Page 124 of How To Not Need You

“Dad does the face too,” I say.

Leo nods. “See?”

I think about Dad smiling at Liv. He does smile at her a lot. Sometimes when she isn't even doing anything funny.

Gross.

“Then why are they fighting?”

Leo shrugs. “Adults.”

Right. I kick at the wood chips again. “Liv isn't coming over anymore.”

“Maybe she will.”

“She didn't come for dinner. And Dad keeps looking at his phone.”

“Maybe he's playing a game.”

“He's not. He looks sad after.”

“Oh.”

“And he gave me the wrong plate this morning.”

Leo frowns. “What plate?”

“The blue one.”

“What colour did you want?”

“Yellow.”

“Oh.”

Exactly. “And he did my hair wrong.”

Leo looks at my hair. “It looks fine.”

I glare at him. He immediately looks away.

“Dad said Liv needs space.” I kick the ground again. “But we have space. We have a whole spare room and nobody even sleeps in it.”

Leo thinks about this. “Maybe she needs different space.”

“That’s stupid.”

“Adults are stupid.”

Right. I stop swinging. “Then I need to fix it.”

Leo stops too. “How?”

“I don't know.” We both think.

“Lock them in a room,” Leo says.

I stare at him. “What?”