‘Well, I hope you bring your A game to practice. I’d like to be impressed,’ Jackson said.
Dylan nodded. ‘I always do.’ He held Jackson’s gaze.
‘Don’t mind him. He’s just pissed off about Nathan being dropped,’ Conor whispered.
Dylan smiled. Jackson was a pussy cat compared to some of the nutters he’d had to deal with in his old school. Generally, people left him alone because he was a local football hero, but there had still been a few lads who were always looking for a fight. Dylan could look after himself.
As they were finishing their lunch a stunning blonde girl, with tanned skin, sparkling blue eyes and a very short uniform skirt, strutted by their table.
‘Hi, Taylor,’ one of the lads said.
‘Oh, hi, David.’ She stopped and turned to face them. Her blouse was open so you could just see the top of her bra. Man, she had a great set of boobs. Dylan could feel his temperature rising.
‘How was your summer?’ David asked.
‘Amazeballs. We went to St Tropez and partied hard.’
‘You look good, nice tan.’
‘Thanks, I worked hard on it.’ Turning to Dylan, she asked, ‘Who’s this?’
‘Dylan’s the new striker.’
Taylor’s eyes locked with Dylan’s. ‘What’s a striker?’
Dylan gave her his best smile. He hoped it was sexy and not creepy. ‘The striker is the guy who scores all the goals.’
She smiled back at him. ‘Well, good luck with your striking.’ She swung her hips away from the table, and as she got to the door she turned, obviously to check if he was still looking at her. Dylan wasn’t looking, he was staring.
‘Dude, you’re dribbling,’ Conor said, with a laugh.
‘Who is she?’ Dylan asked.
‘Taylor Lyons.’
‘She’s –’
‘Sizzling.’ Conor grinned.
‘Is she going out with anyone?’
‘She was with an older guy who was in first-year medicine, but they broke up over the summer.’
Dylan smiled. ‘So she’s single.’
‘I guess so.’
Today just kept getting better. Dylan finished his pasta and hoped Taylor would turn up in some of his classes.
As he was walking across the yard to the science lab he caught a glimpse of Kelly. She was sitting in a corner, half hidden by a tree, with her headphones on. He was about to go over to her when Conor grabbed his sleeve. ‘Come on, Mrs Long goes mad if you’re late.’
Dylan felt bad seeing his sister like that, all alone. He hoped she’d settle in. He knew she missed her old pals, but this school was pretty amazing, and if she gave it a go, he reckoned she’d enjoy it. After only half a day he loved it. Besides, she could go and see them all after school and at weekends. He missed his old teammates, who had been in school with him too, but he’d make new friends.
That’s what you did. You moved on, you looked forward, you went for your goals. Dylan reckoned it was simple – life was like football: you could never sit still, you had to keep moving.
16
Kelly swept the hair from under the chairs in the salon. She listened to the chatter of the women and the stylists – holidays, news stories, local gossip, sick husbands, troublesome children, you heard it all in Sarah’s salon.
Sarah finished her last highlight and set the timer. She nodded to Kelly and made a drinking gesture. Kelly put the broom away and followed her into the back room. She sat on the small orange couch while Sarah pressed buttons on the coffee machine.
‘Ah, for the love of God, I can’t work this fancy thing out at all. Darren keeps buying these complicated machines. I was happy with my kettle and instant coffee.’
Kelly grinned and got up. She took the cup from Sarah. ‘I’ll do it.’
‘Thanks, love.’ Sarah perched on the arm of the couch. She was very different from Lucy – they were like opposites.
While Lucy was thin, bony, all sharp edges and huge brown eyes, Sarah was soft and cuddly. She had kind blue eyes and a gorgeous smile. She was a few sizes bigger than Lucy, but she was taller so she carried it well. Lucy was better-looking, if Kelly was being honest, but everyone loved Sarah because she was so kind and almost always in a good mood, except when Ollie did something totally mad or Shannon was being bolshie.
Sarah changed her hair colour all the time. It had been red for a while, but when she’d turned thirty-eight last month she’d dyed it peroxide blonde. Kelly thought she looked cool. She always wore black, ‘because it makes me look thinner’, but usually with bright lipstick so she looked cheerful.
Kelly handed her a cappuccino.
