Every teenager wants to look older than they really are, don’t they? It’s a rite of passage for most girls, slapping on the make-up and high heels and trying to look more grown-up.
So when I was 13, and an older girl with dark hair, big hoop earrings and a lip piercing passed me a ciggy, I didn’t want to refuse.
I wanted to look cool, be part of her gang.
It was late 2006 and, like most days, I’d bunked off school in Sheffield and headed to an area where there were always loads of teenagers hanging around. But this time, I’d spotted a new girl.
‘Hi, I’m Amanda,’ she’d smiled, offering me a drag of her cigarette.
‘Hi,’ I’d replied, desperate to be her friend.
After that, every…
