OCTOBER 31, 1994
“HUGH!” ROBBIE MAC, WHO WAS DRESSED AS THE RED POWER RANGER, BARKED FROM his perch at my kitchen table. He pointed to the two girls dressed in princess costumes sitting on either side of him and mouthed the words do something.
My birthday party was in full swing, and my house was packed to the rafters with friends. Unfortunately for Robbie, Pierce’s creepy twin sisters had taken a shining to him. I wasn’t sure what he thought I could do about it. One thing I wasn’t going to do was swap places with him. I’d already spent enough of my time with Claire hanging off my arm. I had no plans on volunteering myself for two more.
Pretending like I couldn’t hear Robbie, I pushed past a group of lads battering a piñata and headed outside. I rolled my eyes when I passed Danny Callaghan from my class, who was dressed as the Blue Power Ranger, pointing and laughing at Robbie. “Look, lads, Robbie has a girlfriend.”
What an asshole.
Relieved when I found Peter Pan and Zorro in the driveway, I made a beeline for them.
“What the hell are you doing?” I demanded when I reached them and caught sight of the slobber dribbling down Peter Pan’s chin. “What the fuck is in your mouth, Gibs?”
“…elly…akes…” Gibs tried to slur around a mouthful of what I could only describe as goo.
“He’s trying to break the world record,” Zorro snickered.
“For what?” I demanded, gaping at Feely. “Being an eejit?”
“…elly…akes…” Gibs repeated, using his fingers to push the goo back into his mouth.
“Gibsie thinks he can break the world record of putting the most jelly snakes in his mouth,” Feely explained through fits of laughter.
“What’s the record?” I asked.
“He doesn’t know.”
“Then how can he break it?”
“…uther…un…” Gibsie instructed, holding his palm out. “…uther…un…eely…”
“No clue, lad,” Feely laughed, handing over another jelly snake to an expectant Gibs. “But it’s keeping him quiet.”
“He might choke,” I warned, eyeing him warily.
“He might,” Feely agreed.
“How many has he got so far?”
“Nine.”
“Nine?” My eyes widened in wonder. “No fucking way.” I gaped at Gibsie. “You’re eating them, aren’t you?” I narrowed my eyes in suspicion. “You can’t fit nine jelly snakes in your mouth, you little liar.”
“…ope…” Gibs shook his head and gagged, causing more dribble to leak from his mouth. “…oh…uck!”
The moment he clutched his stomach and started to heave, Feely and I dove out of the way. It wasn’t our first time dealing with his upchuck reflux.
“Oh my God.” Howling with laughter, Feely clutched his side and pointed at our dopey friend who was purging his gob of jelly. “He looks like Mouth from The Goonies.”
Groaning in dismay, I clutched my stomach and took in the sight of Gibsie’s latest misadventure sprayed all over my driveway. “You are sick, Gerard Gibson.”
“See? I told you I didn’t eat them,” Gibs declared proudly when he was finished expelling his snakes. “See, Hugh?” He pointed to each slobbery jelly on the concrete and counted. “Nine full-sized bad boys without a toothmark on them.”
“Congratulations,” I replied with a shudder. “You have the biggest mouth in Ballylaggin.”
The sound of a car horn honking caused all three of us to turn toward my mother’s car as it pulled up on the footpath outside our house.
“Well, it’s about time!” Gibsie declared with a dramatic sigh before proceeding to use Feely’s black cape to clean the dribble off his chin.
“Dammit, Gibs!” Feely shoved him away before quickly peeling off his cape and throwing it at him. “You are sick.”
“Peter Pan!” My sister’s high-pitched scream of excitement pierced the air moments before she came barreling past both me and Feely.
Looking every inch the fairy in her Tinker Bell costume, Claire launched herself at the snake-stuffer himself. “I missed you so much!”
When Gibsie straightened up to his full height, he took my sister with him, causing her feet to lift off the ground. “I missed you more, Claire-Bear.”
“He was only gone to his dad’s house for the weekend,” I reminded her, feeling more uncomfortable with my sister’s interactions with my best friend by the day.
Before Joe moved out, they’d spent every spare waking hour of the day together, but now that Gibs had to split his time between Sadhbh’s and Joe’s, they were even more annoying.
Gibs was always looking at her, and on the rare occasion he wasn’t, Claire was looking at him.
