Page 4 of The Guilty Girl

‘If you say so,’ Lucy said, and handed over a skirt and top. ‘You can keep these. I don’t want them. I’ve outgrown them but you can squeeze in. The top will fit anyhow.’ With that, she and Ivy doubled over laughing and ran from the room.

Staring sadly at her reflection in the floor-length mirror, Hannah tried not to wonder why Lucy was being so mean after inviting her. What was her aim? Wasn’t it too late for friendship, now that they’d all be going off to different colleges in the autumn? Despite feeling humiliated, she was too soft; she vowed not to let Lucy and Ivy’s behaviour dim her enthusiasm for the party. Not yet, anyhow.

She’d stripped off to try on Lucy’s clothes, and she was sure someone was sniggering in the corridor. Whirling around, dressed only in her knickers, her arms crossed over her nakedness, she spotted the door slightly ajar. She whipped up her shirt and, holding it to her chest, crept over and glanced out just as the door to Lucy’s room swung shut and the giggles intensified into raucous laughter.

I can’t cry, she warned herself. Her make-up had taken ages to get right, so she buried her tears and got dressed.

Twirling, she made sure the short skirt didn’t show off her knickers. Had Lucy intentionally given her clothes that were a size too small? She hoped not, but she had a feeling the other girl was making fun of her.

Plumping up her flat boobs in the black halter-neck with a row of shiny sequins along the hem, she had to admit the top was too tight. Lucy must have owned it when she was ten! Despite all that, the short skirt highlighted her best asset. Her legs. Legs that made her the fastest athlete at school.

It felt awkward getting ready in Lucy’s house, but how else could she get away with so much make-up and these skimpy clothes. Her mother would have a grade A fit. Don’t make the same mistakes I did, she’d say, and Hannah would grimace hearing the barb in the unspoken words. She meant ‘don’t get pregnant at seventeen like I did’. That made Hannah feel even more unwanted than she already did.

She felt a tightness in her chest then. Grades. The exams had been difficult, but she hoped she’d secure enough points for her chosen degree, sports science. Ambition motivated her, because she didn’t want to spend a day longer than necessary in the one-bedroom flat she shared with her mother and little brother. She was getting out of Ragmullin.

An uneasy flutter caused her to stall. She heard more giggles coming from the room next door. The other girls were drinking vodka mixed in glass Coke bottles with straws. Hannah had had her fair share of experience dealing with people who drank, namely her mother. Perhaps that was the reason she avoided drinking herself.

Shrugging off the feeling of being unwanted, she shook out her hair, admiring the volume. It was fab, so feck Lucy and Ivy!

She straightened her shoulders as she exited the bedroom.

Hannah Byrne was about to act the part, even if her confidence was crumbling.

* * *

Seventeen-year-old Lucy McAllister knew she was very nearly drunk before her foot even hit the top step of the stairs. It was cool, but she really needed to be alert tonight. It was going to be a mega party. The best one she’d ever thrown. Her parties were the most talked about beforehand and, more importantly, afterwards. Everyone would be talking about this one until at least Christmas. She giggled and planted her high-heeled silver sandals on the floor, then inched up her sparkly white dress to show off a lean thigh. She knew how to make an entrance.

‘Ha, you made it down the stairs in one piece, Lucy.’

‘Cormac O’Flaherty! Thought the zoo was closed. Who let you in?’

Lucy had not invited red-headed, freckle-faced Cormac. She jerked her head towards the door. Noel Glennon, her PE teacher, was standing there. Good. He’d agreed to be bouncer for the night, as he often manned the door at local nightclubs. She posed him a question with her eyes. He shrugged. Of course he’d have thought Cormac was one of her friends. He looked a lot younger than twenty.

‘Door was open.’ Cormac shrugged and spilled his drink from the paper cup clutched in his hand. A clear stain spread across the cream carpet and he wiped it with the toe of his black runner.

‘You’re such a dickhead. Count yourself lucky that’s not red wine, or I’d make you get down on your knees to scrub it.’

She couldn’t be sure, but she thought he’d called her a slut under his breath. That was going too far. She should tell him to leave, but she liked having someone to ridicule.

‘Takes one to know one,’ she said as she moved by the open-mouthed Cormac, her friends trailing behind her like a procession of Vestal Virgins. She smirked. There were no virgins in her troop. Unless you counted Hannah Byrne, but no one counted sad Hannah. Despite that, Hannah was part of her brilliant plan for the night. The unforgettable party night!

Making her grand entrance into the expansive living room to whoops from the boys and jealous gasps from the girls, Lucy marvelled at the power she possessed. There must have been twenty-five teenagers already there, milling around, laughing and drinking. And more would arrive later. The more people around to witness her grand reveal, the better. Didn’t matter if they’d been invited or not. She just needed to do it right.

‘Shouldn’t there be music?’ Hannah said.

‘Duh, Richie has just set up,’ Lucy said. She eyed Richie Harrison, the DJ she’d hired on Noel Glennon’s recommendation. He was standing behind his music system in the far corner of the room. She gave him a nod, and forced herself to return his smile as he blasted out an old Avicii number. The party had started.

‘I think that’s too loud,’ Hannah said.

‘Oh for God’s sake.’ Lucy donned her most ferocious expression and turned on the girl. ‘If you complain once more, Hannah Byrne, I will personally escort you out the door.’ Seeing the look of hurt flashing in Hannah’s eyes, she sighed. ‘It’s a party, it’s supposed to be loud. Be a good girl and get yourself a drink, one with plenty of alcohol. And fetch one for me too. Then find yourself a boyfriend.’

She watched Hannah elbow her way through the crowd and felt a moment of envy at her long, lean legs. Athlete’s legs. Why hadn’t she got big muscled calves if she was such a good runner? Maybe giving her the tight mini skirt had been a mistake – it made her look even taller. Lucy consoled herself with the thought that tonight’s plan would knock the innocence from the girl’s face.

‘Why did you even invite her?’ Ivy shouted into her ear. Her best friend, like forever.

Lucy shrugged. Ivy wasn’t privy to everything, even if she thought she was. ‘Come out to the garden. I’ve got a table of drinks set up there. If we’re lucky, she won’t find us for hours.’

Throwing back her glistening ebony hair, she did her best impression of Kim Kardashian’s walk, sashaying across the floor smiling her perfect five-thousand-euro smile at her guests. It was all so exciting, she thought, giddy from the neat vodka she’d already consumed.

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