Tracy Beaker Returns - The Untold Story of Tiffany

Birthday

We're nearly there. I'm nearly done telling Tiffany's story, nearly but not quite.

Lily, Carmen, Frank, Liam and Tiffany were all sitting around the kitchen table, sharing out toast and cereal. Tracy walked in, and began leafing through a pile of letters that had just come through the door. She accepted a glass of orange juice from Carmen and sat down.

“Bills,” she said dropping three of the letters onto the table, “Pizza leaflets, Gus’s piano tuition form, Lily here’s a postcard from your sisters. They’re coming over tomorrow aren’t they?” she handed Lily the postcard, smiling reassuringly, “and, this is for you I think Tiffany...” She passed the last letter across the table towards the confused Tiffany.

“Me?” she said, taking the letter. Liam at her, eyebrows raised.

“A secret admirer?” he said grinning.

“Shut up.”  She sliced the enveloped open, peered inside and gasped quietly.

“What?” Liam said, suddenly worried.

“Oh, nothing.” She said, “It, it’s nothing.” Her face was wiped of any emotion, as she pushed her chair back and hurried from the room.

Both Liam and Frank stood up and went to follow her, but Tracy stopped them.

“No,” she said, glancing at the door, “Give her a minute, whatever it is she’ll tell you in her own time.”

Frank sighed, nodded and sat back down in his chair, but Liam remained standing. “I’ll do what I like thanks.” He said, before leaving the room and heading upstairs.

*

Tiffany was sitting on her bed, the open envelope lying in front of her and something bright in her hand.

“Hey.” Liam said softly, making her jump and she scrambled to put whatever it was back in the envelope.

“Sorry, but, well are you alright?” he asked, sitting beside her.

“Yeah I’m fine.” She said, wiping tears from her eyes.

“Don’t lie. I know you. What’s in the envelope?”

“It’s well it’s...here.” she said, passing it to him.

He opened it, and a bright birthday card fell into his lap. “What,” he said, “What’s this?”

“What does it look like?” she smiled weakly. “It’s my birthday tomorrow, and that’s a card from my old care home. I didn’t want anyone to know, didn’t want a big deal really. I, I don’t do birthdays, I haven’t since, well I haven’t for a long time.”

“You kidding me?” Liam asked, grinning. “It’s your birthday tomorrow and you didn’t say! That’s, well that’s...” He paused “That’s understandable.”

Tiffany nodded. “Well don’t go telling everyone alright? I mean, Frank can know, but not the others they’ll make it bigger than it has to be.”

“Sure, sure I’ll keep it quiet.”

“Thanks Liam,” She smiled, and left.

“S’alright.” He muttered smiling to himself.

“You coming?” she called from the hall.

*

Tracy thumbed through the files. There were bulging records here of all the kids in the home at the moment, but there were also smaller files that had essential details of past children. She slipped one of them out of its packet Golddigga, Tiffany said the name on the front. She flipped it open. It was all here, her close friendship with Liam and Frank, details on when her and Liam ran away, and finally in the back an account of her previous life in the dumping ground. This, obviously, included a description of what Tracy had done, but as she leafed through she spotted something quite different. It was a small bundle of hand-drawn plans for a party, and as she looked through them she realised with a jolt that she was looking at her own hand-writing.