A letter Colin's (from Point Blanc) counsellor made him write…

Dear Alex,

My counsellor's making me do this- I swear to God it wasn't my idea. Who even writes letters anymore, anyway?

To get this crappy letter over with:

When I started doing… well, you know what I was doing, I mean, it was pretty obvious, wasn't it?

I just fell in deeper and deeper. You know what happened… I'm sorry! She's peering over my shoulder with her beady little eyes and making me write that I'm sorry. Be patient, you old hag.

Anyway, they just made me feel so… I don't know. I can't describe it. I hated them but I couldn't get enough of them.

Mum and Dad had both noticed. They were so angry and upset and I just felt horrible. So guess what I took? (First person to guess gets that crappy prize on the top shelf!)

At school it was horrible. No one would say anything, but they all knew. You could just tell in the way that they looked at me. I didn't get teased or anything- but what was worse was just knowing that I had lost everyone- no one would talk to me, I'd just get these sympathetic, sad looks! I stopped talking to people because of that. I guess I just didn't want to face them.

The whole school seemed to be doing it then. I don't know whether it made me angry or reassured to know that they were going through the same stuff that I was going through. But I know how angry it made you.

When Skoda (Mike reckons his real name is Francis!!) stopped coming, I thought that you had something to do with it.

I'd seen you that day, looking at me, with that same sad look that everyone else gives me now. I felt horrible because you used to be my best mate. And when you were away, for about two weeks after, everyone started saying that you had murdered him and were on the run from the police! That made me laugh because I knew you would never do anything like that.

Ms. Bedfordshire says you nicked a crane and were in therapy or something like that. Everyone thought this was a much more likely explanation. Then I saw you at school- you looked different.

Apart from that massive bruise on your cheek, (it looked like you'd been hit by a bus) I couldn't tell what it was. You didn't speak nearly as much, and when you, Alex Rider, stop speaking and joking around, you just know that something's wrong.

Everyone thought you'd started to do what I was doing. (I can't really say it. The old hag here would say I'm in denial, but I just don't feel comfortable saying it.

Alright, Mrs. Blenderhassit, ALRIGHT!

DRUGS!

HAPPY NOW???)

Anyway, I never thought it was true. I knew how much you hated them. But then, time passed and I wasn't so sure. You had gone and come back several times and you had changed… to me it felt like the world had decided to go on without me. Was it like that for you?

Alex, I want to warn you. You can stop. I've stopped now and things are slowly getting better.

I'm not there yet but I will be. Don't fall so far down that it's too late… You're my best mate and I don't want what happened to me to happen to anyone else. When, (and if) you get back, can you talk to me? No offense, but no one will probably talk to you and it's been a while since I've had a friend.

I'm putting this in your mail box and I hope you read it. It's not too late to stop, Alex.

From,

Colin.

PS: I hope I'm right, you know, about what you're doing. If not, then I'm going to feel like a right wanker. If so, then things are just bad at home and I'm dead-pan wrong, do you want to go see a movie or something? (I swear that's not a date, just so you know!)

Love it? Hate it? Please Review!

I've never really done any emotional stuff before and I thought I would write about someone new… there are no Colin stories that I know of, and I always felt a little sorry for him.

I don't know a thing about addictions so I made it all up. I hope I haven't offended anyone by making it too unrealistic or anything.