Some want proof before they believe paranoid people, so here goes. I screw the metal plate in place, then close my door from the outside and slide the lock across. It finds the hole perfectly, but I’m not happy. I was right, and that’s not a good thing.

I turn the handle and push, but the door holds firm, and I imagine Amy on the other side.

“What are you doing?” Nia asks. She’s staring at me like I’ve killed the cat, but that’s just her face.

“It’s the wrong side, idiot…unless you want to be locked in.”

“I know,” I reply. “I’m just trying something.”

She doesn’t ask what or why. She just sighs and closes her bedroom door.

After I’ve removed the lock, only for a second, I think about screwing it to Nia’s door and trapping her inside. It might teach her a lesson. I could say I’ll only let her out if she’s a bit nicer to me. But, honestly, I don’t care if she’s moody. She’s angry because her parents split up and took one kid each. Jay took Nia, and her mum took her brother, Aaron.

I didn’t have that choice. If I had, I would have chosen Mum, anyway. But it must be hard for a child to pick a parent when they’re pulling from both sides.

Every Saturday, Aaron stays the night, and it’s the only time my stepsister smiles. They goof around while I watch from outside their invisible circle. And, when Aaron goes, that version of Nia leaves as well.

I think she misses being a big sister. I’m not an Aaron substitute, and I never will be. Mum says to give it time. She says we’re a “blended family,” now, which I guess is better than a broken one. But blended families can still have cracks.

I hold the lock in my hand and think about giving it to Amy as a present.

“You can do what you want with this one,” I’d say, and she would smile because she’d understand. Then she’d tell me what happened here.

But that’s just wishful thinking, and I’m not brave enough to take the risk. Instead, I put it in my bedside drawer and wait until I have the courage to show Mum and Jay that I was right.

15

“This place is awesome,” Zak says, running from room to room like I’ve bought it especially for him.

When I don’t reply, my best friend says, “Which one is Nia’s?”

I point, and he knocks. When she answers, Zak says, “I’m here for the tour.”

My heart stops as I remember Amy saying the same thing at school, but he doesn’t look at me; he just walks past my stepsister and says, “Now this has character.”