Kelly could hear Dylan giggling. Oh, God, he must be really pissed. This was bad.
She could only catch some of what her mother was saying because Lucy was crying. ‘How could you … stupid … irresponsible … opportunity … ruin everything … why … please don’t do this … sacrificed … have to stop seeing her … you have to.’
Dylan’s voice was louder. ‘I love Taylor and I’m never, ever going to break up with her, so get that into your head. She’s the best thing that’s happened to me. I feel brilliant when I’m with her. Free from all the pressure and hassle. Nothing you can say will make me dump her. She’s the best thing in my life.’
Kelly could hear her mother properly now: she was shouting and crying. ‘Don’t ruin your life like I did. Please, Dylan, no one is worth it. Taylor is just one girl – you’ll meet plenty of others. You have to stop seeing her. Jordan won’t give you a second chance. He’ll know you were drinking again. Look at you, you’re absolutely plastered. Taylor is bad for you. If you don’t break up with her, I’ll bloody well do it for you. I’ll make sure she stays the hell away from you. Over my dead body is that girl messing up your life.’
‘Stop going on and on. Jesus, Mum, I’m not going to get her pregnant. I’m just having fun. Stop suffocating me. Stop trying to control everything me and Kelly do. We’re not stupid like you were.’
‘You and Kelly are my life,’ Lucy cried. ‘You’re everything to me. Please, Dylan, don’t let Taylor drag you down. Trust me on this. She’s already caused trouble with Jordan and school. Stop it now before it’s too late. You can’t behave like this – you’ll get expelled and so will Kelly. The football parents are already talking about you. We have to be better than everyone. Scholarship students have to be perfectly behaved. You have to prove to them that you belong there. Please, Dylan …’
Kelly hated to hear Lucy so upset, her voice coming out in gulps and hiccups as she veered between crying and shouting.
‘I don’t have to prove anything to anyone,’ Dylan roared. ‘Leave me alone and do not mention Taylor again. I love her and I’m never breaking up with her. I don’t give a shit what the other football parents think of me and neither should you. Fuck them and fuck St Jude’s.’
Kelly heard Lucy gasp and then Dylan’s footsteps on the stairs. He stumbled into his bedroom and locked the door. Kelly could hear her mother sobbing.
Oh, God, Dylan and her mum never fought. They’d barely ever had a cross word. It was Kelly and Lucy who had always clashed. That was normal. This was totally abnormal. Kelly felt sick.
She slowly opened her bedroom door and looked out. Lucy was sitting at the top of the stairs, crying against the banister.
‘Mum?’ Kelly whispered.
‘Go back to bed,’ Lucy said, rubbing her eyes roughly. ‘It’s okay, love. Go on.’
Kelly closed her door softly and stood there, wondering what to do. How could she or her mum make Dylan see what he was doing? There was no getting through to him. This was just going to get worse and worse, she could feel it. What could they do?
She opened her door again. ‘We can talk to him tomorrow, Mum,’ she said. ‘Force him to see that he’s making bad decisions.’
Lucy raised her head, her eyes red and sore. ‘He’s going to break up with that girl if I have to do it for him. There is no other solution.’
‘I know,’ Kelly whispered. ‘I know.’
41
Dylan was first in for pre-school training. He was glad the locker room was empty. He threw his kit bag on the floor and sat down. It had nearly killed him to get up when his alarm clock went off, but he knew he was on thin ice with everyone – at home and at school. That thought alone had forced him out of bed. He felt hung-over and guilty about shouting at his mother. He’d never done that before and he felt terrible. She hadn’t been up when he’d left the house. He’d apologize later. He swore to himself that he wouldn’t drink any more with Taylor. He’d see her, but he wouldn’t take anything. And he was going to spend the next six nights straight studying like demon. That would make his mum happy.
He gulped down more water and opened his kit bag. Three of the lads came in and whistled at him.
Guy slapped him on the back. ‘Very decent of you, Dylan, sharing Taylor’s assets with us all. I must say, it was a bloody nice image to wake up to.’
‘What a rack. As good as I always imagined it would be.’
‘You’re a lucky man.’
Dylan frowned. What the hell were they on about?
Conor came in behind them and sat down beside Dylan. ‘Dude, were you drunk? Taylor’s going to freak out.’
