‘No problem. I’ll be two seconds.’ Coming around the back of the desk, Frankie dropped her backpack in under it and disappeared into the tiny room behind reception. Balling up her school sweater and shirt, she changed quickly into the hotel’s generic plain blouse and skirt – a uniform that could be worn anywhere, whether she was waiting tables or hoovering the stairs. Back outside, she flopped into Sinéad’s chair.

  Sinéad put her hands on her hips and looked at her critically. ‘You look how I feel.’

  ‘The first few days back are always so tiring. It’s so warm and they’ve the heating on for no reason. I was melting in history – the sun comes right in those windows.’

  Sinéad smiled sympathetically. The Berwick Castle dark green pencil skirt looked great with her crisp white blouse, its puffed sleeves trimmed in green and gold, and a big bow under the chin. Frankie always thought Sinéad’s red lipstick made her look like a Hollywood film star; it was like her trademark.

  ‘You relax, it’s lovely and cool in here. Will I send Danny up with a Coke and some ice? You can check on 202 when he gets here.’

  ‘That would be fab. And take your time, I’ve got tons of homework. If it’s quiet here, I can get a bit done before dinner.’

  Sinéad leaned over and grabbed her green uniform jacket from behind Frankie where it was hanging on the back of her chair, and turned to head towards the kitchens, her high heels loud on the stone tiles.

  Pushing off with her feet, Frankie rolled the reception chair along the desk, pulling her backpack with her. She bent down to unpack it just as the phone rang. So much for it being quiet.

  By the time she’d dealt with the customer enquiry – no, they didn’t have a pool; yes, they had a hot tub; yes, the middle of the hotel was Georgian but it had modern wings, air conditioning and central heating; and yes, they were a two-minute walk to Kilmurray Beach so they had rooms with sea views (obviously) – another text had come through from her mum.

  Max is in the creche, can you collect him on your way up and give him a snack.

  Frankie flopped her head forwards dramatically and groaned. Her little brother Max was eight, the ultra-embarrassing bonus child and adorable when he wasn’t being a total demon. Surely Cian and Kai, her twin brothers, would be home pretty soon and could pick him up from the hotel’s childcare? As if her mum had heard her, another text came through.

  K&C at lifesaving. Ollie’s in the bar. I’ll be back 6.30.

  Frankie was going to need lifesaving if she didn’t get this homework done – and she hadn’t worked out what she was wearing to Katie’s party yet.

  ‘You rang, m’lady?’ Frankie jumped and turned around to see Danny, the part-time-kitchen-porter-who-actually-did-everything, with a bottle of Coke and a pint glass full of ice balanced on a tray. Keeping a straight face, he laid it down on the desk in front of her and bowed, doing a sort of twirling flourish with his hand.

  She tried to throw him a withering look, but he was such a clown, it was hard not to smile around him.

  ‘How was school?’ He raised one eyebrow and she shook her head, laughing.

  ‘You should be on the stage.’

  ‘Not with this haircut.’ His blond hair had been almost completely shorn around the sides. ‘Reckon my mam thinks if it’s short enough at the start it’ll last all term. I had to fight her off to keep the top long.’

  ‘Having a hairdresser for a mum would be so handy.’

  ‘If I was a girl, maybe.’

  Frankie picked up the Coke. ‘How’s it feel to be back?’

  He sighed, leaning on the counter, his chin on his arms. He had the sleeves of his white shirt rolled back, the green epaulettes that matched his trousers making him look like he should be flying a plane. ‘Grim, but only to be expected. They aren’t too crazy about my TikTok. It’s only the second day of term and I already got “the call”. The headmaster doesn’t want Earlsbrook Comprehensive to appear in any of my videos, apparently.’

  ‘As if you’d be remotely interested in filming anything at school.’

  ‘True, but you never know. Look at how big school stuff is on Netflix.’ He pulled a face.

  Frankie laughed. Danny was refreshingly normal after the super-posh boys from Raven’s Park College who all thought they had a God-given right to be the centre of attention. He was seventeen already, had been working in the Berwick Castle Hotel since the day after his sixteenth birthday, and in the past year had become pretty much indispensable, according to her mum, covering everything from peeling potatoes to making beds and walking guests’ spoilt dogs.

