Alice sat looking out of the window of the bus she was on. She was deep in thought. It hurt to admit it but Glasgow wasn't home anymore. But Bristol isn't home either. She just felt like she didn't belong anywhere anymore! She hadn't belonged anywhere since her mother died. Her father made it obvious he didn't want her and she was stuck with him till she was 18. She could move out at 16 but she'd never be able to get a house. She was going to have a talk with her mum at the cemetery tomorrow. This will be the last time she sees her in a long time probably. Her father won't bring her up to visit she knows that! She was going back to Bristol tomorrow night. When she'd boarded the train she'd made a conscious decision that she was never going back. Unfortunately she had to go back. She could get her friends parents in trouble if she stayed up here without her fathers permission. Technically it's kidnapping. At least Danny was in Bristol, that was the one redeeming feature. God she had it bad!

The visit to her family home had been good. It had reminded her of all the good memories she had with her mother. Before the cancer had ravaged her body. She'd been taken too young but like they say, God only takes the best. It's why her bastard of a father was still alive and her mum was taken from her! The pictures and CD off her mum had meant a lot. No matter where she went she knows her mother watches over her and loves her. She felt the tightness in her chest as she thought of her mother. Would there ever be a time where the tears wouldn't come when she thought of her mother? She thought she'd cried all the tears she had in her old home but there were still a few left obviously. She sat and took deep breaths and the moment passed. She hated crying it showed weakness and she didn't want anyone to know she had any, she had to be strong. No-one else was going to be strong for her.

Alice started to wonder whether her mother would of approved of Danny? "Hmmmm" she said softly.

She then felt a bit ashamed because her mother would not have approved of the way she'd been in school. The attitude and cheek just weren't her.

"You finally realised huh?" her mothers voice echoed in her head

I know I've been daft she answered silently.

All this attitude, it just was a front! so people didn't treat her like glass, like she was gonna shatter any minute. when her mother had died people were scared to say anything to her incase she burst into tears! The attitude had just been a way of showing them she was fine. well no more! She decided just then to get her head down and concentrate on her work. Get the grades she knew she could accomplish and get out of there. She had one problem, Sarah! How was she supposed to ignore her, now especially since she knew how to rile her.

Beat her with your head - not your fists! Her mother told her.

Easier said than done mum! She answered mentally.

She was going to try, that was all she could do. She just couldn't cope with any disparaging remarks about her mother. She was the best mother anyone could ask for and through no fault of her own she was gone. No-one disrespected her! Not when Alice was there anyway!

Alice stepped off the bus and checked the time. 3:05. School finished in 5 minutes. She was eager to see her friends. She missed them. She needed to see some friendly faces. She'd been friends with Shauna since they'd been 4 and she dunked her head in the water tray for taking her doll off her. Her mother had told her to show em the Collins spirit and she had that day! Of course her mother had told her off, 5 minutes later she'd said she was proud of Alice for sticking up for herself. She sat on the wall and swung her legs softly. She heard the familiar bell ring. The zoo has released it's occupants she thought! Within 2 minutes children of all ages walked out of the gates all chatting and happy. A girl same height as Alice walked out of the gates. She had short brown hair and kind brown eyes. When she saw Alice she squealed. Alice squealed too. They both dropped their bags and ran over and embraced.

"I thought you were having me on!" Shauna said as they embraced. She pulled away and shouted "Hey Missy! Look who's back!"

Missy seen her and screamed. She ran over and hugged her. She pulled away and looked at her "God standards are slipping if they let you back in!" she said playfully.

Alice hugged both her friends tight.

"How long you back for?" Shauna asked.

"Just tonight, I was going to hide out here but I've got to go back. So I'm gonna have some time with my bezzie friends and then go back tomorrow." Alice told them.

They started walking a familiar route.

"Can't you just convince your dad to move back here. I hate that in all my lessons the seat beside me is empty. The place isn't the same without you!" Missy said.

"Don't tell lies Missy, the seat isn't empty, the teachers have sat a new kid next to you!" Shauna said and laughed.

"Don't remind me! He really scares me he sits and mutters to himself in polish! I spoke to him once and he started rambling. I thought he was putting a curse on me or something! I've started putting garlic in my bag to ward off evil spirits!" Missy said.

"The sad thing is, that's actually true!" Shauna said seriously. The 3 girls all laughed.

Alice hated that life seemed to going on without her. She knew it was stupid she hadn't expected it to stop but she should be here with them!

