It had been a couple of weeks since Rae Earl had been discharged from the mental home, but it felt like months. She had to get out of the house as often as possible as she couldn't bear to hear her mum shagging her Tunisian stowaway boyfriend every morning, noon and night. But when she was out of the house she always felt uncomfortable - more uncomfortable than usual. It felt like somebody was following her, she could sometimes hear foot steps, but whenever she turned round there was never anyone there. She would occasionally clock a ginger haired lad nearby, but he was always doing his own thing, like listening to his Sony Discman or sitting on a bench in the park eating Monster Munch.
This boy didn't call her names like the others did, but he did look at her an awful lot. Rae assumed he was thinking up something especially nasty to say about her ready for the start of college. This boy has a reputation for being a bit of an evil genius. He once named a girl 'Chinderella', and it had spread like wildfire. Perhaps the reason he keeps offering her Monster Munch and Wagon Wheels is so he can name her something, like Monster Wagon. Anyway there's no way she's giving him the opportunity. Whenever she sees him she goes the other way.
So today was like every other day of the summer holidays so far. She had woken up to the sound of loud groans and her mums headboard banging against the wall. She wrote in her diary about her boring life, had breakfast, got dressed and headed off for the park. But as she got to end of her street she spots something purple on the ground, she's only gone and found 20 bloody quid. Her plans change immediately and she heads for Pendulum Records. Rae loves it in Pendulum Records, it's one of the few places she feels welcome. And as an added bonus on the weekends and school holidays there's a boy that works there who is an epic slice. She's spoken to him a couple of times and he always seems nice, always interested in what she's looking for. She runs through the door today to be engulfed in a heady mix of musty records, boy sweat and CK1, which makes her instantly smile.
"Hello Mae, you looking for anythin in particular today"
"Err it's Rae and yes I've got a few things in mind"
"Ok Raymond, what yer after?"
"You cheeky bastard", Rae quips then flushes pink when she considers the possibility that he's flirting with her. 'Well I've have had enough of Mark bloody Goodier talking over the end of 'Female of the Species', when I'm tryin to tape it off radio. So I'm lookin for Spiders, but I also fancy a Kinks greatest hits - any chance I can have em both for 20 quid?"
Finn is just about to quiz her on her choices and agree to Rae's demands, when the ginger lad pops up from behind one of the shelves offering to buy them for her. This makes them both jump and Rae eyes bulge in shock, "Erm, sorry, why would you want to do that? Are you taking the piss? Your always hanging about, offering me stuff, trying to find summit to have over me are yer? I've got enough nicknames already"
Finn looks at the boy trying to work out what's going on, "Hey Simmy, have yer been harrassin Raymond?"
"Don't call her that, her names Rachel, does she look like a bloke to you?" Simon turns to Rae trying to explain that he would never call her names and that he missed her at the end of last term when she disappeared from school. Although Simon was a year older than Rae, he had to re-take some of his GCSE's to be able to study the A Levels he wanted to do at college.
Rae becomes even more puzzled by the situation, she doesn't want to hear this, she doesn't know who is or trust him and she needs to get away. But her feet won't move she's stuck to the spot and she can't breathe properly. Simon approaches her wanting to help, asking her to count to 10 enquiring whether he can get her a Caramac or something.
She becomes so incensed by his words that she stops panicking, "What do yer mean? Why are yer always offering me food? I'm not a dog. You think cos I'm fat I need treats?"
"I didn't mean it like that, I wanted to help, I just thought you liked em".
"How do you know I like em? How did you even know the other things I like?" She looks up at this boy and she realises something, "you've been following me haven't yer?