‘You’re a wonder with that machine. Thank you,’ Sarah said. ‘Now, tell me, how are you finding the new school?’
Kelly tried to sip her latte, but it stuck in her throat. She felt a lump forming and then, without seeing it coming, she burst into tears. She covered her face. She was mortified. She never cried.
‘Ah, now, come here to me.’ Sarah put her sturdy arms around Kelly and patted her on the back. ‘It can’t be that bad after only a week.’
‘It is.’ Kelly sniffed. ‘I hate it.’
‘Moving to a new school at seventeen is hard. It’s normal that you’re finding it tough. But don’t worry, pet, it’ll get easier.’
Kelly wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her jumper. ‘I don’t think it will, Sarah. They all have their own groups – they’ve been friends for years. I’m a total outsider. There’s this one girl Chloë who was all friendly and added me to the house WhatsApp group, but she has me down as “Kelly Scholarship”. It’s like I have a tattoo on my head – SCHOLARSHIP GIRL. Her friend Melissa seems like a real bitch. She looks at me like I’m scum.’
‘There are mean kids in every school. Sure, a boy in Ollie’s class asked him if he was retarded. Imagine, at ten years of age!’
‘What?’
‘I know, the cheek of him.’ Sarah blew on her hot coffee. ‘Now, come on, they can’t all be rotten like Melissa. What are the other kids like?’
Kelly shrugged. ‘Some of them seem okay, I guess, but they all have friends already. I haven’t really got to know any of them. I just want to go back to Woodside and hang out with Shannon and Mandy. I wish Dylan had never got that scholarship.’
‘It’s a fantastic opportunity for him to train with a great coach, and it’s a brilliant school. A lot of very successful people went to St Jude’s and, soon enough, you’ll be one of them.’
Sarah felt she had to say what Lucy would want her to say. She knew how much all this meant to her friend, but it was hard to see poor Kelly so upset. If only she’d left Kelly at Woodside and just sent Dylan to St Jude’s, everything would be fine.
Kelly threw her hands into the air. ‘I’m no good at sport so the “amazing facilities” Mum keeps banging on about make no difference to me, and I can work hard in any school. The Leaving Cert curriculum is the same. Besides,’ Kelly exhaled deeply, ‘don’t tell Mum because she’ll actually have a full-on heart attack and probably kill me, but I don’t want to study law. I want to go to art college and study fashion and design.’
Sarah took a sip of coffee to gather her thoughts. Lucy would have a heart attack if she thought Kelly wasn’t going to study law. Her heart and soul were set on it. Kelly was going to have the life Lucy should have had, and Lucy was incapable of seeing any other path for her. Sarah chose her words carefully. ‘Okay, pet, but you might change your mind. Shannon has a new plan every second day. And even if you do decide not to study law, although I really think you shouldn’t rule it out, you’re still getting a great education. And … well … it’s really important that you try your best. It means the world to your mum and you should show the St Jude’s teachers how great you are. Let all of them and the headmaster, all of the parents and kids at the school, see what a fantastic girl Lucy raised.’
Kelly sighed. ‘You sound like Mum now. She keeps going on about how I have to shine and
be perfect. It’s just a stupid school.’
Sarah paused. ‘Well, it’s not just any old school. It’s pretty special, so why not do your best and make yourself and your mum proud? Give it your best shot, Kelly, for your own sake.’
Kelly put her coffee down. ‘Okay, I’ll try.’
‘Good for you, and remember, the first week of anything new is difficult. You’ll be okay. Just keep smiling your beautiful smile and they’ll all fall in love with you – the boys definitely will anyway. Are there any cute ones?’
Kelly smiled. ‘Well, yes, actually. There’s one guy, William, who’s pretty gorgeous.’
‘See? It’s not all bad.’ Sarah grinned. ‘Now I’ve to go and wash the colour out of Mrs Kilmore’s hair. No doubt it’ll be wrong – there’s no pleasing that one. But she always comes back.’
Kelly washed and dried the mugs and leant against the sink. She knew Sarah was right – she should try – but she was still furious that her life had been turned upside-down for Dylan. No one had asked her what she wanted. The decision was made and she was supposed to just suck it up. She wondered what her mother’s life would have been like if she hadn’t got pregnant. Would she have become a successful lawyer? Would she have got married? Would she be happy? Would she have had kids?
