“Okay, so we’ve got… Rich, Keith, Mike, Jack, Ruairi, Alec—“
“That cheeky little shit,” Casey grumbled. “He gave me one, too. What does yours say?”
“To the girl with the best legs at school. Here’s a Valentine’s card. If you are reading this card, it means that you opened my folds, so it’s only fair that I get to open yours. From Alec.” I laughed. “Yours?”
“To the girl with the best tits at school. Please wear the white vest for PE next week. The visual of your bouncing tits has given me endless hours of joy. Feel free to flash a nipple. From Alec.”
“That sounds like Alec, alright,” I laughed. “Okay, so the last card’s the biggest one.”
“Paul?”
“Yep.”
“What did he say?”
My heart stopped when I opened the card, and I exhaled a shaky breath.
“Aoife?”
“Case, he’s after putting fifty euro in the card.”
“Are you serious?”
I stared at the note in my hand, feeling a swell of different emotions. “Why would anyone put money in a Valentine’s card?”
“Because he thinks he can buy a night of your company?” she laughed, but the joke hit a little too close to a nerve for me to laugh.
“I don’t want his money, Casey.”
“Give it to me,” she replied, not missing a beat. “I’m poor. I both need and want his money very much.”
“I’m pissed off.”
She sighed down the line. “You are sitting in front of a stack of cards from boys who adore you. There is nothing to be pissed off about.”
“But—“
“Do I need to come over there and slap some sense into you? Come on, Aoif. He probably put that in there because he’s panicking.”
“Panicking?”
“Yeah, babe. You two have been all over the place for months now, so the poor eejit is probably shitting pebbles in case you change your mind and run off with the Lothario of BCS.”
“Don’t.” I shivered. “That is never going to happen.”
“You really haven’t spoken to Joey since the fight?”
“I really haven’t, and I really have no desire to.”
“Well shit,” she said quietly. “You know, I really thought he might send you a card to break the ice between you guys.”
Yeah, me, too. “He’s not the type to give cards.”
“No,” she agreed. “But I thought that he would make an exception for you.”
“I don’t want his cards,” I replied flatly. “I don’t want anything from him.”
“What happened between you guys, Aoif?”
“Nothing.”
“Yeah right.”
“Nothing happened, Case,” I deadpanned. “And nothing ever will. Besides, I’m this close to swearing off boys for life.”
She snorted down the line. “That’s because you haven’t found yourself a Sticky-Dicky yet.”
“Does yours have any brothers?”
“He has cows,” she laughed. “His family are farmers.”
I threw my head back and laughed. “Okay, you need to get off the line. I’m going to go take a shower and grab something to eat.”
“Need to cool yourself down from all that Sticky-Dicky talk, huh? Fair enough, babe. Just don’t get too carried away in the shower. Otherwise, I’m going to have to rename you—“
“Bye, Casey,” I laughed, cutting her off before she could finish her sentence and destroy what was left of my innocence.
Leaving the cards on the kitchen table, I headed for the staircase, pulling off my school jumper, shirt, and tie as I went. Tossing them in the laundry hamper at the top of the landing, I reached behind my back, unzipped my skirt and shimmied it down my thighs before stepping out of it.
Grabbing a towel out of the hot-press, I strolled into the bathroom, still laughing to myself about Casey and Sticky-Dicky.
My laughter, however, quickly died in my throat when I came face to back with none other than Joey?
My blood ran cold at the sight of him kneeling over our toilet, with a line of white powder on the toilet lid, and a rolled-up fiver pressed to the inside of his nostril. In the blink of an eye, the powder disappeared up the makeshift funnel and into his nose.
“Oh my god,” I strangled out, words finally finding me. “What are you doing?”
I hadn’t spoken a single word to him since our fight two weeks ago. Too upset and hurt to deal with my feelings, I had avoided him like the plague, unable to go another round after he hit me with a knock-out blow to the heart.
With his elbows resting on the toilet lid, Joey dropped his head in his hands and muttered, “Fuck.”
“Are you serious?” I whisper-hissed, glancing back at the door, and suddenly feeling like the authorities were about to charge into my house and arrest the both of us. “You’re doing drugs in my house?”
“No.”
“Yes,” I argued. “I just caught you!”
“I know, I know.” Sniffing and twitching his nose, he muttered, “don’t worry.” Like it was no big deal that I had just witnessed him ingesting a class-a drug.
“Don’t worry?” I gaped at him. “Joey!”
“What?”
“You’re in my house?” I shook my head in confusion. “What the hell?” Blowing out a ragged breath, I closed the space between us and grabbed his chin, forcing him to look at me. “What are you doing in my house and why did you bring drugs here?”
“Your dad asked me to stop by,” he mumbled, eyes unfocused. “Gave me a key. Said the shower motor wasn’t running.” He shrugged. “I fixed it.”
“You fixed it?” I choked out a growl. “You fixed it? I don’t give a shit about the shower motor, Joey. Why were you doing drugs?”
“You weren’t meant to see.”
“Clearly,” I hissed, forcing him to look at me when he tried to pull away. “Are you completely insane? What the hell are you doing getting yourself involved in this crap?”
“I don’t know.”
“Was that cocaine?”
“No.”
“Liar! Since when are you taking cocaine?”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“Yes, it does,” I snapped. “Talk to me, dammit!”
“Why?” Jerking free of my hold, he stood up and quickly backed away. “The fuck has it got to do with you?”
“You brought cocaine into my house, Joey,” I repeated my earlier words, hoping that this time he would understand how wrong his behavior was. “Into my father’s house.” I pushed at his chest, trying to evoke a reaction out of him. “You remember my dad, don’t you? He’s the one who gave you that job at the garage. The one who trusted you to—”
“Get out of my face, Molloy,” he growled, trying and failing to sidestep me in his pointless bid to escape an interrogation. “I know I fucked up, okay?”
“Get out of your face? You’re lucky I’m not tearing strips out of your face, asshole,” I snapped, pushing at his chest, forcing him to back up until he was pressed up against my bathroom wall.