“It was something we had to do.” I shrugged, picking up a fistful of sand and sifting it through my fingers. “I mean, I was gonna come out someday, eventually. But with Julia…I wasn’t gonna go on pretending we weren’t together, you know? It would’ve been too hard. Unnecessarily hard.”

“Yeah, I mean—been there, done that, right?”

I raised an eyebrow. “Meaning what, exactly?”

“I’m not daft. Not as daft as you think I am. What, you think I didn’t notice you and O’Reilly sneaking off to the bathrooms whenever we went to the club every five minutes? Or that our group sleepovers pretty abruptly stopped the same time Connie stopped dating other boys? I figured it out pretty quickly, I think.”

My lips twitched. “I had a feeling that you knew. You said stuff sometimes, always giving me those funny looks.”

“Sorry, Al Pal.” Orla cackled loudly and rather giddily. “I found the whole thing pretty fucking funny. Well. Funny until the end when the whole thing exploded in my face. But like I said…I didn’t think you’d have the balls to come out. Not like that.”

“I’ve been ready for a long time. To come out.”

“Is that what you fell out over then, her not coming out? I figured it was as much. But still…It’s easy to say, a lot harder to do.”

“It was sorta like that. But—if you knew all that time, why not say something?”

“What would any of us have gained from that? O’Reilly would have crucified me if I mentioned it…And you would have gone along with it ‘cause I mean, hello, you followed her around like a lost lamb. And like I said, it was funny. Why ruin that?”

“I suppose….”

“But sure look, Alex…” She peered into my eyes. There were no remnants of laughter left there, only sincerity. “I’m pretty proud of you. It takes balls to do that, it really does. I mean, don’t get me wrong—I really don’t get it. I can’t even look at my own, yano—down there, but if you wanna…Makes no difference to me. Girls are more fun than guys too, I guess. And Julia is a nice girl. You did good, pulling her.”

“Thanks. I think?”

“At first I was a bit put out—I mean—why would you fancy fucking O’Reilly and not me, or Molls? But then I thought about it and like…You two were eye—riding from the time we were like, fourteen.”

I laughed at that, sharing a smile with her. “Sorry, Orla. You just aren’t my type.”

“No offense taken, lezzer. So, what does Julia think of the whole Alex—Connie saga, hmm?”

I glanced to the side, gnawing down hard on my lower lip. “She, um…You know…”

“Don’t tell me she doesn’t fucking know?” Orla’s jaw dropped. “Oh my God, Alex—does she not know?”

“Well, I mean…”

“Alex everyone fucking knows you two were attached at the hip like conjoined twins—did she not figure out that you were gagging to get into that hockey skirt?”