“...Oh yeah and this guy, Jake, might also fancy me too.” Amy finished her long list of admirers and smiled happily up at Rosie.

“Wow,” she said, genuinely impressed. “All in one day?”

“Yep.” Amy nodded and bounced up and down as she walked.

Rosie shook her head, but laughed. “I’m glad someone had a good day.”

“I’m taking it as you didn’t?”

“No. It was okay, actually.”

“As in you made a friend?” Amy’s mouth dropped open and she raised her plucked eyebrows.

“Yes.” Rosie was shocked herself, but over the moon that the day hadn’t turned out as bad as she’d thought it would have. At least no-one had made fun of her, mocked her or straight up bullied her; minus the laughing from the courtyard in the morning. Everyone had just stared at her, especially when she’d been with Amber.  Amber had never noticed. Or maybe she was used to it? Rosie had ignored it and taken it in her stride, figuring the mysterious looks would most likely be gone in a week or two.

“Wow,” Amy said. “So, what’s her name?”

“Amber Fenty, I think.” Rosie frowned when she looked across at her sister and saw that the colour had drained from her face, leaving her pale and ghostly-looking. She was staring at Rosie with a very serious expression. Rosie’s insides churned and her heartbeat sped up. “Amy, what’s wrong?”

“Amber Fenty.” She repeated Rosie’s words with a look of pure horror.

“Amy, seriously what?”

“Nothing.” Amy turned away.         

“Oh no, you know something. I can tell,” Rosie said, coming to a stop and grabbing her sister’s arm, forcing her to face her.

Amy immediately shook her off and scowled. “Don’t touch me! This outfit was not made to be touched by a fashion reject like you.” When Rosie continued to stare at her, waiting, Amy finally sighed and said, “I heard some rumours, that’s all.”

“Rumours?” Rosie prompted.

“Rumours about your friend Amber. Like bad rumours." Amy turned away and cast glances all around them at the deserted street. There were no other students walking this way. It was only the two of them, surrounded by some abandoned and abused houses. The rooftops were sunken and the panelling was half falling off on one of the houses. They all had peeling paint in grimy colours that must have once been white. It looked like the dirt had been collecting up for years.

“Like?"

Amy turned back to face her. Her expression was surprisingly concerned and her voice unusually gentle when she spoke. “I heard she killed someone.”

Rosie’s body froze and a shiver went up her spine. Her words jumbled up in her mind as she fought to process the words. “Wha... What? Killed someone? No way.”

“Yes,” Amy confirmed. “Apparently she had a friend a couple of years ago who mysteriously disappeared, and the last one seen with her was Amber.”

“Amber...” The name suddenly felt wrong and foreign on her lips. “No, it can’t be true. She wouldn’t...”

“I didn’t say she would, Ro. Plus, they’re just rumours, right?” Amy was dismissing the rumour, but her pupils were wide as she willed Rosie to answer.

She nodded and swallowed the dry lump in her throat. "Yeah, just rumours.”

The rest of the walk went on in awkward silence. The two of them walked in time together on the quiet, bizarrely deserted roads. Rosie couldn’t stop thinking about Amber, and questioning the nice girl she had seemed. It scared her; scared her so much to think about it. If she’d learned one thing from her dad’s backstabbing actions, it was that you could never fully trust someone. You never knew if they were who they pretended to be.  But it wasn’t just that what terrified her.  Everything did: the town, that school, this new life... Rosie’s day had suddenly gone from okay to horrifying.

And that seriously sucked, she thought grimly as she unlocked the front door.