Free The Glass House by Suki Fleet Page A

“I just…” don’t feel like eating most of the time. I had no obsession about food or my weight—rather, I felt completely apathetic about eating, and Corinne had never been much of a cook, so there was never anything particularly appetizing to eat. “I eat chips.”
    “You’re still growing. You need to eat better than that.”
    Corinne turned on the tap, filled a glass of water, and handed it to me.
    “I know this past year has been hard on you.”
    I stared at her, my insides shriveling so much I doubted I’d even be able to drink the water.
    “It’s been hard on me too…. I had no idea what a sixteen-year-old boy might need…. I still don’t, but if you don’t talk to me, how—”
    I got up.
    “I’m sorry I got dumped on you… and I’m seventeen,” I mumbled as I strode toward my bedroom. She knew nothing about me, not even my age.
    “Fucking hell, Sasha!” she shouted, darting past me and planting herself in front of me, stopping me dead. “It was a fucking awful thing Mum did to you. But I want you to know I asked to look after you. I asked social services if you could come here. You were never dumped on me. But….” She swallowed and shook her head, her messy hair falling in her face. “I’m not sure I made the best decision for you. I’m not sure I haven’t made it worse for you somehow. You’re my brother, and I just want to help you…. It wasn’t just her leaving, was it?” Corinne took hold of my shoulders, gripping my upper arms in her hands. It made me want to run, to get as far away from her as I possibly could. She searched my eyes. “You were in trouble before that. I know you weren’t happy. Mum said something about a teacher at school…. Did he… did he do something to you?”
    I didn’t want to hurt her—even though I was slight, I was taller and stronger than she was—but I shoved her off all the same and ran to my room, bolted the door behind me, and then curled up on the carpet.
    Yeah, there was a long-ago incident with a teacher at school, but all he had been was kind to me.

Chapter Six
In which I disclose a secret hidden in the darkness beneath my bed….
     
     
    I COULDN ’ T sleep. Every so often I picked up my phone and stared at the screen. I thought about calling Thomas, just to hear his voice, but my mood felt unpredictable, and I didn’t want to end up doing something stupid that I would regret—like crying down the phone or bleeding out all my sickly secrets to him.
    Only when the yellowy-blue dawn light flooded my room did I doze. I heard Corinne leave for work and pulled the duvet over my head, safe in my silent cocoon of darkness.
    I slept.
    When I woke it was 10:00 a.m. I’d missed the start of school. It was too late to go in now—I didn’t have the strength to face it. I thought about what Thomas said about my missing too much school. Maybe they would chuck me out this time. I was only good at one thing, my art, and it was hardly going to get me a job. I wasn’t even sure I was actually good at it—I just did it because it took me out of myself, gave me… peace, maybe. When school finished I’d probably end up working down in The Happy Mart with Corinne, living our sad existence in parallel until we flatlined. What was the point in taking my exams if I was just going to fail them anyway?
    I stayed in bed.
    I went back to sleep.
    A knock at the door woke me. I knew it was late afternoon because the light left my room blue and cold.
    I looked around apprehensively, wondering who the hell was knocking on the door.
    “Sasha!”
    Thomas. Again. He didn’t sound so out of breath this time. But he did sound a bit pissed off.
    Reluctantly I opened the door.
    “Hey.”
    Thomas blinked at me. He might have sounded annoyed, but he didn’t look it. He looked sort of relieved, as if he had been worried and now wasn’t so much.
    “You didn’t come in to school.”
    “Bad night.”
    “Oh,” he said with a sigh, drawing his eyebrows