‘What are you all talking about?’ Dylan asked.
‘The photo you sent to the football WhatsApp group of Taylor topless.’
‘What?’ Dylan jumped up.
‘How drunk were you?’ Conor asked.
‘I never sent that! There’s no way … I …’ Dylan stuttered. Had he? Did he send it out? No way. He hadn’t been that drunk. No. There was no way in hell he would do that.
He pulled his phone out of the pocket of his kit bag. His hands were shaking. He had tons of messages. Oh, Jesus, it had been forwarded on. Shit. His phone flashed as more messages flooded in. He opened the photo and looked at the time it was sent, three a.m. He remembered going to bed, setting his alarm clock and thinking, Shit, it’s half two and I’m up at six. He was fast asleep at three a.m. Someone else must have sent it. He’d found his phone on the kitchen table earlier.
Oh, my God. Dylan’s jaw dropped open as the awful truth hit him. Mum.
He remembered how upset she’d been when he’d come home – she’d even cried, which she never did. Jesus, had his mother done this? Could she be that psycho? She was obsessed with St Jude’s and she had been really upset last night, way more upset than he’d ever seen her before … Dylan sat down. He felt sick.
‘Nice tits, dude! Thanks for sharing.’ Josh slapped his back.
Dylan felt sweat trickling down his back. Panic was setting in. His phone flashed. It was Taylor calling. How the hell was he going to explain this?
He walked out of the dressing room and outside the building. ‘Hi.’
‘You lowlife scumbag. How could you do this? How could you humiliate me like this? That was private, Dylan, between you and me. My phone hasn’t stopped since I woke up. It’s gone viral,’ Taylor screamed.
‘I swear to you I didn’t do this. I don’t know how it happened, but I’m going to find out. I’m taking it down now and deleting it.’
‘It’s too fucking late! It’s out there now. The whole world is looking at my boobs. You’re an arsehole. I trusted you. Melissa was right, you are a lowlife.’
‘Taylor, please, I swear I didn’t send it. I wouldn’t do that.’
‘At least have the balls to own up. It came from your phone and was sent to your football team!’ Taylor shouted. ‘I hate you! I will never ever speak to you again. You’re dead to me.’ She hung up.
Dylan ran over to a hedge and threw up. How could she do this to him? How could his mother do this to Taylor? Anger welled inside him. It was her, he was sure of it. She’d been so obsessed about him breaking up with Taylor. The anger surged through him as he ran to where he’d parked his bike. He yanked the key out of his pocket, unlocked it, flung the lock on the ground and jumped on, pedalling furiously.
They were finishing breakfast when the door burst open. Dylan stood there, sweat running down his face, panting. He held onto the countertop and caught his breath.
Lucy, Billy and Kelly stared at him.
‘Did something happen?’ Lucy asked, sounding worried. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘How could you?’ Dylan shouted. ‘How could you do this to her?’
‘What are you talking about?’ Lucy had expected him to apologize to her this morning. What the hell was this?
‘You bitch.’
‘Dylan!’ Billy stood up and shook a finger in his face. ‘Don’t you dare speak to
your mother like that. Calm down and tell us what’s going on.’
‘She,’ Dylan shouted, jabbing a finger towards Lucy, ‘sent a photo of Taylor topless from my phone to all my friends and it’s gone viral. The whole fucking country is looking at it. Taylor hates me now.’ His face crumpled. ‘She doesn’t believe it wasn’t me. She’s hurt and humiliated. How could you do this? You’re a psycho.’
‘Jesus, I barely understand the world any more.’ Billy pulled Dylan into a chair and stood behind him. ‘Now let’s just take a minute and sort this out.’
Lucy was staring at her son. ‘You’re saying a photo of Taylor was sent from your phone and you’re blaming me? You think I’d do that? Have you lost your mind?’
‘I know you did it, Mum. You told me to break up with Taylor and you knew I wouldn’t do it, so last night when I went to bed you sent the photo out. I know you did so you can stop lying now. You’re so obsessed with me being the perfect scholarship student that you’d do anything to stop me messing up. I just never thought you’d stoop that low.’
‘I didn’t do it,’ Lucy said. ‘It’s ridiculous. You must have done it by mistake or pressed the wrong button last night when you came in. You were drunk, after all.’
