I Was The Girl Next Door [ON HOLD]

Chapter 1: "The Golden Fleece"

Hey people. Thank you for picking up this book, I hope you like it. So, happy reading I guess. Also, please let me know what you think and if I could improve on anything.

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Chapter One: "The Golden Fleece"

THE LAST DAY OF Christmas holidays. The day everyone is found getting together: friends, and a shit ton of food. And that, as cliché as it sounds, is what my friends and I did on that unusually warm (for England) January day on our last year together before we all go off to university. We bought way too much food, a blanket, and the stories of our Christmases.

When I arrived at the bench where we would meet, Kate was already there – no surprises there, she is always on time or early and today she just decided to be early. Kate Sharpe is although, I should not say, my bestest friend (is that even a word?) of the group. She is the religious one (a Christian). We always have things to say to each other and walk to every lesson together, although we never have any that are the same. She has a sweet and kind nature, is always there to brighten up your day and is one of the most honest people I know.

"KATE!" I call. She turns her head and starts walking towards me quickly.

She smiles at me and says "Hey, Kathy." before giving me a hug.

Yup, that is me – Kathy or Katharine Wood. I haven't seen my friends for these two weeks of Christmas holidays. Here is another fun fact about me: I have divorced parents. Yes, this means double holidays, double presents, two Christmases, two houses, two birthdays and so on. But it also means moving between houses, having to learn to carry half your life in two bags, knowing what is where, trying to not give fuel to the competition which is who is a better parent? and having two Me's - two distinct types of Katharine at each house. Let me tell you that being me sometimes is exhausting. It may be sad, but the thing is that I have grown used to it - they divorced when I was 8 and my brother was 5, so for over half of my life seeing as though I'm 17. I am also told that I am kind, caring and smart. I am also told I am beautiful - not to burst your bubble but I am not. I mean, I am not ugly either, but I am certainly not beautiful. My bad-ish sense of fashion and dry, wavy, and slightly frizzy chestnut brown hair and my lack of popularity or a boyfriend would tell you differently. Oh, I am also tall, like 5"7' tall. And it is annoying, especially when people say that I could be a model with my height.

"How are you?" I ask Kate.

"Yeah, I'm good." I reply.

Kate always has pale skin and it always seems to just burn. She also has these birth marks all over her body, kind of like huge freckles. She always likes to hide them, but I always convince her otherwise saying that her birth marks are beautiful – she is starting to realise that and becoming more confident with them, and I am so proud of her. So, then we get onto my skin. My skin always has a tan on, and I usually go pretty brown in the summer. Apparently, I get it from my Granny, and my Grandma always says that I look Spanish.

"Was sup my hoes!"

We turn our heads to see Marie Salazar walking towards us. Marie is the short one of our group. She has great fashion sense, is Filipino and is one of the smartest. She has exceptionally long black hair that seems to never be out of shape (or a ponytail, Dutch plaits, or just straight). I always tease her about how small she is, but she never takes it personally. She is constantly hiding from the sun, saying how she doesn't want to get anymore tanned than she already is. Marie is the one that everyone can confide in and knows at least one secret about each other that nobody else in our group knows. Trust me when I say that nobody ever has awkward silence with Marie.