Fifteen Going on Grown Up (23 page)

Even later, buried under her duvet, Hally closed her eyes and tried to sleep. It had been a long day and an even longer build up to the day. She felt a little deflated that Christmas was over, it had all been so busy, and Boxing Day was probably going to be hectic too. However thoughts of Wes continued to invade all of her other thoughts and again her body began to react to the day’s memories. All innocent but still powerful, his touches, his light kisses, his smile and even just hearing his voice; all sent waves of emotion through the lower parts of her body, so intense she allowed her own hands to travel to those parts of her body and give herself release and pleasure. After, she was finally able to drift into a sleep full of dreams about Wes, her Gran and a whole host of strange events that can only take place deep in the subconscious.

Chapter 13

New Year

New Year’s Eve dawned with the temperature well below freezing and snow still sitting deeply on the ground. All of the main roads had been salted so were relatively free of snow and ice, but everywhere else was like a skating rink. Most people were now using sledges to pull young children and shopping rather than risk their cars, and looked like circus clowns in overlarge shoes as they walked precariously along the pavements.

Hally and her family were going to Clia’s parent’s party,
something they put on every year so that their friends could get together and celebrate without having to worry about arranging baby sitters. Hally was very excited by the upcoming event this year because for the first time she would have a boyfriend to go with, and even better, so would her two best friends. It was going to be a fabulous evening and she had a fabulous outfit to wear to it.

Mum and dad left early for Gran and Granddad’s with Nathan and Hally planned to walk over later in the morning. Mum had again insisted she spend some time doing the things normal teenagers did over the holidays, but Hally was determined not to spend the day lounging around; so she made sure her room was neat and tidy, vacuumed the downstairs rooms so her mum wouldn’t have to and laid her outfit out for the party. She phoned Wes and chatted for a while then togged herself up in warm clothes and made her way to her Grandparents.

Mum opened the door just as she reached it and this gave Hally a start. She instinctively knew something had changed by the look on her mother’s face.

“What’s happened?”

She asked, her voice quivering with a fear that gripped her entire being. Mum took her hand and pulled her into a hug.

“She’s in a bad way angel. Barely awake now, mostly because of the pain medication.”

Hally yanked her boots off and headed for the lounge peeling her outdoor clothes off on the way. Gran was in her recliner with Granddad on one side holding her hand and Mildred on the other. The pump had been removed, no use to her Grandmother now as she was too weak and ill to administer the pain relief herself. A small disposable dish sat on a little table nearby, a syringe laid in it. Mildred looked at Hally and said very gently.

“I have to give her pain relief by injection now my dear. That’s all we can do now, just make her as comfortable as possible. But she’s a fighter and she’s holding on.”

Hally burst into tears as she knelt before her Gran, placing her head on the blanket which covered her Gran’s withering body. As she sobbed she felt Granddad softly stroke her hair and they just stayed that way until Hally’s tears finally subsided.

Throughout the day Gran drifted in and out of consciousness sometimes obviously aware of their presence, other times barely flickering her eye lids. Dad was doing his best keeping everyone together. He kept Nathan entertained as well as keeping him fairly quiet and informed as much as an eight year old could be informed. Nathan had a fair understanding of the situation and did his best to not get in the way. Mum wanted him to be as close to his Gran as was possible so gave him some leeway to play near to her without being a disturbance. Mildred was wonderful in helping with this and explained that Nathan didn’t need to be completely quiet; that a degree of normality in his play was the best way for him to be able to handle his own feelings. Over a cup of tea in the kitchen she explained to mum that Nathan may feel he had made his Gran worse if they tried to keep him silent and as a normal child was not able to achieve this. From then on, there was a much more relaxed atmosphere in the home. Hally phoned Wes several times throughout the day which gave her a lot of comfort. Neither of them expected she would be going to the party that evening and Wes told her he wouldn’t go either but would come around to Gran’s if she wanted him to, which was exactly what she wanted. However, just as she finished on the phone mum came into the kitchen and spoke to her.

“I know this sounds really terrible, but Mildred and your Granddad has told your dad and me to take you and Nathan to the party.”

Hally started to protest but mum put her hand up and gave her a sad smile.

“I know baby, I was about to protest too. But, Mildred has lots of experience in these situations and she’s told me that though mum doesn’t have much time left, it’s not going to happen straight away. Granddad is very insistent that we take you two out this evening and see the new year in. He even told me that since it’s going to be the last one he has with his wife, he wants it to be as much like their first New Year, just the two of them. Of course Mildred will be there but…”

Her voice shook and she was unable to continue. Hally hugged her mum but had no words of comfort to give.

Hally spent quite some time getting ready for the party, doing her hair, applying makeup and pulling on the new dress she had for the event. As she looked at her reflection in the mirror, she smoothed out her dress, it was a black sequinned tube dress and hugged her figure beautifully. But in between her excitement she felt threads of guilt, that she should be looking forward to an evening of fun when her Gran was so close to death. Mum tapped on the door and came in, smiling at how beautiful her daughter looked. Then as if reading her mind she said.

“Hally darling, it’s ok. I know your Gran wants us to enjoy this party. We all feel, well except probably Nathan, that we shouldn’t be going, but dad and I have made sure Mildred has both our mobile numbers and Clia’s house number. We will only be twenty minutes away, even in this weather.”

Hally felt a little reassured by her mum’s words and said.

“Ok, I know really that this is alright, so how do I look?”

They giggled together and for a moment it was just mother and daughter preparing for a family night out.

Wes came round at eight as he was going with the family to the party. Gregg and Rhys were going straight there from their respective homes and the six were looking forward to meeting up and enjoying celebrating the incoming year together.

