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Back The Library Save as PDF
Chapters (57)
  1. Cover
  2. THE LIBRARY
  3. Copyright
  4. Dedication
  5. Contents
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. 6
  12. 7
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. 10
  16. 11
  17. 12
  18. 13
  19. 14
  20. 15
  21. 16
  22. 17
  23. 18
  24. 19
  25. 20
  26. 21
  27. 22
  28. 23
  29. 24
  30. 25
  31. 26
  32. 27
  33. 28
  34. 29
  35. 30
  36. 31
  37. 32
  38. 33
  39. 34
  40. 35
  41. 36
  42. 37
  43. 38
  44. 39
  45. 40
  46. 41
  47. 42
  48. 43
  49. 44
  50. 45
  51. 46
  52. 47
  53. EPILOGUE
  54. Questions for your Book Club
  55. Acknowledgements
  56. About the Author
  57. Become an Aria Addict

I stared at the blank screen of the television for a long time before switching it on and realising there was nothing I’d want to watch anyway. We couldn’t afford Sky or Netflix or anything interesting. Without my console I couldn’t even watch clips of Game of Thrones on YouTube. I switched it off and dropped the controller on to the bed. I looked around my room. Bed, wardrobe, shelf and TV. Not much. My rucksack was on the floor and I heaved it onto the bed. It was seriously heavy. I tipped out all the library books. All the stupid romance novels. Where was I meant to keep these until I could return them? If Dad saw them he’d rip it out of me.

I stacked them into a pile at the far side of my bed. The one on the top had an interesting cover. Sense & Sensibility. I picked it up, turned it over and read the back cover. It sounded vaguely interesting. I opened it up and had a quick read of the first page – I literally had nothing better to do.

A few hours later I heard Dad put the shower on. If I wanted feeding today I’d be doing it myself. And if I was going to avoid Dad I needed to eat now. Reluctantly I put the book down. I hid it under my pillow and went to the kitchen.

I found a tin of spaghetti hoops, microwaved the contents and dumped them on some toast.

Dad looked rough when he came into the kitchen. He put the kettle on and then exited quickly to avoid the noise of it. It was a sign he had a raging hangover. He crept back in after it had boiled and made himself a coffee. I finished eating and dumped the plate and cutlery in the sink.

‘You not washing those up?’

I always do the washing up but today I wasn’t in the mood. ‘Later.’ I tried to push past him but he grabbed my arm. I didn’t look up.

‘Tom, I did it for your own good.’

Those words sparked my annoyance. ‘How is trashing the only good thing in my life for my own good?’ He always had an excuse. Always a reason to justify what he did. If it had been me he would have said I wasn’t taking responsibility for my own actions but when it’s him he’s doing it for my own good. It’s seriously annoying. He looked startled by my tone. I don’t usually engage.

‘It’s just a game.’ He shrugged and let me go.

My Xbox is not just a games console to me – it’s my social life and my escape, but there’s no point trying to explain that to him. He doesn’t care, not anymore. Since Mum died he doesn’t care about anything much at all.

4

MAGGIE