‘You are so beautiful,’ he whispered, and he kissed her on the forehead. ‘Are you sure you want to do this?’

‘Yes,’ she replied.

*

England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Inside, Outside, Puppy Dog Tails.

Perhaps if it all hadn’t happened so quickly, she would have said something. Defended Paul. Told the truth!

But she hadn’t. Instead, she’d seen the look on Charlotte’s face and panicked. And within seconds she and Paul were surrounded by a clutch of Queen Bees and Charlotte’s boyfriend, and the explosion had drowned out anything that she had intended to say.

At the time, she’d convinced herself that she couldn’t speak. The embarrassment of being caught had caused her to feel a sense of shame so intense, she’d wanted to run. And a part of her mind had run away. It had shut down, blocking out the unbearableness of the situation. And if truth be told, it had been easier to let everyone believe what they wanted to. Afterwards, of course, she’d wanted to do the right thing. She’d wanted to tell the teacher that Paul hadn’t attempted to force himself on her. She would have told the school the truth as well if it hadn’t been for her mother.

Her mum had come and collected her that afternoon from school after the head teacher had called her to explain what had happened. It was the worst car journey of Claire’s life. Her mother had been silent, but as Claire stared straight ahead into a dark December afternoon, she could feel her mum’s worried gaze. As they got into the house, her mum told her to go upstairs and she would bring her a hot drink.

Claire, numb, had done as she was told and lay down on the bed hugging her knees. It was only when her mother came into her bedroom, warm drink in hand, that Claire started crying and the truth had spilled out. For the first time ever, she remembered her mother actually listening. She didn’t interrupt; she didn’t shout or berate her daughter. Instead, she lay on the bed with her and held her like a baby, whispering.

‘Poor baby, what a shock for you.’ Over and over again, until Claire wondered if her mother had actually understood what she’d said, that she’d let everyone think Paul was about to sexually assault her when he wasn’t.

She pulled away from her mother’s embrace and looked her in the eye.

‘Mum, I need to go to the school tomorrow and tell them what really happened,’ she said urgently. ‘They’ll expel Paul; they’ll call the police. If I know Charlotte, by tomorrow, the whole school will think he’s done this. And he hasn’t.’ Claire broke down and it was then that her mother had gently pulled them both up to a seated position on the bed.