‘It wasn’t me!’ I yelled back at him. I grabbed my jacket and keys, stormed out of the house and slammed the door.

I was furious with him. When had I ever done anything out of line? Never. Okay, maybe a few things but nothing criminal. He didn’t know me at all. I must have been walking fast because I was in the village in no time. I walked round to the library but I was too fuming to go in. I didn’t want a dull natter with Christine. I wanted to rant and for someone to listen.

I spun around on the spot – I had nowhere to go. I strode off out of the village towards town. I figured eventually the temper would ease and I’d be able to slow down. I was quite a way before my legs started to return to a normal pace. As the anger ebbed away it was replaced with hurt. How could Dad think such a thing? Even after all that alcohol, surely he should know I’m not capable of mugging someone. And little old ladies too. Jeez.

As the fight went out of me, I wondered how long I could stay out. If Dad carried on drinking he’d pass out in a couple of hours. It was a long time to kill. I’d left my phone behind and I had no money. I was meant to be revising. Missing out on studying annoyed me more than I thought it would. I was turning into a proper geek. I needed to do well in my exams, I needed to show Dad I was better than the factory job. But I wouldn’t be revising tonight because all my stuff was in my room. And now I’d walked in circles I was hungry too. This was a mess. I could feel tears behind my eyes so I clamped my jaw shut to try to keep them in check.

It started to rain. Bloody typical. Good job I’d got my jacket. Maybe I would go to the library after all. At least I’d be dry there even if I’d have to pretend to be interested in Christine. I could even google some stuff. I turned around sharply and almost knocked into someone coming out of their gate.

‘Tom. Hi. I thought it was you,’ said Farah, with her trademark smile. All feminine and alluring, with a hint of mischief – bloody hell, maybe I had been reading too much romance lately.

‘Hey. You all right?’ It was hard to make eye contact today. I was exhausted.

‘Yeah. You?’

I nodded and then changed my mind. ‘No. A bit crap actually.’

‘I’m a good listener.’ She tilted her head. ‘If you wanted to chat.’

There was nothing I’d like more. ‘But you’re on your way out. I don’t want to stop you if you’ve stuff to do.’