Dad was in the kitchen, stirring herbs into fragrant bubbling pots and humming tunelessly to himself. I couldn’t face a fake-cheerful conversation and tried to sneak upstairs to my room unnoticed, but the wind caught the door, slamming it shut, and he called out, ‘Anna, is that you?’‘Yes.’ I swallowed the lump in my throat and managed to yell back, ‘Just going upstairs to change.’‘Well come down and chat to me in a sec.’ He put his head around the kitchen door, staring at me over steam-misted glasses. ‘I feel like I haven’t seen you for a week.’‘Yeah, OK,’ I said wearily, but when I got upstairs I didn ft="’t change. I didn’t do anything. I just lay on my front on my bed with my face buried in my pillow, feeling every bone in my body throb with tiredness.I should have felt relieved that I’d done the right thing and told Seth. Judging by his anger I wouldn’t have much to worry about in terms of unwanted affection. Problem solved – just like Simon had predicted.
