Close Your Pretty Eyes Read Free Page A

took me to the park. I didn’t have much stuff left by that point. Some of it had got nicked, or smashed, and some I’d grown out of, or had to leave behind. But I still had the skateboard that Dopey Graham and Grumpy Annabel had bought me. Liz let me play for ages on the skateboard ramps, then she bought me chips with lots of ketchup at the park café.
    â€œAre you coming next week?” I said, and she looked a bit sad.
    â€œI’d like to,” she said. “I’m hoping my new lad will be seeing his grandparents on Saturdays, but I’ll have to see what happens.”
    She had some other kid now. Some kid she liked more than me. Another kid sleeping in my room, in my bed, playing with the bike and the trampoline and the Xbox, eating her banana custard. I thought of all the hundreds and hundreds of foster kids she’d probably had, and how stupid I was to think she’d liked me especially.
    I hated her. I hated her. I felt like she’d tricked me. She’d made me think she liked me, when really I was just another foster kid like all the rest.

USUALLY I’M WORSE
    I was expecting Jim to tell me off when I got back to the house. I was sort of dreading it, but sort of interested too. I wanted to know what sort of dad he was going to be.
    He was in the kitchen, washing up. He looked around when I came in.
    Uh-oh.
    I burst out talking before he could start.
    â€œWhat are you doing? Are you washing up? Can I help? I like washing up. I’m ever so good at it. Can I dry? Can I put away?”
    â€œCalm down.” Jim smiled at me. “Where did you get to? We thought you’d run away.”
    â€œI went for a walk,” I said. “Can I help, then?”
    â€œYes, you can,” said Jim. “But not right now. For now I’d like you kids to get to know each other. Why don’t you go and say hello to Grace?”
    He didn’t say it in a mean way. He was smiling, but it didn’t exactly make me feel welcomed.
    Jim put his hand on my shoulder and led me into the living room. Grace, the big girl with the baby, was still there. Baby Maisy was asleep in her lap and Grace was reading this big book over her head.
    I went and stood in front of her. She ignored me.
    â€œThere you go,” said Jim. “Grace, can you keep an eye on Olivia for a minute?”
    And he went.
    Grace didn’t look up from her book. She didn’t even grunt .
    I’m worth at least a grunt.
    I waited for her to say something. She didn’t. I hate being ignored. I hate it worst of anything .
    â€œCan I play with your baby?” I said.
    â€œNo,” said Grace. “She’s asleep.”
    â€œI could wake her up. I’m dead good at babies. I’ve got this baby brother, and I know how to feed him and stop him crying and everything .”
    Grace sort of grunted and turned the page. I came closer.
    â€œWhat book are you reading? Is it good? I’ve read hundreds of books. My old mum and dad used to buy me loads when I lived with them. I’ve got all the Horrible Histories, and Horrid Henry, and all the Harry Potter books. I bet I’ve read that book you’re reading.”
    That was a bit of a lie. I did used to own those books, but I didn’t read them. Most of the time, I used to tear them to bits to annoy my old mum, Grumpy Annabel. She and my old dad used to spend a fortune on books for me, and it narked her off no end when I tore them to shreds.
    Grace tipped her book up so I could see the cover.
    â€œ Oliver Twist. Isn’t that a film?”
    Grace put down the book. Result!
    â€œAre you being deliberately idiotic?” she said.
    I grinned at her. “Me? You’re the one reading a big, stupid, boring old book. Why are you doing that, anyway?”
    â€œBecause.”
    â€œBecause why?”
    â€œBecause I like it. Because I need to read it for my English A Level. Because I need to get all As in my A Levels, and