  She took another sip of her Coke, pointing at it. ‘You’re a life-saver, Danny Holmes, don’t let anyone ever tell you different.’ She took a long slurp. ‘But look, you have to see this.’ Frankie pulled out her phone. ‘Someone’s started this Raven’s Hill confessions page, it’s mad.’ She scrolled through until she found it. ‘Take a look.’

  Danny’s eyebrows raised with interest as he took the phone, reading out the first post. ‘“U ever want to delete all your socials and just disappear?” That would be a yes.’

  ‘Don’t be silly, keep going.’

  Danny glanced at her and continued reading: ‘“Dumped by text. Discuss.”’

  ‘Oof, what do the comments say?’ Frankie had missed that one today.

  ‘“Sometimes it has to be done.” That’s a bit brutal.’ He scanned the page. ‘“Makes me so mad I want to kill.” Yikes, nice young ladies you have in that school.’ He rolled his eyes, moving to the next comment. ‘“Devastating, but if he can’t say it to your face, he’s not worth the oxygen.” Well, that’s for sure.’ Danny’s mouth twitched into a grin at the next post. ‘This is hilarious: “Saw Mr Munro at the beach in Speedos. I am officially traumatised.”’ He burst out laughing. ‘Speedos are really not a good look.’

  Frankie snorted. They’d had a laugh about that one at breaktime, but the real discussion had been over the next post. She resisted the urge to grin. ‘Keep going.’

  ‘“What do you do when you realise you might have accidentally hooked up with the new hockey coach over the summer? Asking for a friend.” Ooh, spicy. What do they mean “might”?’

  ‘She means “did” and is dying of mortification. I’d guess alcohol “might” have been involved too. How awkward is that?’

  Danny laughed, shaking his head. ‘That’s really bad.’ He scrolled down, ‘What’s this one about?’ He angled the screen towards her.

  Not everyone on Raven’s Park College Rugby Team is as straight as they pretend to be.

  Frankie pulled a face. ‘Nasty. That doesn’t sound like someone from Raven’s Hill – Raven’s Park must have heard about the page.’ She rolled her eyes. The confession site was brilliant while it was just the girls; she didn’t know how it would go if the boys’ school started commenting and posting too. But it wasn’t a private site and now that term had started word seemed to have travelled. ‘That’s such a mean thing to put up. I mean, being gay is no big deal but if someone’s not out, it’s for a reason. Now everyone’s going to be wondering.’

  ‘It’s pretty easy for these things to get toxic, but there must be admins – who set it up?’ Danny scanned the next few posts as she answered.

  ‘We’ve no idea. It started over the summer but it wasn’t all that exciting to begin with.’

  He crooked an eyebrow at her. ‘I can’t believe you didn’t tell me about it.’ He looked at her reproachfully.

  ‘I kept forgetting, with work and Max-minding and stuff. And it’s only started to get really interesting now.’

  He frowned for a moment. ‘I’d be careful about posting on it – what if the admins suddenly decide to make the identities of everyone public?’

  Frankie looked at him, shocked. ‘You mean like it’s a giant prank to get everyone to share their secrets and then out them?’ Frankie hadn’t thought of that. ‘God, I hope not …’ She shook her head. ‘What are you doing working on your first week back at school, anyway?’

  ‘I’m down to two evenings during the week and a day at the weekends this term, but one of the junior chefs called in sick.’

  ‘Make sure everyone knows it’s your exam year. You know what my family are like for taking advantage.’

  ‘Your mam’s still trying to persuade me to do Hotel Management.’

  Danny had his heart set on a course in Film and TV. He had his whole career path mapped out, starting as a cameraman in TV news and graduating to documentary directing as he got his qualifications.

  ‘She won’t give up, you know. She doesn’t think TV is a real job.’

  Danny looked at her despairingly. ‘I got that impression.’ He shook his head. ‘Maybe I’ll come back when I’m famous and make a documentary about this place. People wouldn’t believe some of the stuff that happens here.’

  Before Frankie could answer, the phone rang. She picked up. It was room 202.

