27. Kate

Every night alongside the little prayers I send up for my mother and father, I send one for Felix too. He is making Roxie so happy, and without realising it, I can crash in our shared room on my own for the most part.

We are naturally avoiding each other. She comes in to get new clothes when she knows I have an extra lesson. I hang out on the roof for the few hours she uses the shower. I miss her silly, dramatic ways, and how loudly she has to complete every task. The room is so quiet with just my thoughts.

We nod in the corridors as we pass, she might mouth a “how are you?” but no conversation. Nobody wants to be tarnished by association. Even Cherry and Matt, two people I thought so much of are strangers to me now.

I might have been an orphan almost all my life but it is this month where I felt truly alone and abandoned for the first time.

Roxie is glowing though. Like a supermodel, her hair, skin and eyes all seem so much brighter than I remember. It’s as though she has burst