I shut the living room door behind me. I could still hear people behind it, some laughing at Elektra, well mostly that Johnny kid anyway.

I looked around for the office, and opened the door. There was a middle aged man typing on a computer, and Gina screaming down the phone in an effort to tell the person on the other line that no, for the last time, she didn't want to know about their PPI ad.

'Gina, where's my room?' I asked her, after she had slammed the phone down.

'What? Oh, sorry Liam, I didn't see you there.' She said.

'Liam? I'm Jason. Who the hell's Liam?' I asked.

The man looked up.

'Oh, you're Jason? I'm so sorry, I've been a bit busy today. I'm Mike.' He said. He had an irish accent.

'Oh, don't mind Gina, she's having a stressful day. And Liam was a boy who left to live with his-

'Yeah, yeah, yeah. Where's my room? I'm kinda tired.' I said.

'Oh, um, it's upstairs, first door on the left. You'll be sharing with Johnny, do you know him? Oh, and your stuff's already there, all you need to do is unpack.'

I sighed, went upstairs, found my bedroom and went inside. It was alright, I suppose. I couldn't be bothered to unpack just yet as I was tired as hell. I didn't really get a chance to sleep last night. Here's a little flashback to tell you why: I had come home from school a little later than usual. Ok, when I say little, I actually mean an hour and a half. When I had come home my mum was furious, partly due to me coming home late and partly due to just reading a letter that came from school.

'Another fight? Jason this is out of control!' She said. I tried shrugging it off but for some reason it didn't seem to work this time.

'Jason Murphy don't you dare hunch up your shoulder at this! Ok, this is too much stress I mean, I have bills that need paying and-

'So pay them!' I interupted.

'Your dad's in prison. He can't work and we get no money. You know that.'

'So why don't you work?'

'Why should I, huh? I'll only get a job as some cleaner and that's like what, 50 quid a month? That's a weeks shopping bill. Yeah, I messed up my school life and look where it's got me. That's what I'm saying to you. Some of these days you'll get kicked out and you will regret it, ok. Now, why were you late?'

'The bus-

'You know what, forget it.' She said, gesturing to me to get out of the kitchen.

I did and went to the living room to watch TV instead. My brother Neil, who was a couple of years younger than me snatched the remote. I snatched it back. It then turned into a snatching tournament and then he kicked me, hard, in the stomach. I kicked him back, harder but not meaning to. Before long we were fighting, with words as well as limbs.

'You're such an attention seeker. You come home late everyday so Mum notices you. I'm only like twelve and even I know that.' He said, pushing me down hard on the sofa. He may only be twelve but he had hit his growth spurt earlier this year and was nearly as tall as me, but a lot more musclier. I had always been quite thin.

'You're twelve, not two. And by the way, it's usually the dumb kids that seek attention.' I shot back, pushing him down onto the carpet. He banged his head quite hard on the corner of the sofa.

'I'm not dumb! Why does everyone think that?'

He cried out, nearly in tears. I wasn't sure whether it was because of the pain he was in or me calling him dumb.

'Who calls you dumb?' I asked.

'No one. No one calls me dumb ok? Why would anyone call me dumb? I mean no one calls me dumb at home so why would anyone calle me that at school...' His voice trailed away.

I started laughing a little. 'So, so people tease you at school cos, you're thick and stuff?'

'Why do you have to be so mean for? He said, fully in tears. He stormed out of the room to go upstairs. 'Neil, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it-

'I don't fucking care!' He shouted from the staircase. I started laughing again. Neil had never swore in his life before as he thought it was the first sign turning evil. Secondary school had really changed him. To be honest it changed me as well.

Just then Mum came in, asking what the commotion was about.

'I called Neil dumb and he started crying.'

'What? And look at you, smirking like that, it's not his fault he has autism!'

'What?'

'Hasn't he told you?'

'No.'

'He's scared of telling you, his own brother. I'm not surprised. The way you treat him...'

'What? He needs to learn how to stand up for himself. That's all I'm doing. How's the twerp gonna survive? I mean with you spoiling him since the day he was born it was bound to leave some effect.' That's when she blew a fuse. A fuse as big as Russia.

'That's it. That is it! Get out!'

'What?'

'I said. Get. Out. Get out of my house right now. Get lost. Get lost, I don't know, wherever, I don't care. I am sick and tired of you treating me and Neil like dirt all of a sudden. It's been going on ever since you started year nine. No, actually, since year 8. All you've been doing is treating everyone like dirt and I'm not standing for it any longer. So what are you standing there for? Get out. Out! Now!'

I got my school bag and my coat and did as she said. I went out, slamming the door behind me. I started walking, not really caring where. I felt angry at her, glad even. But that all changed when it started raining.

Even with a coat on I was freezing and my stomach seemed to be crying out in hunger. I saw a 24 hour tesco across the road and decided to stay there for the night when it got dark. I didn't have any money for food but I managed to somehow dodge the security cameras and steal a packet of hot cross buns (if there was a subject at school based on shoplifting, I would be top of that class but more on that later). I ran to a corner and and ate them with relish. Fortunately this corner didn't have a security camera anywhere near it, so that was good enough. Though a school bag doesn't make a good substitution for a pillow, so sleeping that night was quite hard. I suppose I should stop now, seeing as you now know why I didn't get a wink of sleep. I mean, that's what this whole flashback was for, right? But...I'm carrying on anyway.

The next morning I went into school even though it wad teacher's training day. I told the teachers what happened and they phoned up my mum but she only said she wanted me in a carehome for a month or so to straighten out my ways. Like carehomes were the equivalent of rehab centres or holy convents.

So they called in a social worker who came with me back to the house to collect my stuff. Neil was there in my room, crying again, but silently. He came and hugged me as soon as he saw me. I hugged him back tightly though I was the type of person who generally avoided physical human contact.

I apologised about the day before and told him if anyone called him dumb I'd smash their face in. He smiled but still didn't say anything. Mum was apparently in the shower, though she rarely showered in the afternoon, only in the morning.

So with all my stuff packed I headed in the car towards my new home.

Now I was laying in my new bed, instantly falling asleep.