Our Grounding, Your Fall

The doorbell rang, just about breaking through the noise of my Playstation. I looked up for an instant, trying to remember if Mum had mentioned anyone coming over. Maybe someone had dropped in as they were going past. Mrs Baker liked doing that, as did Gran.

"Aw man..." If it was Gran I'd have to stop playing video games. She'd always go on about how it 'rotted my brain' and 'made me violent'. Whatever. They teach better skills than knitting does anyhow. I mean, when am I ever gonna need to knit? That's what shops are for, geez.

I started racing through the game, trying to get the game to save before Mum came up and made me get off it. No matter how many times I tried to explain, they still hadn't gotten the hang of checkpoints. I was sick to death of having to re-do the same bit a dozen times cos we had to have dinner right now. Like, five minutes, that was all I was asking. That's not too much, is it?

Just as I hit the checkpoint and breathed out I heard a shout from downstairs. I couldn't make out the words, but it was definitely Mum's voice, and Dad was quick to get in there and start shushing her.

I stood up and frowned at the door. My parents didn't argue, not seriously. Every now and then they'd snap at each other, but then they always made up and get all gross and kissy. Urg, I hate adults sometimes. No-one needs to see that.

Mum shouted again, and by creeping to my door I caught some of the words.

"Don't you dare tell me to shush! I won't have her in my house!"

Her? Who on earth is 'her'?

There was no way I could keep away from this, but the last thing I wanted was Mum turning all that anger on me. On tiptoes I snuck out onto the landing and tried to peer over the railings, but there was no sign of this mysterious person who'd turned up.

Who could make Mum this angry though? Dad was usually the one who held grudges against people; Mum would invite everyone in for tea and biscuits given half a chance. As I leant down the first few steps I tried to imagine what terrible crime this person had committed. Theft? Arson? Murder, even?

But that was stupid. Why would Dad let someone like that into our house? Who could it be that Dad likes but Mum doesn't?

There was the low rumble of voices talking behind the closed living room door, the soothing tone of Dad trying to talk Mum down. I idly wondered if he knew he was using the same voice he used on the cat at the vets.

Then Dad spoke a little louder.

"He's upstairs, if you want to go and say hello."

I couldn't hear if anyone replied because Mum went off again, although it was mostly just babbling. "Don't you dare, how could you?" were about all I could make out, and it made my stomach flip.

The door opened and there was a flash of the argument before it clicked shut again.

Of all the people I would've expected to come out, it certainly wasn't a young girl. A teenager, a couple of years older than me judging by her height. In her black clothes she stood out vividly against our pale hallway.

She kept her hand on the handle for a second and breathed deeply, and I could just about make out the pain on her face. Then she looked up, straight at me, and I couldn't help but flinch. A few girls in my class used make-up, but this girl's eyes had been seriously highlighted. It looked... stunning. Terrifying, but stunning. She was so much larger than life, like all the cool kids who hang about round the back of the pub down the road from school. The sort who's never done a homework assignment in their life.

"Hello," she said, and even her voice was cocky and confident. "You must be Matthew."

"Y-yes." I cleared my throat and tried to slouch against the wall behind me, but my foot slipped on the stairs and I had to grab the wall to keep myself up. "Who are you?"

She smirked at my attempts to play it cool, but didn't call me out on it. "I'm Kathy. Can we talk upstairs?" She jerked her finger over her shoulder. "I think it might get noisy again."

"Sure."

I darted ahead to make sure my room was mostly tidy. This was the first time I'd ever had a girl up here, at least a girl who wasn't related to me. I knew it wasn't 'having a girl in my room' like that, but still.

Why did she want to talk to me anyway?

Kathy came in and sat right on my bed, and all I noticed was the smell of her perfume. Did all girls smell so strongly?

"Nice room," she said, and I couldn't tell if she was serious or not. Her face was unreadable, although some of the make-up had smudged around one eye. "Playstation, good stuff. You got many games?"

"A few. Mum doesn't like me playing on it too much though."

"Uh, adults. They're so dull aren't they?"

"Totally." I couldn't help but grin at her. Sure she still scared the wits outta me, but there was something friendly about her. Then I remembered the anger, and pain, in Mum's voice, and my smile dropped. "Who... who are you? Why doesn't Mum like you?"

"Like I said, adults." She watched me for a moment, sizing me up almost, and my leg started twitching. I thought about sitting down, but I only had my bean-bag chair, and the idea of her looming over me wasn't any more pleasant. At last she came to a decision. "Your mum doesn't like me because of who I am. It's nothing I've done wrong, but I guess I can't really blame her. The thing is, your father is also my father. We're siblings."

In the silence that followed I heard more rumblings downstairs, but now they didn't register. "Siblings? Like, brother and sister?"

"Yeah. Half brother and sister, technically. We share a dad but have different mums."

"Oh. But, my parents are married."

"Yeah. That's kinda the problem."

"Oh. How old are you?"

"Sixteen. What about you?"

"Eleven." But I could remember Mum and Dad's eighteenth wedding anniversary last year. Everyone was joking that their marriage was now old enough to vote.

"Sweet. You starting high school in autumn then?"

"Yeah."

"Nice. You going with lots of friends?"

"A couple. We-"

A door slammed downstairs, and then the front door was slammed open.

"Please, Alice, listen to me!" Dad's pleading rang through the house and I felt tears well up.

"I'm sorry," Kathy said, and I could see she was holding back tears as well. "I didn't mean to cause an argument. I just... I just wanted to meet you all. Dad said it would be alright to come round."

My stomach flipped to hear her call him 'Dad' as well, but it wasn't an entirely nasty feeling. "Who do you live with?"

"It's just me and Mum. We've just got a flat, nothing as fancy as this."

"No other family?"

"Not really. One of my grandparents is alive, but Mum never really got on with her parents." The arguing was in the street now, and I could imagine all the curtains twitching up and down the street. "I should go. I shouldn't have come here."

"Wait-" I stood twisting my hands together, trying to work out what I wanted to say. I could see she was hurting, and she'd only come looking for family. It wasn't her fault how she was born, so why should she have to be blamed for it? Besides- "I've... I've always wanted a sibling."

Kathy's grin was back. "Yeah? Even a sister?"

"Anything really. Like, Mum and Dad are great, but... I feel like they don't get me. You won't believe how many times I've had to explain checkpoints to them."

It was the lamest way ever to try and get my point across, but it made Kathy laugh out loud. So carefree and confident again, like she looked when she first arrived. She wiped her cheek before she spoke. "Tell me about it. It's like they don't realise how much hard work goes into beating some of those levels. But when they're busy, are you allowed to interrupt them?"

"No way."

"Exactly, no way. So, what, is our time less important or something?" Kathy grinned at me, and all the fear I had left. Already I felt like she knew me better than Mum. It was like I could feel our shared blood, calling to each other.

"Do you... do you want to play something?" I asked.

Another grin, and more held back tears. "Sure thing. What've you got?"

So we sat and played, my half-sister and I, each of us finding a touchstone for life, while outside my parents' lives shattered.