“Sally O’Hare,” I said, noticing Noah’s eyes flare at the name. Did he know her?
Vee pursed her lips, eyeing me a moment. “And are you doing anything about it?”
“What can I do? She has more friends than I do. It’s a losing battle.”
“The O’Hare’s are a bunch of dim-witted Neanderthals. You have your wits, Estella, and they far surpass those of Sally O’Hare. Use words as your weapon, and you’ll win the war.”
I blinked, unable to believe Vee had just given me a compliment, not to mention advice verging on maternal. My mouth fell open slightly, but I didn’t breathe a word. Vee opened the cupboard, swearing when she discovered we were out of tea bags.
“Take some money from the drawer in the entryway, and run down to the shop, Estella,” she ordered irritably, slamming the cupboard shut. “Every time I want a cup of blasted tea in this house, we’re either out of milk, tea bags, sugar or all three.”
Without a word, I did as she asked and left the room in a hurry. I hesitated in the hallway when I heard a bang, like someone slamming their hand on the wooden surface of the table. The sound was so loud and harsh the house practically shuddered. It had to be Noah.
“Why don’t you go shopping if you’re always running out, sister? You look like you haven’t eaten a thing since 2008.”
I quietly gasped at the way he spoke to her, my heart pounding as I waited to see how Vee would respond to his challenge. I expected her to shout at him, lash out, but she didn’t. Instead, her voice grew watery and weak.
“I eat,” she stated. “You know the women in our family are naturally thin.”
“You’re not thin, you’re skeletal. But dare I comment on it? Dare I fuck. You go around acting like it’s perfectly normal. While I’m here scared we’ll have to start feeding you those foil nutrient packets they give to starving children in Africa.” What he said was insulting and mean, but he also sounded angry at her for not taking better care of herself.
“You have no right to talk to me like that,” Vee replied, a quiver in her voice.
“We’re family. I have every right to tell you when you’re making yourself suffer unnecessarily.”
Vee didn’t reply. Instead she fled the room. I pressed my body to the wall, hoping she didn’t notice me and take her emotions out on me.
Instead, she passed by, ran up the staircase, and slammed her bedroom door shut with a loud thud. I chanced a peek into the kitchen. Noah stood by the table; his posture slumped and his head in his hands, clearly regretful for what he’d said to Vee. He must’ve sensed me looking because he glanced up, his eyes locking with mine. My pulse pounded as I instantly turned and grabbed the money from the entryway, hurrying from the house.
***
About five minutes away from the convent, there was a community school, and that meant one very important thing.
Boys.
I’d never really had friends who were boys, aside from Aoife’s boyfriend, Jimmy, so it was safe to say I’d never had an actual boyfriend either. Maybe that was why I was having all these confusing feelings about Noah. Aside from Dad, I’d barely interacted with the opposite sex in my life.
Sometimes, a few of the community school lads would come over and hang out by the convent gates to leer at the girls as we headed home for the day. Claire McBride was not only Sally’s evil sidekick, but she was also annoyingly gorgeous, attracting lots of attention from the boys. If there was a beauty contest going, she’d be the winner, though I suspected in a bigger pond she’d simply be considered “cute”.
That was the problem with living in a small town. You never could tell if you were extraordinary, or if everyone else was just very ordinary, rendering any small talent unnecessarily amplified.
“Hey sexy!” one of them called as I ducked my head and hurried through the gates as fast as I could. They weren’t talking to me. They were talking to the girls behind me since Claire was among them. It was a pity Aoife had basketball practice today. I’d feel less anxious if she was here.
“Show us your tits,” another shouted, and I quickened my step. I couldn’t help chancing a quick glance in their direction, recognising Kean Riordan. He lived just down the street from Vee’s house. But unlike Vee’s, his house was well-maintained. His parents were wealthy, with his dad owning a local pipe factory.
We made brief eye contact, and he shot me a small smile before I turned and continued walking. That was weird. Had he really just smiled at me? Kean was a hot commodity, and lots of girls in town fancied him. I might’ve been more excited by his smile if it wasn’t for the fact that my head was full of Noah. I couldn’t stop replaying his words from yesterday over and over in my head.