"My dad will never move back here! I came up to get away from him. I ended up getting a new perspective. I went to my old house too and got some closure. You know, say a proper goodbye to my mum. I never got that before coz the day before we were due to move dad told me to get my stuff together! I'm just lucky you guys live so close. At least now I can say a proper goodbye to you too! I'm going to my mums grave tomorrow." Alice said.

The 3 friends lapsed into silence as Alice thought on her loss. The friends knew that Alice would only talk when she was ready. This always happened when she spoke of her mum.

Alice was thinking - They couldn't imagine what it was like to watch your mother waste away like that, to have your mother ripped away from you when you just start to realise you need her more than ever. The only family you have left is a father who couldn't care if you lived or died. Or more like wished that you would just disappear so he could have his old life back! She was glad they kept their silence now. At first they tried to get her to talk about it, they'd thought they were helping but it didn't! they just made her angry.

Shauna's voice broke through her thoughts. "Ok, I've waited long enough. I want all the details on the boys - boys - boys!"

Alice smiled, her previous thoughts forgotten. "I wondered how long it was going to take you!" Alice said. "Took you 6 minutes. Definitely a record for you. Usually takes you 30 seconds."

"Hey Alice not that quick, I'd say 35 seconds." Missy said.

"Excuse me I'm actually here you know!" Shauna said.

They all laughed. Alice had missed this!

"Well most of the boys are freaks and geeks, as we used to say!" Alice said.

"Aw I feel your pain." Shauna said seriously.

"But there's one boy!" Alice said. She got dreamy eyed as she thought of Danny.

"We're at mine, but when we get inside I want all the gory details!" Shauna said.

"Look Missy Shauna can you sort of sneak me into the house!" Alice asked.

"Why?" Missy asked.

"Coz they might send me home tonight and I need to see my mum!" Alice said.

"Sure no probs - I do stuff like that all the time!" Shauna said.

"Sneaking in Eminem cd's and detention slips are different from sneaking in actual people!" Alice said.

"Oh ye of little faith, how hard can it be?" Shauna said.

Alice rolled her eyes.

"Just follow my lead!" Shauna said. She and Missy walked to the front door while Alice hid behind a bush.

"Oh God let the fun begin!" Alice muttered.

Shauna opened her front door. "Mum!" she shouted.

When no one appeared she motioned for Alice to come inside. "See piece of cake!" she said as they walked into the kitchen. She grabbed 3 drinks out of the fridge, the front door suddenly opened.

"Mum's home! Hurry up hide!" Shauna told her.

Alice looked around. "Where?" Alice hissed.

"Shauna!" a voice shouted.

"Get under the table!" Missy whispered.

Alice scrambled under. The dining cover partially hid her but she was sure that her feet were showing. Not your best idea Missy! Alice thought.

"Shauna!" the voice shouted again. "I'm in the kitchen mum!" Shauna replied.

Alice saw 2 pairs of feet stand in front of where she was.

"O hello Melissa." Shauna's mum said.

"Hi Mrs Carr." Missy replied.

"We're going up to my room soon mum!" Shauna said.

Alice felt dust tickle her nose. She put her hand over her mouth and nose. O no! the urge to sneeze was overwhelming.

"I'll be starting tea in 20 minutes ok dear!" Mrs Carr said.

"Ok mum!" said Shauna.

"Why have you got 3 drinks Shauna?" her mother asked.

She looked down at her hands.

"I was really thirsty!" Shauna said. "But I'm fine now, I'm gonna put it back in the fridge.

Mrs Carr turned to walk out of the room and she heard a big sneeze.

She looked back and Missy started coughing, "I've been ill recently but getting better now!" Missy said.

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously, these girls were up to something. She frowned and walked away

Shauna ran over and peeped round the corner. Her mum was gone. She gave Missy the thumbs up to let Alice out from under the table.

"C'mon lets go upstairs!" Shauna said. "I'm in my room mum!" Shauna shouted.

They heard a muffled "Ok."

They went into her room and closed the door.

"What the hell was that?" Shauna asked Alice.

"It was dusty under there ok!" Alice replied.

"Your mum definitely suspects something, you see the look she gave me when I coughed?" Missy said.

"No probs you said!" Alice said and smiled at Shauna.

"We'd have been fine if you hadn't of sneezed!" Shauna said.

"We'd be even better if you weren't such a bad liar!" Missy said.