Our mothers called it harmless puppy love, but I wasn’t so sure about that.
I had a niggling feeling they would always look at each other like that.
I wasn’t sure what to think about it.
“I wouldn’t touch him if I were you,” Feely warned, keeping a wide berth of them both, while he readjusted his black sombrero. “He just puked nine jelly snakes.”
“You did?” My sister’s eyes widened to saucers, and she looked up at my oldest friend like he hung the moon. “The most you did last time was seven!”
“I told you I’m going to get in that Guinness World Records, Claire-Bear.” Proud as a peacock, Gibs set her down on her feet and swiftly reached for her hand. “Come on. There’s a tray of brownies in the kitchen with our names on them.”
“Claire, haven’t you forgotten someone?” Mam called out in a frazzled tone, but it was too late. My sister had already disappeared inside the house with Gibs in search of sugar.
“Ah, crap,” Feely muttered under his breath. “Another one.”
Meanwhile, my heart started to thump violently in my chest.
She’s here.
“I’m sorry about Claire, sweetheart.” Rounding the car, Mam opened the back passenger door and smiled. “She doesn’t have a spark of sense between her two ears.”
“It’s fine, Mrs. Biggs,” a familiar voice replied. “I’m used to it.”
“Call me Sinead,” I heard my mother instruct. “And my husband’s name is Pete. None of that Mr. and Mrs. Biggs talk, ya hear, love?”
“Just keep backing up,” Feely whisper-hissed, moving backward in the direction of the house. “Maybe your mam won’t see us.”
“Yeah,” I tossed back with a forced laugh but made no move to follow him. I had no intention of running away from this girl.
“Hugh? Oh good. Come here, love. You can bring Lizzie inside.”
Yes!
“Sorry, lad, you’re on your own.” Snickering, Feely bolted for the door. “I have four sisters,” he called over his shoulder. “I suffer enough.”
“Hugh!”
“Yeah, Mam, I’m coming,” I called back, feeling my palms sweat with every step I took toward the car.
I would never admit it to a soul, not even Gibs, but I wanted to see Lizzie Young again. I’d thought about her a lot over the weekend and hoped she would come today. Now she was here, I felt nervous and sick and excited all at once.
“Ah, here’s my birthday boy,” Mam said when I reached them. She wrapped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me to her side. “I promise this one has much better manners than his sister.”
Usually, but right now, I didn’t have a word left in my head to fulfill my mother’s promise because all my words had flown clean out of my head, and all I could do was stand there and take in the sight of her.
Last week, on the school bus, when I told her my party was fancy dress, I could tell she wasn’t a fan, but she was here right now, rocking the coolest costume I’d ever seen.
“You’re Dr. Sattler,” I finally found my voice and said, eyes raking over her costume with approval. “From Jurassic Park.”
Unlike the other girls, who were dressed in princess costumes and fairy wings, this girl wore khaki shorts, brown hiking boots, a blue vest, and a pink button-up shirt tied in a knot at her waist. Attached to the brown belt around her waist was a plastic walkie-talkie and a yellow lanyard.
The fact that Lizzie showed up to my party in full costume made me feel special, but knowing that she was matching me? Well, I didn’t know how to handle the way that made me feel.
“Happy birthday, Hugh,” she said, extending her hand to me. “I mean, Dr. Grant.”
“Jesus.” The word slipped out of my mouth without permission, and I shook my head, feeling off balance. “I mean thank you…” I cleared my throat, trying to bury the sudden crack in my voice and took her small hand in mine. “And, uh, hi.”
“I best go inside and help your father deal with the horde,” Mam interrupted, releasing her hold on me. “Hugh, be a good boy and look after Lizzie, will you?” Grabbing several shopping bags off the bonnet of the car, she moved for the front door. “This is her first time at a birthday party, so don’t leave her on her own, love.”
I arched a brow in surprise. “I’m your first birthday party?”
“You’re my first,” she confirmed with a shy smile. “I still have your invitation.” Releasing my hand, she reached into the pocket of her shorts and retrieved the invitation I had written her. “I like your g.”
“My g?”
“Uh-huh.” Nodding eagerly, she unfolded the invite and pointed to where I had signed my name. “You work hard on your handwriting.”
