Chapters (38)
- Copyright Notice
- Dedication
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
- Newsletter Sign-up
She was old enough to “cater” for herself. She knew that. It was just that sometimes she didn’t want to. Yes, he’d take her for a nice meal sometimes, but sometimes she longed for them to eat pizza on the floor in front of the telly so that they could watch cartoons together. It was as if he were in a constant negotiation with Gracie about how little Gracie should need him. She was loved. Gracie knew that, but since her parents divorced, her dad had kind of plowed all his time into his new business, and to be honest, she hardly saw him. Her mum rang or messaged her every day, but since she had remarried and had kids with Jeffrey, Gracie kind of preferred the quietness of Dad’s house rather than the chaos at Mum’s. Dad and Mum didn’t talk to each other, except through their lawyers, and both were clinically polite about each other when talking to Gracie. Sometimes, Gracie wished they would shout. Lie. Throw things. Cry. Do something, but they were just terribly, terribly nice.
Gracie looked out at the allotments. It was getting darker now, the shadows lengthening. She had spent the afternoon in IT lessons longing for the teacher’s drone to end, and having waited for Marty and not seen him, had made her way home alone. She could feel the knots in her neck where she had strained to keep up in class. Even though the teachers gave her extra time at the end of every lesson to process what they’d done, it was still hard going. Her dad had been keen that she attend a “normal” school. Whatever that meant. From what she could tell, she hadn’t met anyone very “normal” there. He was always so supportive. So determined that her deafness shouldn’t “hold her back” that he pushed her. Really hard. Her head was heavy with words and sentences and thinking, and she decided to clear it the only way she knew how. She kicked off her shoes and her sweater. Sat on the sofa and peeled off her socks. The marble floor was cold beneath her feet. Then, she leaned her full weight on the sofa and pushed it back so she had room to move. Then, she asked the smart speaker for some music. Turned the music up to ten and clicked off her processor and stood in the middle of the house. Feeling. Feeling. She exhaled, a slow smile spreading as she felt the music start to take over her body.