Background: Angela is shocked when William, an old friend from her past, who she hoped never to see again, comes back into her life, after he applies for a role at her work and successfully secures the job. William’s sudden reappearance puts Angela on edge. She’s terrified he’s discovered her secret, which she needs to protect her family from. William’s convinced Angela knows what happened to his former girlfriend, Caz, who hasn't been seen for twenty years, and that something terrible happened to her. The only person, who can help Angela, is her once best friend, Michelle, but Angela hasn’t seen Michelle for more than a decade. Faced with the threat of William’s return, they know they’ll need to work together to save their future, even if this does mean reopening old wounds, and revisiting a past they'd rather keep buried.

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June 1999

It’s the sound of whispering and the door creeping open that wakes me. Oh God, please just give me five more minutes. I squeeze my eyes shut, and grab tight onto the pillow, before there’s a, “one, two, three,” and then thump. I wince. It’s either Lauren or Hayley, I’m not sure who, but they’ve bloody thrown themselves onto my bed.

‘Happy birthday!’ my friends scream at me in unison.

‘Okay, okay I’m up,’ I say, glancing at my clock which reads nine a.m. I rub the calf of my right leg which is tingling all over from where Hayley sat on it.

I’d specifically booked today off work, so we could all go off and do something. But that didn’t mean I wanted to be woken up at the crack of dawn.

‘We’re sorry to wake you so early, but we’ve been too excited to give you this.’

Michelle thrusts an envelope towards me, which is thick and bulky, and makes a crunching noise in my hands as I take hold of it. My name’s scrawled across the front of the envelope in Michelle’s neat, fancy handwriting. Hayley sits upright so that she’s now sitting on the end of my bed, rather than on top of me.

‘It’s from all of us.’ Lauren beams.

I hear the springs in the bed creak.

I sit up straighter, banging my head on the head board in the process. Hayley’s scrunching my duvet cover tight in her hands.

‘Oh guys, now you’re embarrassing me,’ I say.

I rip open the envelope, my heart fluttering and peer inside. It’s stuffed with notes. There must be hundreds in here.

‘We all know how much you want to go on that course,’ Michelle says. ‘So we’ve been putting money away, like you have, and now you should have enough for it. Even if they don’t run the course next year, I’m sure there’ll be something similar. But now, you don’t have to worry about saving up the rest.’

Tears well in my eyes. I can’t remember when a birthday present last made me feel like this. Probably not since the time Dad surprised me with the safari trip at Christmas one year.

‘I really don’t know what to say,’ I say. My chest feels as though it’s about to explode. ‘Except, thank you. This means the world.’

I certainly hadn’t asked them to help them contribute, and now guilt prickles at the back of my conscious. Perhaps I shouldn’t have gone on about the course so much and how expensive it was.

‘Just don’t forget about us when you make it big in publishing,’ Hayley grins. ‘Think of all those famous authors who you’ll be working with.’

‘Stop it, that’s a long way off for me yet, if it ever happens. The course doesn’t guarantee I’ll get a job. It’ll just give me a better chance, I s’pose. I can’t work in that flower shop with Stevie much longer, it’s driving me mad.’

‘Well come on, we’ve made breakfast for you, then after that, we’re going out shopping,’ Lauren says, clambering off of my bed, the creaking noise in the mattress getting louder.

I kiss the outside of the envelope, before I shove it under my bed with the rest of my savings, my whole body buzzing with excitement. I might even have some money left over to spend on myself.

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Character List:

Angela Watkins - Protagonist 

Paul Watkins - Angela's husband

Rebecca Watkins - Angela's daughter 

Michelle Blake - Angela's former best friend 

Kirsty - Receptionist (Angela's friend) 

Olivia - Angela's boss

William Harris - Angela's former friend 

Caroline (Caz) - Angela's friend 

Hayley - Angela's former friend

Lauren - Angela's former friend