Welcome to chapter 6, can't believe I am here already.

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It's lovely to see that there are people still reading this.

Oh and feel free to request ships for this story, who do YOU think that Immy would be good with, or anyone really.

In the coming week I am VERY busy so you may only get like one chapter, so sorry about that. Anyway on with the chapter.

I guess Shay taking me to the party mended everything between us, she bought me a new outfit and she brought into her world, well a small part of it.

I remember envying Shay at the party, everyone wanted to talk to her, she was a candle and everyone else were moths – naturally being attracted to her. I didn't like the parties at first, the loud music, the annoying boys, the giggly girls, the bitter drinks. But over time I began to recognise some faces. Then one day an Asian looking girl, who was at every single party, walked over to me. "Hey I'm Suki," she said,

"hi I'm Immy," I replied,

"so are you the Immy that Shay always talks about?" she asked, I considered this for a moment.

"Probably," I told her,

"so do you know how to gamble?" she asked me, after an awkward pause,

"no," I said shaking my head,

"ok I'll teach you."

After that Suki taught me how to gamble, every time we met at a party I would show her how I had improved and by the end of the summer holidays I was an expert at card games. Blackjack, Vegas rummy, Texas Hold'em, Crazy Pineapple, Razz, Guts, you name it, I played it. Then at some point I started gambling at parties.

"How did you do that?" Shay asked,

"just a couple of games of Texas Hold'em," I replied casually, searching through all my new gear.

"Why did you win a pair of trainers, a posh watch and a garden gnome as well as the cash?" Shay asked me.

"I won it fair and square and they gave me all their money so they paid the rest using objects they had on them," I told her, "ooh look a new light bulb," I said sarcastically, producing a light bulb from my pile of stuff.

"What you going to do with this stuff?" she asked,

"sell it duh," I told her,

"where?"

"crap for cash obviously," I told her,

"how do you even know about that place?"

"it's not just heroin addicts that sell their TVs just to afford more of their drug," I said, Shay flinched, "sorry, I didn't mean your parents. But when my parents needed a bit of cash they would take some stuff down there."

The next day at home I leafed through my new cash, only 400 quid, not bad going. The trainers I could sell to some randomer at high school, I would probably get quite a bit for them there. The watch I sold at crap for cash making just over £60. For the first time in my life I had my own money, I could afford to buy stuff.

I met Shay at the park after lunch that day,

"Shay guess how much money..."

"you know this won't continue,"

"What?" I asked my friend,

"summer, the parties, when school starts again I will have to get a job and you will have to go to school," Shay told me.

"No more parties," I said,

"maybe at weekends, but not like this," she said.

"Can we go shopping for my uniform today?" I asked Shay,

"ok," she said.

"Not that skirt, too long, too short, too tight, too loose, ok that's fine. Now shirt, sleeves are too long, too baggy, too tight jeez Immy, do you want the buttons of your shirt to explode?" Shay commanded as I tried on the uniform.

"The buttons won't come off," I said,

"look Immy that shirt may show off your nice cleavage but Immy you are 11 years old, most people will still be completely flat chested and it will completely show you up. The girls will call you sluts, end of, try this shirt." Not wanting to be called a slut on my first day of term I bought the clothes Shay said were fine.

Shay was like an older sister, a good older sister, one that did things with you, not one that wasn't interested. She taught me to do makeup, she taught me to create myself the perfect outfit. She taught me everything a girl needs to know.

I remember the first day of school, I was sent to school with Verus and Beta, Verus and I exactly the same height, both of us looked exactly the same, apart from she had purple in her hair and she was wearing different make up. We could have been mistaken for twins, Beta on the other hand was short with dark brown curly hair, she looked like an average year 7. While both me and Verus looked like year 11's.

I remember how school was ok, I made some friends, no one like Shay though. I didn't get to see Shay for the first week at school, the first time I saw her it was Saturday afternoon.

"Hi," I said as I sat on the swing next to Shay's,

"hey," she replied, she looked more tired than normal and she had this sort of distant look in her eyes."

"Are you ok?" I asked,

"just tired," she replied and I figured she didn't want to talk about whatever was going on, so I told her about school. I kept talking, afraid to stop, after half an hour I looked over at Shay, she was fast asleep. I sat with Shay, playing on my new phone until it got to around 6.

"Shay," I said quietly, shaking her, she groaned in her sleep.

"Please, please don't do it Immy, it will mess you up. It messed me up, I know you want money, stop, stop, stop!" SLAP, I slapped Shay hard across the face and she woke up.

"What?" she questioned taking in her surroundings,

"you fell asleep and then you started having a nightmare so I woke you up," I told her,

"what time is it?" she asked.

"5 minutes past 6," I told her,

"oh no, right sorry I've got too go, long story, I'm late. See you Immy," and she ran off before I had a chance to reply.

I didn't understand the vacant look in Shay's eyes, I didn't understand the times when she would just tune out, I wouldn't understand the nightmares that happened during the day. I never did until I got the nightmares during the day, I also got the nightmares. I never understood the horror of Shay's life because it only hit me when I got to Burnywood how little I actually knew about Shay.

I knew her name, her birthday, but I never understood the money, in ways I wish I never had. In ways I wish I had never met Shay. In ways I wish I never had existed. In ways I wished Verus had never been born.