Read Here We Lie for Free Online

company tell him it hasn’t been handed in. I tell Jed
that I’ll break the news.
    ‘Okay,’ he says with a weary sigh. ‘I’ll probably just get it wrong if I speak to her anyway.’
    I fetch a bottle of water and hurry up to Dee Dee.
    ‘There’s no sign so far,’ I say, setting the bottle down beside her bed. ‘But we can call again in the morning and if it hasn’t turned up I promise we’ll
drive back down there tomorrow to where it might have fallen out and ask around.’
    ‘Thanks, Emily.’ Dee Dee reaches up to give me a hug.
    ‘Get some sleep now.’
    ‘Night, night, Emily,’ she says in that little-girly voice. Did she speak like that the last time I saw her before our holiday? No, I’m pretty sure it’s a new
development. I let her go and she sits back, rubbing her forehead.
    ‘Are you alright?’ I ask.
    She points at her forehead. ‘Headache. Like you.’ She gives me a wan smile. ‘Hey, maybe it’s catching.’
    ‘Or maybe you haven’t drunk enough water today,’ I scold with a smile. ‘You have to drink extra when it’s this hot.’ I point to the water bottle, then burrow
in my bag for the ExAche sachet that Martin gave me. I check the back. It’s fine for kids over twelve so I hand it over. ‘Mix that in your water,’ I say. ‘There’s a
glass you can use in the bathroom. And I know it’s got a bitter taste but make sure you drink it
all.
’
    ‘Oh, thanks, Emily.’ She lurches forward and almost crushes me with another hug.
    ‘Night.’ I peck her forehead. ‘Don’t stay up too late.’
    ‘I won’t.’
    I yawn as I leave, climb the stairs to the round room at the top of the villa and clean my teeth. I’m just getting into bed when Jed arrives, still muttering about irresponsibility.
    ‘She’s a child, Jed,’ I protest gently. ‘And
anyone
can lose a phone.’
    He starts unbuttoning his shirt. ‘I don’t mean Dee Dee, I mean Gary. He knew we’d be back around ten, he’s so thoughtless. And, as you’ve just pointed out, Dee
Dee’s only a child, for goodness’ sake.’
    ‘She didn’t see anything, they were in the water. Anyway, she’s far more upset about her phone.’ I yawn again as I stroke his face. ‘So no harm done.’
    ‘Mmmn,’ Jed grunts, then disappears into the bathroom.
    I’m asleep before he gets back, then I sleep deeply and dreamlessly the whole night. Sunlight is streaming into the room when I wake with a start the next morning. Beside me, Jed sits bolt
upright.
    Someone, downstairs, is screaming.
    It takes a moment before I realize that it’s Rose.
    I’m out of bed in seconds, racing downstairs to her room next door to Dee Dee’s.
    Rose is standing on the landing, pointing in through Dee Dee’s open door. A puddle of vomit lies on the wooden floor by the bed. Dee Dee is visible on top of the covers, face up,
glassy-eyed. Her arm extends over the edge of the mattress, her bracelet dangling from her wrist.
    I freeze, the room whirls around me. I think I might faint and clutch at Rose’s arm. She is shaking. Now Jed is beside us.
    ‘What the . . . ?’ His mouth falls open as he sees his daughter. He rushes into the room. Rose and I follow. The August heat hangs heavily in the air. It’s like a dream, a
nightmare, as Jed feels Dee Dee’s forehead, then presses his fingers against her wrist, her neck.
    ‘Oh my God, oh my God.’ Rose is whimpering. ‘I just saw . . . then . . . then I came in . . . found her like that, oh my God . . .’
    Jed turns to me, his eyes wide with shock. I’m expecting him to order me to call an ambulance and I’m already wracking my brains to remember the emergency number in France.
    But instead Jed shakes his head. It’s too late for an ambulance.
    Sweet, plump, thirteen-year-old Dee Dee Kennedy is dead.

June 2014
    So like today just sucked. TOTALLY sucked. And yesterday being so brilliant made it worse. And now it’s actually my thirteenth birthday. TODAY! And I’m a
teenager and I’ve