Authors: Robert E. Connolly
Outside the front entrance to St. Killians a number of first years gathered in small groups laughing and chatting. When Libby saw Brian emerge she immediately waved him over to a group where Libby, Katie, Maeve, Siobhán and a few other girls were gathered. Brian, attempting to appear nonchalant, wandered over as if he had nothing better to do.
As he approached, Brian overheard a pretty girl with black hair say, “Can you believe it? Miss Byrne taught my father history when he was a senior here. She looks like she is about twenty-five.”
Siobhán replied, “But your father is really old isn’t he? Everyone’s father is really old.”
“Well, pretty old,” the girl answered
“She was probably just out of school, her first job or something,” Katie remarked.
“Or maybe she is just … very well preserved,” Maeve said with a suspicious wink.
Even though the girls were talking about something else, Libby reached out and grabbed Brian’s arm and excitedly reported, “Kate and I are going to be in the drama society. Kate is going to be an actress and I am going to be a stage-hand.”
Brian thought that he should say hello to the rest of the group first, but he didn’t want to be rude to Libby so he said, “That’s great Libby. What does a stage hand do?”
Libby replied, “I’m not exactly sure but Miss Murphy said there were all kinds of important jobs that a stage hand does to make sure that the play is successful. What did you join Bri..Bri Brian?”
Brian felt a bit awkward but smiled at the remainder of the group whose discussion had obviously been interrupted by his arrival and Libby’s questions. “Nothing really, Libby,” he mumbled. “The coach asked me about playing soccer so I might do that.”
“Are you a soccer player?” the pretty girl with short dark hair and blue eyes asked politely.
Brian, who was painfully shy at the best of times and had hoped to merely join the group of girls, found himself the centre of attention. His response was to blush and say nothing looking down at the ground.
Fortunately Katie came to his rescue. “This girls, is Brian O’Sullivan.” Gesturing to the girl who asked the question she continued, “Brian, this is Charlie Pembroke who just moved here from Hong Kong. You know Siobhán and Maeve.” Katie then introduced the other two girls whose names were totally lost on Brian because he was still thinking about how pretty Charlie was.
Realizing that he might be staring, Brian immediately looked to the other girls and smiled a shy greeting.
“Brian, you see,” continued Katie with a smile, “according to the newspapers, is already the finest hurler the county has ever produced not to mention being very fast and very strong. Isn’t that right?”
“Ah Katie… I mean Kate,” he replied blushing bright red. “You shouldn’t be saying things like that.” Although secretly he was thrilled that Charlie was now looking at him with a bit more interest.
“Not only that,” Libby added, “but Bri Bri is related to Cúchulainn and he was the greatest hurler in the history of the world.”
Kate looked at her sister in surprise, “Now Libby, where did you ever get that idea?”
“In the newspaper of course,” Libby replied defiantly.
“That’s not exactly what the newspaper said,” her sister replied gently.
“Well it’s true.” Libby asserted a little less emphatically.
“You may well be right,” Katie said ending the discussion to Libby’s satisfaction.
“Well since hurling’s not until the springtime,” Charlie asked, “are you going to play soccer this autumn?”
Brian was just about to answer that he thought he might give it a try when the boy with the long blonde hair joined the group. Placing his hand on Brian’s shoulder, he interjected, “So mate are you going to play soccer? Everyone saw the coach chatting with you.”
This time it was Charlie who saved Brian from his discomfort, “Brian, this very rude boy is my brother Chad, Chad… Brian.”
Brian turned to face the young man and shook his hand firmly. He was surprised that the boy’s handshake was weak and limp. “Easy mate,” Chad said, “no need to break my hand.”
“Sorry,” Brian replied quickly releasing his grip as he returned his attention to the remainder of the group.
“Quite all right matey,” Chad, who was several inches taller than Brian, replied, again draping his hand over Brian’s shoulder. “So have you actually played soccer or do you pretty much stick to hurling?”
Brian replied, now genuinely embarrassed, “the truth is I have never played a soccer match, or a hurling match for that matter. I have done a lot of practicing but no actual playing.”
