I slump in my seat. It's Biology. A part of me is excited about sitting next to Rhys, since he hasn't talked to me since Art yesterday. He didn't even compliment my work and that's the best piece I've ever done by far. Also the most disturbing piece I've done.

Rhys comes and sits down in his seat, not even acknowledging me. I swallow and clear my throat, turning to Avril. She frowns and shakes her head. "Talk to him." She mouths.

I shake my head and mouth back at her, "No."

Avril glares at me and I sigh and turn back to the front.

"So." I smile at Rhys, "What do you think of the school?" Rhys looks at me steadily, his eyes burning through me. I wait for an answer, getting more uncomfortable by the second.

"It's okay." He finally answers and turns back to the front. Then he looks at me again, "What's your name again?"

"Donna." I say, annoyed that the new guy can't even remember my name, "Donna Jade Morrison." Rhys studies me for a few moments, tilting his head to the side. I flinch under his gaze and the edges of his lips pull up slightly, his eyebrow tilts upwards. He looks to the front as Mr Markovitz walks in and begins muttering to us about human reproduction and what an amazing thing it is. I suffer through the lesson, prodded in the back by Avril and gazed at by Rhys.

Although he makes me uncomfortable, I still like him. That doesn't make sense, but the more he tries to repel me, the more I get attached to him. It's like we're opposite sides of magnets.

I sigh in relief as the bell rings. I push my chair back and get up. I practically run out of the classroom. Avril is right behind me. We walk silently out of the school. When we're a good couple of blocks away from the school, Avril asks me, "Are you stupid?"

"What?!" I snap, clenching my fists in anger.

Avril makes a face, "Calm down. Why don't you talk to him? He just needs bringing out of his shell and you're the perfect person to help Rhys do that."

"Can we not talk about him?" I request, "Please? I'm not in the mood, Avril. Change the subject, please."

Avril frowns at me, obviously concerned, "What's wrong? Really wrong? I've noticed it about you nowadays. You seem on edge all the time. What is it, Donna? I'm your best friend, you can tell me."

I can't tell her, not about that creepy tower. She'll think I'm crazy. Then again, she is my best friend.

"I'm not sleeping wrell." I admit, "I have these strange dreams." Not a lie. "I don't remember them, but they freak me out, you know?" The second part of that sentence is the absolute truth. The tower does freak me out.

Avril rubs my arm as we sit in a booth at Starbucks, "Oh, babe. Why didn't you tell me earlier? I would have booked you in with mommy." Avril's mom is a professional pyschiatrist.

"I'm not going crazy!" I insist, unable to fight a smile, "I'm just having a few weird dreams. I'll be fine."

"Are you sure, Donna?" Avril clutches my hand, looking uncertain and concerned for me. Guilt twists my heart and I try to smile, nodding.

"Now why don't you go and get our lattes?"

"Okay." Avril walks over to the counter. I sigh and put my head on the table. As I lift it up again, rubbing my forehead where I banged it too hard, I see him. Rhys. Sitting by the window booth alone, the table clear of a coffee or whatever, staring right at me. I look back at him, enchanted by his striking eyes. He beckons me. I look around, unsure and then point at myself questioningly. He nods serenely. I get up, glancing over at Avril, who has her back towards me, in the queue. I go over to Rhys and sit down opposite him.

He leans in, resting his elbows on the table, "I would suggest that you take some sleeping pills, Donna."

"Huh?" I'm bewildered. Confused. Muddled. What does he mean?

"For the dreams. So you don't end up in your yard again." Rhys sits back, eyeing me casually.

"Okay." I stumble over my words, "Thanks." I go back to the booth I was sitting at before and sit down. Avril returns and gives me a latte.

"Guess who's here? Don't look, but it's Rhys."

"I know." I nod, "I saw him, but... I didn't say anything." Total lie, Donna!!

"Why not?" Avril takes a sip from her drink, "You should go and talk to him. He's on his own, I feel sorry for him."

"He's on his own by choice. Have you seen him try to make friends? No. He prefers to be alone." I tell her and then sigh, knowing my tone is too harsh, "I just think he wants to be left alone. We shouldn't bother him."

"Really?" says Avril and she glances back at Rhys, "But he looks so lonely. I've never seen him smile once. I know it's only been three days, but still. Anyway, what are we doing for the weekend?"

"Mom's taking me on one of her shoots tomorrow." I make a face, making my disapproval of it clear, "I don't know, OK magazine want some family portfolio in their next issue." I shrug nervelessly and take a sip of my cooling latte.

"That's so cool! I can't wait to see it, I bet you'll look so pretty. I don't know why you haven't enrolled to be a model, you so have the looks and it would so be a family thing."

