Chapter 11

She's an actual lunatic, and Rachel Johnson, the woman who literally earns her salary by re-homing children, as if we're abandoned dogs, decided that this was the best home for us.

At least animal rescue centers do proper home checks before letting you adopt a dog. We'd learned that when we tried to adopt a few years ago but got refused because Mum and Dad both worked full time. More care goes into choosing the right home for a dog than it does for two orphaned teenagers.

 Isn't that just damn fantastic?

Elijah is looking at me. I can feel his gaze like a laser beam, and I turn my head to meet it. I raise my eyebrow and shake my head. But he just purses his lips in the way he does when he's trying to be the responsible big brother. He's telling me to back off. To not say everything out loud that he knows is running through my mind right now.

I consider for a moment, staring him down with equal intensity, and my eyes bulge at him as I dip my head to the side