‘I wasn’t that drunk! I’d never ever hurt Taylor, but you would. You wanted to get rid of her. Well, congratulations, Mum, it worked. She hates me. She’s sent me tons of messages letting me know how much she hates me and how devastated she is. I will never forgive you for this, never.’
‘Stop it, Dylan,’ Lucy snapped. ‘You only have yourself to blame because I didn’t touch your phone. Besides, the fact that Taylor is stupid enough to send photos of her breasts to you speaks for itself, doesn’t it? I won’t have you speaking to me like this. I didn’t send any picture. You were drunk enough to do that all by yourself.’
‘I didn’t do it!’ Dylan shouted. ‘I’m mad about Taylor.’
Lucy folded her arms. ‘Well, I feel sorry for Taylor and I’m sorry you’re upset, but you know what? Maybe your drunk actions last night are going to save you from making a serious mistake. Now that Taylor’s out of the picture, you can focus on what’s important. This might actually be a blessing in disguise.’
Dylan’s mouth fell open. He stared at his mother. Then he stood up and walked over to her. He put his face close to hers. ‘I know you did it and I hope you’re happy. You’ve ruined my life and hers. Well done.’
He stormed up to his bedroom.
‘What in the name of God is going on?’ Billy asked.
‘Stupid teenage nonsense, Dad. Don’t worry about it. It’ll blow over. Go on and open up the shop. I’ll be there in a minute,’ Lucy told him.
‘Bloody phones, they’re the scourge of life, I tell you,’ Billy muttered, as he unlocked the door leading from the kitchen into the shop.
Lucy turned to Kelly, who was sitting quietly at the table. She hadn’t uttered a word. ‘Are you all right?’ she asked.
Kelly nodded.
‘Don’t worry, pet, he’ll soon realize he sent it by mistake last night and hopefully he’ll learn something from it. He’ll stop drinking now he sees what stupid things he does when he’s drunk. I do feel sorry for Taylor, but then again, she’s very foolish to send photos of her body to anyone. Let this be a lesson to you too, Kelly. Never send anyone an intimate photo of yourself. Nothing is private.’ She looked towards the stairs. ‘Hopefully Dylan will calm down soon and apologize.’
Kelly said nothing. She got up and put her plate into the dishwasher. Lucy watched her go up the stairs as she finished tidying up the kitchen. She only realized her hands were shaking when she tried to put her coffee cup into the dishwasher. She’d tried to appear calm in front of Kelly and her dad, but she’d been thrown by the force of Dylan’s rage. She’d give him a few more minutes to calm down and then she’d go up and try to talk to him reasonably.
She never got the chance. Five minutes later, Dylan thumped down the stairs carrying a suitcase and headed for the front door.
Lucy rushed into the hall. ‘What on earth are you doing?’
‘Leaving.’ Dylan pushed past her. ‘I’m not staying in this house with you.’
‘Stop this nonsense, Dylan. I’ve had enough now. I did not send any photo to anyone. Calm down and stop behaving like a child. You obviously sent it by mistake last night and blaming me is ridiculous.’
Dylan shoved his finger into her face, his eyes blazing. ‘I will never forgive you. I’m going to stay at Jenny’s because I can’t live under the same roof as someone who could be so cruel. I hate you. I really mean that. I hate you.’
Lucy gasped. ‘Come on, Dylan, this is ridiculous. Stop now. Come back. We need to talk about this. Dylan, you can’t leave.’
He shoved her out of the way and walked out of the door, his suitcase trailing behind him.
‘Dylan,’ she called. ‘Dylan, come back.’ She began to cry. ‘Please. You sent it by mistake. Please, come back.’
‘I’m never coming back. Don’t try to contact to me. You’re dead to me.’
42
Kelly’s phone pinged constantly.
Melissa: Ur brother is scum. Taylor is absolutely devastated. My stepdad is going mental!!!!! He’s going to get u all kicked out.
Alicia: Good riddance. St Jude’s shld never have allowed u scumbags in.
Chloë: Taylor is such a nice person ur brother is a dick.
Melissa: Pack ur bags u lowlife. Ur days at St Jude’s are over.
It wasn’t just her tormentors: there were tons of messages from all the other students in her class.
Ur brother is a lowlife.
