Page 4

Tara frowned as she glanced at my uniform. “But you’re still in school. Is your sister kicking you out or something?”

“No, nothing like that,” I responded quickly, feeling embarrassed. “It’s just … it’s time I supported myself.”

Tara studied me for a beat longer than normal, then cleared her throat. “I see, well, we need someone for Thursday afternoons and weekends. Would you be okay working on Saturday and Sunday?”

“Yes, definitely,” I nodded eagerly.

“What year are you in?”

“Sixth.”

Her eyebrows rose. “Are you sure this won’t interfere with your studies? The Leaving Cert is a lot of pressure. It’s why we need someone. I used to work weekends, but I need the time off to prepare for exams.”

I swallowed thickly. “I’ll make it work.”

“Okay, well, we’ve got a couple other candidates to consider,” she said, and my stomach dropped. Of course, it was never going to be this easy. Of course, they had other candidates. Tara pulled out a paper and pad, the kind used for scribbling down orders. “Here’s my email. If you could send me your CV, I’ll get back to you before the end of the week.”

Something in the way she said it made me feel like she wasn’t going to give me the job, especially since she didn’t ask the standard, “Do you have any questions about the position?” line. I started to panic when she stood and shook my hand. “It was nice to meet you, Erin.” She turned to walk back to the counter. I scurried after her, acting on instinct when I blurted, “I really need this job.”

She turned, looking surprised before I continued babbling, “My sister just took her ex-boyfriend back. He’s moving in with us, and I can’t … I can’t live with him again.”

She must’ve seen the fear and desperation in my eyes because she seemed lost for words. Finally, her expression hardened. “Has he hurt you?”

“I don’t feel safe around him,” was all I could manage before Tara seemed to startle, her attention going over my shoulder. The hairs on the back of my neck tingled, and I became aware of someone’s shadow as they stood behind me. Turning, I saw him. Tristan Balfe. He looked … concerned. Oh, no, had he heard me? In a flash, the concern turned to anger, followed by pity, and I wished for the world to swallow me whole.

Mortification seeped in as I pushed down my tears and fled the café.

2.

Tristan

“I can’t believe how close we are to being done with school,” Leo said as we sat in Christine’s after training. It was a regular spot for us, and we came at least once a week to hang out.

“I can’t wait for the summer,” Sean’s girlfriend, Emma, put in. “It’s going to be amazing. My older sister, Majella, said the summer before college is the best.”

“What do you think, Tristan? Are you gonna throw a bunch of parties at your house to make it extra epic?” Leo asked.

“Huh?”

Sean chuckled. “He’s half asleep. Coach Hillan really pushed you to your limits today, eh?”

“Yeah,” I lied. “He was brutal.”

I was usually a little more tuned in to these conversations, but I’d been distracted ever since the new girl walked in. I didn’t know her by name, but I’d seen her at school. She was mysterious and gorgeous, with captivating amber eyes that had literally stopped me in my tracks the first time I’d seen her walk by me in the corridor. It was almost like she was trying to hide herself with all the hair dye, piercings and the oversized black hoodie she often wore over her uniform. I felt like I was the only one who noticed her. So far, she’d avoided everyone else’s attention, but something about her had me ensnared. I was curious.

The only class we shared was art, and since our teacher, Mr Carrigan, was so laid back and never did a roll call, I hadn’t been able to learn her name. She normally sat in the back corner of the room, quietly working on her portfolio while listening to music on her earphones. I sometimes found my gaze wandering to her, wondering what she was like and what had brought her to our town so late in the school year.

“Well you’d better rest up,” Sean said. “We have the Senior Challenge coming up, and we need you on form.”

I nodded, my gaze following the girl with the short, wavy black hair as she spoke with my sister’s friend, Tara. Tara’s grandmother owned the café, and she’d been working here for the last few years to help her out. I wondered what they were talking about, but then Tara stepped around the counter and led the girl over to sit at a table in the corner. Were they friends? My sister and her pals went to St. Colmcille’s, which was the local all-girls secondary school, so how would they have met?

I continued watching them as my friends chatted around me and noticed they seemed to be weirdly formal with one another. Tara was asking a lot of questions, but I was too far away to hear. Then I remembered the sign by the door and realised what was going on. New Girl was interviewing for a job. Their talk came to an end, and they stood, with Tara walking back to the counter and New Girl following after her. This was my chance to meet her. Surely, Tara would introduce us.

I stood quickly, lifting my mug. “I’m just going to grab a refill,” I said, then headed over. I was only about a foot behind New Girl when I heard her blurt, “I really need this job. My sister just took her ex-boyfriend back. He’s moving in with us, and I can’t … I can’t live with him again.”

I stiffened, my gut twisting with unease. Something in her voice had every protective instinct I possessed waking up.

“Has he hurt you?” Tara asked, sounding concerned.