I'm writing this in the middle of the night, so I hope it still seems alright :)

6.

"I'm going out" Karen calls from the hallway as she makes her way towards the door. I quickly slip out of the kitchen and grab my jacket and bag before sneaking out of the door aswell, without being noticed. I guess all the sneaking around at Burnywood really did help. I watch Karen walk towards the bus stop. I follow her and stand around the corner as she sits down on the bench. I pull my scarf around my neck and put my sun glasses on from my bag. The bus pulls up and I follow Karen onto the bus, sitting in the seat behind her. The bus sets off and I eye her carefully as she begins texting someone. Dan I suspect. The bus stops and I get off along with Karen. She starts walking towards the restaurant Alpino's where she said she'd meet Dan. "Karen!" I call. She spins around in less than a second, her fiery red hair blowing into her face from the wind. "Ree! What are you doing here?" she asks me angrily, obviously not suspecting me to turn up. "You can't go and meet Dan. You don't know him" I protest. She puts her hand on her hips sternly. "How do you know about Dan?" she asks angrily. I bite my lip. "I kind of read your texts. Your phone kept beeping, I was curious. I wanted to make sure you were ok. When I was about your age I made a stupid mistake of going home with a man I didn't know. It was the stupidest thing I ever did." I tell her. "Karen, I don't want that to happen to you. Because it didn't end happily" I inform Karen. She fiddles with her hair uncomfortably.

"Dan was so nice to me. We've been texting each other for ages. He really understood me, he made me feel special. No-one's ever done that before. Not even my real family." she says so quietly it's almost a whisper. "Karen, you know you can't believe what people say" I tell her. "But I know how you feel. Spencer made me feel like that. But it was stupid for me to trust him, like it's stupid for you to trust Dan. You can't turn up at Alpino's" I say. Karen pushes her hair out of her face. "But I can't just not turn up. I made a promise, he'll get worried" she says. I nod in agreement. "But, I do have a plan. Do you trust me on this?" I ask her. She looks up and down at me for a second before nodding, "I trust you Ree" she says, taking a deep breath. I smile at her warmly. "Good. Here's the plan…"

I chew on some lettuce at the back of Alpino's, watching the door closely. Standing by it is a middle aged man with thick dark hair, holding a bunch of roses. I watch Karen as she walks into the shop, clutching her phone inside her pocket. My own phone is sitting next to me on the table, I can hear everything she does. The middle aged man walks up to her, "Karen?" he asks. She nods her head. "I knew you weren't nineteen" he says. He's obviously Dan. Who isn't who he says he is either. "I knew you weren't really eighteen" Karen says. Dan laughs (well at least I think that's his name). "I'm not Dan." he says. "I'm his dad Graham" the man says. Karen smiles at him. "Oh. Nice to meet you Graham. Dan told me about you" she says. They both sit down at a table for two and start up a conversation about what Karen likes. Everytime she says something Graham immediately says So does Dan or something similar. I can tell he's not genuine. "After lunch do you want to come back to my place?" Graham asks. My ears prick up at this. "Dan should be back. He's been at football all day" he tells Karen, who appears to be buying it. "Sure, I'd love to" she says.

I quickly rush out of the door after Karen and Graham quickly. They walk down the street and I end up running to catch up with them. "Karen, stop!" I call, pulling at her jacket. She turns round and exchanges a look with Graham. "Who's this?" Graham asks, eyeing me warily. Karen sighs. "This is my careworker, Ree. Maybe Dan's told you about her" Karen says. Graham nods at her. "Yeah, he has" Graham says. "Maybe you'd like to come to?" he asks me. I shake my head. "No I don't. Neither does Karen. I'm taking you home" I tell her. She looks at me sadly. "No!" she says. I look at her in disbelief. "Ree, I don't want to go home. I want to go back to Graham's house and meet Dan" Karen says. I grip her arm tighter, not believing my ears. "Karen, this guy is obviously Dan! If I have to I'll call the police" I threaten. Karen rolls her eyes. "Fine, I'll come. Sorry Graham, I'd love to meet Dan but if I get in trouble with the police again I'll be sent to court again" Karen says. I pull her arm and lead her towards the bus stop.

"What do you think you're playing at young lady?" I ask her furiously. She looks down at her feet, sniffing slightly. "He's not Dan! Didn't you hear him? He's Dan's dad" Karen says. I shake my head. "Karen, Dan isn't real. That man made him up to get close to you" I tell her. She looks at me confused. "Why would he do that to me? I thought he was my friend?" Karen asks, shocked by the realization. "Because he has a sick mind. But it's ok, we're going home now."

We get back and I go into the office to fill Tracy in on what happened. We both go up to talk to Karen, who agrees to report 'Dan's' number to the police. They interview Karen on what happened, ignoring the tears she sheds. I wrap my arm around her protectively as she tells the story of how everything happened, spilling tears as she speaks. Soon the police leave and Karen goes upstairs. I walk into the office again and am interviewed by Tracy, who's wondering exactly what happened from my view. If it was Mike he'd be furious but Tracy was once in my shoes, and understands fully what it's all like.

What do you think? Do you have any ideas for future chapters? Please review (more mind hugs!)