Vanity stretched casually on her yoga mat. It still startled her that she taught in such a beautiful place, overlooking a bay that she had always enjoyed, long before it became her home. She was so happy and had even noticed the emergence of laughter lines the last time she had glance in the mirror

Keeping her name had been a risk, but she took perverse pleasure in it. Growing up in a community of Plymouth Brethren, her parents had, they said, given her a name that would forever remind her of the dangers of the wider world.

It wasn’t until her early teens that she slowly began to understand what this meant for her. Like all her friends she had attended One School Global, run by the Brethren exclusively for the children of the community. However, in a moment of weakness, when she turned sixteen, her parents had allowed her to attend a local college, part-time, so that she could study Spanish. She still had to obey very strict rules and, on no account, was she to mix with her fellow students socially. Her family had her college timetable attached by a magnet to the fridge and her mother monitored her movements very closely.

In Spanish class she usually sat beside Laura, an apparently quiet girl who didn’t ask her too many questions, but gradually they became more friendly. As the first year of the course wore on, Vanity even took to occasionally inventing ‘tutorials’ so that she could at least share a coffee with Laura.

One Monday, just as Vanity was thinking that she should rush home before her mother suspected anything, she and Laura were joined by another small group from a different class. They all knew Laura from the school they had all attended. Their natural friendliness was almost too much for Vanity, but on her walk home, the upturn in her mood made her forget the anxiety that she usually felt when she anticipated the questions she would get from her mother.

It was just the start. Over a few short months Vanity found herself looking forward to seeing her new friends more and more. It was just short meetings in cafes and, occasionally, bars, at first. It was impossible to do anything else without incurring the wrath of her family. Slowly, she began to see the reality of a life that had been forced upon her.

The weeks leading up to her escape were terrifying. Not only because of the prospect of what lay before her, but also the devastation she would leave behind. Now here she was, ten years later, living a life that gave her peace, full of cautious optimism. Earlier, Vanity’s phone had vibrated with a message from an unknown number. It was no surprise to hear that her mother had died. An orphan at last.

One last stretch and it would be time to let the class in. She lay down, closed her eyes and let the sunshine wash over her.