Don't You Forget About Me

What if you could change the girl you were in school?

Cara loves to lose herself in the magical world of films. But the Molly Ringwald classics she watches on repeat just keep reminding her of the high school regrets she can’t seem to shake.

While stars on screen are immortalised in celluloid (or Blu-Ray, now that she thinks about it), Cara needs to take charge of her own destiny before life passes her by in a blur of John Hughes re-runs.

Determined to right past wrongs at her high school reunion, will Cara finally achieve her Pretty in Pink moment? Or will the elusive happy ending she’s chasing have been right in front of her all along?

Perfect for fans of Hannah Doyle and Anna Bell, Don’t You Forget About Me is a hilarious and heartwarming story of self-discovery and true love.

Also by Liz Tipping

Five Go Glamping

Don’t You Forget About Me

Liz Tipping

Copyright

HQ

An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd. 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

First published in Great Britain by HQ in 2016

Copyright © 2016 Liz Tipping

Liz Tipping asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

E-book Edition © June 2016 ISBN: 9781474049559

Version: 2018-02-15

LIZ TIPPING

writes romantic comedies. As well as reading and writing novels, Liz enjoys John Hughes films, science fiction box sets, reality television, Irish sausages and ginger beer. She lives in Birmingham with her husband and their beagle, Mary. You can say hello to Liz on twitter @LizTipping and facebook facebook.com/LizziesBooks/

For Kirstie

Contents

Cover

Blurb

Book List

Title Page

Copyright

Author Bio

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Excerpt

Endpages

Chapter One

Saturday 14 May 2016

8.47 a.m.

The Battered Sausage Revelation

I assumed it was going to be another humdrum day in the shop, so you can’t imagine how thrilling it was for me for to find the battered sausage in the video rentals returns box.

I hoped we’d at least have one or two customers, something to keep me occupied and interrupt the troubling, monotonous thoughts in my head such as “What am I doing with my life?” and “How the hell did I end up back here?” and “Is it still okay to fancy Tom Cruise?”

I still checked the returns box every day even though it had been weeks since anyone had borrowed anything. No one really borrowed films any more, but sometimes there would be returned DVDs, which someone had borrowed months ago. Occasionally letters were delivered there by mistake or there was the odd bit of litter, but this was the first and only time I had found a battered sausage. It had been delivered in a polystyrene carton and fully wrapped in paper. I peeled back the layers and there it sat, sprinkled with salt over the now greying batter. It was a bit like opening a present and I could barely contain my excitement.

Olivia blew in from the street, pushing the door open with her backside while she wrestled with her umbrella.

“Look at this, Liv, a battered sausage. Fully wrapped. Jumbo sized. Isn’t it brilliant?” I said.

Liv inspected the tray. “Euw. You’re not going to eat it, are you? How gross.” She recoiled, her blond curls still bouncing even when she stopped. She frowned and her eyes narrowed so much and for so long that I wondered if her mascara had stuck together.

“No, I’m not going to eat it. It was in the returns bin. Where do you think it came from?” I said.

“Erm…the chip shop? Maybe?”

I nodded. “Well, yeah, obviously, I know that, but who would have posted it through the door?” I was sad that Liv wasn’t as excited as me.

Olivia shrugged, shook her brolly and headed to the kitchen leaving me alone to ponder the mystery with the cast of The Breakfast Club.

“Any thoughts on this one?” I said, addressing the giant cardboard promotional cut-out. I showed the battered sausage to Molly Ringwald.

“Stop talking to the Breakfast Club,” shouted Liv, over the boiling kettle.