In the two short stories “Sin Bin or Lucy’s heart” (2000), by Lucy Cross, and “The Fabulous Button Sisters” (2006), by Sarah Salway, the focus is on the two girls Lucy and Karen, from the UK. Both girls deal with the dilemmas of teenage hood and growing up, finding that sometimes you must give parts of your life up, if its friends or free will, to fit in.
Lucy, in the story “Sin Bin or Lucy’s Heart”, seems like a rebellious teenager, since she is in detention for hitting a girl named Penny Jones. However, this is odd since Lucy is one the brainiest students at the schools, having nine o-levels and in general is a well-behaved student, who rarely, if ever, ends in detention.
Her change of heart happens once she met Bethan, a rebellious girl who has a negative influence on Lucy. Lucy’s friendship with Penny ended simply because Bethan came in between them, and Lucy had to decide whether she wanted to be cool or a nerd. In fact, Lucy doesn’t hate Penny, but pretends to do so in front of Bethan, who is unaware of her true feelings. Bethan has a manipulative behaviour towards Lucy and pressures her into being abusive towards Penny, smoking and wearing make-up. Lucy is very aware and conscious about the choices she makes and what Bethan will think of them and her. This can be seen when she waits to wipe her make-up off, until Bethan is out of sight, or keeps quiet when Bethan expresses her embarrassment over Lucy going to the Prize Day, even though she thoroughly enjoys it.
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