‘Okay,’ he says. ‘Well. Dad and Bree, my stepmum, had plans to go out to dinner, nothing special, just the local pizza place, and when I told them I was coming down, I thought they might change them or invite me or something, so we’d all have dinner together. But instead they cancelled the babysitter and asked me to mind the kids, and I said fine, and then Dad and Bree came home from dinner and complained about the house being messy and Tilda wasn’t in bed early enough and Toby had too much screen time and that I’ve let everyone down. And it’s just like—it never feels like my house, you know? I’m always kind of this outsider who is on the edge of their family. I’m always doing the wrong thing. And when I go to my mum’s place, it’s the same. I just fit in around everyone else’s schedule, tag along, join in on their stuff, their plans, try to fit with their rules, rules that are always changing, live with whoever they want me to live with at the time. They are two full-time families, and I’m part-time in both. Or something. I don’t know. I don’t even know what I’m saying, really.’ He looks away.

The words have poured out of him fast, so fast that it makes my heart hurt.

‘I’m really sorry.’ I shuffle a little closer to him, moving the laptop out of the way. I want to hug him but I don’t think he’d let me. ‘I mean, you saw what happened with my dad. He has never made me feel like I might be a priority to him. It hurts. I know how it hurts.’

‘My dad tries. So does my mum. It’s not like with your dad, but they just…they’re busy, and they don’t see it. I don’t know. I don’t think my dad is very interested in my life. Or me.’ He pauses, and I wait for him to say more.

He looks at me, as if to check I’m still listening, and then looks down and pats Minty as he continues. ‘Anyway, I sort of tried to talk to him about it tonight, but it was a disaster.’

‘What happened?’ I ask.

‘Well, I said something like, “Everything I do in this house is wrong,” and he said, “That’s a cop out, you need to take responsibility for your actions,” and I said, “Sorry I’m not perfect then,” and he said, “No, you’re most certainly not,” and then we just yelled at each other and I walked out.’

‘That sucks,’ I say.

‘Yeah.’