I did work hard on my handwriting. In fact, I worked hard on everything when it came to school. Not because I had to—learning came easily to me—but because I wanted to. English. History. Geography. Nature. Science. Irish. Religion. It didn’t matter. I soaked it all in. Everything about the world fascinated me, and I read more books than anyone else in my class, but she couldn’t know that. So how did she know that?
“You don’t have to stay with me, by the way,” Lizzie added, tucking the invitation back into her pocket. “I know your mother asked you to, but you can go back to your friends if you want.” She smiled again. “I’m not afraid to be on my own.”
“No.” I shook my head, taking it all in. Taking all of her in. “I don’t want to do that.”
“You don’t?”
“No,” I confirmed. “I want to stay.”
A slow blush crept across her cheeks. “With me?”
Nodding slowly, I kept my attention locked on the strange girl in front of me, while an even stranger pressure grew in my chest. “You’re really tall,” I noted, taking in how she came up to my nose in height. “For a girl.”
“It’s my legs.” She raised one foot then, giving me no choice but to catch it midair. “My sister says I have giraffe legs.”
Her sister was right. “Are you a fast runner?”
“Yep,” she replied proudly. “Fastest in my class.”
“Thought so,” I replied, setting her foot back down. “You’re matching me.”
“I know.” Grinning, she reached up and tipped my hat. “I thought you might like it.”
“I do,” I replied, feeling my face grow hot again.
“Do you want your present?”
My brows shot up in surprise. “You got me a present?”
“Of course.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s your birthday.”
“But you don’t even know me.”
“So? You don’t know me and you still invited me to your party.” With that, she quickly whirled around and moved for my mother’s car. “I got you two presents,” she explained before opening the car door and climbing inside. “Well, I got you one, and I made you the other.”
Intrigued, I followed her to the car and watched as she rummaged around in the back seat. “I don’t have a brother, so I’m sorry if you hate it.”
“I won’t hate it,” I replied, taking the parcel from her hands. “And thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” She blew out a loud breath and smiled. “That’s the one I bought.”
“You want me to open it now?” I asked, feeling another flush of heat spread up my neck when her blue eyes locked on mine.
“Yep.”
“Okay then.” I shrugged. “Scoot over.”
She obliged and I climbed into the back seat beside her, parcel in hand.
“You really didn’t have to,” I paused to say, midway through unwrapping her gift. “Just so you know.”
“Just open it already.” Pulling up onto her knees, she watched me with excitement dancing in her eyes. “Go on.”
Doing as she asked, I ripped off the rest of the wrapping paper, only to gape in wonder at the computer game in my hands. “Mortal Kombat II.” I shook my head in disbelief and clutched the box. “This game just came out.”
“Yeah, well, Claire told me that you have a Sneeze,” she hurried to explain, sounding unsure. “She said you play it all the time. I wasn’t sure if you had this game.”
“SNES.”
“Hm?”
“It’s called a SNES,” I explained, retraining my attention on the girl sitting beside me. “Super Nes.” When she continued to stare blankly at me, I clarified. “Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It’s a game console, and I do play it all the time.”
“So that game will work on your Sneeze?” she asked, pointing to the game in my hands.
“My SNES,” I corrected gently, still in shock. “And it definitely will.”
“So you like it?”
“I more than like it.” In fact, I’d been hoping to use my birthday money to get it. “Thank you.” I shook my head, feeling a mixture of confusion and gratitude. “Seriously, thank you so much.”
Relief flashed in her eyes, and she beamed back at me. “You’re welcome.”
“This is a really big gift,” I said slowly, keeping my eyes on hers. “You know that, right? It costs a lot of money.”
“It’s just a game, Hugh,” she replied. “My mam said it was fine.”
Jesus, her family must be loaded.
“Here.” Reaching behind her back, she retrieved a green envelope and thrust it onto my lap. “I made this one.”
Setting the game aside so I wouldn’t be distracted, I focused all my attention on the envelope with my name on it.
Careful not to tear the homemade card inside, I removed it slowly, dutifully ignoring the cloud of glitter that sprinkled all over my lap in the process.
I lived with Claire, after all. Glitter was a given.
“This is great,” I told her, inspecting every inch of her work. It must have taken her hours. Every spare inch of card was filled with color and paint. “You have lovely handwriting.” I smiled at the scraggly g in my name, where she had attempted cursive. “You’re neat.”
“Not as neat as you.”
“Well, I practice a lot.”
“I bet I practice more.”
