‘Well, goodnight,’ I said.
‘Goodnight,’ she said.
I stepped forward and kissed her on the cheek and quickly stepped back.
She looked at me.
I looked at her.
She stepped forward and kissed me on the lips and held for a few seconds before she stepped back again.
We looked at each other.
Then we both stepped in and kissed for much, much longer.
I wasn’t sure how long a kiss is supposed to last for or who stops kissing who, but when we stepped back from each other I knew it had ended sooner than I had wanted it to.
‘Goodnight,’ I said, heart beating, face beaming.
‘Goodnight again,’ she said, smiling wide, and bounced off to the front door and waved before going inside.
‘Nice one, Brendan,’ Dad said, squinting in the headlight beam.
‘Nice one what?’ I said, going round to the passenger side.
‘Exactly,’ he said, ‘nice one what.’
‘Dad, sometimes you say things and I’ve no idea what you mean.’
‘Well, I said something a minute ago and you seemed to know what I meant.’
‘I thought you said you didn’t say anything,’ I said.
‘Aye, you’re right, I didn’t.’
‘Must be hearing things then.’
‘Voices in your head.’
‘Aye.’
‘Aye.’
He walked round to the driver’s side and we looked across at each other over the roof of the BMW.
‘Aye, well, thanks anyway, Dad.’
‘Not a bother, Mr Wayne.’
I looked at him confused.
‘Batman,’ he said, ducking down and sitting in the driver’s seat and closing the door. I looked to where his head had been and smiled, and then got into the car to sit beside him.
At home, I stood in front of my cupboard mirror once more, Ronan’s award in one hand, my face flushed above the red-veined bowtie pulsing under my chin. I couldn’t help but feel that it was a moment in my life that would never be topped because I really did feel like I was at the top of something, some mountain peak maybe, looking down at a landscape of possibility all around me.
It’s probably why I had the dream I had.
I was a mountain climber scaling something like Everest, digging my spiked boots into thick ice and using sticks to support me with each step. I was pulling a rope that was tethered to a sleigh some distance behind me. The wind was howling but I could hear the distant shout of Ronan, who was sitting in the sleigh, wrapped in fur.
