’re with them, like someone else has your ticket. Stay close and smile. I’ll meet you in screen four. OK?”
I freeze. I think about the fish and chips on my very first night with Henny and breaking into that apartment. I think about the stolen tiara that’s burning a huge guilty hole in my bag. I’m not the person I was any more. I don’t think even Grace would recognise me if she were here.
I shake my head.
“It’s just for fun!” she whispers. “It’s a buzz!”
“I’m not sure,” I say, watching the crowd of people slowly trailing in.
“We’re going to miss it if we don’t hurry,” she says. “Look, I promise, promise, promise, after the films we’ll set about finding Beckett. We won’t stop searching until we find him.”
I look in her eyes, searching to see if she’s telling the truth. “Promise?”
“Promise,” she whispers, “we’ll look everywhere, we’ll search the entire world for him, we’ll ask everyone. I promise you we’ll find him. Now go on in before it’s too late!”
I press myself close to the crowd of people handing tickets over to the girl collecting them. I look at Henny. She winks back. I keep the picture of Beckett’s face in my mind, sending my special searchlight shimmering through Manchester. Soon. Soon, I’ll find him. Soon he’ll tell me what to do. I draw a smile on my face. I nibble on popcorn. I try to look like I’m having a nice time, like I know what everyone’s talking about, like I know who everyone is. But my cheeks are scorching; my heart’s fluttering like the wings of a butterfly trapped in a net.
“Ticket?” says the girl.
I ignore her, keeping my face down; hiding in the trail of strong perfume the lady in a green, flowery dress is leaving behind her. I edge closer, looking like I’m with her, wishing somehow I were.
“’Ere, you!” says the girl, pinning me to the spot with her stare. “I said, ticket!” She holds her hand out, waiting.
The crowd stops snaking along, suspicious eyes buzz over me like wasps.
“I errm,” I say, spinning round, searching for Henny. “I…”
A voice shouts loud in my head. Run, Gabriella, run!
I drop my Coke and popcorn and push through the crowd, searching for Henny, my bag thrashing about on my back; my ankle shooting scorching darts of pain up my leg.
“Oy!” shouts a security guard, racing after me. “Come back here!”
Outside, Henny’s nowhere to be seen. I run and run and run, avoiding the puddles. I run and run and run, trying to run out of my skin, trying to get away from my life.
Please, Beckett, where are you? I need you so much!
I don’t even know where to start looking. I don’t even know who to ask.
When I’m far away from the cinema I stop running and check my ankle. I need a bandage. I need to wash my feet.
I open my backpack. It’s too heavy. I can’t carry it any longer.
So I rummage through the tangle of sleeves and stinky socks and scrunched-up rainbow snips of paper
Tia touches my arm. “I’ll look out for you,” she whispers, catching the rain in her palm and turning to go.
I don’t want to go and have fun with Henny and I don’t want to go to Tia’s. I don’t want anything except Beckett, but no one will help. How do you even begin to find someone in a city as big as Manchester?
“Come on!” says Henny, grabbing my hand. “Let’s go and see a film.”
When we get to the cinema, Henny goes mad buying stuff with the cash she got from that man. We get two super-sized Cokes, two boxes of popcorn, a packet of Minstrels and a packet of jelly babies to share. While we’re standing in the bustle of people she winks at me then slips her hand in a lady’s bag, pulling out a purse and a mobile phone. I glare at her and shake my head. She taps her finger on my lips and smiles.
“Right,” she whispers, pointing to a crowd of people lining up to give their tickets to the girl. “You just have to look like you’re with them, like someone else has your ticket. Stay close and smile. I’ll meet you in screen four. OK?”
I freeze. I think about the fish and chips on my very first night with Henny and breaking into that apartment. I think about the stolen tiara that’s burning a huge guilty hole in my bag. I’m not the person I was any more. I don’t think even Grace would recognise me if she were here.
I shake my head.
“It’s just for fun!” she whispers. “It’s a buzz!”
“I’m not sure,” I say, watching the crowd of people slowly trailing in.
“We’re going to miss it if we don’t hurry,” she says. “Look, I promise, promise, promise, after the films we’ll set about finding Beckett. We won’t stop searching until we find him.”
I look in her eyes, searching to see if she’s telling the truth. “Promise?”
“Promise,” she whispers, “we’ll look everywhere, we’ll search the entire world for him, we’ll ask everyone. I promise you we’ll find him. Now go on in before it’s too late!”
I press myself close to the crowd of people handing tickets over to the girl collecting them. I look at Henny. She winks back. I keep the picture of Beckett’s face in my mind, sending my special searchlight shimmering through Manchester. Soon. Soon, I’ll find him. Soon he’ll tell me what to do. I draw a smile on my face. I nibble on popcorn. I try to look like I’m having a nice time, like I know what everyone’s talking about, like I know who everyone is. But my cheeks are scorching; my heart’s fluttering like the wings of a butterfly trapped in a net.
“Ticket?” says the girl.
I ignore her, keeping my face down; hiding in the trail of strong perfume the lady in a green, flowery dress is leaving behind her. I edge closer, looking like I’m with her, wishing somehow I were.
“’Ere, you!” says the girl, pinning me to the spot with her stare. “I said, ticket!” She holds her hand out, waiting.
The crowd stops snaking along, suspicious eyes buzz over me like wasps.
“I errm,” I say, spinning round, searching for Henny. “I…”
A voice shouts loud in my head. Run, Gabriella, run!
I drop my Coke and popcorn and push through the crowd, searching for Henny, my bag thrashing about on my back; my ankle shooting scorching darts of pain up my leg.
“Oy!” shouts a security guard, racing after me. “Come back here!”
Outside, Henny’s nowhere to be seen. I run and run and run, avoiding the puddles. I run and run and run, trying to run out of my skin, trying to get away from my life.
Please, Beckett, where are you? I need you so much!
I don’t even know where to start looking. I don’t even know who to ask.
When I’m far away from the cinema I stop running and check my ankle. I need a bandage. I need to wash my feet.
I open my backpack. It’s too heavy. I can’t carry it any longer.
So I rummage through the tangle of sleeves and stinky socks and scrunched-up rainbow snips of paper
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