I tut, "No, Avril. Modelling just isn't my thing. It's so temporary and degrading. I don't want to be a model. I want to be something life-changing, like a doctor or a lawyer. I want to do something productive, not something on an airbrushed page that pervy teenage boys drool over!"

Avril laughs, "But that's a good thing. At least you know that there are boys out there who can drool over you!"

"It's not about that, Avril." I shake my head, "I just find modelling a little non-productive. The opposite of what I want to do."

Avril sighs in frustration, "As you wish, your life-changing Majesty!" We both splutter into laughter and then I remember that Rhys is here. I look towards the booth he is sitting at and he's staring right at me. Again. He doesn't seem fazed that I caught him looking or anything, just continues to stare at me like it's the most natural thing in the world!

"Donna, can we go? It's nearly five and you know what my mom is like about being late without telling her." My best friend rolls her eyes. I smile, forgetting Rhys momentarily.

"Come on then."

It's only when I get home that I remember what Rhys said.

"For the dreams. So you don't end up in your yard again."

But I didn't tell him about the dream. He might have overheard me telling Avril. But then again, I didn't even tell Avril that I wake up in my backyard after the dreams. No-one apart from me and my parents know that. How did he know??

I groan and sit up. I'm in the yard again. I rub my eyes and then stumble into my bedroom. I lay in the room and go to sleep, knowing I don't have to wake up for another few hours.

"Donna? Donna? Sweetheart! Donna!"

I look up into Mom's eyes, spangly earrings adorning her ears, light make-up decorating her face, "Come on, we have to get ready for the OK shoot."

"Mom, can't it wait till later?" I try to swat her away.

Undeterred, Mom grabs my wrist, "No. Now get up." For such a light-weight woman, she really is strong. Mom hauls me out of bed and begins to pull the contents of my closet on to the floor. She looks down at the last outfit in her hands, "This will look beautiful, Donna. Beautiful." I look at the outfit she's holding up and raise a sceptic eyebrow. It's a black top with silver prints, black extra-skinny jeans and grey ankle boots.

"Mom, I am not wearing that. It's not my style and it's not Converse." I point out, sitting down on the bed.

Mom narrows her eyes dangerously at me, "You are wearing this and you are liking it, because frankly, my darling, you don't have a choice. Wear it." Sighing deeply, I take the clothes from her, knowing there's no chance she'll budge from her decision now.

"You are looking divine!" Mom says when I emerge from the bathroom in the outfit. She sits me down in front of the mirror. I look blankly at my reflection, seeing what I see every day; blonde ringlets of hair, alabaster skin, your average blue eyes, an unattractive snub of nose, lips that are a little thin for my liking and a poor impression of Mom's heart shaped face.

Mom begins teasing my hair into straight locks and powders my face with bronzer and lip gloss and glitter. I hate it all. "Mom." I whine as she begins to colour my eyes in a light shade of grey, "I never normally wear make-up. Why do I have to wear make-up today?"

"This isn't a normal day, Donna." Mom tells me, "OK magazine is coming to our home. And they wanna know you."

"Then why am I not being true to self?" I ask Mom, slouching in my seat. She pulls my shoulders back, giving me a warning look.

She pats my cheek gently, "Sometimes, you have to please the people, Donna. Please the people." After an hour, Mom pronounces me ready. I look too made up, too much like a porcelain doll to look like plain old Donna Jade Morrison. Dad is dressed in smart black trousers, a transparent black collared shirt, a black tie and and a black blazer. His hair is tousled in that perfect way and his eyes are shining like they always do. Shooting for Dad normally means dressing down, not up. It's kind of weird when I turn to a magazing and see pictures of my dad in swimming shirts, posing in front of a blue ocean or a picture of my mom looking all glamorous in long ball gowns.

I sigh and look at Dad questioningly.

"You look beautiful." Dad kisses my forehead.

"I feel fake. How do you two do this?" I ask them, making a face as I remember not to rub my eyes again.

"We just do. Now come on, the cameramen will be here in a moment's notice."

The shoot was horrendous. Total strangers poking at my hair and my clother and telling my how to stand and how to sit and how to smile at my parents. I know how to do all that, actually, Davina Rossi! Seriously, these show biz people need to get a clue. I also had to undergo a torturous interview. Another stranger asked me questions like, "How do you feel about your parents' success?"

And I had to answer something like, "I'm really proud of them. They do a lot of work and they still have time for me, so they're really great. They're the best parents, I'm so lucky to have them." It's not me. The normal Donna would have said, "I'm happy that they achieve so much and it's kinda weird when my friends are going on about how beautiful my parents are and how lucky I am to have such pretty parents."

But, no, I had to go and be fake. I did it for Mom. I did it so she would be happy. So she would be proud of me. And it was worth it because I got to see that glow on her face after all the strangers had gone.

The picture is of Avril, Donna's best friend.