“I’m starting to miss my old life less and less. And maybe I am starting to like being here. I just want Skylar to like it, too.”
“Loving these places is part of us. It’s part of who we are, and the way we grew up. But for an outsider, moving here from the city, it’s totally different; especially if you’re fifteen years old.”
“What about you?” I ask her, curious. “Have you never thought about leaving?”
“We’re not all like you, Niall. Some of us are happy with ourselves as we are.”
“That stuff… All the meditation… It works, then? It’s not all just bullshit?”
“That depends. It works if you want it to work.”
“How the fuck can you be so wise? You’re only eighteen!”
“I’m not wise: I’m just happy with who I am.”
“Maybe I should try some of that stuff, too.”
“You’re not ready.”
“Oh, no?”
She shakes her head.
She’s definitely right.
“So, tell me…” She lifts her sunglasses onto her head and scrutinises me. “Have you found out what’s going on between Hayes and the head teacher?”
I knew this would come up at some point. I’m starting to think that she only agreed to this breakfast so that she could wheedle information out of me.
“Why do you care so much?”
“Well, you dragged me into it on Friday night.”
“It looked to me like you dragged yourself into it.”
“Was I supposed to let you go alone, with a teenager?”
Sometimes I think that she forgets that she’s barely more than a teenager herself.
“There’s nothing going on between Hayes and the head teacher.”
“How do you know that?”
“I have my sources.”
“Reliable sources?”
“Very reliable.”
Actually, I didn’t even ask her what happened between them; I just asked her to wait until the end of the tournament, not to go on any more dates. But if there were something going on between them, she’d have told me. Right?
I glance at my phone, sitting face-up on the table. She still hasn’t replied yet. I don’t even know if she’s considering it, or whether she’s just playing with me. Or maybe she simply doesn’t believe me, doesn’t trust me. Maybe she doesn’t think I could be genuinely interested. And I wouldn’t blame her.
“You have to get in there first, Niall,” my sister says suddenly, dragging my attention back to her. “Hayes may not be the best guy ever, but he’s still a fireman – he has his ways. And his, er… charm.”
“What do you mean?”
“Let’s just say there have been a few rumours going around about his…skills.”
