Chapter 1

Two months ago, my parents split up. It was a divorce like no other; no plates were smashed, no affairs were had, there were no slanging matches, they just agreed that their marriage was not working out and that it was time to call it a day. The divorce came through quickly and the house was sold. They split the money between them and went their separate ways. My father quickly found a flat but my mother had problems finding an affordable place for us both to live. Her friend, a property developer, offered us an attic flat in the building where she also stayed. However, there was a problem, her son, Rob, who was not much older than me, had recently had an argument with her boyfriend and was currently staying in the attic flat. So we decided to move in with him.

I had never shared a bedroom before, I was an only child and was used to having my privacy, sharing a room, especially with a boy, was difficult at first but I told myself that he'd be leaving soon and turned the bedroom into my own. He did not complain until I brought my new-ish boyfriend, Luke. I believed that Rob was going to be gone for the day so Luke and I were on my narrow single bed, making out. My shirt was off completely and Luke's was unbuttoned. I could feel his erection from under his jeans and it frightened me, I had never been this far before I knew Luke expected us to go further. His hands were either grabbing at my breasts or trying to push my own hand onto his crotch. He was muttering in my ear constantly, all the usual stuff that teenage boys say when they're that horny. However, this came to an abrupt end when Rob barged into the room without knocking. He just stood there and waited for us both to dress, Luke stumbled out of the room, grinning sheepishly at Rob as he left. I wrapped my bed sheet around me and waited for the argument I knew was going to follow.

"Just go and make this room your own then!"

I may have been humiliated but I was argumentative girl and I was always up for a fight.

"It is my room! You live downstairs! You're just too stubborn to admit it!"

He glared at me for a couple of seconds.

"That guy is a twat! Why are you with him anyway?!"

I was startled, I had thought he was mad at me for using our room that way; it hadn't occurred to me that he might be upset for other reasons.

"He's not a twat, I happen to like him!"

Rob continued glaring at me for a couple more minutes and then came at sat down on his bed. He breathed deeply.

"He's sleeping with other girls, I saw him last week at a bar, sucking face with some blonde."

I felt like I had been slapped in the face. He couldn't have been cheating on me, he just couldn't. Things like that didn't happen to me. I didn't allow them too.

"You're lying. He wouldn't do that to me."

Rob came and set next to me, he put his arm over my shoulder and let me cry. We stayed like this for what seemed like hours but quite suddenly I became aware of the fact that all I had covering me was a bed sheet. I moved away from Rob and without saying anything I went into our tiny en-suite and pulled on a night gown.

When I came back, he was still sitting on my bed; he was looking at a photo I kept beside my bed, just an old one of me and some friends.

"You looked so different back then; I couldn't even recognise you at first."

I looked at the photo, I guess I had changed. The photo had been taken when I was 12, 4 years ago, before I'd really hit puberty.

"Yeah, thank God, I looked awful back then."