"Topaz! Topaz, wait!" I called after him.

I peered around in desperation. Topaz was nowhere.

"I'm sorry!" I said. "I'm really sorry. If there's anything I can do…?"

In the distance, I saw a flash of green.

"Topaz!"

He heard me and ran faster. I ran after him and when I was close enough, I double-front-flipped straight over him and landed in front, breathing hard.

"Just hear me out," I said. "If no-one on the street cares who my family is, why do you?"

"Why do you think?" Topaz snapped. "They were the ones who threw me out of your fancy theatre."

"Topaz, please, be reasonable," I said.

He ignored me.

"So my folks were a bit nasty," I said. "So what? It's not my fault."

"It's your fault that they knew in the first place," Topaz said. "You really don't get it, do you?"

"Topaz, don't do this to me, please!" I begged. "This happened to my dad once, he made one little mistake and my mum flew into a temper and they split up and didn't see each other for twenty years. But they got back together, and you know why? Because they love each other!"

"Love doesn't exist!"

I felt like someone had taken my heart and smashed it with a hammer. He couldn't really mean it, could he? Mum and Dad did love each other, didn't they? And what about Axel and his girlfriend Sapphire? And Walter and Jinx? And Gonzo and Camilla?

"That's what Papa's always taught me," Topaz said. "He said that the day he met my Mama was the biggest mistake he ever made. Love doesn't exist, and if it does, it only ever ends in disaster."

He must have seen my tears, because he stared guiltily down at the floor.

"But I think Papa may have been mistaken on that front," he said. "I'm sorry I said all that stuff and got mad at you."

I sighed, relieved. "It's fine," I said wiping away my tears.

"Jas, since I hate talking about me so much, can we talk about you?"

I nodded. "Sure, but you're in for an earful!" I declared.

So Topaz and I strolled along the road to nowhere, while I told him my life story.

"Well, you're not the only one with parental problems. Years ago, before my brother and I were born, our Mum and Dad used to argue a lot. And I'm talking every other day, proper full-on yelling at each other. (I know because I've seen the movies) It was because my mum was overly affectionate, and sometimes desperate for attention, whereas my dad was really not a fan of the whole romantic idea.

"Now that Axel and I have been born, they're a bit better at keeping their tempers. But some days are awful. Often it gets to the point where Axel and I just run out of the Theatre, because there's really nothing worse than the sound of your two parents yelling at each other like enemies.

"I suppose that I do love my dad, and my mum. And my brother Axel always looks out for me, and takes care of me like an older brother should. But I hate it when people think that just because all of the members in my family are still alive and live under the same roof, that life is perfect and normal. Trust me; my life is anything but normal."

"Are your parents still married?" Topaz asked.

I shrugged. "Sorta," I said vaguely. "You see, they never really got married in the first place. I mean there was the time that Mum tricked Dad into marrying her by making him think it was part of the show. But Dad and I don't like to think about that."

"Why not?"

"Don't ask. It was a disaster, let's put it at that."

"Oh, OK."

There was an awkward silence.

"Topaz," I said. "Can I ask you something?"

He shrugged. "I guess."

"How did you get that scar?"

He looked shocked. "I've never told anyone about that," he said.

"Well I'm not 'anyone'," I said. "I'm-"

"Yeah, yeah, Jasmine, daughter of Kermit. I know. Kind of full of yourself, aren't you?"

"Yep," I said proudly. "Now are you going to tell me about that scar?"

He sighed. "You're nosey too. Alright, if I tell you how I got the scar, can we shut up about my life?"

"It's a deal.

"Well, something you need to know before I begin is that on the street, we have a little rule. Once you're ten, you get a knife. And once you're twenty and no younger, you get a gun. Once you're thirty you can get whatever you want, but that's our rule. So, being fourteen, I have a knife that my Papa gave me a few years ago. It's my prized possession. But anyway, this knife was the weapon that caused the scar."

He got a pocket knife out of his jacket pocket and showed it to me. The handle was shamrock green (Look it up) and the blade looked sharp, despite it being rusty and dirty. On the handle, it had three letters in silver. T t F

"I'll just cut to the chase." Topaz flicked the knife shut and put it back in his pocket. "My Papa did it. It was on the night that Mama left, I was about eleven and I was too young to understand about Ma and Pa fighting so much. To this day I'm not so sure what they were arguing about, or why they split up.

"So Papa came in one day looking depressed and tired.

'Where's Mama?' I asked.

He said she had to go.

'Will she ever come back?' I persisted.

'It doesn't look like it,' Papa replied.

'Why not?' I asked, oblivious to dangerous territory. 'Doesn't she love us anymore?'

That was when Papa snapped.

'No, she doesn't love us and she doesn't need us!' he yelled. 'She walked out, and she's not coming back.'

I was shocked.

'But…I need her,' I said.

Papa didn't want to hear it; he wanted to erase Mama from our lives. He lashed out, grabbed my pocket knife and…"

Topaz cut off and put a hand up to his scar.

"I never forgot that day," he said. "I tried to; I tried so hard to wipe it from my memory. But even now, all I can remember is the yell, that searing pain, and the scream. Oh, how I screamed."

"I'm sorry," I said. "I never realised. I thought you just caught it on something."

"I wish," he said sadly.

"Did you…ever forgive your dad?"

He shrugged one shoulder. "I guess so. It took a while but, Papa's all I've got. I had to forgive him eventually. Honestly though, I don't know what to think about Papa, I love him and I hate him and I don't know what to do."

I put my arm around him.

"I know how that feels."

Aww, cute! Anyways, I am now back from Devon! Hooray! *Party poppers*