Read Online Close Your Pretty Eyes by Sally Nicholls - Free Book Online Page A

wall, and took a deep breath.
    â€œOlivia, did you eat this?” she said, holding out the muffin wrapper.
    I shook my head. “Uh-uh.”
    I drew a muffin on the wall.
    â€œOlivia! Stop that!” She grabbed the marker pen from my hand. I squealed.
    â€œI was playing with that!”
    â€œOlivia, listen to me! Did you eat the muffin?”
    What sort of idiot was she? Of course I ate the muffin. Who else could have done?
    â€œDaddy did it.”
    â€œDaddy’s at work,” said Annabel. She grabbed my arm. “You need a time out. Seven minutes for the muffin, and seven minutes for lying to me.”
    And nothing for drawing on the wall? Cool. But she still needed to learn that she couldn’t boss me.
    â€œI won’t !” I said. And I spat in her face.
    Grumpy Annabel’s eyes narrowed. She picked me up. I shrieked and started kicking.
    â€œYou’re hurting! You’re hurting!”
    Grumpy Annabel started dragging me out of the room. I grabbed on to the door frame with both hands.
    â€œI hate you!”
    She reached out a hand to peel my fists away, leaving one arm around my waist. I lunged forward and bit through her sleeve, hard enough to draw blood. She let go. I ran back into her bedroom and slammed the door. Annabel started pushing against it and I pushed back, feet jammed against the chest of drawers.
    â€œYou can’t make me!” I yelled. I knew that would make her angry, and it did. She shoved the door, hard. I laughed at her.
    â€œYou’re bigger than me, and you still can’t make me do anything!”
    Grumpy Annabel pushed the door hard enough to get inside. I scrambled to my feet and ran over to the dressing-table. I started picking up her ornaments and throwing them on to the floor, where they smashed into a million pieces. She always got mad when I broke her things.
    â€œ I’m the boss! I’m the boss!” I yelled.
    â€œOlivia!” said Grumpy Annabel. “Olivia, please. Stop it!” She was nearly crying. “Olivia, that belonged to my granny. Please—”
    I lifted the ornament – a stupid lady in a big skirt – over my head. I looked her straight in the eye and I laughed at her. Then I threw the lady down on to their stupid wooden floor.
    SMASH .
    Grumpy Annabel lost it. She grabbed my arm and dragged me into my room.
    â€œYou want to know what it’s like when someone breaks something you love?” she said. “You want to know what that feels like?” She snatched the doll that my mum gave me, the last time I saw her. I shrieked, but she held it high over her head. “You see this doll?” she said. “This doll is going in the bin. I mean it, Olivia. You can’t treat other people’s things like that.”
    I spat in her eye.
    â€œYou won’t take my dolly from me,” I said. “Stupid bitch.”
    And I started pulling the things that they’d bought me from the cupboard – the board games, and the cuddly toys, and the Barbie dolls – and tearing them to bits.
    Â 
    I was still in my room when Dopey Graham came home. I heard him say, “W hat? ” and Annabel crying.
    â€œBut what about time outs?” he said.
    After a while, I heard his footsteps clumping upstairs. I climbed into bed and pulled the duvet over my head. He came into the room and sat down beside me.
    â€œYou’ve been being naughty, princess,” he said. I pulled the duvet down.
    â€œMummy took my dolly,” I said. “The one my real mum gave me. She said I couldn’t have it any more.”
    â€œI know, sweetheart,” said Dopey Graham. “But you were very naughty, weren’t you? You shouldn’t have broken Mummy’s lady.”
    I looked away. “I was scared,” I said. “I thought she was going to hit me, like my mummy used to.”
    â€œOh, baby,” said Dopey Graham. He put his arm around me. “No