The 3 girls sat on Shauna's bed. "Aw I've missed this! You know! Why have I got to go back!" Alice said sadly.

"We've missed it too, it seems like theirs a piece missing of our little group. The insane one is gone!" Missy said.

"And I was the insane one why?" Alice asked. "Personally I thought Shauna was the insane one!" Alice said laughing.

"We don't have as much fun without you, you were the one who thought of all the schemes and games and general madness!" Shauna said.

"Why don't you 2 move down to Bristol with me!" Alice said hopefully.

"The place couldn't handle the 3 of us!" Missy said.

"Yeah your right, would be good though!" Alice told her.

"Ok lets have the gossip on this wonderful boy!" Shauna said.

Alice smiled and pulled her phone from her pocket and showed them the picture of her and Danny after their bubble fight. "His name is Danny and he's 15 and as you can see absolutely gorgeous!"

"Aw you both look so cute!" Shauna said.

"You do, such a cute couple!" Missy said.

She showed them another photo she'd taken on the sly. It showed Danny laughing with his friends.

"OOOOO I see what you mean, he is defo VERY good looking! Those laughing green eyes and his wee quirky grin! Your lucky he's down there or I'd have to steal him off you! Shauna said.

"Hands off!" Alice said in a mock serious tone.

"So you just friends, a couple?" Missy asked.

Alice flopped back onto the bed. "How long do you have to know someone before you know you love them?" Alice asked and covered her face with her hands.

Shauna and Missy looked at each other and smiled.

"Dunno," Missy said. "For some it's instant, but for others it can take a while you know? Why? Do you love Danny?" Missy asked.

"I don't know to be honest. He's just so cute and perfect and amazing. I think about him all the time. When he kissed me I swear my heart stopped beating and the world stood still!"

"He kissed you?" Shauna asked. "Well how did you feel when he kissed you?"

"I don't know, his lips were so firm but tender too. O GOD I just don't know! " Alice sat up again. "I've never been in love before. How do you know if it is love or just some stupid deep and big crush? I just need to know how you know when you love someone!" Alice said in frustration.

"Well your defo crushing on him, that's a given. We've never seen you so mixed up over a boy either!" Shauna said.

"You just know when you love someone!" Missy said. "Don't question it or stress. Just enjoy yourself. The more you think about it the less likely the answer will come to you!"

"Well you two were no help!" Alice said playfully.

Suddenly Shauna pushed Alice off the bed and onto the floor. Alice went down with a small squeal.

The door opened and Shauna's mother entered. Missy and Shauna wore identical smiles which were too large and definitely too innocent.

"Does Missy want to stay for tea?" Mrs Carr asked.

"Yeah sure!" Shauna answered.

"is it just the two of you in here?" Mrs Carr asked.

"Yeah why?" Shauna asked.

"Just thought I heard more than 2 voices that's all!" Mrs Carr said.

"We had the radio on before!" Missy said.

Mrs Carr nodded and went to walk out of the room.

"O and tell Alice she can stay for dinner too. It's not nice to throw your friends off the bed Shauna!" Mrs Carr said and left the room.

Alice's head appeared from the floor. Shauna looked at her and smiled wryly. "Sorry, I didn't mean to throw you off the bed. It just seemed like a good idea at the time."

"O really! Thanks for the warning mate!" she said and hit her on the head with her pillow.

"God nothing ever gets passed your mother! Remember when we played tea parties in the garden with your mothers good china and broke one the expensive cups?" Alice asked. "You made us sneak the pieces into your room!"

"it wasn't my fault I didn't have pockets!" Shauna exclaimed.

"Yeah but you rolled them up in your jacket. Of course your mum asked you to do something and you didn't want to put your jacket down so it fell. The pieces broke it were in even more pieces when they hit the floor. You tried to hard to evade your mother! She knew something was up. Have you ever heard of act normal?" Alice said laughing.

"Hey normal is a relative term around here!" Missy said.

"Aw Alice can't we just adopt you so you could stay?" Shauna asked.

"What have you as my mum? God help us all!" Alice said laughing.

"Fine!" Shauna said indignant. "I retract my very generous offer!"

"But seriously I wish you could adopt me, i don't wanna go back!" Alice said.

"Oh no!" Shauna said playfully. "Don't try to save yourself now!"

"Have we missed anything else while you been down there?" Missy asked.

