Read Online Asking for It by Louise O'Neill - Free Book Online Page A

the pieces of a broken vase on top. To the left a staircase goes upstairs, the front door leading to the garden is on the right, and a short narrow corridor straight ahead, with two doors on either side, photos and ugly oil paintings in gilt frames hanging on the walls.
    ‘There you are.’ Sean emerges from the TV room opposite the bathroom.
    ‘Hey, you,’ I say, as if he was the very person I’d been looking for. ‘Did you know there’s a broken vase in your hall?’
    He groans. ‘Mam is going to kill me. I told Laura to—’
    ‘Laura’s here?’
    He slouches against the wall next to a photograph of him and Jen in the bath together. I press my lips together to stop myself from smiling, but he follows my gaze, his face turning red when he sees what I’m looking at. ‘I told her she could stay for the party if she kept her mouth shut and didn’t tell the parents about it,’ he says, moving to block the photo, ‘and then she invited some of her friends . . .’ He pushes himself off the wall. ‘Sorry. I know it’s not cool, having your fifteen-year-old sister at a party, but—’
    ‘Casey.’ Matt Reynolds falls out of the TV room. He’s covered in a film of sweat, a few whiskers of hair glistening on his upper lip. I peer past him to see if Jack Dineen is in there, but all I can see are the backs of three boys, none of them Jack, watching another two lads playing Grand Theft Auto. Where is he? It’s going to be such a waste of this outfit if he doesn’t show; I won’t be able to wear it again for ages because everyone here will have seen it. Matt pulls up his top to wipe his face, and I almost heave when I see his doughy tummy.
    ‘Are you apologizing for your sister?’ Matt shakes his head. ‘Don’t apologize. She’s fucking hot. And her friend . . .’ He tries to focus his eyes. ‘Not the fat one, the other one, the little one.’ He holds his hand out to about three feet tall.
    ‘Mia,’ Sean supplies.
    ‘Mia!’ Matt starts chanting, ‘Mia, Mia, Mia . . . ’ breaking away from Sean to throw his hands in the air. ‘She’s a fucking ride.’ Sean looks at me, and I don’t want to seem boring so I smile to show that I’m cool.
    ‘Anyway,’ I say, once Matt has staggered off into the kitchen to get another drink, ‘who else from the football team is here tonight?’
    ‘I don’t know.’ Sean pulls me towards him. ‘Does it matter?’
    ‘Sorry, Sean.’ I gently push him away. ‘I have to go find the girls.’
    ‘Where have you been?’ Maggie leans back to grab a beer from the case behind her and hands it to me. She’s still perched on the edge of the table, her legs wrapped around Eli, who is standing with his back to her. Fitzy, Jamie and Ali are dancing in the middle of the room.
    ‘Shit, J is wasted,’ I say as I watch her fall down, clutching at Fitzy, who drags her back up to standing. I haven’t seen her this drunk since . . . Well, it’s been a long time.
    ‘Hey,’ I say. Maggie is resting her head on Eli’s shoulder, one arm wrapped around his chest as he runs his fingers up and down her forearm. ‘Where’s Conor?’
    ‘He’s chatting up Mia Deasy.’ Maggie points to where the iPod station is and I have to squint to see in the darkness. Laura Casey, Jen and Sean’s youngest sister, is talking to a chubby girl with frizzy red hair, the two of them sipping their beers self-consciously. Conor has to lean down to talk to Mia, tiny even in high heels, her oversized eyelashes and round eyes making her look like a human Bratz doll.
    Conor throws his head back as if she’s said something really funny, and my stomach clenches. I reach behind Maggie and grab another can of beer. ‘I’m going to give this to Conor. I think he’s all out.
    ‘Hey,’ I say, resting my hand on the small of Conor’s back and handing him the can. ‘I thought you might need a top-up.
    ‘Mia.’ I brush against Conor’s chest as I lean over to give her a kiss on the cheek. ‘How are