“And you want me to go with you?”

“Well, yeah.” I shrugged. “Why not? It’d be fun.”

“It would, wouldn’t it?” Julia beamed, tucking her hair behind her ears. “Count me in then, I guess. Tomorrow, maybe?”

I beamed back at her. “Tomorrow at seven. I’ll meet you at um—at Cleary’s, maybe?”

“Cleary’s it is.” Her eyes twinkled as she walked away, murmuring quietly to herself. “Cleary’s at seven.”

* * * *

Julia was already waiting when I arrived at seven sharp. She looked pretty with the ends of her hair curled a little neater than usual, wearing makeup, just as she had that night in Aidan’s. She blushed when I told her that, her cheeks swelling up as she fought to subdue her smile.

“My mam bought me this skirt a few weeks ago, but I didn’t know if I’d ever get a chance to wear it. I actually wasn’t sure what to wear, so I brought another outfit in my bag. Just in case.”

She fidgeted with the buttons of her coat and I saw that her bright eyes were glazed over and wider than normal, and when she laughed it was spirited and free. It made me smile, to see her so happy and at ease.

I glanced down at her little handbag and stifled a snort. “What, is that some Mary Poppins type bag you got there?”

“It was just a little spare dress! I just…I haven’t been on a date before. I wanted to do it properly.”

There was a relatively short pause as I gathered my thoughts. But then I smiled up at her. “Neither have I. A proper one, anyway.”

We headed down Henry Street and then Moore Street, chatting idly as the stalls all around us closed up for the evening. As we turned the corner, I noticed a small group on the side of the street heading toward us, and my stomach dropped.

“Alex!” Orla called out, grinning as we approached. I shot Julia a glance from the side of my eye and saw that her laughter had faded and her cheeks paled. Orla stepped up and I met her in a long, exaggerated hug before she turned to Julia, reaching out to pull her in too. There was a knowing glint in her eyes as they flickered over us. “I didn’t know you two knew each other.”

“We, uh—we do. How, um—how do you know each other?”

Orla grinned. “Me and Julia played Camogie together when we were kids, before she sold her soul to hockey. And where are you two off to? Both of you all dolled up.”

It was harder than it should have been to keep the hesitance from seeping into my voice. “The cinema, actually. To see Jurassic Park.”

Glancing behind her I saw that the rest of the group had ceased both walking and conversation, the four of them watching us curiously. Molly, leaning into Jack Murphy. And Connie, an arm wrapped around Jim’s torso. She looked sensational, as always—leather trousers so tight they must have been sewn onto her skin, a low—cut top. Her makeup was dark, long curls with not a hair out of place. She didn’t belong on the side of a dirty street with her arms around some subpar boy. She belonged on the catwalks in Milan, or the studios in Hollywood. Everything about her was still so utterly perfect.