Girl A by Dan Scottow (easy books to read in english .TXT) 📕

her. This was the exact reason she had vowed as a teenager that she would never give her heart to a man. She thought of the first boy she had truly trusted. How he had thrown that back in her face without regard for her feelings.

Glenn Jones. She almost said the name out loud.

Her mother had warned her not to get too close.

Beth could hear her mother’s thick Brummie accent ringing in her ears.

‘It’ll only end in tears. You mark my words…’

31 1994, Aylsham, North Norfolk, England.

The summer passed in a blur. Kitty wished it could be the beginning of the holidays again, but alas, she was more aware than most her age that you can never go back. The last day of term as the kids were all getting ready to head home for the break; that’s when Glenn Jones had first approached her.

He wasn’t what you would call a good-looking boy. Not classically. But he was funny and popular. He had caught up with Kitty at her locker, slightly out of breath. But, of course, by that point she was no longer called Kitty.

This time she was Lucy. She had been through so many identities. Inevitably, someone would find out. And her family would run again. She knew it was all her fault.

Her father made sure she never forgot that fact.

She’d been working hard to hide her accent, but sometimes, when she was feeling relaxed, it slipped. Glenn had shouted her name a few times. She still wasn’t used to it.

‘So I was wondering if you’d like to… er… hang out over the summer at all?’ Glenn looked down at the floor nervously.

Kitty blushed. She had always blushed so easily.

‘My parents don’t really… I mean, I’m not supposed to.’ Kitty opened her locker, pretending not to notice how crushed Glenn had been by her reply.

‘Do you have to tell them?’ he asked, a cheeky glint in his eye.

Kitty shut the metal door, smiling.

‘I suppose not.’

And that had been it. They had spent pretty much every day that summer together. Hiding in fields of wheat where nobody could see them. Climbing tall trees, then sitting in branches above the river, watching as folk passed by below, oblivious to Glenn and Kitty’s existence high over their heads.

And kissing. There had been lots of kissing.

Kitty had never kissed a boy before. She was worried she wasn’t doing it properly. But Glenn kept wanting to do it again, so she assumed she must have been doing something right. Kitty may only have been fifteen, but she had an older head on her shoulders. The hand she’d been dealt had deprived her of the luxury of a normal childhood.

Eventually, her mother grew suspicious of her sneaking out every day and not returning until it was dark, and Kitty told her.

‘His name’s Glenn, he’s in my year at school… and I’m in love.’

Her mother had been furious; had forbidden Kitty to see him again. But Kitty was defiant, and you can’t stop a teenager from going out in the summer holidays.

‘It’ll only end in tears. You mark my words!’ her mother screamed at her.

‘You’re wrong! Glenn is different. He loves me too!’ Kitty had assured her, slamming the door as she left. And on a warm August evening, when Glenn Jones had slid his fingers tentatively inside the elastic waistband of Kitty’s knickers, whispering in her ear with hot breath that he loved her, she had known.

This was exactly what she wanted. And Glenn was the one.

A few days later Kitty had been woken early by a commotion downstairs. Lots of shouting. As she pulled on her dressing gown and stepped out onto the landing, her father had sneered at her from his bedroom door.

‘Did you think they wouldn’t find out this time?’ he said, a grin on his lips.

Kitty’s heart thumped. She took a few steps down the stairs, perching halfway, peering through the bannisters. She knew who it was before seeing the face. She recognised her voice.

Glenn’s mother. Kitty craned her neck to hear better what was being said.

‘And don’t you even try to deny it. We all know exactly who you are. Who she is!’

Kitty had heard that venom many times in her life. That tone. Almost those exact words. Every time.

‘I knew she looked familiar the first time Glenn brought her to the house, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. I said to my John, I said, she looks awful familiar, that girl.’

Kitty leaned further down the stairs for a better view. Why wasn’t her mother defending her?

She just stood on the doorstep, head hung low. She had come to expect this. The first time had been a shock. But not anymore.

Kitty fidgeted, making more noise than intended. Glenn’s mother’s eyes darted up, and she saw Kitty. She lurched forwards into the hallway, pointing a trembling finger at her.

‘You keep away from my son! You hear me? I don’t want you in my house again, you evil little bitch!’

‘That’s enough!’ Kitty’s mother had hissed. ‘She didn’t do it!’

‘You’re disgusting. We don’t want your family here. We’ve all got children, and you’re not welcome.’

She turned abruptly and stormed off down the path. Kitty’s mother closed the door, looking sadly at her daughter, but the pity changed quickly to anger. Her mother lost her temper often these days.

‘I hope you’re happy with yourself. Was he worth it?’ her mother spat, before storming down the hall into the kitchen.

Kitty heard her father sniggering from upstairs.

The following day she had waited at their usual spot. But Glenn didn’t arrive. When she finally saw him at school a week later, he blanked her.

Everyone had blanked her.

The truth was out. Nobody wanted to know her anymore. Even her teachers were looking at her warily in lessons.

She caught up with Glenn at lunchtime in the canteen. He didn’t want to speak to her. He tried to walk away, but she grabbed his sleeve, tearing his cuff. She saw a flicker of something, then