I'm so sorry it's taken so long to update! I've been doing coursework and revision for my summer exams. Does anyone else really-hate-school?

Two months later…

Two months went by. Two months of not speaking to Joey, not calling her, not going out with her and Annie. It was like she had been totally cut off from me and Annie, only having time for Myra.

What does Myra see in Joey anyway, I thought, feeling slightly guilty, she's nothing special.

More rumours had been flying around about how many of Myra's 'friends' had gone missing. There were even rumours about how Joey would be the next to go. Joey gave no sign of caring or even listening about the rumours. It was almost as though she didn't even know about them.

In school, Myra seemed to be her only friend. I hadn't seen her with anyone else from our school. Only Myra.

So that's why I was more than surprised when Joey called me on Sunday in the middle of November. Dad had gone out bowling with a couple of friends, so I was completely alone.

'Emma?' She whispered down the phone, sounding almost like she was going to cry.

'Joey!' I said, a happy bubble swelling inside me. 'We haven't spoken in ages!'

'Well, yeah…' She whispered, her voice trailing off.

Silence.

'Is something wrong?' I asked, confused.

'I need your help.' She finally said. 'Can I come over?'

I blinked. 'Yeah, sure! Come over right away!'

'Thanks, Emma.' She said.

Then the line went dead.

Twenty minutes later, the doorbell rang. I nearly killed myself running for it, tripping over my schoolbag. I opened the door wide. Joey was standing on the porch, wearing a jumper with a hood which was pulled over her head. I frowned. It wasn't even raining, for once.

'Hey, Joey.' I said, moving so I could let her in.

'Hi.' She said lamely, gripping the edges of her hood.

I narrowed my eyes. 'Something wrong?'

'Oh Emma, I've done something really stupid.'

'Whatever it is, I'm sure it isn't all that bad.' I said, smiling.

'Want a bet?' She said. Then she pulled down her hood.

'Oh my God, Joey!'

Joey's normally light brown hair was a dark shade of purple, almost black. But something had gone wrong, and you could still see the brown roots.

'Joey, you idiot! What did you do, dunk your whole head in it?'

'I thought it would look nice.' She said lamely, looking at her feet.

'Come on,' I said, grabbing her arm. 'I think there's some hair dye in the bathroom cupboard.'

We walked into the tiny bathroom, and I started going through cupboards while Joey perched on the end of the bath, running her hands self-consciously through her ruined hair.

'Okay, here we go.' I said, finally finding some brown hair dye. 'It's chestnut brown, so it won't cover up the black completely. Most likely you'll have some sort of black highlights through it.'

Joey whimpered.

I got her to sit on the floor while I sat on the edge of the bath. While I splashed the hair dye onto her head, I asked her, 'So, why the sudden urge to look like a clown?'

'I…Just fancied a change.' She murmured, staring at her hands.

'Why?' I asked, laughing, 'Is there some guy in your class who has a thing for circus acts?'

She smiled. 'Kind of.'

'Well, when this is dry we can watch a movie or something.' I said. 'Maybe we could get Annie up…'

'Emma! Emma, stop!' She yelled, interrupting me.

'What?' I asked.

'I'm…Going out with Myra after this.' She muttered, staring at her lap again.

My hands clenched in dislike around her hair.

'Ow, you're hurting me.' She said, grabbing my hand.

'Sorry.' I said, letting go. 'Maybe Annie and I could come too?'

'Um, no, I don't think you can.' She said.

'Why not?' I snapped, scowling.

'Because we're going into the forest and we're meeting some of her friends.'

'Who?' I asked.

'Victor and Arthur.' She said.

'Okay. I don't know them. Do they go to our school?'

'No, they're eighteen.'

I felt my happy bubble disappear with a pop.

'No, Joey, that's out of order.' I said.

'It's really none of your business.' She said, turning round and glaring at me.

'Oh yeah, it's none of my business. It's none of my business if my best friend goes into a bloody forest with two eighteen year old guys. Honestly, sometimes you're too thick for words!' I spat, anger bubbling inside. This was Myra's fault, completely. And not only because it was too hard blaming Joey.

'Thanks!' Joey yelled, 'And you're right. It's still none of your business.'

'Fine then!' I shouted. 'It's just going to be hard not being able to say I told you so when the cops find you murdered in a ditch!'

Joey stood up, her blues eyes blazing. 'Thanks for the dye job, Emma. You were a great help.'

'No problem.' I snapped. 'Now can you please leave?'

'As if I'd want to stay in this stink hole for another second!' She spat, then she marched out the door, slamming it shut behind her.

I stood in the hall, my fists clenched, breathing heavily. I could feel tears building my behind my eyes. I had never, never fought with Joey like that before. The tears spilled over and rolled down my cheeks.

Before I knew it I was curled up sobbing on the sofa, wondering if Joey was crying too.

I was woken by the sound of the house phone ringing. I woke up in my dark room, lying on the bed still in my clothes. Dad must have carried me up. I looked at my watch. 3:30am.

'Hello?' I heard dad say sleepily. 'Honestly, Janice, what bloody time do you call this?' Janice was the name of Joey's mother. I swallowed.

'What? Are you sure? Okay, I'll get her right now.' He said, sounding worried.

He ran into my room and saw me sitting up, turning on my bedroom light.

'Emma, it's Joey's mum.' He said, passing the phone to me.

I held it to my ear. 'Mrs. Montgomery?'

'Emma,' She said, sounding frantic, 'Joey's gone missing.'

OoOoh, cliffy!

R&R

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