Indie pulled her hood down over her head self-consciously, lowered her eyes and picked up the pace, walking past the Brennan’s house as quickly as she could and quietly letting herself in through the front door of her own home.

The house was warm and comforting and she took off her shoes and coat, sighing with the relief of being safely inside. A noise from upstairs made her stop. Was someone home? She listened again but heard nothing. Perhaps it was just her imagination, or a noise coming from next door? She crept up the stairs as quiet as a mouse and peered through the open doors of her siblings’ bedrooms and the bathroom but there was no one there. She relaxed and was just about to go back downstairs when she heard the noise again. It was coming from her parents’ room in the loft. She panicked and froze on the spot, trying to decide whether to do a runner or face the problem head-on. If she left the house, where would she go? It was freezing outside. And what if Sophie had seen her come in and told her mum, then she’d be in huge trouble.

She had a brainwave. She’d pop upstairs, tell her mum or dad, whoever it was, that she had awful period pains. Then hopefully they’d give her a hot water bottle and leave her to it. Feeling calmer now that she had hatched a good plan, she made her way up the stairs, ready to announce her arrival, but stopped dead when she reached the doorway. Inside were two adults, completely naked, writhing around on the bed, clearly having sex.

And only one of them was her parent.

She stared in silent horror at the sight in front of her and then backed away slowly before they saw her. She crept back down the stairs, tugged on her shoes and let herself silently out of the house, rushing back down Pemberton Road as fast as she could. She shivered in the cold and cursed herself for not picking up her coat on the way out, but she’d been desperate to leave.

What the actual fuck? She felt sick to the bone. It was literally the most disgusting, horrifying thing she had ever seen in her life. How could they do this? They were vile, horrible, selfish bastards and she hated them. They had ruined everything. And they were meant to be the parents, the role models to their children. What an absolute joke. Now here she was, out in the cold all alone with no coat and nowhere to go. They’d done that to her.

Tears were falling down her cheeks and she wiped them away angrily. She crossed her arms tightly in front of herself to keep warm against the December chill and marched towards the park. Once she was inside the park gates, she stopped and looked around, trying to decide where to go. She glanced at the children’s playground, saw that it was empty and made a beeline for it, sitting down on a swing and pushing herself up, up, up into the air.