Taylor deserves better than that scumbag.
Fuck off back to your old school.
Never should have given scholarships to filth like u.
We’ll get revenge for Taylor …
It was unrelenting, message after message after message. She didn’t know how she’d got through the day in school. It had been hell. She’d sprinted for the gates at four o’clock, desperate to be out of there.
Lucy was pacing up and down the kitchen when Kelly got home.
‘Did you see him? Is he okay? Did he speak to you? Is he sorry for being so rude? Does he realize now that he sent the photo?’ Lucy peppered Kelly with questions.
Kelly’s head was already splitting with the day she’d had. ‘No, Mum, I didn’t see Dylan today.’
‘I’ve been thinking about it all day. It’s going to look very bad for Dylan. If the school finds out, he’ll be in big trouble. I’m scared, Kelly. He could get expelled for this. Sending a compromising photo of a girl is a terrible thing to do. Oh, God, this is bad, really bad,’ Lucy said. She was pale and looked worn out. ‘The school hasn’t been on to me. Do you think they know?’
Kelly swallowed back the terror she felt rising in her chest. ‘I don’t know. But Mr Gough is really nice. Hopefully, he will be fair about it.’ Kelly said the words she hoped were true but she knew it was bad. Much worse than she had ever imagined. Everyone had seen the photo. It was a disaster.
‘Maybe no one else apart from the team has seen the photo. Have they? Did you hear anything?’
Kelly struggled to control herself. ‘Unfortunately a lot of people have seen it.’
Lucy’s face crumpled. ‘Oh, Jesus, Dylan, what have you done? I wanted him to break up with her but not humiliate her. Oh, Kelly, what a mess.’ Lucy began to sob.
‘They don’t like any bad press for the school,’ Kelly said, clutching at straws, trying to convince herself as much as her mother. ‘I think Mr Gough will do everything he can to keep this quiet.’
Lucy’s head snapped up and she looked hopefully at her daughter. ‘Really? That would be brilliant, if it can just blow over. I mean, it was just a stupid mistake.’
Kelly nodded, but she felt sick inside. There was no way this wasn’t going to have consequences, big ones.
Lucy grabbed her house keys from the counter. ‘I’m going to Jenny�
��s to see Dylan. I have to do something, I have to help him fix this. Maybe we can go to Mr Gough and explain it to him, make him see it was an innocent mistake. We have to try.’ Lucy hugged Kelly, then rushed out of the door.
Kelly collapsed into a chair and sobbed into her hands.
Lucy rang the doorbell. Jenny answered it.
‘Come on in.’
Lucy walked past her sister and straight to the spare bedroom. The door was locked. She stood outside and called Dylan’s name. Silence.
Frank walked out in his boxer shorts. He was eating toast and scattering crumbs on Jenny’s cream carpet.
‘For God’s sake, Frank, eat in the bloody kitchen,’ Jenny snapped.
‘Jesus, keep your hair on, Mrs Mop.’
Jenny pushed him towards the kitchen.
‘Hi, Lucy, sorry to hear of your situation.’
‘It’s just a mistake,’ Lucy said, embarrassed that he was getting to witness her family unravelling. ‘It’ll blow over quickly.’
Frank shook his head. ‘I doubt it. He won’t come out of there until you admit to sending that photo.’
‘I can’t admit to something I didn’t do,’ Lucy hissed.
Frank put his buttery knife down on the kitchen countertop. Jenny whipped it up and wiped away the butter marks.
‘Eh, I was going to have more butter.’
‘You’ve had enough. Go on, get yourself ready and meet Colin for a pint. He’ll be waiting for you.’
‘Where are my clean shirts?’ Frank asked.
‘What do you mean?’
‘I put them beside the washing machine.’
‘I saw them. They’re still there.’
‘Why didn’t you wash them?’
‘They’re not mine.’
‘But I need clean shirts.’
Jenny folded her arms. ‘Well, I guess you’ll have to wash them, won’t you?’
‘Are you serious? You just left them on the floor?’
‘Yes, Frank, I did.’
‘Thanks a bloody lot. What am I supposed to wear to go out?’
‘I don’t give a shit what you wear. I amn’t your cook or your cleaner. If you want clean shirts, wash them. You’re a big boy.’
Our Secrets and Lies Page 28
