England
About 4 years after mam and Rhyd were married, we all moved away from Rhyd's cottage in Wales, and went to live in England. I've never really known why they decided that we had to move, because houses in England were expensive, and Rhyd didn't earn very much. Every time I've asked mam, she's just said that they wanted Josh to have a good education and that the local schools in Wales couldn't provide him with that. When Josh asks though, she says that it was for reasons that he wouldn't be able to understand. As I said before, mam became a terrible liar later on.
I don't really remember how I felt about moving to England. I hadn't started school yet and I wasn't allowed out of the house, so I had no friends to leave behind. Josh had gone to a preschool, but mam and Rhyd said that it was too expensive for me to go too. I was always the least favoured child. In later years, when I was able to look after myself, mam and Rhyd would pretend I didn't exist. Josh always tried his hardest to make sure that they noticed me though. He was the only one that didn't seem to think I was inferior because I was my dad's kid instead of Rhyd's.
I loved primary school. There, no one ignored me, or told me that I wasn't allowed to join in. I made friends and I took part in activities that I loved. When I was seven, I became friends with a boy called Liam. He didn't have a dad either, but he said that he lived in a very different place to me. He seemed quite shy about telling me about his home at first, but soon he opened up. That was when I first heard about Elm Tree House.
I loved it when he told me stories of the house and its residents. I was captivated by the idea of living with all of my friends in a massive house, with people in charge who really loved you and didn't put the other children before you. Liam introduced me to some of his friends from the house, and they all seemed so nice. I dreamed of leaving mam and Rhyd and going to live at the dumping ground with Josh. Liam didn't think it was all that great though. He told me that he'd love to lead my life, with proper parents and a cool brother. I think we probably spent too much time wishing we had each other's lives.
It was also when I was seven that I first played badminton, and I loved it. I'm not sure what it was, but I always felt more peaceful when I was playing. I was also very good at it. I got onto a local team, and I used to spend hours practicing for the next game. It was a time when I could do what I wanted, and when I came first. Mam and Rhyd always said that it was a terrible sport that no one should play, but I think that made it even more appealing to me.
Mam and Rhyd hated me. I know it sounds strong, but I think it's true. They would leave me in the house alone for hours, and forbid me from touching anything. They wouldn't give me any pocket money, even though Josh got 2 pounds a week. They didn't even pay for school trips for me, so I always missed out. Sometimes, if they decided that they didn't like something I'd done, they would put dairy in my food so that I was ill, but they'd still make me do jobs around the house.
That was why I stayed out of the house as much as possible. I'd hang out with Liam, and sometimes Josh and Liam's friend Frank would come along too. I liked Frank. The mean people at school would call him names, and so that made us similar. They always used to tease me about my eyes, and that mam would come and pick Josh up from school and leave me behind. Sometimes when Liam was with other friends, me and Frank would talk about being different, and we would list all of the things that we could do, and the mean people couldn't.
I was happy, even though life at home wasn't great. I'd spend time with Josh and we'd go to the park, or he'd give me some money to go to the shops to get some dairy free snacks. Mam never told him off for this, because he couldn't get anything wrong, but you could tell that she and Rhyd were annoyed that we got along. I'm pretty sure they'd have liked me to go and live in Elm Tree House too.