It cuts deep, worse than anything else — or so I thought. My parents didn’t even utter those words. My mum just cried and cried, and my dad, well, he didn’t even come to the interview. After, my dad wouldn’t look at me. I knew then that something was broken forever. ‘What’s happened?’ Mum asked as she rushed through the door of Miss Jones’ office. I looked at Miss Jones, who stood up. ‘I’ll leave you two,’ she said, closing the door behind her. ‘Jazz,’ Mum sat opposite me, ‘talk to me. You’re scaring me.’ I sniffed and wiped my eyes. ‘Things have got out of control.’ ‘Things, what things?’ Mum sounded panicked. ‘A party, last week,’ I said. ‘Whose party?’ Mum ran a hand through her hair. I wasn’t making this easy for her to follow, but the real words I needed to say were blocking my throat. ‘At Lily’s,’ I said. ‘Were you there?’ Mum frowned. ‘Yes,’ I nodded, facing the first glint of disappointment in her eyes.