Her phone beeped. It was a message from Lucy: Are u on ur way home? Kelly knew her mum loved her, but she wished she’d back off and let her breathe. She was always on her case, checking where she was, who she was with and what she was doing. Jenny said it was because she was afraid Kelly might make the ‘same mistake’.
But Kelly wasn’t stupid: she wouldn’t have unprotected sex with anyone. She knew the risks – she’d heard her mum talk about them often enough. But obviously Lucy didn’t think so and was planning to stalk her until she got married. Even Shannon thought Lucy was ridiculously over-protective. She’d nicknamed her the Jailer.
The really annoying thing was that Lucy wasn’t as hard on Dylan. She kept a close eye on him, but nothing like the steel grip she had on Kelly. ‘Dylan’s a boy,’ her mum had said, when Kelly complained. ‘They get to walk away. Girls get left holding the babies.’
If Lucy didn’t tell them so often how much she loved them and how they were her world, Kelly would have thought sometimes that she regretted having them, but she knew she didn’t. On every Christmas, birthday and family occasion, Lucy would say the same thing: ‘You two are my world and my life. I love you more than anything.’ Then she’d get all choked up and cry. It was embarrassing and kind of awkward, but Kelly still liked her mum saying it. It made up for the feeling she had sometimes that Lucy had sacrificed so much for them that they had ruined her dreams.
Kelly wondered if Lucy was lonely. She had Billy, but your dad wasn’t the same as a husband or boyfriend. Lucy was pretty, but she never seemed to date anyone. Kelly had asked her once if she’d like to meet a man, but she had laughed in a don’t-be-ridiculous way and said, ‘I don’t have time for a man and, besides, I’m perfectly happy with you and Dylan.’
And she did seem happy. When they were younger, Saturday night was movie night. Billy would go to the pub with his friends, and Lucy, Kelly and Dylan would cuddle up on the couch under a big duvet with a box of chocolates and watch movies. Kelly always remembered her mum saying it was her favourite time of the week.
But when they’d got older Dylan had started going out with his mates and Kelly usually called over to Shannon’s house to watch a movie or do make-up and hair and try on each other’s clothes. So, for the past few years, Lucy had been on her own every Saturday. Sometimes Kelly stayed in with her because she felt sorry for her and wanted to keep her company.
She was glad when her mum had trained as a humanist celebrant five years ago, although in the beginning they’d all thought Lucy had gone mad and wanted to be a vicar or a priest or something. But when she’d explained it to them, it sounded quite cool. Kelly didn’t believe in God and thought the humanist way was brilliant. Humanists believe that the happiness of humans depends on people, rather than on religion, and Kelly one hundred per cent agreed. As Lucy had explained, ‘It’s about being good without God.’
Billy had been wary. He’d thought it was a cult and that Lucy was going to end up taking the twins to live in some commune. He was very against her doing it, but when she’d explained it to him and told him she’d be earning up to seven hundred euros per wedding, he’d come round to the idea.
Kelly thought it was kind of cool to have a mum who married gay people – almost half of her mum’s weddings were gay couples – and she’d done naming ceremonies for gay couples with kids. It was weird, though: she was open-minded, accepting and kind to everyone except Kelly. With Kelly, Lucy was always super-strict and obsessed with her getting a good degree so she could always support herself.
As Kelly walked down the road from the salon to her house, she resolved to do what Sarah had said. She’d try to fit in at St Jude’s and make her mum happy. But she had a feeling it wasn’t going to be easy. Maybe if she worked hard and got good results, she could talk to her about not wanting to do law. If she showed her how hard she was willing to work and try to fit in at school, maybe they’d stop fighting and Kelly could explain to her that she really wanted a career in fashion.
When she was younger she’d played along with the law thing because she’d seen how proud and happy it made her mum. Every time Lucy had said, ‘My Kelly’s going to be a lawyer,’ and beamed at her, it had made Kelly feel all warm inside. Lately, though, she’d tried dropping hints about fashion and showing her mum some of the clothes she’d made, but Lucy just treated it as a ‘little hobby’.
