Page 31 of How We Began

That’s me, baby.

The talk didn’t go well. Not at all. Started when I climbed out of Deathtrap Cooper and Dad peered through the curtains at the racket we made on the drive.

“What on earth is that? Did the neighbours see you pull up?”

“Quick, throw a blanket over my head and hustle me in the house.” I added a teenage eye roll for good measure.

“We weren’t expecting you.’ Dad smiled at me and I waited to see if he’d hug me, which he didn’t.

“How’s Mum?” I asked.

“Oh, you know. She’s joined the local book club.”

I scrunched my face. “Really?”

“Yep. She’s making a library in the front room so she has reading space.”

Mum did this a lot, becoming obsessed with something until she found a new idea to be obsessed with.

“So to what do we owe the pleasure?” Dad shoved his hands in the pockets of his chinos.

“Well, actually, I wanted to tell you something. Shall we go inside?”

I didn’t want to, I wanted to run away, but then Dad said, “I’ve got golf with John tomorrow, such a wonderful fella. Perfect for you, Delilah, absolutely perfect…”

And that was it. I cracked.

Okay, so maybe I didn’t mean to scream in his face that I had a new boyfriend who was a guitar playing sex beast, but one doesn’t plan these things, they just happen.

Well, to me they do.

“Lilah!” Mum stood aghast on the doorstep, new books clutched in her hands. “This nonsense has to stop, first university, making friends with people so much younger than you. That girl had a nose ring! A nose ring! And now this… Daddy, make her stop it now.”

I shuddered as I always did when she called Dad, Daddy.

“No, Mum. You need to stop it. This is what I want, what I need. Why can’t you just be happy for me, why can’t we be like a normal family and just support one another? You’ll love Ben, he’s sweet, caring, he’s perfect, actually… for me.”

Mum and Dad looked at one another blankly, and that’s when I knew.

I’d made the right decision.

10th November

Shit! I must have fallen asleep.

My face has been resting on my spiral pad and now I have a curly indentation all along my right cheek.

That’s weird. The others must be home by now. It is getting light outside.

I should just go back to sleep, this time on a proper pillow, then when I wake up again it’ll be time to go and tell Ben.

Yeah, right. Who am I kidding?

I’m going to find my sexy jim-jams and I am going to go and wake up him up right now.

(10 minutes later)

Please poke my eyes out, because it feels like that image is going to be burnt on my irises forever, no matter how hard I try to blink it away.