THE YOUNG COUPLE LAY CUDDLED UP in James' bed, Saoirse's head was placed on the boy's chest with her legs curled up and arms around his waist. They had just finished watching some episodes of Doctor Who and were now laying in silence but not an awkward silence, a relaxed and content silence.
Lifting her head slightly, she placed her chin on his chest to stare up at the boy, smiling at him dreamily. "What?" James chuckled staring back. "Nothing." Saoirse shook her head still smiling like an idiot.
They sat in silence for a while longer before the girl sighed and sat up a little. "What are you doing?" James frowned pulling her back to lay on him again. "Do you think we should tell the others about us?" She asked as she picked up his hands and played with his fingers.
"I thought you wanted to." The English boy muttered looking down at her head. "I did-I do...its just, I don't think we should. I really want to but maybe not right now, plus we have the concert later on and I don't want things to be weird on the ride down. And you know what Michelle's like, she'll make a drama out of it all." She shrugged with a pout.
"I agree. Michelle's always moaning at me when we leave you guys about how I apparently look at you too much. She says her friends are off limits." He rolled his eyes but with a smile still present on his face. "Well, now we definitely can't tell them because if Michelle has a fit so will Erin and then Clare will panic because everyone's arguing and it'll just be a whole big thing." Saoirse turned to look at the boy.
James slowly nodded as he listened to her ramble. " So, we won't tell them. There's no rush. Plus, I kind of like sneaking around with you. It's fun." He smirked placing a soft kiss on her forehead causing her to softly smile at him. "You're really okay with it?" Saoirse double-checked.
"Yes, I'm really okay with it. I care about you too much to put you in a situation that makes you uncomfortable." Saoirse's heart warmed at his words, she moved her head up to kiss him, their lips molded together perfectly like jigsaw pieces. "I also would like to live and if we told Michelle that's basically guaranteeing my death."
"Just shut up and kiss me."
✞
The couple later joined their friends, Saoirse entering the Quinn house seven minutes before the boy trying not to draw attention to the two. James eventually enter and sat down on the couch next to Saoirse not before being slagged by Michelle by stating that he was late because he was too busy wanking over photos of Gary Barlow which he repeatedly denied.
The teens watched the tv in front of them while listening to Joe rant about how inappropriate tv is nowadays as Sarah waved her arms around as she stood in her towel by the window, attempting to dry her tan. They were waiting for Erin's father who was driving them along.
Just then Gerry walked in ready to leave. "Come on, girls, tome to hit the road here. You've been roped into going too then, son?" The man asked James staring down at the teens. "Roped in. Hardly. He's riding Gary Barlow." Michelle scoffed as she slagged her cousin.
"I am not. I just respect him as a songwriter, that's all." James softly and innocently spoke causing Saoirse to internally awe. "Aye, dead on, James, so you do." His cousin retorted with another scoff.
"Will we need our passports, Gerry?" Orla asked her uncle while her mother fixed her hair. "For Belfast? I don't think so, love." Gerry shook his head. "Are we not a wee bit early, Daddy?" Erin looked up asking her father. "It's a two-hour drive with traffic, love."
The father-daughter duo ignored Joe and his outrage at the thought of the concert being in Belfast and they continued to debate on whether they were too early or not. The arguments were cut off when the news on the tv revealed that a Polar bear from a zoo in Belfast had escaped.
"Now will you see sense?" Joe shook his fist towards the tv. "Aye, Granda, cos an escaped polar bear's going to track us down and kill us. As if Mammy's bothered about that." Erin laughed but her laughter faded when she spotted the look on her mother's face. "Wise up, Mammy! As if a polar bear's going to rock up at a Take That concert!"
The group ended up in another argument as Mary had now decided that her daughter and niece would no longer be going. "Come on, Mary. If you don't let Erin go, our Ma's won't let us go." Michelle spoke up trying to back up Erin. "Well, neither they should! And I'll be ringing them to say as much." Mary let out.
"Oh, please don't, Mary. I've been waiting to go to this concert for forever. I promise the polar bear won't eat us." Saoirse pleaded and tried to reassure the older woman who was currently overthinking every slight detail about the trip.
Mary would not budge no matter how much the teens tried she remained stubborn about the fact that they would not be going to the concert.
