‘I know, let’s go out to The Spit,’ says Niall. ‘We can get burger and chips from the takeaway and eat it there.’ The Spit looks out onto the Irish Sea, jutting out from the coastline for about half a mile.
I smile at him. ‘That sounds great,’ I say, even though I’m not really hungry. Mum always makes sure I have some tea at the café before they close at the end of the day. I had a burger tonight, but I’m sure a burger with Niall will taste better than one from the café.
It’s peaceful out at The Spit. We come to a stop in the car park and look out across the dark water, the clouds cross the path of the moon, allowing snatches of light to peak out for only a minute or two.
I eat my burger and I was right. It does taste better.
‘Why were you leaving the youth club early?’ Niall asks.
‘I was actually a bit bored,’ I reply.
‘I think everyone grows out of it after a while. You’re what, sixteen now?’ says Niall through a mouthful of burger.
‘That’s right.’ I feel grown up that I’m sixteen, it sounds so much better than being the fifteen I was a month ago. I like being one of the oldest in the school year.
‘I can’t wait to get away from here,’ says Niall as he screws up the burger wrapper and drops it into the brown-paper takeaway bag. ‘Only one more year in the sixth form and then I’m off to university.’
‘Where are you going?’ I ask, ignoring the little flicker of disappointment that he will only be about for another year.
‘Dublin. If I get my grades, that is,’ he says. ‘I’m going to study law.’
‘Wow! You want to be a lawyer? You must be clever.’
Niall laughs. ‘A little. My mam’s got high hopes for me. She wants me to go into company law – where the money is.’
He imitates his mother’s voice and I laugh.
‘But what about you? Is that what you want to do?’ I ask.
‘I want to represent people who can’t afford a proper solicitor. I want to make a stand for the underdog. Mam doesn’t get that at all. She’s all right, really,’ he says with a smile. ‘She says she just wants what’s best for me. She’s a bit of a control freak at times.’
‘Sounds like my dad. It’s his way or no way. My dad isn’t ambitious for me, though. He’d be happy for me to work in the café when I leave school.’
‘Do you want to?’
‘No way. It’s bad enough having to work in there at the weekends and during school holidays. When I leave school I want to go to college and do a beautician’s course.’
‘What like, make-up and leg wax, that sort of thing?’
‘Yes. I want to have my own salon one day. Be my own boss.’
‘And will your dad let you?’
‘He doesn’t think I’ll stick at it. I’d like to live with my sister, Fiona.’ I fold up the last bit of burger in the wrapper. ‘She lives in London with her husband.’
‘How old is she?’
‘Twenty-four. We get on really well despite the big age gap. I’d be lost without her sometimes.’
‘I’ve only got Roisin,’ says Niall. He pulls a face, which makes me laugh again. ‘I know she’s your friend and all that, but as a sister she’s a feckin’ pain at times. She’s another control freak. I think she must get it from Mam. My poor dad is going to be spending even more time hiding from them at work once I leave home. He says he going to get a huge man-shed in the garden and take up model train-making.’
A small silence settles between us as we contemplate our families.
‘Let’s make a pact,’ he says suddenly. He turns in his seat to look at me. ‘We promise each other we’ll follow our dreams and not let our parents stand in the way. You promise you’ll go to college and become a beautician and I promise I’ll qualify as a solicitor and defend criminal cases. Is it a deal?’
He holds out his hand. I put mine in his. Just touching him makes me feel like a child at Christmas who has opened the best present ever. ‘It’s a deal,’ I manage to say, trying to stay calm and cool.
Niall leans over and kisses me briefly on the mouth. Oh, my God! I’ve had my Christmas and birthday presents all in one go.
We sit for a little longer looking up at the stars, talking about what the future holds for us. What we’re going to call our businesses. We fantasise about the sort of clients we will have. I will work on a cruise ship and travel to faraway places like the Caribbean and Mediterranean. Niall will defend high-profile celebrities and businessmen so he can make enough money to work for free, defending those who can’t afford a solicitor. He sees it as a modern-day Robin Hood sort of figure.