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Paige sighed and put her phone down. She was on the verge of tears again, of doing something drastic even, she just didn’t know what.

“I’d better go,” Charlotte said. “I’m supposed to be Snapchatting Liam.” Her eyes danced. “He only wants me to do it topless, cheeky bugger, so I was thinking I might take a picture of my bare back in the mirror and send that. I mean, he didn’t say it had to be the front.”

Paige managed a smile. “What are you going to do if he takes a screenshot and sends it to everyone?”

Charlotte shrugged. “Why would I care if anyone sees my back?”

“I bet you’ll send one of your front if he asks.”

“I might. Then again, I might not. You know, if I didn’t include my head no one would know it was me.”

“Apart from the fact it’s come from your phone.”

“True, but I could have taken it of someone else.”

“Just as long as no one thinks it’s me.”

“Don’t worry—given the difference in our sizes, they won’t. Anyway, I haven’t even decided if I’m going to do it yet. If I do, I’ll make it disappear in three seconds, so he won’t have time to screenshot. So, let me know how you get on with
Julie
if you message her back. Personally, I don’t think you should, unless it’s to tell her to eff off.”

After ending the call Paige walked over to her bed and slumped down on the edge of it. She wished her mum would come up to see her, but at the same time she hoped she never did. She just wanted everything to be normal again, the way it had been before the Durmites had started picking on her and her dad had got involved with this Martha cow. She hardly knew which was worse; it was all so horrible. At least when her dad was here she could go to him for help, but he wouldn’t be interested now. Obviously all that mattered to him was being with this woman; he didn’t care what it was doing to her mum, or how the young ones—
his real children
—were going to feel, and he definitely wouldn’t care about her. No one ever did. She needed Grandpa to be around. He would understand everything. He’d know how to protect her from the bullies the way he’d protected Grandma, and he’d know what to do to help Mum and Dad stay together.

She could hear everyone banging and crashing about as usual, the twins shouting something about a sleepover, Josh insisting he’d had a bath two days ago so he didn’t need another. She listened for her mother’s voice but couldn’t hear it. Grandma seemed to be in charge, which meant her mum was probably still in the kitchen with Bena. She was glad her mum had a best friend. Bena was so lovely, really kind and down to earth and always ready for a laugh. Nothing to laugh at tonight, but it was still good that Bena was there so her mum didn’t have to be on her own.

She hoped Charlotte FaceTimed back tonight. She felt better when she had someone to talk to, even if Charlotte was really more interested in Liam. She wished things would work out for her the way they did for Charlotte, the only child, whose parents were really cool and faithful to each other, and who had a boyfriend whom she Snapchatted and sexted, and who wasn’t being picked on at school or online.

She considered going on Facebook to check what was happening with the rest of her friends, not that she really had any left, but she still wanted to know what was going on. The trouble was she was afraid of finding her account had been hacked again. She supposed someone would have warned her by now if it had, but there was still the friend request to Oliver that had never been answered, and she was too afraid of posting anything herself in case one of the Durmites picked up on it.

At least Julie never said anything bad. She was always sweet and tried to be helpful, so it was hard to think of her being a false friend. The more Paige considered it, the more certain she felt that the false friend was Owen. He hadn’t even given her the benefit of the doubt of that horrible posting. He had never been prepared to listen, and he had even told people he knew for a fact she’d done it herself. Why would he do that if he didn’t mean her some kind of harm? For all she knew he’d posted it himself and made it look like her, so everyone would turn on her instead of him. Of all the people she knew, he and Harry Adcock were the only ones able to hack into someone else’s account. They were brilliant on the computer, both of them, top of the class, the ones everyone went to when they had problems.

Feeling in sore need of talking to someone, she picked up her phone again and clicked on to answer Julie’s message.
It was OK, don’t think I’d go again though. Have you ever been?

Long minutes ticked by as she waited for an answer, meaning Julie wasn’t online. She began trawling through other websites and chat rooms, watching stuff on YouTube, and checking to see if Oliver was on Pheed. He wasn’t, but Julie was now because an answer to her message had just come up.

No, never been, but have always wanted to. What sorts of things did she tell you?

Paige hesitated, having to think about how to answer that. In the end, she said,
Boring stuff, mostly about my mum and dad. She said I had a false friend and I thought it might be you.

OMG! Why do you think that?

Because you won’t tell me who you are.

I thought you understood that.

I suppose I do. I just couldn’t think who else it might be. Apart from Owen.

When there was no immediate response she started to tense, aware she could have just accused Owen himself, or at least someone who knew him.

You know, I’ve been thinking about it,
Julie finally replied,
and I reckon you could be right about Owen. He definitely turned against you after the posting. Do you know yet who did that?

No, but I thought it might be him.

What, you think he outed himself and made it look like you so you got the blame? Awesome. But why would he do that?

Because everyone would turn on me then, instead of him.

Pretty genius if it’s true, because it worked. No one’s taken much notice of him being gay, it’s all about you and what you did.

Except I didn’t do it.

Point taken. Are the Durmites still hassling you?

They did this morning, but haven’t seen much of them since.

Best to keep away from them if possible. I heard about the daffodils. Totally sick. BTW thought it was a great piece myself. Can see why Miss Kendrick put it in the mag.

Thanks. Thought it was pretty lame myself, but you know what Miss K is like when she fixates on something. Are you in her class?

Sometimes. Depends. Tell me more about the fortune-teller. Did she say anything about boyfriends?