✞
All of the teens stormed off to Erin's room huffing and puffing as they went. "Well, I'm not letting the fat, furry fuck ruin the biggest day of my life." Michelle cursed in frustration. "What can we do?" Erin whined looking up at the curly-haired brunette.
The teens sat slouched on Erin's bed looking up at Michelle as she began rambling on. "Listen, girls, I've never told anyone this before but sometimes when Robbie's being interviewed, it's like he's sending me messages through the TV, you know, telepathically or whatever. It's like he's telling me we're going to be together."
"Aye, maybe don't tell that to anyone again, Michelle. Ever." Erin grimaced, her face showing disgust and secondhand embarrassment from the girls' words. "Makes you sound like a right psycho." Saoirse agreed as she also cringed hearing the girl."Look, this is too important. I'm going to that concert. I'm not afraid of a fucking polar bear!" Michelle loudly spoke her eyebrows narrowed in determination.
"Me either!"
"Nor me."
"I'll kill it with my own two hands if I have to."
"Same here!"
"Bring it on!"
Each of the teens shouted, apart from Clare who had, unsurprisingly, started panicking. "Okay, we seem to have gone down a weird road here, people. I think we've got a bit confused. We don't have to fight a polar bear. And, if we did, I wouldn't really fancy our chances because, well, they're massive."
"But there's five of us so..." Orla trailed off trying to suggest an argument. "Six, Orla. There are six of us." Saoirse corrected the girl, pointing to each person in the room. "Oh, I wasn't really including James but if you think we have to then sure. Hey, he could be good for distracting it." Orla spoke as she continued to lick her red lollipop.
Ignoring the two, Clare went on rambling about the polar bears and the concert. "The point is the polar bear's not the one stopping us from going to the concert. It's our mothers. And we'll never get them to change their minds." Michelle only shook her head at Claire and leaned down closer to her face. "We're not gonna try to change their minds. We're going to do something else."
"What?"
"Lie our holes off."
✞
For some reason, the group went along with Michelle's plan. Maybe it was because they were so obsessed with 'Take That', or maybe they were just complete idiots. Either way, the six of them were now sitting, squashed up together, in the back seats of a small bus on their way towards the concert.
"We're going to get caught. I just know it." The small blonde continued her panicking from earlier, however, this time she was now wearing a black hat hiding part of her face and a black scarf covering the bottom half of her face. "We're not going to get caught, Clare. Because, as far as our Mas are concerned, me, you, Saoirse, and James are at Erin's house, and Erin and Orla are round mine." Michelle scoffed explaining the plan again to Clare.
Confused by Michelle's words, the girl with the space buns and scrunchies, scrunched her face up. "But we're not 'round yours, Michelle. We're on a bus to Belfast." While she simply laughed and shook her head thinking Michelle was just being silly, the other sat with anger rising inside of her. "I can't, I cannot explain it to her again, I'm going to scream."
"What's in the suitcase, Michelle?" James finally asked observing the bag next to his cousin's foot. "Vodka." She simply answered. "You've brought an entire suitcase full of vodka?" Erin questioned in disbelief. "No. There's some mixers as well. I'm not a savage. You can mix vodka with cider, right?" Michelle turned to look at her friends for an answer and received a small shrug from Saoirse. "I don't see why not."
Next to the girls, Clare sat waving her hands on herself in an attempt to cool herself down. "God, I'm boiling." She groaned clawing at the fabric on her. "Is it any wonder, Clare? What are you wearing?" Erin faced the girl glancing at her choice of clothing. "Yeah, you look like a fucking Provo." Michelle stated from behind Erin.
"I don't want anyone recognising me, okay?" Clare informed them with a hiss. "Nobody's going to recognise you, Clare." Michelle told the girl. Just then, the bus stopped and a passenger boarded the bus. "Clare Devlin? Is that you?" The passenger called out, revealing themselves to be Sister Michael causing the blonde to mutter a panicked 'Jesus Christ' upon spotting her.
"Spoke too soon." Saoirse whistled to Michelle and Clare, before moving to look out the window, avoiding eye contact with the older woman. "Relax, Clare. It's the weekend. She has no authority over us at the weekend. She has no right to question us, and, if she tries to, I'll tell her as much." Erin boldly speaks trying, and failing, to calm her friend.