“Wow, you look gorgeous.”

Wes told Hally as he came into the lounge. Before she had time to respond Nathan jumped forward.

“What about me?”

Asked Nathan giving a little twirl. He was wearing a child-size dinner suit complete with bow tie to match his father.

“Wow, you look very handsome and grown up.”

Wes told him, bending to his level. Nathan giggled and with another twirl sprinted off to the kitchen where mum was organising the packing of some dishes of food to take with them. Wes stood up and gave Hally a kiss just as dad came into the room.

“Hi Wes, can I get you a drink?”

He asked without raising an eyebrow. With no sign of embarrassment Wes nodded. Dad disappeared into the kitchen and returned with two open bottles of lager.

“Don’t I get one?”

Hally asked batting her eyelashes at her dad. He came over to her and planted a kiss on the end of her nose.

“A shandy, alright, I’ll go and get it.”

Hally gave a pout as dad turned again towards the kitchen patting her behind on the way.

“You can have a glass of champagne at midnight.”

He told her on the way. Hally beamed brightly, her eyes lit up in anticipation which in turn made Wes smile.

“Mum and dad let me have some wine, or a bottle of beer sometimes for special occasions.”

Hally told Wes.

“Yeah, my parents used to do that and now I’m old enough to drink I don’t find it so mysterious or exciting, or like some people I know, rebellious, you know, doing it just because you’re not supposed to.”

Hally nodded in understanding.

“Mmm some of the girls in my year are out all weekend just getting hammered. They think it makes them look all grown up and sexy. But all they end up doing is throwing up everywhere and looking stupid. Honestly, the amount of fights over this boy or that boy ‘cos they’ve had too much to drink, and half the time next day they can’t remember what they did. Some of the lads are just as bad, only they end up punching each other, just because they think it’s clever to down as much booze as they can in one go. Yuk, I don’t ever want to get so out of control.”

“Hally my sweet girlfriend, I cannot imagine you ever being out of control as you put it. You are far too sensible.”

Wes said in a slightly teasing tone. Hally looked up at him using her eyes to give him the sexiest look she could and said in a low voice.

“Oh I don’t know, I can think of something that might make me lose a little bit of control.”

Before Wes could comment, dad returned with Hally’s drink. He looked from one to the other and thought he might have interrupted something but wasn’t sure what, so he simply handed Hally her drink and turned to Wes asking about his family.

There were already quite a few people at Clia’s house when they all arrived. Mum went straight to the kitchen to unpack the food she had prepared, dad behind her carrying it. Nathan headed for some children he knew and Hally and Wes made their way over to Clia. Corrinne, Gregg and Rhys had not yet arrived. Clia’s brother Don was standing next to his sister and was introduced to Wes. They were soon chatting about Don’s uni experiences and Hally wondered for the first time if Wes might be considering further study. They had never discussed his plans after he finished school, for some unknown reason the subject had never come up, but now Hally wondered and worried. In her mind she saw him going off to some university at the other end of the country, meeting girls his own age and forgetting about her.

“Earth to Hally.”

She came out of her wonderings as Wes nudged her smiling.

“I don’t think you were with us there babe.”

He said putting his arm around her. Hally gave a little shudder and he frowned giving her a concerned look.

“Hally are you ok?”

She gave herself a mental shake and put a smile on her face.

“Of course, I’m fine.”

She told him. Clia looked at her with her all too usual knowing look that something was out of sorts with her friend.

“Let’s go and get some drinks Hally.”

She said, taking Hally’s hand and leading her towards the kitchen. Once out of earshot of the boys Clia said in a whisper.

“Ok, what’s up?”

“Nothing really. Well, it’s just, Don was chatting about uni and you know, Wes has never said anything about what he wants to do after he’s taken his exams.”

Hally told her worriedly. Clia gave her a look which told her straight away she was worrying over nothing.

“Sweetie, just ask him.”

She told her matter of factly.

Carrying drinks, the two girls returned to the lounge. Wes and Don were still chatting.

“…three street cones and a cricket bat.”

They heard Don say to Wes as they handed over drinks to the boys who were now laughing heartily.

“So what are you going to do after your exams Wes?”

Clia chimed in. Hally looked at her and felt herself blushing with embarrassment. She was sure Wes would know exactly what they had been talking about in the kitchen, and what had worried her earlier. But without hesitation Wes replied.

“Well I’ve looked at a few part time courses at the further education college. I think I might go for some sort of accountancy training. My mum’s a qualified accountant and so she would be able to sort of act as a home tutor. I don’t want to do full time because I still want to work as well, and I don’t think it’s fair to expect my parents to fully finance me when mum can’t work full time now ‘cos of Ellie.”

Hally was surprised and relieved at the same time. She also felt a little let down that this was the first time she had heard of his plans and resolved to ask him later about why he had never mentioned it. She also remembered that a long time ago, or so it seemed, she had planned to ask him why he had failed his exams in the first place, and was determined now to discover the reason. Wes looked at her and gave a slight frown as though he knew something was amiss but that for now it wasn’t going to be broached. The entire subject was then put to one side with the arrival of Corrinne, Gregg and Rhys and as the six greeted each other, Don drifted off to chat with some other friends.

Before too long the house was full of people all enjoying each other’s company. Clia’s dad ensured that a variety of music was played to suit all ages and that the children were kept entertained and out of trouble. Her mum with the help of Hally’s mum kept the food on the table topped up and the evening developed into a very noisy but happy night. Hally and her friends had a great time, especially watching some of the adults, who as they drank more loosened up more and began to dance more and more vigorously, often completely out of rhythm to the music.