“I mean for the whole year.”
“I’m not following.”
“I think that a little effort will be necessary – from her and from her teachers…”
“Are you saying that you want her to do two years of work in one?”
“It’s a shame to fall so far behind.” There’s a trace of genuine sadness in her voice. “I want to do something to help her, to get her back on the right track. And maybe knowing that everything is not lost… I don’t know, I thought it might be a good incentive.”
And she’s right. Skylar hates being the eldest in her class – or, as she puts it, having to be ‘surrounded by babies’. As if a year makes a difference; but I imagine, for a pissed-off teenager, it reallydoesmake a difference.
“I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything.” She gets to her feet, too.
I nod slowly, feeling guilty for my harsh words before; but I still don’t understand the need for all this distance between us.
“I’ll be waiting for you tomorrow at six.”
“What?”
“I’ll be there for your first training session.”
“What are you talking about?”
“This is why you should’ve read the whole thing. Training is every Thursday afternoon – at least for the time being. If they need a few more hours a week, we can train on Saturday mornings, too.”
“Training. Right.”
“The PE teacher could give you a hand, if you need it.”
“I work better on my own.”
“It’s up to you.”
“And it’s not necessary for you to be there, either.”
Now she’s the one who looks bitter.
“I can get by perfectly well on my own.”
“Then we have nothing else to say to each other, Mr Kerry.”
“Have a nice day, Ms Hill.” I leave her office with a weight lifted from my shoulders, but a churning sensation in my stomach. It’s not the fact that I have to address her as ‘Ms Hill’ that annoys me – actually, it just makes her even sexier. The problem is subtler, more pathetic than that; it’s a problem I never thought would make me feel so bitter, so filled with inexplicable regret.
Niall
“We’ve done it!” I announce, striding through the front door and closing it behind me.
My mother appears instantly in the living room.
“We got the place at the Abbey.”
“That’s amazing news!”
At that moment, my daughter comes padding down the stairs.
“We’re in,” I tell her, satisfied that I’ve finally managed to do something good for her. “The school.”
