The Housemate by Pattison C. L

Author:Pattison, C. L. [Pattison, C. L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Psychological Thriller, Suspense
ISBN: 9781472261991
Publisher: Headline
Published: 2019-10-21T13:00:00+00:00

26

It’s dark in this airing cupboard, dark and very warm. My hands are pressed over my ears, but I can still hear them. They’ve been arguing for ages and it’s all because of me.

It started with the letter that arrived this morning. It’s Saturday today, so Dad’s not at work. He picked the letter up off the doormat and opened it as we ate our breakfast together. I could tell straight away it was bad news. The more Dad read, the more his face seemed to sag with the weight of the words. When he got to the bottom of the letter, he laid it down on the table and gave a great big sigh like he’d just run a marathon.

‘It’s from the school,’ he said. ‘The headmaster wants to see us; apparently you were involved in a physical altercation with another student last week.’

‘A physical what?’

‘A scrap of some sort.’

I stared into the puddle of chocolatey milk at the bottom of my cereal bowl. Stupid, shit-stirring Mr Finch. I thought we’d sorted all that out in his office.

‘It says here that the other student sustained a “substantial injury, requiring hospital treatment”,’ Dad said, drawing bunny ears in the air. ‘Do you know what the injury was?’

I rested my elbows on the table and cupped my face in my hands, figuring it would make me look more innocent somehow. ‘I think he might have broken his arm, but I didn’t mean to do it, I swear.’

Dad’s face sagged some more. ‘So what happened exactly?’

I told him what I’d told Mr Finch and when I’d finished, Dad took in a large mouthful of air, so his cheeks puffed out. Then he let the air out slowly through his nose. ‘You do know I’m going to have to tell Mum about this, don’t you?’

I’d been hoping and praying he wasn’t going to say that; even just hearing the words made my shoulders shake as a freezing shiver ran up my spine. ‘No, Dad,’ I said, reaching for his hand across the table. ‘You can’t tell her; you know what’ll happen.’

He smiled sadly. ‘I’m sorry, sweetheart, I can’t keep something this big from her. In any case, the headmaster wants to see us both.’

Right on cue, we heard footsteps above us. Mum had woken up. I looked up at the ceiling.

Dad patted the back of my hand. ‘She’ll be down in a minute. You know how grumpy she is when she wakes up, so I’ll wait until she’s had a cup of coffee before I tell her. It’s probably best if you make yourself scarce for a bit. Why don’t you go over to Anouk’s? I can drop you there in the car if you like.’

I shook my head. ‘Anouk’s visiting her grandma in the old people’s home.’

‘One of your other friends?’

‘I don’t have any other friends.’

Dad turned his head to look out of the kitchen window. It was raining, or I know he would’ve told me to play outside in the garden. ‘You’d better go up to your room, then – and don’t come down until I tell you.

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