PROLOGUE


Sienna Harrison groaned at the shrill sound of her bedside alarm clock, she didn't want to wake up and face the grim reality of her poky, wrong side of town flat, the run down council estate on which it was situated, her dead end job or her lazy good for nothing boyfriend, she wanted to stay in dreamland a bit longer and exprience a world where she was a pampered, desired celebrity, where she had 'yes' men at her beck and call, a stunning penthouse apartment, an glittering career and a sexy superstar boyfriend.
"Turn off that alarm for fuck sake," said good for nothing boyfriend, Mickey, groaned, rolling over and engulfing her in a stream of stale beer fumes, he pulled the duvet up over his head, leaving her body uncovered and shivering in the early morning chill of the flat.
Sienna sat up and banged her fist down on the offending tiny white contraption, silencing it abruptly, she stood up and pulled on her pink terry cloth robe, "What time did you get in last night?" she asked, checking out her reflection in the dressing table mirror.
"I dunno," Mickey mumbled, "Three, four. I finished work at eleven and then had a few drinks with the fellas."
"Right," Sienna said, rolling her eyes at her reflection, that usually translated into he'd ended up playing cards and losing half of the money he worked fifty plus hours a week to earn.
"What's that meant to mean?" Mickey asked her, sitting up.
"Nothing," Sienna replied, she picked up the pile of clothes she'd set out to wear the night before and headed out of the tiny bedroom and into the even smaller bathroom, "If you can raise youself out of that bed at some point today," she yelled back to him, "The living room needs hovering and the rubbish needs taking out."
"Whatever," was the muffled reply from underneath the sheets.



Madison Allen tuned out the sound of her parents arguing in the other room and flipped through the channels on the small black and white portable TV in the kitchen while she ate some cereal, it was nothing she hadn't heard before, in fact, she'd heard it every day and night for as long as she could remember, the argument inevitably ended with her father storming out down the pub and her mum banging around the house calling him all the sorry sons of bitches under the sun, she doubted if today would be anything new.
She finished her cornflakes, placed the bowl in the fridge, gave her reflection one final glance in the window, grabbed her coat and headed out the front door without saying goodbye. She shoved her hands deep into her pockets and made her way down the frost covered path, her breath clouding the air in front of her. She hated the cold with a passion. One of these days, she thought as she made her way down the street, past the boarded over shop fronts and burnt out cars that littered the estate where she lived, she would move somewhere hot and tropical and never give this godforsaken place a second thought. She looked up at the sound of her name and smiled when she saw one of the few people on this earth who kept her sane, one of her best friends, and fellow dreamers, "Hey Soph," she said, "What's up?"

"Oh, the usual," Sophia Craig said, looking immaculate at 8am in the morning as only she could look, "Found mum in a drunken stupor on the sofa this morning, had to drag her up to bed, nothing changes, you know."
Madison let out a short laugh, "Tell me about it," she said, "My parents are just getting into their first argument of the day."
"Parents," Sophia said, "Who needs em'?" As much as she loved her mother for giving her life, she hated the bitter, twisted woman she'd become over the past eighteen years. Sophia's father had left her mother when Sophia was one, and slowly her mum had grown to hate him for it, hate her daughter for being there to remind her of him, and hate both of them for ruining her life, and every day, she fuelled that hate by trying to drown her troubles in a deluge of alcohol. Sophia had lost count of the amount of times she'd begged her mum to get help, only to have her fall of the wagon four, six weeks later, blaming Sophia and her non exsistant father for everything wrong in her life.



"Bye Dad," Alana Richards yelled out as she hurried down the stairs and flung open the front door to reveal one of her best friends, Jaydene Miller standing on the step. "Hey, soul sista," she greeted her.
"Wait a minute, Lani," Alana's father called out, "I need some cash."
Alana pulled a face at Jaydene and guestured to follow her into the living room, where her dad was enscounced in his usual chair, the early morning breakfast show played on the TV.
"What do you need cash for, dad?" Alana asked.
"I need to get down to the benefits office," her dad told her, "It's signing on day today."
"It's a ten minute walk," Alana replied, "I told you before, i'm not funding your gambling habit anymore."
"Since when did i raise such a cold hearted daughter?" her father asked, reaching for the horse racing section of the newspaper, "When i get that big winner, don't even think about coming to me for a handout."
"Whatever, dad," Alana said, "Look some of us need to work for a living, so i'll see you tonight." She shook her head at Jaydene as they walked out the door, "I swear my father keeps that bookmakers in business," she said, as they exited the house and walked down a small alleyway that led out of the housing estate and onto the main road.
Jaydene laughed as they stopped at the bus stop, "Do you ever feel like you are the parent?"
Alana grinned, "Hell, all the time, you know that, girl. What's up? Mummy dearest bring home another 'uncle' last night?"
Jaydene grimaced, "How'd you guess? I swear the woman may as well start charging money, at least we might be able to afford some decent stuff then."
Alana stuck out her arm to signal the bus as it began approaching the stop, the two girls climbed on and made their way to the back, "One of these days," Alana said, propping her feet up on the seat in front of her, "All of this will be a dim and distant memory."
Jaydene smiled, "A girl can dream, right?