"Bye!"

"Thanks for the lift, mum!"

The two girls, around twenty, waved the car good-bye as it sped away on the road. Then the blonde girl turned to her friend and asked "So what do you wanna do today?"

"Hmmm… let's see…" her friend feigned to think about it. "We could go to the cinema, or do some shopping maybe? Or we could…"

"Oh come on!" the first girl interjected "I know we've got lessons to attend to, don't worry Jess!" she paused and smiled "but I also know that we've got a teacher missing today and I'm certainly not wasting those blessed free hours!"

Jessica grinned. "Ok, why don't you tell me what your strange mind came up with this time Maggie?"

Maggie waited a few seconds before murmuring with a conspiratorial smile "What do you think of a tattoo?"

"A tattoo?" her friend repeated blankly. "You're not serious?" and the brunette started walking along the road.

"Why not?" Maggie insisted, catching up with Jessica. "Imagine a beautiful black and red rose on your bottom. It would be sexy!"

Jessica frowned. "I'm not sure I would like it."

Maggie sighed theatrically. "I knew you would say that! But…!" she added on a more cheerful tone. She reached out in her bag with the air of someone who's planned everything and Jessie stopped walking, smiling at whatever Maggie intended to do this time. She got a magazine out of her bag. "I brought this, so that you won't be bored when you'll wait for my little bottom to be painted with roses!"

Jessie shook her head. "You're crazy!" but she still grabbed the magazine and flicked through the pages as she started walking again.

Maggie smiled with satisfaction. "You're gonna be green with envy when you'll see my tattoo!"

"Your mum will go nuts." Jessica reasoned "Remember about dying our hair last week I can still hear mine yelling at the top of her voice 'what did you do to your hair! They were so beautiful'"

"Yeah mums over react all the time! What's the difference between blonde and brunette anyway? It's not as if we dyed them green or blue!"

"Yes well, you weren't there when my dad came home. It was World War 3 exploding!

"That's why I'm lucky not having any dad!" Maggie teased with a little smile.

Jessica caught Maggie's hand and squeezed it. She knew her best friend well enough to know that she didn't mean a word of it and that joking was her own way to deal with the pain this situation caused.

"Ok so back to this tattoo thing!" Maggie re-orientated the subject on her first idea. "I think we'll have lots of time to go there in the early afternoon, or during the lunch break. I checked on internet yesterday and there's a place not very far from here." She waited to be sure Jessica had no other objections to raise before adding "I thought we could have a quick look now!"

Jessica shook her head, grinning! "You really are crazy!"

Ten minutes later they were still wandering in the streets, giggling.

"No this way; it's a short cut" Maggie pointed out to a narrow alley on their left. It was dark and not welcoming.

"You sure?"

"Yes! Come on!" she noticed Jessica wasn't convinced. "You don't want to keep the Royal College of Art waiting for us, now do you?"

Jessica sighed and they entered the passage. Maggie bumped into her friend on purpose, smiling. Jessica frowned, amused and bumped into her friend too, forgetting the unwelcoming air of the alleyway. Ten seconds later, the two girls were giggling again.

Suddenly a van arrived from behind, driving fast. The two girls jumped aside as it drove past them and parked into the middle of the road with a squeal of tires. Before any of them could react, two masked men were coming out of the sliding door. One of them had a gun in his hand.

"What do you want?" Jessica shrieked, taking a step backwards.

The two men observed them a second and the one with the gun said "That one; the blonde."

They each caught one of Maggie's arms and started pulling her towards the van. She tried to free herself but they were too strong for her. Maggie kicked the gunned man, while Jessie attacked the other one.

Apparently judging he wouldn't be needing his weapon the first man put it back in his jacket and grabbed Maggie's legs to prevent her from kicking or escaping.

"Let go of me!" she shrieked.

"Heeelp!" Jess yelled as she hit repeatedly the man closest to her with all her might. But no matter how hard she punched, he wouldn't let go of Maggie. His grip was tight and nothing seemed to stop him. "Help!" Jessie repeated, praying that someone would hear her soon because Maggie's legs were already hoisted in the van.

"Jessie!" Maggie leaned out and reached out to her friend who caught her hand and pulled as hard as she could. The second man turned round and gave a hefty blow with the back of his hand on the brunette's face. She fell to the floor heavily. A searing pain surged on her forehead but at that precise moment she couldn't care less. The van's sliding door had just closed and the vehicle was driving away, taking her best friend far from her.