Kelly had no idea how to explain to her mother that her ‘little hobby’ was her life’s passion. If only she had finished her own stupid law degree, perhaps she wouldn’t be trying to force Kelly to live the life she’d wanted. Kelly felt as if somehow she had to make up for her mother’s mistakes and it was starting to get to her.
17
Sarah looked at the sign on Ollie’s door and shook her head. If you risk nothing, you gain nothing. She turned the handle and went in to wake up her son, but he wasn’t in his bed.
‘Where the feck are my glasses?’ Darren shouted, from their bedroom.
‘You left them in the bathroom,’ Sarah said.
‘They’re not there.’
‘Try the chest of drawers.’
‘I did.’
‘Have you seen Ollie?’ Sarah asked.
‘I thought he was still asleep.’
‘He’s not in his bed.’
Sarah went into Shannon’s room. Her sixteen-year-old was splayed across the bed, fast asleep. Clothes were strewn all over the floor.
Darren came up behind her. ‘Ollie’s not in his bed and it’s quiet. Jesus, what’s that nut-job up to now?’
They hurried downstairs. Ollie was nowhere to be seen. Sarah looked out of the kitchen window and saw a small dark figure in front of a … fire!
‘Darren,’ she shouted. ‘He’s out the back.’
She ran outside and towards the flames. ‘What in the name of God, Ollie?’ she roared.
Behind her, dragging the hose, was Darren.
Ollie turned around, eyes shining. ‘I did it, Mum. It took a while, but I did it, just like Bear Grylls.’
Sarah dragged her ten-year-old son away from the flames. ‘Are you stone mad? You could have burnt yourself alive.’
The fire was six foot high and the flames had set the hedge alight. Cursing, Darren hosed down the blaze.
‘Ah, Dad, you’ve ruined it!’ Ollie shouted. ‘I wanted to roast these ants over it and eat them. Bear Grylls says they taste fine and are full of protein.’
Darren put the hose down. He was breathing heavily. ‘For the love of Jesus, will you stop listening to that fecker?’
Ollie’s face was black with smoke. ‘Bear Grylls is a legend,’ he said. ‘It took me an hour to get that fire going and now you’ve drowned it.’
; ‘I’ll drown you in a minute,’ Darren snapped.
Sarah put her hand on her son’s shoulder. ‘Ollie, we’ve told you a million times you can’t play with fire. You could get burnt or die. You have to stop with all this madness.’
‘It’s not mad, it’s survival. I’m learning how to survive in the wilderness.’
‘You’re lighting fires in the back garden of your house. We live in the centre of Dublin. It’s not the Amazon jungle,’ Darren roared. ‘If I hadn’t put that fire out the hedge would have gone up and the house and next door. How do you think Joe would like waking up to his house on fire? Why can’t you just play football, like normal ten-year-olds?’
‘Don’t listen to dream-stealers, that’s what Bear Grylls says, and you are a dream-stealer, Dad. One hundred per cent.’
‘Dream-stealer? Are you joking me? We’ve been to hospital five times with you in the last eight months since you saw that feckin’ eejit on YouTube and started trying to copy him.’
‘His dad let him sky-dive.’
‘Yes, Ollie, his dad did let him sky-dive, and then he nearly paralysed himself when his parachute ripped.’ Sarah had been reading up on Bear Grylls to try to understand Ollie’s obsession and nip it in the bud before her son killed himself.
‘Yeah, well, that was bad luck and, anyway, eighteen months later he climbed Mount Everest to the top!’
‘He’s a man, Ollie. He was trained by the British Army. You’re just a kid. You can’t be like him.’
‘I can try. If you and Dad weren’t so mean, I could be Ireland’s Bear Grylls, but you never want me to do anything so I’ll never make it.’
Beside them Darren was raking through the fire with a stick. ‘You’ve got to be kidding me. You have got to be bloody kidding me!’ he shouted, as he held up a pair of charred glasses. ‘A hundred and fifty euros these cost me. What the hell?’
Ollie looked guilty. ‘I was using them to start the fire. You need glasses and then you spit on the lens and use it to angle the sun and some dry leaves and twigs and that’s how you start the fire. It took ages, but it worked, Dad. It actually worked.’
Our Secrets and Lies Page 10
