𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖗𝖙𝖞 𝖙𝖜𝖔 | 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐫
Teagan O'Ryan rattled wherever she went. Whether it was the dozen earrings that crawled and spiralled up her ears or the stack of bracelets she insisted on wearing everyday; despite how much they got in the way of simple tasks. But today, she was certain the rattling noise was due to her nerves.
The usually cocky and headstrong girl found herself disastrously reduced to nothing but a vessel of unimaginable anxiety and heart palpitations. Her heart rattled and reverberated viciously against her restrictive rib age. The overzealous organ working over time and hammering loud enough to wake the dead, its tenacious blood pumping efforts nearly drowned out all other noise. Almost.
Because nothing could or would ever stop Teagan O'Ryan from enjoying Take That. Not even the potential cack attack she felt brewing.
Crowded on to the Quinn's small sofa, crushed between Erin and James, Teagan watched Take That music videos the teens were captivated by all morning. Christ, when Robbie winked at the TV Teagan for sure thought her poor heart was finally going to give up the ghost and pack in. What a way to go that would have been.
Her life had consisted of pretty much the same routine for the last; three months, 15 days, and ━ Christ she actually didn't count the hours she wasn't a nerd ... or that smart. Surely Claire would know, but she was similarly distracted. Just not by their looks, so Teagan wasn't sure what had Claire so interested.
Take that weren't the worst singers in the world, but they also weren't the best. Teagan thought the songs were decent, but she never would nor could ever admit that to James.
Poor fella worshiped Gary Barlow like he put the stars in the sky because he wrote a few decent lyrics a few times. He was hardly the next shakespeare and Teagan thought that he was overrated too. She believed they just had a ... way of reeling her in. It must of been their personality's and had absolutely nothing to do with their dancing, and lack of T-shirts.
Absolutely not. Despite Erin's granda saying so and complaining about what the lads were doing, all the teenagers eyes never strayed from the small TV set.
In eight short but tedious hours Teagan would be near enough to Robbie to smell him. To see every bead of sweat, close enough to touch ... all things she had wanted to tick off her bucket list for some time now. Take That were her one weakness in life. Well apart from chocolate, strawberry ice cream, and James. Mostly James.
She also had an affinity for Orla too.
The fact that they all even got tickets to the concert was a belated Christmas miracle. They had to queue up in the pouring rain in nothing but their uniforms for three hours and only just got the last six by the skin of their teeth. Teagan's disposition still soured at the unfriendly reminder of how much it set her back. While all her friends got theirs payed for by their Mammys ━ or in James's case his auntie ━ poor Teagan forked out her own money because her parents refused to.
Having a job sucked! The only thing keeping her from quitting her weekend shifts at the shop was the possibility of not seeing David every week. When she casually mentioned going to the concert David squealed in excitement and rushed off to find a ticket for himself. He was absolutely obsessed with Take that and thought Gary Barlow was a song writing God. Once again, Teagan didn't see the appeal.
James and Teagan bopped their shoulders in unison the couple unintentionally mirroring each other as they mouthed along to the familiar song coming from the TV and drowning out all the chaos the Quinn household had to offer. That was until Erin's granda joe committed a crime so heinous Teagan nearly jumped off the sofa to wrestled the remote out of his frail hands
All the teenagers gasped in shock and sputtered aimlessly trying to recover and let out a collective groan of discontent when he switched to the news.
"Bloody perverts!" Joe grumbled, his disdain targeted towards the bunch of brits no longer on the screen.
"They're artists Granda!" Erin rebutted.
The old man just shook his head in disapproval, "Dirty English bastards are what they are".
Beside her Teagan felt James weight shift and a glance over saw him trying to slide down against the sofa. Not so subtly trying to hide from joes gaze. Teagan cleared her throat and raised an eye brow at Erin's granda,slightly nodding to James.
"No offence son" Joe quickly explained.
Teagan zoned in and out as the news announcer droned on and on about nothing worth wile. Instead her mind flipped through whatever it deemed more interesting. And it just so happened to be Take Thats latest video.
Aha. How'd you like that Joe! Teagan smiled to herself. You can take Take That away from the girl but you can't take the girl away from Take That. Admittedly even Teagan was confused at the end of her sentence.
Erin's Da, Gerry sighing and clapping his hands finally shook Teagan out of her daydream. Her little heart filled with glee when she saw his cars keys dangling in his grasp.
