AESTHETE | derry girls

chapter seven!

"She...she... I saw with my own eyes!" Clare stuttered out, "She smirked!"

"Who? Big M?" Michelle asked, furrowing her eyebrows at Clare's answer.

"Aye. She just smirked at me," Clare confirmed.

"Are you sure you didn't just..." Erin started to ask, getting cut off by Michelle.

"She just smirked at me, too!" Michelle cried out, her dark eyes focused on the statue.

"Why isn't she smirking at me?" James whined, a pout forming on his face.

"She isn't smirking at anyone, James," Erin harshly corrected, with a swift shake of her head.

"I just saw it, too!" Orla and Aoife cried out in unison, "The holy smirk, thanks be to God!"

"You're imagining it,"

"Four of us saw it, Erin. How do you explain that?" Michelle snapped at the sceptical Quinn girl.

"Sleep deprivation, Pernod, naive, delusional personality disorder," Erin explained, pointing to Clare, Michelle, Aoife and Orla in turn before taking off again at the now barking dog once more.

"OK, let's go it together," Michelle suggested, a couple of moments after Erin had left, "Everyone look away."

"Right so on three," Aoife counted, turning her head on three, "One... two... three."

"No way!"

"What now!" Erin snapped leaning over the bannister to look at the girls.

"She's crying real tears!" Clare explained, her eyes widening as she pointed at the statue, which was supposedly crying.

"I said we needed a miracle and, behold! We have been given one!" Clare exclaimed, excitedly jumping to her feet as Erin raced back down to join the girls.

"This isn't a miracle, Clare,"

"The exam, Erin. Fuck the exam," Michelle cried out, snapping the rest of the group's attention to her, "Do you really think they're gonna make us sit an exam after seeing this?"

"You may have a point," Erin nodded in agreement.

Michelle smirked, jumping to her feet in celebration,
"We are the motherfucking children of Fatima, people!"

• • • • • • •

"Listen, girls, I don't really think beyond the exam or us getting out of doing it. Before this goes any further, before we talk to this priest, there is something I think you all need to know,"
Erin began to explain but before she could finish her rambling the door opened once more and the girls turned around to see Sister Michael leading the priest into the office.

"Fuck me," Michelle commented, her jaw dropping as she stared at the good-looking priest in front of them.

"I like his shiny hair," Orla commented, the rest of the girls still gobsmacked at the appearance of the priest.

"So do I. I really like his shiny hair," James nodded in agreement with Orla.

"Meh," Aoife shrugged, glancing at James who was completely unaware that she was looking at him with a gentle smile, "I've seen much better."