I was down about Kira until I met Ellie. She was my age, but born in April so she was 6 months older than me. She had long, long blonde hair and wore glasses and a lot of suits with long black or cream overcoats; dressed very conservatively. I wouldn't turn 19 til October. A new girl, Gabriella Wark, posh and upper class was Ellie's best friend – up until recently they'd had a huge falling out.

'Ellie tried to kiss me.' The rumours were around the whole of sixth form. So Ellie had come out as bisexual and had only just started telling people – that was why Gabriella had turned against her.

Ellie had one older brother James, who was 27 and lived back home in Liverpool where she was from. She also had an older sister Gemma, who was 24 and lived in Spain. Gemma had recently got engaged to Mark, her boyfriend and had a 3 year old son called Luis. Her mum Gill was a solicitor in Liverpool and her dad Graham had recently accepted a job offer in Scotland; so Ellie had moved with him. Her mum had had her when she was 34; so she was technically middle aged – but the way Ellie spoke about her mum and dad made them seem like hard working adults in their twenties.

For the last couple of months, Gabriella had been bullying Ellie. Ellie had cerebral palsy; extremely mild considering how well she walked and got around – apparently she'd been through loads of physios and countless operations. She was a fighter. Plus she was bisexual; and I liked her. So I asked Mum to keep an eye on her.

'Mum, do you know Ellie Sisson at all? She's in Gabriella's classes.' I tried to be subtle, but Mum saw right through me. She laughed.

'She's a talented, talented young woman, Jodie. Her English is outstanding – and her drama. She wants to be a screenwriter.' Mum clearly thought the sun shone out of her arse.

'Mum, none of the staff know – because Ellie won't tell anyone at all – but Gabriella's bullying her because she came out and because she's got cerebral palsy.' Spilling Ellie's secrets didn't occur to me at the time, but as soon as I realised I'd said them I took them back.

'Mum, Gabriella is a bitch!' I spat as I downed my drink before beginning to load the dishwasher. She laughed again.

x x

English with Mum the next day was horrible. The worst lesson I'd ever had. Gabriella kicked up a fuss about sitting next to Ellie. Kacey kicked off in Ellie's defence and slapped Gabriella. Ellie then took control with a calm, icy speech about how Gabriella meant nothing to her and her insults were simply because she was lonely and insecure. She openly admitted to the class she was bisexual and that being a 'nervy spastic' wouldn't change her and dared anyone to have a go at her right there and then. No one did.

I could say that Mum was amazed.

Several weeks later, Ellie admitted she liked someone. It had been 12 months since Kira had left the area and I hadn't seen hide nor hair of Deena and Graham. It was only when I mentioned them to Ellie that she revealed tearfully that Deena and Graham had held her captive when they lived in Liverpool ten years ago.

Deena had reeled her in when her parents had split up and Ellie ran away from home. Graham had tried to make her have sex with him but when she made it clear she didn't want to, Deena had drugged her and locked her up. She'd continued to drug her and kept her in a comatose state to ensure that she had sex with Graham on multiple occasions. Ellie eventually escaped and returned home to her family and police arrested Graham and Deena.

X x

I was waiting for Miss Boston in her office when Gabriella came in looking for her.

'Where is Miss Boston?' Her Oxford accent really pissed me off. I sat down at the desk in front of Miss Boston's.

'Gabriella, I really wouldn't know.' She shut the door and locked it. I smiled.

'Please don't do that Gabriella, how else will Miss Boston be able to get in? Her keys are on the table.' My tone was icy cold as I pushed the chair back and stood to face her.

'You stupid, stupid little girl Gabriella. Do you honestly think I am petrified of a silly immature insecure little girl like you? All this just because you hardly get any attention from Mummy and Daddy? Really?'

'At least I'm not a spastic who likes a bit of both? Who thinks she's brilliant and walks round thinking and telling everyone that? No one likes you Ellie. Nobody loves you. Nobody.'

I narrowed my eyes and leaned towards her. 'I know you do. I know you're confused.' Gabriella walked to Miss Boston's desk and grabbed an ornament. It was Jodie's photograph of her and Nikki.

'I'm going to show you just how weak you are.' Gabriella warned, standing behind me; before she swung the photograph towards me and the world went black.

I started to drift into a world of blackness and loneliness as Gabriella kneeled beside me. She undid the buttons on my trousers and pulled down my underwear. Her fingers pushed inside me. I couldn't push them away the rougher they got. She stroked my hair and kissed me, keeping her fingers inside me all the while.

I must've passed out after a while because suddenly I was coming to and the door was forced open and shouts of yelling were heard and a young female police officer came in. She was from Liverpool; I could tell.

'Ellie? Ellie darlin', can you hear me? My name's Kira; you're going to be okay sweetheart; we're taking you to hospital.' I mumbled a thank you through my tears as Kira softly stroked my hair; blurring my vision until I relaxed into comfortable unconsciousness.