Not really, just that there’s someone I like who she described pretty accurately.

No way! Who is it?

No one you know.

I might.

Even if you did it wouldn’t make a difference, he’s not interested in me.

How do you know?

I just do. To be honest life’s pretty f’d up at the moment. Nothing’s going right.

Sorry to hear that. Anything I can do?

Shouldn’t think so, but thanks for asking. Do you have a boyfriend?

No. Like you, there’s someone I’m interested in, but he’s going out with someone else.

Does he go to our school?

No. He’s at college.

Paige’s heart jarred. It couldn’t possibly be Oliver; it was insane even to think it.
What’s his name?

Brad.

Breathing again, Paige said,
Have you ever spoken to him?

Not really. I just look at him and he looks right through me.

Paige had to smile.
Sorry to hear that. Know how you feel.

I heard him call me butterhead once.

What does that mean?

Everything about her’s fit, but-her-head.

Paige’s heart contracted with pity.
That’s terrible. What a tosser. Bet you were really upset.

Just a bit. I’ll get over it. Couple of saddos, us? Not really.

Feeling like it at the moment.
She paused, but only for a moment.
My dad’s just left home.
As she stared at the words she could hardly believe they were true, or that she was telling someone she didn’t know.

OMG. That really sucks. No wonder you feel bad. Between us, I keep wishing mine would go, but I suppose it’s different when it happens.

Definitely. Can’t get my head round it. Only found out tonight that he’s having an affair.

Ew! How did your mum take it?

Badly, I think. Haven’t really spoken to her yet.

It probably won’t last and he’ll come home again.

That’s what I’m hoping. If he doesn’t will never want to speak to him again.

I can understand that.

Anyway, he’s my stepdad, not my real dad.
Saying that felt like a punishment; she knew it would hurt him and it was meant to.

Hearing a knock on her door, she quickly typed,
Sorry, got to go
and cut the connection. “Who is it?” she called out.

“Just me,” her mother answered. “Can I come in?”

Paige desperately wanted to say no, but knowing how much it would upset her mother if she did, she said grudgingly, “If you must.”

As Jenna pushed the door open she was saying to the twins, “Please do as Grandma tells you for now….Yes, we can go and see the lambs tomorrow….Just clean your teeth, I’ll be in to see you in a minute.”

“Mum!” Josh roared across the landing.

“Josh, I’m only here. What is it?”

“There’s a spider in my room. Where’s Dad? He has to come and kill it.”

“I’ll sort it out in—”

“No! You can’t. When’s Dad coming home?”

“I know how to deal with spiders,” Grandma informed him, marching across the landing. “Come and show me where it is.”

Rolling her eyes as she closed Paige’s door behind her, Jenna attempted a smile. “Are you OK?” she asked tenderly.

“Not really,” Paige answered.

Going to sit next to her on the bed, Jenna slipped an arm around her and rested her head on hers. “I’m sorry this is happening,” she whispered. “I wish it wasn’t.”

“I hate him.”

Jenna sighed softly. “I know you think you do at the moment.”

“Don’t you?”

“I’m angry, obviously, and upset….The truth is, I hardly know how I’m feeling.”

“How did you find out?”

“Like you, I worked it out for myself. I didn’t want to believe it, but then he told me.”

“When?”

“Last night.”

Last night, when I was sitting here thinking about Oliver and feeling sorry for myself about everything.
Paige didn’t want to think about it, but how could she not? “Does he really mean it?” she said huskily. “Is he actually going to live with her?”

Jenna swallowed hard. “I think so. It’s where he—he’s gone tonight.” As she started to cry Paige wrapped her arms around her.

“It’ll be all right, Mum, honest,” she promised, crying too. “We’ll get through it. We can manage without him if we have to.”

Jenna sat up and smoothed Paige’s hair silently for a few moments. “You told Charlotte he’d gone?” she asked after a while.

Paige stiffened. “Yes,” she admitted. “She’s my best friend….How do you know?”

“Because her mother just rang asking if there was anything she could do to help.”

Paige regarded her mother with guilty, helpless eyes. Sweet and kind though Lucy Griffiths could be, everyone knew she was one of the biggest gossips on the Gower. “I’m sorry,” she whispered brokenly. “I didn’t think….”

“It’s OK. I understand you needed to talk to your friend, and it’ll have to come out sometime. I suppose I just hadn’t imagined it would be quite so soon.”

Three dreadful days had passed since Jack had left, and the nights had been even worse. There were moments when Jenna felt she might be losing her mind. How could something that wasn’t even physical hurt so much? The ache of it, the sheer torment of what her own thoughts were doing to her, never mind what Jack was doing, was such agony at times that she almost wanted to die rather than endure any more.

Somehow she’d forced herself through the weekend, mainly thanks to her mother and Bena, and yesterday morning she’d managed to get Josh and the twins ready for school and had arranged their lunches, pickups, and social extras without them seeming to notice anything was wrong. She had told them that their father had gone to stay with Grandma Moore for a few days, and Jack had accepted that, apparently understanding that she wasn’t yet ready to tackle what his departure was going to mean to them. It was true, she wasn’t, though she couldn’t deny that a part of her reason for delaying was to give him time to change his mind.

So far he’d shown no sign of it, had hardly even been in touch since he’d gone, but as Bena kept reminding her, it was still early days. “The real proof of whether he can go through with it will come when he realizes how much he’s missing you all.”