12.

'C'mon honey, time to get up' speaks mum as she gently knocks on Judy's bedroom door.

Judy lays awake but doesn't respond, she has actually been awake for some time by this particular moment. The dread she feels has her feeling physically sick, right to the knot that has settled or rather is unsettled in the pit of her stomach. She possibly is ready to hurl at any given moment. Mum goes about her morning for a moment or two and when no activity has been heard, she returns to Judy's door.

'Let's go Judy or you'll be late for school' she says along with giving a second knock.

'No, go away. I don't wanna go today, don't wanna go any day.'

Mum enters the room. 'That is not a very nice thing to say to your mum now, is it? I understand how you are feeling, honestly, I do but we can't let what happened at the bowling alley get in our way.'

'It's more than that mom, it's everything' says Judy still wrapped up in bed. 'I really don't want to go in today, please don't make me.'

'Suzie was nice to you, wasn't she? That is a start. Forget about the others. Before you know it, they will be looking to be your friend. Tell you what, how about we have ourselves a mother daughter morning and you can head on in after lunch. Sound like a plan?'

That might do it, or at least make things a little bit better, temporarily anyway. Its more immediate effect is that it makes Judy smile leading her to go get herself up and ready with some enthusiasm rather than in as dreary a fashion as she normally would.

Down the village a little while later, mother and daughter walk together slowly with very little being spoken. Judy is still full of dread; her brief energy hit had been just that ... brief. Yeah, she is out with her mum, but it will be over soon then it will be back to reality so in effect Judy hasn't even allowed herself to enjoy the here and now.

Forgetting what she has to go back to proves to be too big of a job, still it is nice to be out with mum. Having come to where she has come to be, along with the fresh cool air, the feeling that she could vomit at any moment without warning has been taken away, still normal services will be resumed soon and that weighs heavy on her mind. She can hear her mum speak though none of those spoken words are getting through.

Her silence soon comes to an end when something catches her eye. In the window of the town bookstore it sits, almost calling out to Judy. The book she has been reading, it has a sequel ... no way. That first book has gripped her so, that she has to have the second one. Her eyes light up as she moves closer, right up to the store window, as if by doing so she is preventing that book from being snapped up by someone else ... even if it were to be snapped up, surely, they have more than one in stock.

Having placed both of her hands on that window in a kind of disbelief, Judy soon turns to her mum. Seeing the sudden change in Judy's demeanour, mum has no problem picking up a little gift for her daughter.

Strange how something small like picking up a book at a bookstore can change everything. With this second book firmly in her grasp Judy feels as she is ready to take on the world, nothing can hold her back, and in this moment, she feels that there is nothing that can bring her down not even those girls from the bowling alley. Mum may always be there for her, maybe in a way Ellie will be too, especially now that there is a second book, but then again, there is that situation with Steve. Judy can't do anything about that, now can she? Maybe he will be gone by the time she reaches the end of the first book though perhaps not.

Yeah Steve, there still is something about him. Something is not right, and Judy doesn't like it. It is what it is however, and Judy cannot do anything to alter that, or maybe she can. She stopped that first kiss from happening, didn't she? That can't really be possible, but something did happen. Things have definitely gone beyond the unreal, if anything it is surreal. Ellie is real, as real to Judy as anyone else who has ever been in her life. Going by this connection or feeling, or whatever it is, then Steve is also real, and he will likely be around for the long haul.

Taking a book for what it is, just a book then of course, Steve will be hanging around ... a plot or character interest keeping the story going forward but indeed too, this is more than a book, it is more than a series of books. There certainly is a realness to it and it has taken a hold on Judy and with that realness then perhaps she has a responsibility, she has to see that the right thing is done but how can she do that? She is outside of the book and the book is already written; the series is already written ...

Is there a loophole for this may be something more? If it is a series then Judy knows only of two books, is there a third? Is it complete? Perhaps not, no, ... it must not yet be done ... so can she offer more than a 'no' when a kiss is about to happen?