  ‘Of course. I’ll send another one up right now and you can try that.’ Rooting in one of the drawers under the desk, Frankie pulled out a spare TV remote control and passed it to Danny. ‘Danny’s on his way. He’ll be right with you.’

  She hung up. ‘202, and they need some Irish charm by the sounds of things.’

  Grabbing the remote, Danny threw her a salute and headed for the lift.

  NINE

  28 HOURS TO THE PARTY

  Sorcha leaned into the window of the train, smiling to herself, as the DART pulled out of Kilmurray Point heading back towards Dublin City. She loved the novelty of getting the train to and from school. As the dark evenings drew in and the temperature dropped, she knew she’d be very glad she was boarding, but for now commuting was great.

  The DART pulled into the next station, and the noise level rose as the doors opened. The platform was packed with loud boys and a scattering of girls in grey-and-black unforms from Kilmurray Manor. The boys seemed to fall through the doors, pushing and shoving, completely oblivious to the other passengers. Sorcha could hear the elderly lady across from her tutting loudly. Not that any of the boys noticed. Behind them a small group of girls came into the carriage, their black skirts shortened to above the knee. Two of them had taken off their sweaters and tied them around their waists, but they had to be baking in their thick black tights.

  Sorcha didn’t know what year they were – the girls looked like they could be Fourth Years, but the boys seemed to be a mix of ages, shapes and sizes, sweaters and shirts untucked. She swam against Kilmurray Manor regularly; some of their teams were really good, but they had to train at the public pool, which meant their training time was limited. What they lacked in pool hours they made up for in pure determination though, and were rapidly climbing the league. Kilmurray was already consistently top in debating and had an incredible maths team, as well as their rugby team being the sworn rivals of Raven’s Park.

  Looking out at the platform, wondering why the train hadn’t moved yet, Sorcha suddenly caught a glimpse of a Raven’s Hill uniform and long blonde hair she thought she recognised. She leaned forwards to see better as an announcement came over the tannoy, the driver’s voice betraying his annoyance at being held up. ‘Will everyone please stand clear of the doors.’

  Laughter broke out and a pile of the younger boys fell out of the doors, running back down the platform to the next carriage. The tutting got louder across from her. With the view now cleared Sorcha could see it was Ruth Meaney standing just under the platform canopy, beside a tall boy in a Kilmurray Manor uniform who had to be a Sixth Year. They looked a bit awkward. Ruth was staring at the platform, fiddling with her phone, while he seemed to be explaining something to her. She looked up with an exaggerated sigh and Sorcha could see her face was set in a scowl. Whatever was going on, Ruth wasn’t very happy about it. Was this the boy Frankie had overheard Amber and Ella talking about? The Rave-fess post about dating across years shot into Sorcha’s mind.

  Sorcha lifted her phone and, pretending to use it as a mirror, took a quick photo of them through the train doors. They were a good distance away, but when Frankie zoomed in she might know who the boy was.

  Her curiosity burning, Sorcha shifted in her seat to get a better look at him. He had his head down now, but he was definitely older than them, tall and good-looking, his hair cut in a mullet, a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. He looked away from Ruth, down the platform, and she suddenly moved off, heading towards Sorcha’s carriage, leaving him standing alone as if she was making a point.

  Sorcha bent down quickly as if she had to get something out of her bag. Thank goodness she’d taken off her bright red jumper on the walk down to the station. The last thing she wanted to do this afternoon was get into another confrontation with Ruth Meaney. Praying Ruth went to the other end of the carriage, Sorcha held her breath.

  A moment later whoever had been messing with the doors obviously moved the obstruction and they closed.

  Straightening up, hiding her face with her hand, Sorcha took a look down the carriage. She could see Ruth in her distinctive Raven’s Hill uniform sitting down in the other half of the carriage, thankfully with her back to Sorcha. She had her head down, like she was looking at her phone.