"Morning, girls." Sister Michael greeted the with a smile. "Morning, Sister Michael." The six of them spoke in unison. "What takes you to Belfast?" The woman questioned the teens, making Clare's head turn to Erin as she waited for her to answer for them. "I'm not really sure that's..." The previously bold girl anxiously trailed off, her voice quiet. "Speak up." Sister Michael told the girl.
Avoiding eye contact, the girl spoke up again, this time louder. "I'm not really sure that's any of your business." Sister Michael was far from impressed with the response she received, her face morphing into a more serious expression. "I'm going to assume that was an ill-judged attempt at humour, Miss Quinn." Receiving a small nod and a whisper of a 'yes', Sister Micheal spoke again. "Now answer the question."
"We're going to the museum." Erin said the first thing she could think. "Which museum?" The older woman questioned again. "The Ulster museum." This time Clare took it upon herself to try to help Erin by answering for her. "What for?" "A project, a history project." James made up.
"What about?"
"Ulster?"
"Hm."
✞
The older woman eventually left them in peace, allowing Clare to let out her anxious emotions again. "A history project! This web of lies we're spinning is getting out of control now, girls." She throw off her hat as she huffed. "It's grand, Clare. I think she bought it." Michelle voiced with a nod of agreement from Erin.
"Of course, she didn't buy it. She's onto us. I'm telling you. My God, I'm sweltered here." Clare watched Sister Michael from afar. "Then take it off." Erin told the girl stating an obvious solution for the girl. "I can't take it off. I've nothing underneath it." She shakes her head in protest. "What, not even a bra?"
"Jesus, Clare! You've no bra on?" Michelle shouted out for many to hear, embarrassing the blonde. "Of course, I've got a bra on." Clare screamed back to Michelle. "I haven't got a bra on." Orla announced, with a shrug. "Neither have I." Saoirse added to Orla's statement, resulting in James sending her a wide-eyed look and his face being invaded with redness as all she did was send him a wink. "Can everyone please stop saying 'bra?'" The poor flustered boy asked trying to get the idea of his girlfriend being sat next to him so closely with no bra on.
Clare ignored the boys pleading and continued on with her rant. "But I can hardly parade about in just my bra. I'm not Madonna." Her head shook violently, earning a scoff from the curly-haired brunette. "What's she doing now?"
"Reading her book. Now she's looking at the woman beside her. Now she's getting up. Now she's coming this way. Now she's standing right in front of us." James detailed everything Sister Michael was doing even when she was stood mere inches away from him. "What is he doing?" Sister Michael looked at the boy in confusion.
"Now she's asking-" "James, be quiet." Saoirse cut off her boyfriend, placing a finger to her own lip imitating a shush sign. "I want to sit here." Sister Michael motioned to the seat in front of Michelle, the one where Michelle had recently placed her suitcase. "What? Why?" Michelle asked staring at the woman. "Well, you're just such wonderful company, girls, what with your stimulating conversation and your razor-sharp wit."
Somehow, Erin seemed to believe the woman and smiled at her. "Really?" "No, not really. The woman next to me is eating an egg and onion sandwich and the smell of it is enough to turn an orange march. Christ, but this is heavy." Sister Michael went on while she reached for the suitcase to move it aside.
"Sister, no, let me." Michelle panicked and attempted to grab the bag for her. "What have you got in here, girls?" Sister Michael questioned the teens. "It's not ours!" Clare burst out in a panic. "You fucking eejits." Saoirse quietly hissed to herself, rolling her eyes in disbelief of their stupidity. They couldn't have just said it was books or something for our supposed trip to the museum.
The woman's face morphed into confusion and concern. "Not yours?" She asked. "We've never seen it before in our lives. Have we, girls?" Clare responded staring straight at her, her whole body stiff with worry and fear. "Never." "Nope." "I certainly haven't." Saoirse wasn't technically lying, she had indeed never seen the bag until today.
"Excuse me, everyone! Can I have your attention, please? Does anyone own this red suitcase?" Sister Michael asked the other passengers on the bus, her voice loud and clear. Receiving a 'no' from every member on the bus, she carried on. "Now, let me be clear, no-one can claim this bag, is that correct? I think we've got a code red on our hands. Driver, pull over!"
"Oh, for fuck sake."