[Excerpt]

‘Em?’ called Carol, knocking on the bathroom door.

Her daughter didn’t reply.

‘Em? You know how I believe in adolescent privacy and all that, but I really need to come in right now.’

‘I’m busy.’

‘In the bathroom? Please, I think I’m going to vomit.’

‘I’m naked.’

‘Oh, that kind of busy.’

‘Eurgh, no. Fine, come in.’

‘Thanks, hon-‘, Carol began but didn’t finish because, due to a poorly placed doormat, she tripped and discharged the contents of her stomach all over the threshold.

‘Is there any food in that at all?’ asked Emily, surveying the glutinous puddle.

‘There was a slice of lime,’ her mother muttered, leaning against the bath for support. ‘There was definitely a slice of lime. What’re you up to, honey?’

‘Feeling depressed,’ she sighed, drawing a smiley face on the steamed-up window and then slashing a row of prison bars to contain it.

‘That’s nice.’

‘I said I’m feeling depressed,’ she repeated, running the cold tap to remove a smudge of dirt from her finger.

‘No problem, but try to keep the noise down.’

‘In fact, I was thinking I might kill myself.’

‘Good for you, champ.’ Carol went downstairs for a glass of water.