“Wow,” Chad responded with surprise, “never played huh. So why would the coach be begging you to join the club?”
“Don’t know,” Brian mumbled.
Chad smiled, flashing his perfectly even white teeth for the benefit of girls present. “Stick with me then matey and I will show you how the game is played. Back in Hong Kong I played a good bit and was a starter on the school team. Scored a few goals along the way as well. St Killians may not play to quite the standard that I am used to but I’m sure there will be a few decent players to support my efforts. Maybe you will even get to play once in a while if we have a big lead.”
“Maybe,” Brian replied grimly.
Charlie, meanwhile, stood with one hand on her waist while she rolled her eyes to the heavens. “Will you ever get off the stage Chadwick Pembroke; you are embarrassing Brian and me as well. I can’t believe you are so conceited. There are probably lots of players as good as you are so why don’t you be nice for a change before everyone in the school hates us.”
“Sorry mate,” Chad replied without the slightest bit of sincerity while he roughly pulled the smaller boy to his side. “You girls don’t hate me now do you?”
“Of course not,” was the reply from Siobhán and two of the girls whose names escaped Brian.
Chad turned to Kate waiting expectantly, but the response from her was not quite what he expected, “You know you can be a royal pain Chad. Maybe a few lessons from Brian on being nice wouldn’t go amiss.”
“I see,” Chad replied narrowing his eyes. “So you and young Brian here have something going on.”
Kate, who always seemed to be in control of any situation, blushed slightly but recovered quickly enough to say in a measured tone, “I didn’t say that. What I am telling you is that whether or not Brian is a great athlete, and I suspect that he is, Brian is also nice and if a few more people around here were also nice, we would all be better off. Just so there is no mistake, it is you I am referring to.”
Chad narrowed his eyes in what he thought was a particularly attractive pose and replied, “So what you are really saying is that there is still a chance for us, right Kate darling.”
“That’s it,” she replied gathering the girls around her like a mother hen with her chicks. “Let’s get out of here before I get sick.”
The girls laughed and headed toward the school gate. Libby stopped short and turned to Brian to say goodbye. She then hurried on to join the others leaving Chad standing next to Brian, leaning down on the smaller boy’s shoulder. Brian watched them leave and just before they reached the gate he was happy to see Charlie take a peak back at him and smile.
The glance was not lost on Chad who slapped Brian on the back and said, “Now aren’t they the hottest chicks you ever came across. Did you see the body on that blondie one? And you my small friend aren’t you the cock of the roost? First Kate and then Charlie and of course we can’t forget Libby. So which one is it going to be matey…don’t be greedy. Let me tell you now, you could do worse than my sister, a little skinny for my taste but everyone says she is quite the looker.”
Although Brian had always been shy and reserved, he was not totally naive. He had read enough books and seen enough movies to understand the attraction between boys and girls, but until recently, he hadn’t given it much thought. The week before school started, his father had given him a book about the physical differences between men and women, sexual relations, the creation of babies and all that sort of stuff. He had read the book and discussed it with his mother, who appeared a little annoyed that his father just gave him a book rather than explain things personally. In the end, his mom had sorted out any matters that required further clarification. Brian supposed he should be thankful for the information, which would probably save him from saying anything too stupid if it came up in conversation, – although he had a little difficulty figuring out how that might happen.
As he watched the girls receding in the distance, he had to agree that they were all attractive. However the whole idea of applying that attraction to what he read about in the book was so far removed from his present life that it did not bear serious consideration. On the other hand, he figured that he knew what Chad was getting at, but then after hearing his soccer discussion, Brian also suspected that what Chad said and what he did might be two different things.
Chad thumped him again on the shoulder and said with what Brian hoped was mock seriousness, “So who is it going to be? Take your pick, although not Kate or Siobhán because I may fancy one of them.”
“I like them all,” Brian said honestly, “but they are my friends—nothing more. I hope that Charlie will be my friend just like Kate, Libby and the others… so you can pick whoever you like, as long as they can all still be my friends.”