“And I read.”
“I bet I read more.”
“Oh yeah?” My lips twitched and I tried not to smile, but she was cute when she challenged me. “I doubt that.”
“Oh yeah?” Her eyes narrowed once again in challenge. “Try me.”
“Okay then.” Grinning, I began to reel off the names of every book I could remember, while this strange little girl accepted my challenge by responding with the names of the main characters in every book. And I mean every single book. From there, she stunned me with her ability to not only count but add and subtract in her head, without a copybook to work out the sums. She could spell every single word I threw at her, even the difficult ones I planned to catch her out with. Except the only thing that caught me out was surprise when she spelled every word without breaking a sweat.
“How do you know all this?” I asked, attention glued to this girl and everything that came out of her mouth because I had never felt more impressed by another person in my life. It wasn’t just her outfit that matched mine, but her brain did, too. “Claire doesn’t know a quarter of the things you do.”
She grinned victoriously. “Told you I’m smart.”
“Yeah.” I eyed her warily. “You don’t act like you’re in junior infants.”
She shrugged and tossed back, “You don’t act like you’re in first class.”
“That’s because I’m smarter than most seven-year-olds.”
“Yeah, and I’m smarter than most six-year-olds.”
“You’re six?” My brows rose in surprise. “When were you born?”
“June 9, 1988.”
“So I’m less than a year older than you?”
“Seven months and twenty-two days.” She smirked. “I counted.”
“Then how come you’re in junior infants? Shouldn’t you be in seniors?” I frowned. “Or first class like me.”
“Uh, yeah.” The light in her eyes quickly faded and she dropped her gaze to her lap. “I know.”
“Did you get held back or something?” I asked, even though I found it hard to believe. It wouldn’t make sense to make a girl as bright as her repeat a year of school.
“I used to go to a different school in the city,” she replied, voice small now. I followed her gaze to where she was clasping her hands together so tightly the skin was turning white. “But when I moved to Sacred Heart, they put me in juniors.” She chewed on her bottom lip. “I’m not slow,” she hurried to add, digging her fingernails into her hand. “I swear I’m not…”
“I know you’re not, okay?” I replied, reaching down to peel her hands apart. “And who cares if you’re the oldest in your class?” She didn’t seem to realize that she was scratching herself, but I noticed. “You’re younger than most of my class and still way smarter.”
Her head snapped up, and her blue eyes locked on mine. “I am?”
“Yeah.” I nodded, wanting to take the worry away for her. I could see it in her eyes, and I didn’t like it. “You are.”
When the fear in her eyes was replaced with hope and her small hand tightened around mine, I felt a tingling sensation surge through me. While my brain seemed confused by the tingling, my heart assured me that it was an important feeling.
That she was important.
“My words used to get stuck,” she explained then, still holding my hand. “It was hard for me to get them out.”
“Like a stutter?” I asked, feeling doubtful. There was a boy in my class at school who had a really bad one. Lizzie didn’t seem to have any problem pronouncing her words.
“Nope, not a stutter. They just got stuck,” she replied, looking up at me with those pale blue eyes. “But I can get them out now.”
“Well, that’s good.” I smiled. “Because you have a nice voice.”
Her eyes lit up. “I do?”
Aw, crap.
She pulled her hand from mine then and clutched her stomach. “Uh-oh.”
“What?”
“It’s my belly,” she explained. “It keeps twisting around.”
I eyed her warily. “Like in a pukey way?”
“No, not pukey.” She paused for a moment before saying. “More like hiccups.”
“In your throat?”
“No, hiccups in my belly,” she corrected. “And butterflies in my throat.”
I frowned. “So…you have flutter-cups?”
“Oh my God, yes!” She nodded eagerly. “I have flutter-cups!”
“Fuck.” I couldn’t stop the laugh that escaped me. “You’re so strange.”
“Say it again.”
“Fuck?”
She grinned. “Fuck.”
“How are your flutter-cups?”
“Still there, but it’s okay,” she laughed. “They don’t hurt.”
“That’s good to know,” I replied. Because I think I caught them, too.
“What did you mean on the bus?” she asked then. “About me being right.”
Aw double crap.
“Uh…I’ll tell you later.” Pushing the car door open, I sprang out before I embarrassed myself further. “Come on.” Smiling, I waved at her to follow me. “Let’s go inside and play.”
