Why me?

Why me? is the first of the Emily Jackson stories by Matthew Steel. It deals with a teenage girl and how she is persued by a mean, vengeful boy called Tom Stone who has a couple of friends to help him.

It also explores the relationship with her friends and with her boyfriend.

Plot
In class, Emily and her friends have to match up countries to their capital cities. When it turns out only Emily got them right, Tom gives her a put down, but the kind teacher, Mr.Shaw gives him a stern look and asks how well he did.

Later on, the three girls go to macdonalds and when Emily is alone, making her short walk home, Tom appears and grabs her and threatens that worse is to come. Later when Harvey finds out about how Tom has treat her, he stands up for her, but gets pushed into the road and hit by a car. When he comes around, he tells Emily it's too much and they can't be together anymore.

Megan and Alice meets a guy who likes his exercise and they, with Emily all agree to take a walk into the woods, which happens to be where Tom and his friends are hiding, in a fight that breaks out, Megans' older sister Jess is killed, but so is Eric (Toms' friend) after a long fall. Tom flees, saying he'll be back and they should fear,

One day when Alice is abscent from school, the other two go on as normal, but when they go to her house to check on her, they don't find her, just a note signed Tom, saying he will kill her in three days unless Emily gives herself up to him. A detective talks to the girls and gives them a list of places he might be holding Alice, but it turns out when they search, they are nowhere to be seen.

By some luck, they see Martyn who agrees to help  them, after falling out with Tom because he wanted him to rape Alice. Thry go to her house, with Dan, and Harvey (who makes up with Emily) and find Alice. The Detective shows up, and reveals himself to be Toms' dad and doesn;t take him to jail. They chase him to the school - which he burns down and only Tom, the three girls and Mr.Shaw manage to get out safe.

Five months later, the three girls are at home together and they see on the news is Mr.Shaw, talking about how he found Toms' body (buried himself in his garden) and that he now has a youth club at his hands. Emily, Megan and Alice are all happy again and vow to do everything they have hoped for.