Yes. Finally! The quicker they left the closer Robbie would be. Sure, Teagan only had eyes for James, but celebrity's didn't count. Not that they had discussed it, but Teagan was sure James felt no threat from Robbie. Or Hugh Grant, or Colin Firth, or Gillian Anderson.
"Come on girls, time to hit the road" with those simple words Gerry Quinn suddenly became Teagan O'Ryans favourite person in the world.
Well, she supposed God was supposed to be pretty high up on the list, and she also liked James a fair amount, plus as her best friend Michelle was technically obligated to be in her top five so ... Gerry was somewhere in between.
Teagan jumped up from the small sofa and set about gathering her few belongings and fixing the skirt of her red flowery sundress. Her purse was set on James knees as she knew she could trust him to guard it with his life. Having a boyfriend also entailed having a built in valet. He always offered to carry her school bag or any books she had in between lessons. Guarding their concert tickets was going to be easy work for him.
"Have they roped you into going as well, son?" Gerry asked James.
Teagan snorted at the mere suggestion any of this was against James's will. James was the one to inform them about the concert, poor fella was buzzing so much he couldn't hold the flyer still enough for the others to read.
"'Roped in' " Michelle started with a laugh, "hardly, he's riding Gary Barlow"
James groaned and turned to glare at his cousin. "I'm not! I just respect him as a songwriter thats all!"
Michelle rolled her eyes "Aye so you do James"
"Come off it Michelle!" Teagan forced a frown in an attempt to hide her grin as she rested her chin on James's shoulder, squeezing the other sympathetically. Trying to take the role of supportive girlfriend was hard when all she wanted to do was laugh her arse off.
"Will we need our passports, Gerry?" Orla asked, Teagan seriously questioned her beloved friends sanity before she remembered everything about who Orla was. Their question actually made sense in that context.
"For Belfast? I don't think so Love" Gerry said sympathetically.
Erin's grandads eyes went wide, "Belfast?" He repeated, his burning gaze redirected towards his son-in law. "You're not letting them go to Belfast surely, Mary!"
"Are we not a bit early daddy?" Erin questioned. Teagan thought the opposite. The were late if anything else. Traffic was sure to be chocker as half of the teenage girls in Ireland were going to be there. Poor dads across the divided country united in their hatred of Take That.
"It's a two hour drive with traffic" Gerry said to Erin.
"It's eight hours until the doors open," Erin pointed out, but Teagan didn't see her point.
"We're cutting it fine Gerry!" Teagan said, looking up at the man and pointing to the pink hello kitty watch on her arm. A gift from Orla she just couldn't part with, despite the thing breaking months ago. "If we leave now we have just enough time to stop for bathroom breaks" she resembled a drill Sargent the way she held herself with authority.
Erin's Mammy bickered back and forth with her dad as he protested against the idea of the wains going to the concert now he knew it was in Belfast. Luckily, Erin's mum truly seemed to be on their side for once as she rebutted each and every one of her fathers arguments. However silence quickly consumed the small room as the news reader concluded her report.
" ... and finally, panic at Belfast zoo today when a polar bear escaped from its enclosure, the RUC have launched a widespread search, and have warned residents in the local area to be cautious"
Teagan gasped and sat back down half on the sofa arm and half on James's lap, instinctively his hand wrapped around her hip and pulled her close. Bloody hell, she didn't even knew Ireland had polar bears. Let alone they let them roam around freely.
Joe pointed towards the tv with a satisfied grin and turned to his daughter "now will you see sense?" He asked.
Surely Erin's Ma wasn't afraid of the polar Bear somehow tracking them down on the way to the concert and brutally picking them off one by one until they were nothing but cold carcasses. Wow. The more Teagan thought about it, the less scary it seemed.
Erin scoffed and rolled her eyes, "Aye, Granda, 'cause an escaped polar bears gonna track us down and kill us!" She joked, "as if Mammys bothered by that!" but her grin fell when she noticed her mothers fearful expression.
Something, call it a pessimists intuition, told Teagan she wasn't going to like Mary's answer.
ERIN'S MA wasn't going to be receiving a Christmas card this year, Teagan fumed as she hung up the Quinn's phone. After Mary refused to allow them to go to the concert Teagan reassured the others she had one final trick up her sleeve. Now looking back, she shouldn't of been so smug. Well, technically she wasn't wrong, David Donnelly did have room in his car for one more. Only one more.
