Chapter 14

"Sorry. I just-"

The words fade away to silence as I turn and take in the sight of the person behind me.

The first thing I notice is the huge, and definitely expensive, DSLR camera hanging from a lanyard from his neck. At least, that's what I'm pretending to have noticed. Really, I'm just focusing on that to stop from staring... because they are actually a ‘he’. A very cute, very young he. And that feels like an extinct species in Oakton.

The guy must be my age or close enough; no more than a couple of years older, if any. But he's the youngest person I've seen since we arrived here, other than at school, and that fills me with a level of excitement I haven't felt in weeks.

How my life has changed. I used to get excited over One Direction playing at the 02 Arena, or the next episode of Love Island. Once Mum finally let me have a TV in my room, anyway, because before that, Jessie and Zara would always spoil what happened before I got the chance to watch it on