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‘I’m not upset. I’m … I’m glad you told me about all this. But don’t feel like you have to do the whole “forced family fun time” thing for me. Seriously. I mean, that’s not exactly beennormalfor us, even before you were getting the divorce,’ I point out, and they pull faces, abashed. ‘It’s … it’s okay with me if us spending time together looks … different, I guess is what I’m trying to say.’

In fact, I’d welcome it.

They swap another look, both visibly relaxing. Mum gets up to come and give me a cwtch while Dad says, ‘That’s really mature of you, Cerys.’

‘All that therapy you guys have been doing must’ve rubbed off on me,’ I say, smothered in Mum’s embrace, and we all laugh. She drops a kiss on my forehead.

‘I’m sorry we didn’t talk to you about it properly, love. We’ll be more upfront and honest going forward, yes?’

I nod, and as she starts to peel away, I hug her a bit tighter.

‘Actually … Actually,’ I repeat, then haul down a deep breath. ‘In the spirit of beinghonest, I’ve … Well,I’ve been thinking lately. About uni. About what I want to study. And I think maybe … maybe I’d like to do art, instead of business and media.’

‘You would?’ Dad says, surprised. ‘But I thought you weren’t that interested in it these days?’

Meanwhile, Mum says excitedly, ‘You do? Oh, Cerys, that’s lovely! You’ve always had such a talent!’

I pull back now, staring between them. ‘Wait. You’re … not mad?’

Mum laughs. ‘Why would we be?’

‘Well, because … I mean, Dad always … I thought you both …’

Am I missing something? Did I imagine all those arguments between them about it?

Catching on, Mum sighs, and Dad tells me, ‘Cerys, just because I made decisions aboutmycareer, doesn’t mean you’ll be in the same boat. We were young, we had a kid and a mortgage. I had to think about more than just whatIwanted to do.’

‘We never meant foryouto stop pursuing it, if it’s something you’re passionate about,’ Mum adds. ‘I think it’s safe to say we both assumed you were good at it, but not necessarilybotheredabout it.’

Dad raises his eyebrows at me. ‘Are you?’

‘Y-yeah. I am. A lot.’

‘Right!’ He stands up, clapping his hands. ‘Whereare all those uni prospectuses? We’d better start having a proper look at their art courses.’

Mum gives me a squeeze. ‘Have you got some finished pieces you can show us? I’d love to see them.’

Ohmigod,no. As if I need to get into all the fandom stuff, too … But maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad thing?

I’ve been so worried about keeping the ship steady, like Dad put it. Not making a fuss about my artwork, not wanting to lose Jake, not wanting to be too openly friendly with Anissa in case it cost me the girls, even trying to force Max out to salvage my own friendship with Jake at the cost of his … And where’s that got me?

Where has it got any of us?

A little change might be nice.

CHAPTER 28

‘Alright, spill.’

‘What? Where?’

I look around, horrified that I’ve just stained the fluffy white rug in Chloe’s humungous bedroom with Buck’s Fizz, but there’s no mark on the rug, or on me, and I look back at her, confused.

Evie rolls her eyes, before leaning back on her hand and tossing her hair. ‘Not the drink, you gumball.You. What’s up with you lately? You’ve been acting super weird.’

The ‘weird’ accusation hits hard, even if that’s not how she meant it, but I’m spared a moment to recover by Nikita letting out a noisy cackle and echoing,‘Gumball?What the hell kind of insult is that?’

Evie grunts. ‘Ugh. Don’t even. It’s off this show my little brothers watch. I guess they can’t call anyone a “dickhead” on telly for six-year-olds. It’s onconstantly,there is literally no escape. I keep singing the theme tune all the time, too.’