Chapter 2

On the same day, schoolgirls of a similar age to Edward Pembroke’s pupils were babbling loudly in a London street. Sophie Yildiz stood outside the corner store, her friends gathered around her, their voices a cacophony of excitement and mischief. She shifted uncomfortably, her fingers twisting the strap of her backpack as Emma, the self-appointed leader of the group, egged her on.

“Come on, Sophie, don’t be such a baby,” Emma teased, her tone laced with impatience. “It’s just a stupid bottle of vodka. If you take it, we can come drink it at your mum’s next week for your birthday.”

Sophie’s stomach churned with unease. Turning fourteen was supposed to be a milestone, a moment of celebration and joy. But as her friends prodded and teased, she felt the weight of their expectations pressing down on her.

Sophie Yildiz was a shy girl. Her pretty looks should have given her confidence but at just thirteen she was too pretty to be ignored, enough to evoke jealousy from her female friends who were exasperated when they noticed the boys looking at Sophie and not them.

With a shaky breath, Sophie succumbed to the pressure, her fingers darting out to snatch the bottle of vodka from the shelf. As she slipped it into her backpack, a wave of guilt washed over her, but she pushed it aside, desperate to please her friends.

The walk home was a blur of nervous energy and tangled emotions. When Sophie stepped through the door of her small apartment, the smell of her mother’s cooking enveloped her in warmth. Her mother greeted her with a bright smile, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

Sophie’s Turkish father had left them years ago for another woman and currently had another family in Turkey. Her mother was working class English woman from whom she had got her red hair. They lived in a council flat in a tower in north east London.

“Guess what, Sophie? I’ve been thinking about your birthday next week,” her mother exclaimed. “We should throw a little party, invite your friends over for some cake and games.”

Sophie’s heart sank at the mention of her friends. She nodded weakly, unable to meet her mother’s gaze, the truth was that her friends bullied her, and the idea of a party in her house with her friends terrified her. ‘Cake and games’ was not what her friends were interested in. It was boys, and alcohol, like the vodka she had stolen.

The days crawled by, each one marked by a sense of impending doom. The inevitable failure of her birthday party would just reveal to her mother the fact that she had no friends, which was really all she wanted.

The morning of Sophie’s fourteenth birthday dawned and she tried to be optimistic. Her older sister, Jenny, at seventeen. She had no interest in hanging out with a bunch of fourteen year olds. She would have her boyfriend, Clem, and his car, to occupy her.

“Happy birthday Sophie!” beamed Ms Grey, their English teacher. “Hope you have something exciting planned!” Sophie’s face burned with embarrassment, she was sitting at the front of the class, and she could hear the giggles behind her.

“Hi Emma” Sophie said to the ringleader of the ‘gang’ of girls she normally hung around with. “Are you coming to my place after school, I got the vodka remember?”

“Sure thing Soph” Emma blew up some bubble gum intimidatingly as she looked into Sophie’s face. Emma was secretly jealous of her features. Despite her shyness, at five foot three, Sophie was pretty. Pale skin, freckles, and a slim waif like figure were crowned with pale blue eyes and ginger hair. Sophie thought herself a redhead but was often mocked for being a “ginger.” Her fiery locks and alabaster skin contrasted to give her a stunning look though her fragility and natural shyness made her a target for bullies like Emma, a plumper blonde who would have loved to look like Sophie.

But at the end of the day, Sophie walked home alone. She was too shy to chase her friends and hoped instead they would go straight to her house. But no one came at all. Instead, on her group chat, which she hardly ever went on, she saw group selfies and noted Emma and several other friends were at another friend’s house, instead of her ‘party.’

Sophie’s mother, Anne, had made a birthday cake for Sophie and her ‘friends.’ “Oh Sophie, you should have organised it a bit better” scolded her mother. “A pretty girl like you! You need to come out of your shell!” Sophe felt humiliated, and could not face her mother’s exasperated tone. Her sister Jenny laughed when she heard none of her friends had turned up. “No friends, eh? You need to ger yourself a man with a car!”

“Jenny! She’s too young for that carry on!” scolded Anne.

Sophie went up to her room. Adorned with posters of boybands and Kpop girl bands, she sought comfort in her own little world. She went online and into her favourite chatrooms. Suddenly, she remembered the bottle of vodka, and found it was still in her school bag.

Why not? She was now fourteen, and while it may be the worst birthday party ever, she might as well have some adult experience. She found the taste disgusting, and took some cola from the kitchen up to her room, mixed it with vodka, and drank the vodka and coke while listening to he music, and swiping through her favourite chatrooms.