“Fair enough,” Chad said with a smirk. “You can be their friend and I will take it from there. Meanwhile, I’ve got to fly.”
Brian watched as Chad trotted off in the direction the girls had taken and followed slowly after them. The first day of school was only meant to introduce the first year students to the school, its rules and activities and as a result, it had only taken a couple of hours. Brian decided that he would run home, change clothes, collect Gráinne and he would still have plenty of time to visit Mrs. O’Neill.
He looked forward to telling her about his first day because he was fairly pleased with the way it had gone. His first year tutor was very nice, although probably a bit strict; Katie…Kate and Libby were in his tutor class; he met a few new people who seemed to like him especially Charlie; and he may actually get a chance to play organized soccer. He wasn’t so sure about Chad but Brian figured he would give him the benefit of the doubt. After all, he was new to the area and probably didn’t know too many people. Maybe his peculiar way of talking to people was his way of making friends.
Classes would not officially start until Monday of the following week so Brian looked forward to enjoying the last few days of his summer holidays. He spent the morning playing with Gráinne who loved chasing the ball nearly as much as Molly had. Although he had only been a little boy when Molly was alive, he still remembered the way she competed for the ball when he hit it high in the air. He remembered with a smile thumping against her as he stretched to catch the ball and he also remembered her thumping that bit harder and knocking him aside when she won the ball. It was just like Mrs. O’Neill said, whenever he remembered those great times, Molly again came alive.
Gráinne was a different dog altogether although he knew that he loved her nearly as much as he had loved Molly. Thinking back Brian decided that his parents were very wise in not looking for another dog right after Molly died because he might not have been able to take good care of her while he was still thinking about Molly. As it was, some months later, Brian had been the one to suggest another wolfhound and Gráinne came into his life.
As he ran down the road, Brian compared the two dogs. For one thing Molly had been light grey while Gráinne was light tan, nearly white. Brian guessed that the two dogs were about the same size but maybe because he was smaller when Molly was alive, he always thought of his first dog as being much bigger. Apart from size and color, Gráinne didn’t walk him to school and wait at the gates when the day was over. Brian had no doubt that she could be trained to meet him but his mother said that with more and more cars on the road it might be dangerous for his new dog. Besides, when he started junior high school Gráinne might be confused about going to a whole new school and Brian might have activities that kept him late. In the end, they agreed that Gráinne would keep his mother company during the school day, but the dog was always excited to greet Brian when he came home.
Although Gráinne loved to chase the hurling ball, she didn’t quite figure out how to catch it in the air so she was happy enough to chase it along the ground and then bring it back to Brian. As a result she didn’t compete for the high balls the way Molly had but the Brian figured he was now too big for Gráinne to win many balls even if she could jump and catch. One thing was for sure, however. Nearly anywhere he went, Gráinne trotted along after him. Brian had spent many hours training Gráinne and he was particularly proud when people commented on her good behavior. Like Molly, she was very obedient and if Brian told her to stay, Gráinne would find a comfortable spot and sit or lay down until Brian called for her.
The morning’s session with his mighty dog, as always, was great fun. Brian and Gráinne ran nearly a mile to the field near Mr. Blessington’s house with him bouncing the ball on his hurley the whole way. He then spent nearly an hour perfecting his strikes until he was satisfied that from thirty yards he could hit an old fence pole he had named “the Hill 16 pole,”- after the stands in Croke Park—nearly every time. Gráinne was quick to retrieve the hurling ball so she got plenty of exercise as well. After running home and grabbing a quick bite to eat he was looking forward to soccer practice.
Even though he knew she would behave and sit quietly watching the session, Brian had decided not to bring Gráinne to his first practice with the St. Killians soccer team. Brian figured that he would have enough to think about without getting a bunch of grief over his dog. When the time came for him to head off, he put on an old pair of shorts and a shirt under his track suit, packed his soccer spikes, shin guards and a decent enough soccer ball into a small gym bag, and went into the sun porch to say goodbye to his mother.