Which is why she sulked her way back to Erin's bedroom, her head hung in shame. How could the polar bear do this to them? Well, more importantly how could their parents do this!
One phone call home and Mary managed to sway Teagan's dad into agreeing it was unsafe to travel so far with the dangerous beast on the loose. Teagan knew for a fact if her mum had answered the phone she would have disagreed just to annoy Mary Quinn. Christ, her Mammy would have personally chauffeured them all herself.
Alas, it happened to be the one day her Mammy wasn't glued to phone gossiping with Erin's aunt Sarah. With her head still stooped in shame, Teagan opened the bedroom door and slammed it shut behind her. Everyone perked up and shouted out.
"What did he say?" They all clambered to their feet and surrounded her.
Teagan shook her head, "David only has room for one"
Everyone groaned and fell back on Erin's bed. Teagan's shoulders fell and she deflated, luckily James pulled her onto his knee otherwise she would have curled up in a ball on the floor. Why did bad things happen to good people. Aka herself. Seriously, Teagan could count on both hands the last time one of their plans went well and still have ten fingers spare. Teagan wrapped her arms around James's neck.
Erin quickly stood up with a newfound spring in her step. "Well ... I see a solution here" she began with a self satisfied grin.
"We just have to decide who's going with David and who's not" Erin finished, crossing her arms over her chest and raising a eyebrow, smiling proudly at the others as if they would love the idea. Spending a whole two hours with David Donnelly and getting to see Take That must of been all of Erin's late night fantasies come to life. Teagan only rolled her eyes in response. The simple act wordlessly conveying her stance. Of course Erin would suggest she was the most deserving to go. And Teagan didn't like those odds. She didn't want to be the bitch the rain on her friends parade, alas she would if she had to.
"We're not doing that Erin! Either we all go or not at all" Teagan protested. James hummed in agreement and his hand on her hip squeezed subconsciously as they nodded.
Erin scoffed and recoiled at her friends as they all agreed with Teagan. Nodding and linking arms as a united front against Erin's controlling ways. "Please, Teagan I bet if David had two spare seats you would of grabbed James and ran!" Erin accused, pointing her finger at the couple.
Instantly everyone turned to look at her and James, Erin's accusation sparking fire behind their eyes forcing a pressure that Teagan was refusing to buckle under. Sure, Erin was right, but Teagan wasn't going to let her call her out.
"You bitch" Michelle seethed.
"Well the wasn't two seats was there Erin? So what's the point on dwelling on it" she argued back, not rising to Erin's bate. The last thing she needed was her friends turning against her when the was slim pickings or options.
Michelle stood up and pushed Erin back towards her bed and took her place to address the group .
"Look! This is too important, I'm going to that concert I'm not afraid of a fucking polar bear!" She proclaimed loudly, passion rising with every word until Teagan was convinced Michelle thought she could take on the bear with her bare hands.
Given the circumstances and Michelle's anger, Teagan felt frightened for the poor sod.
A new energy took over the room and suddenly everyone was willing and spurring each other on. "Me neither!" Erin and James shouted.
"I'll Kill it with me own two hands if I have to" Orla raved, raising her hands and grinning widely.
"I'll skin him and wear him like a cape!" Teagan joined in, her face contorted in anger towards the wee furry bastard. "Then I'll show it off to his parents!"
She wasn't going to let possibility of getting mauled to death by a polar bear stop her from seeing Robbie. James grinned and looked up at Teagan with a proud glint in his eyes.
Teagan would fight a bear for anyone of her friends, even Erin, well actually ... maybe not a grizzly or a brown bear, Christ not even a polar bear the longer she thought about it. But maybe a care bear? Yeah, she'd fight one of those shits for all of them.
"Ok! We seem to have gone down a weird road here," Claire spoke up, "we don't actually have to fight a polar bear, and if we did I don't fancy our chances .. because well they're massive!"
"But there's five of us?" Orla gestured, confused why Claire was doubting their skill.
"I don't like his chances!" Teagan boasted with a sly grin, cracking her knuckles.
Claire shook her head "the point is the polar bears not the one stopping us from going to the concert. It's our mothers and we'll never get them to change their minds"
Aye, fair play. Teagan mused. Claire wasn't wrong. However, Michelle was already one step ahead.
"We're going to lie our holes off!"
17/10/22
2535 words
Published 20/10/22