  When the train pulled into the next station, Sorcha’s heart lurched as Ruth stood up, turning her way. She seemed to be making sure her bag was safe on the seat. Sorcha slipped down as low as she could beside the window, praying the couple in front of her would block Ruth’s view. But Ruth wasn’t looking Sorcha’s way. Sorcha peeped up and watched as she walked over to the doors, leaning out of the train as if she was looking for someone. A second later, a boy in a Raven’s Park College navy sweater jumped on, laughing, as if he’d been running for the train, the doors closing immediately behind him. He moved so quickly Sorcha couldn’t see him properly, and now he had his back to her. He had the handles of a Raven’s Park sports bag looped over his shoulders like a backpack. Someone stood up and blocked her view so Sorcha couldn’t see what happened next, but as they moved, Sorcha could see Ruth was laughing, playfully pushing him. He followed her back to her seat.

  Now who was this?

  Sorcha straightened up, trying to see. There were no free seats nearby, so the boy stood over Ruth as she sat down. They seemed to be chatting easily and Ruth was definitely flirting with him. Sorcha could see her touching her hair and laughing, although she couldn’t see if he was flirting back. They seemed to know each other well, though.

  Curiosity was eating Sorcha up when suddenly the woman who had been sitting in the window seat beside Ruth stood up to get ready to leave. Stepping aside to let her out, the boy glanced down the carriage straight towards Sorcha and her eyebrows shot up as she recognised him.

  It was Josh Fitzpatrick. She was sure of it. The same Josh Fitzpatrick who had just been hanging out at Starbucks – the captain of the Raven’s Park College rugby team. Katie’s boyfriend. What did Ruth think she was doing, flirting with him?

  TEN

  24 HOURS TO THE PARTY

  Frankie still couldn’t believe Patrick Kelly had spoken to her. Finally alone in her bedroom, Max fed and entrusted to the care of Cian and Kai, she leaned her head against the cool glass of her window, her stomach flipping.

  Outside she could see movement in the darkness as feral cats crossed in and out of the security lighting in the delivery area, Ollie’s two huge Rottweilers barking frantically any time one of them jumped onto the wall that bordered their yard. Danny was sure the cats were teasing the dogs, sitting just out of their reach. He’d been trying to film them all summer for some documentary he was making for school.

  Frankie’s room was at the end of the family wing of the hotel and had an incredible view of the bins, the tarmacked back entrance and the edge of the dogs’ yard. She was working on swapping with Ollie, who had a view of the sea that was utterly wasted on him because he never spent any time in his room. She loved her own room with its purple feature wall, silver-grey bedlinen and furry throw, but she knew she’d love Ollie’s a whole lot more. And he probably wouldn’t even notice the lilac paint in her room by the time he’d covered it in all his music posters.

  Frankie glanced over at the photo she’d taken during the summer of her friends by the bandstand on the pier. She’d had it blown up to poster size to fill the huge wall beside her dressing table. Everyone was laughing or pulling faces, Katie and Josh in the middle, arms wrapped around each other. They looked like the cast of a Netflix show, as if they were about to burst into song. Frankie smiled to herself. She loved taking movement shots, capturing a moment. That day had been the first time she’d ‘met’ Patrick; he’d been walking past with Conor and they’d jumped into the frame, photobombing at the back. It was the perfect shot; the evening sun on everyone’s faces, the holidays stretching out ahead of them.

  Frankie sighed, remembering their laughter. She’d seen later on Instagram that Patrick had gone for hotdogs with Conor and got ketchup all over himself. He’d got really mad and the shots had been hilarious.

  Frankie closed her eyes, frozen for a moment as she relived their conversation yesterday. Patrick had known her name. And he was going to Katie’s party. And he wanted Frankie to take his picture.

  It was mad. She’d literally been trying to bump into Patrick Kelly ever since she’d taken that photo on the pier – the whole summer.

  When she’d got back with the sugar, Jess had tried hard not to laugh at Frankie’s excitement. ‘Maybe he’s actually really shy and needed a reason to talk to you. Taking his portrait is perfect – you might even need to have a few sessions to get it right.’

  The possibility that Patrick might be shy made him all the more adorable in Frankie’s book.

  Turning away from the photo, Frankie looked at her bed. Her whole wardrobe was laid out over it, skirts and tops and all her dresses.

  Because the problem now was what to wear to the party.

  Frankie could feel anxiety and excitement starting to grip her stomach. She’d seen Patrick down at the beach and hanging out at the pier with his friends a few times over the summer. She hadn’t thought for one moment that he’d noticed her. And now this. She shut her eyes and remembered his smile.

 

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