"Well, get comfy ladies this could take a while. There's this girl Sarah right. She was Danny's girlfriend before I got there. She took a instant dislike to me coz me and Danny hit it off instantly. She was so jealous. Well in my next lesson she came in late so I sat next to Danny and she had to sit next to this minging boy. I helped Danny with his work and the teacher said it was the best he'd ever done so I got moved next to Danny permanently. The next day she griefed me then called my mum a whore."

"Oh my god the BITCH!" Shauna said.

"I hope you broke he jaw." Missy said.

"Yeah, I smashed her head off the table and then bust her nose! I'm currently suspended so decided to come up here and visit you guys. As I knew you missed me so much and cried everyday over my absence!"

The two girls sniffed at her and grinned.

"So when did all this happen then." Missy asked.

"Monday and Tuesday." Alice replied.

"No way, you mean you met and fell for Danny in 2 days. Stole him from his girlfriend and beat her up?" Shauna asked incredulous.

"You know me, I'm a fast worker!" Alice said.

"Girls tea's ready!" Mrs Carr shouted.

The 3 jumped off the bed and walked downstairs into the kitchen.

"Well hello Alice nice to SEE you!" Mrs Carr said. The emphasis on the word see.

"Hi Mrs Carr, I'm just here for a little visit." Alice said.

"So where's your dad staying while you're here?" She asked.

Alice hadn't been prepared for that question and stuttered. "Ummmmm."

"Oh Alice you didn't!" Mrs Carr said. "You came all this way alone!" she asked.

Alice nodded.

"When we're finished tea I'm going to ring your father."

Shauna opened her voice to tell her no but Alice put her hand on her arm and shook her head slightly.

"You can stay here tonight, I can use my rail card to get you a cheap ticket home."

"It's ok, I can get my own ticket!" Alice said.

Mrs Carr shook her head. "I still owe your mum a favour from a while back. I'm happy I can finally repay her!" Mrs Carr said.

"Can you get me a evening train. I need to see my mum before I go!" Alice said

Mrs Carr nodded her head.

They all sat down to eat.

Elsewhere

4:30 came and no phone call from Alice. She's busy Danny thought. 5:00 came and still no phone call. Her phones dead and she's out. Then he realised why didn't he just phone her? He went to Alice and pressed ring eager to hear her voice. Hopefully they still had time to meet up. Just for 5 minutes. Her phone just rang off. Danny felt deflated. Had she seen it was him and ignored him? Right so her phones not dead but she could be doing anything and not heard her phone! He decided to give her till 6 then he was walking over to her house. He just wanted to know that she was ok! 5:45 rolled around. "Close enough he left his house and started to walk over to hers. He reached her front door and knocked.

A man answered the front door, he was tall but not as tall as Danny. He had a angry look on his face.

"Hello Sir I'm a friend of Alice's. is she in?" Danny asked.

"No!" the man answered.

"Do you know when she'll be back?" Danny asked.

"No!" was the reply.

"Will you ask her to ring Danny when she returns?" He asked.

"No!" the man said and closed the door.

Who the hell was that prick? If that's Alice's father how the hell did he end up with a girl like Alice. He heard his phone ringing in his pocket, Eminem's new song Not Afraid played.

He picked up.

"Hi Danny!" Alice said. He heard 2 girls giggling in the background. They started making kissy noises.

"Shauna Missy go jump out of that window!" he heard Alice tell them. He then heard laughter.

"Where are you?" he asked.

"I'm at home with 2 girls who are gonna be murdered if they don't fuck off!" she said and laughed. He'd never heard Alice like this before. She seemed happier, more relaxed.

"I've just come from yours and some man said you weren't there!" Danny said.

"I'm not in that place Danny! It's not my home." she paused. "I'm back in Glasgow."

"O" he said sadly. "You up there for good?" he asked.

"I had come back with that in mind but I will be back. I arrive back in Bristol at 6:00 tomorrow. I'll explain it to you all tomorrow. I'll be saying a proper goodbye to my friends before I go ok. I'm going to go and murder these two people now!" she said "See ya Danny!"

"Ok I'll meet you at the train station at 6:00 sharp!" "I'm happy your coming home to me!" he said.

Before he disconnected he heard Alice shout you'd better run! He disconnected and walked home.

Later on as Alice lay in be she thought about her conversation with Danny. He said Coming home to him!

Was her home with Danny? She wondered. That thought kept sleep at bay.

A/N hope u enjoyed this chapter. will be updating face of deception next coz i sort of neglected it. got so much 2 do and not enough time to do it! :)