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Lucy woke to the sound of her sister Jenny shouting: ‘It’s a bloody house party, Dad, not an underground rave. You’re going to make me a social outcast. I’ll end up living with you for the rest of my life. I’ll be a shrivelled-up old spinster sitting in the corner watching TV with you and Mum.’

‘Your Christmas report was a feckin’ disgrace, so you’re not going to any parties and that’s theend of it,’ Billy roared.

Lucy heard a door slam and heavy footsteps on the stairs. Her bedroom door was flung open and Jenny threw herself onto the bed. ‘I hate my life and I hate you.’

‘Gee, thanks, what did I do?’ Lucy asked.

Jenny sat up. ‘You were a bloody A student, that’s what. Why couldn’t you have been thick and got rubbish results in your exams? It would have made life a lot easierfor me. But you had to go and be a bloody genius and get into law and now Mum and Dad expect me to go to college too.’

Lucy snorted. ‘I’m hardly a genius – I just work hard. To be fair, Jenny, your report was pretty bad and it wasn’t just the exam results. Almost all the teachers said you weren’t making much of an effort.’

‘Except art, where I got an A. Does anyone ever remember that? All Dadsays is “Where the hell will drawing get you?” It’s so bloody annoying. I want to be a make-up artist, always have and always will, and nothing is going to change my mind.’

‘Fine. You can do that when you leave school, but in the meantime try a bit harder in the other subjects too.’

Jenny rolled over and put one of Lucy’s cushions over her head. ‘They’re all so boring. Who cares about the stupidTudors and fat, ugly King Henry the Eighth and his nine million wives? How can knowing about that help me in life? Seriously, how?’

Lucy sat up and leant over to sip some water from the bottle beside her bed. She tried not to retch. ‘Look, it doesn’t matter what you think, you have to go to school and learn. You only have two years left and then you’re free. Just try a bit harder.’

Jenny glaredat her sister. Lucy knew she was thinking it was easy for her to say. Lucy liked studying. She always had her head stuck in a book. Even that time they went on holidays in France to the camping site. The photos showed Jenny whizzing down the slide into the swimming pool while she sat under a tree reading. ‘I really hate it, Lucy. It all seems so pointless. I just want to get the hell out of thisstupid place and do what I want and see the world and be a massively successful make-up artist and work on movies and live in LA with a swimming pool in my garden.’

‘You can make the next two years easy or difficult. If Mum and Dad see you’re trying, they’ll get off your back and let you go to parties.’

Jenny punched the cushion. ‘I really want to go. Jeff Long is going to be there and I knowhe fancies me, but if I’m not there, Louise might hop on him. Will you talk to Mum and Dad –pleeeeease, Lucy? If you tell them they should let me go, they’ll probably agree. Everything you say is like gold to them. Lucy the law goddess.’

Lucy looked away. Goddess, my arse. If her sister only knew the mess she was in. Lucy the genius was up the duff. ‘I’ll have a go,’ she said, with a sigh, ‘butI’m not promising anything.’ She got up and pulled a backpack from under her bed.

‘Are you packing for your weekend with Tom?’ Jenny asked.

Lucy tried to smile. She’d told so many lies in the last few weeks her head was spinning. ‘Yes, and not a word to Mum and Dad. I told them I was going away with a few girlfriends from college.’

Jenny shrugged. ‘If you persuade them to let me go to the party,my lips will be sealed.’

‘I’ll do my best,’ Lucy said, as she packed a tracksuit and hoodie into her bag.

‘Jeez, aren’t you going to pack some sexy clothes for your dirty weekend? A tracksuit? Seriously? Are you trying to scare him off? I thought you were mad about him,’ Jenny said.

Lucy paused. She so badly wanted to tell Jenny, but she knew her sister wouldn’t be able to hide it. Jenny woreher emotions on her sleeve. Besides, she was only sixteen and Lucy didn’t want her to know what an idiot her big sister was.

‘Is he really gorgeous?’ Jenny asked.

Lucy smiled. ‘Yes, he really is.’

‘Lucky you. I want to have sex with a hot boy.’

‘Don’t be ridiculous, you’re barely sixteen. Seriously, Jenny, don’t do anything stupid.’ Her sister was so impulsive and at times reckless that shemight end up pregnant too. ‘Do not have sex,’ she snapped.

‘Okay, keep your hair on. God, you’re so grumpy, these days. I thought Tom had dumped you. What’s going on? Is everything really all right?’

Lucy had to try to behave normally and hide her fear. She didn’t want her family to know anything. She had to protect them. ‘Yes, it’s fine. I just want you to be careful, that’s all.’

Jenny twirledher long, highlighted hair. ‘Well, it’s a bit difficult to have sex when your parents lock you up.’

Lucy said nothing. She thought Jenny was hard on their parents. All they wanted was the best for their kids. Her dadand mum worked long hours in the shop and had sent them to a good local school and paid for piano lessons and tennis classes and dance classes for the girls. All they expected inreturn was for their daughters to work hard and not mess up. Lucy didn’t think it was much to ask, yet she had messed up. She had made a huge mistake and she had to fix it. She would not let her parents down, not after all they had sacrificed to give her a wonderful life.

Jenny sighed. ‘You’re no fun, these days. I’m going to listen to my new Shania Twain CD.’ As she flounced out of the doorshe said, ‘If I was going on a dirty weekend with my gorgeous boyfriend, I’d be in a really good mood, not a grump.’