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LonelyGRL: The biggest party of the year

Someone Like Me Chapter 1

16-year-old Baby is ready to step out and be Someone. But when her best friend leaves town, Baby is left to begin a new chapter of her life all on her own. With no money, the wrong clothes, lots of booze, new friends to impress and a nice guy temptingly close, Baby has a lot to face up to. Especially when a Sugar Daddy starts to take an interest in her...

The fever's been simmering for weeks, and tonight it's going to boil. For the record, I, Baby, am officially ready to party! WellI think I am.

Tonight my Grade Ten class is having its end-of-exam Taking Down The Paper party. We've pooled all the money for tonight's drinking fund. It's gonna be BIG. Us teenagers are allowed to drink as much as we want to tonight - and do whatever we want to do. It's our reward for working hard and getting through the school year. Tonight we go big, or we go home. No sweat.

Everybody in my class has been talking about what they're going to wear for weeks.

I told my aunt about the look I see myself rocking at the party: skinny jeans; red wedge heels; a beautiful bright vest; and a boys-cut hairpiece. In my mind’s eye I can see myself shimmering and shaking on the dancefloor. Hot. Someone to watch.

My aunt has given me a gift package today and I can’t wait to open it. I am alone in the dimly-lit shack. I tear an edge of paper off and peer inside. I see grey.

There are no skinny jeans, platform shoes, vest, or hairpiece for me. Just a plain grey cotton dress from who knows where. My heart hammers hard and angry against my ribs. This is a disaster! I cover my face with my hands, my head spinning and my mood somersaulting upside down.

I ache for my mother. She would have understood about the wish list. That grey stormcloud of a dress has reminded me that she isn't here. That she's dead.

Tears well up in my eyes. I shake my head to make the dark thoughts go away. I promised myself I wouldn't think about about my mother today. Or about feeling like a nobody without her. I've survived the year. I've made one good friend: Precious. This is the day my new life is meant to begin. It's time for me to be Someone.

But this is the wrong outfit to begin my new life!

Can you relate to what Baby is feeling? Do you care about how you dress and the clothes you wear? Is being Someone important?

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