Say Her Name

The mirror started to steam up and she pulled off her robe. Roll on the Christmas holidays where she'd be able to shower in a room without the collective DNA samples of twenty other girls. At least the water was hot. The pressure wasn't bad either and she let the jet pummel her back for a few minutes before washing her hair. She had the shower room to herself for once, a rare luxury, and she'd have stayed longer if her stomach hadn't been rumbling.

She twisted the shower nozzle off and, not wanting to get soap in her eyes, blindly reached for her towel on the rail. She curved an arm around the curtain, waving it left and right, unable to locate the towel rail just outside the cubicle.

Her hand brushed against someone - specifically someone's hair.

She recoiled. Bobbie was sure she'd been alone. 'Sorry! I didn't know there was anyone . . .' She wiped the water out of her eyes and gingerly pulled back the mildewed shower curtain. The washroom was empty.

Bobbie wrapped the towel around her soaking body and listened carefully. The room was thick with steam and there was a constant drip, drip, drip from the shower, but the room was deserted. 'Hmmm,' Bobbie said, stepping out of the shower stall and onto the cool tiles. 'That's weird.' Perhaps she'd grazed her hand on the towel, but it really had felt like hair.

As the extractor fan creaked and groaned, removing the excess steam, Bobbie saw the mirror clearly. Someone had written in the condensation on the glass, little streams of water running like veins from the words.

It didn't make any sense to Bobbie. The two words simply read:

5 DAYS

Juno Dawson is a bestselling novelist, screenwriter, journalist, and a columnist for Attitude Magazine. Her writing has appeared in Glamour, The Pool, Dazed and the Guardian. She has appeared on Pointless Celebrities, BBC Women's Hour, Front Row, ITV News, Channel 5 News, This Morning and Newsnight.
Juno's books include the global bestsellers This Book is Gay and Clean. She won the 2020 YA Book Prize for Meat Market. She also writes for television and has multiple shows in development both in the UK and US. An occasional actress and model, Juno had a cameo in the BBC's I May Destroy You (2020) and played Vicky in Holby City (2021).
Juno grew up in West Yorkshire, writing imaginary episodes of Doctor Who. She later turned her talent to journalism, interviewing luminaries such as Steps and Atomic Kitten, before writing a weekly serial in a Brighton newspaper.
Juno lives in Brighton. She is a part of the queer cabaret collective known as Club Silencio. In 2014, Juno became a School Role Model for the charity Stonewall.

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