Toffee Apple Girl

by Robyn Scott, age 15, from Scotland

You peek out at the world.
A world which is never the same to everybody. It is the same to you.
You are red amongst a tree of green.
You are ... different.
Toffee apples are sweet : their exteriors burned and sticky. Inside you can find something quite different. An apple, pleasant and crisp, even reassuring. The apple is modest by comparison to its more flamboyant coating.

Perhaps you are wondering where this metaphor is leading, patience is something we all have to learn eventually.

She was the perfect definition of our toffee apple, she tried to be wild and exciting, but inside ( the part nobody really bothered with ) she was just an apple. This girl had an unfortunate accident, such a shame.
The toffee apple broke, so did the apple. However, she did not crack or suddenly fall off the table. Someone took a bite.

Let me introduce our main character, Freya, a girl with problems ...
For God's sake , hurry up.

Freya stood, tapping her foot on the part of the pavement which just looked like it got that a lot. It had been Sarah's idea in the first place, now Freya was having these strange feelings in her stomach, which were probably regret.

What if we get caught, what if -

"Frey! Come on or we'll be late." Sarah smelt bad : her skin saturated by perfume and cigarettes, clinging to her and anything stupid enough to come within two miles. Sarah was nice enough.

"Have you got the stuff then ?" Freya nodded ; three cans of meticulously chosen paint. " Right then , lets go."

A certain somebody, let us leave them nameless, watched the two girls from the safety of their vehicle. What were they doing ? Surely everybody knew it wasn't safe at night. Not at all safe.
The car pulled away, the onlooker seemed to have gone.
Freya was having difficulty with the paint. The inky spray did not " stay fast and last" as proclaimed on the label , but dribbled down the wall as if on purpose. Sarah wasn't having much luck either - " Where did you get this stuff? It's bloody-wait a minute, what was that?"

Footsteps could be heard some distance away. Clip - clop , clip- clop . Then silence.

"Quick, Sarah, over here." The two girls huddled behind the school bins. The black night enveloped them, even the stars did not shine, and their hearts went five times faster. For the first time Freya did not mind being so close to Sarah's pungent scent , it was a time of bonding, sharing an adventure together. They waited for several long minutes.

" I'm going to have a look , stay here." Then there was one.