Fifteen Going on Grown Up (39 page)

“How about we load ‘Crewman’s Space Adventure’ into the DVD player and I make you some popcorn. We need to have a chat with Hally. Will you be a good boy and watch it quietly?”

Mum asked swaying him gently. Nathan beamed.

“Yes please.”

Was his answer, so dad took him into the lounge whilst mum placed a pack of popcorn into the microwave.

Hally sat at the kitchen table with her parents, tea and biscuits in front of them. Nathan was settled in front of the television watching a very exciting space adventure film and mum had added a chocolate bar and glass of lemonade to go with his bowl of popcorn. Hally looked at her parents, both giving her concerned looks back. She smiled at them and said.

“I’m alright honestly. Wes has told me everything and yes it’s a lot to take in and I’m still shaken up about it all. But well, he went through a really horrible time and so did his parents. He was actually thirteen when he first met Ellie’s mother.”

Dad raised his eyebrows and mum took Hally’s hand and leaned towards her, her other hand wrapped around a mug of tea.

“Ok baby, we’re listening. Tell us everything right from the beginning.”

Mum said gently. So Hally took a sip from her tea and began to retell Wes’ story.

It took a lot less time telling her parents about Ellie than it had for Wes to tell her. She told it as closely to how Wes had, not wanting to edit a great chunk of his life in any way. At first she hesitated a little, but after a few more sips of tea; the words came easily and as usual she was comfortable telling her parents even though it was a very sensitive issue. When she finished dad sat back and simply said.

“Crikey. The poor lad.”

Hally felt as though an extremely heavy backpack had been lifted from her shoulders. Although she hadn’t said, or shown it, she had been terrified that her father would not accept any explanation Wes gave her. Now his words reassured her that her dad would not sit in judgement of Wes and so make it difficult for them to carry on with their relationship. Mum stood and refilled the kettle. As she turned from the sink to put it back on its stand she said.

“Do you really think you can cope with this Hally?”

It was said gently and only with concern, not in a way that questioned Hally’s maturity or decisions about Wes. Hally smiled sweetly to her mum.

“I think so. But then who knows? I mean I can only say that I want to try and I know it’s not going to be easy. But well, if I give up on Wes now because of this I’ll never know if we could make a go of it. I know I’m just coming up sixteen and that’s really too young to be thinking about the future, but….(she began to blush but held on to her resolve) well I do love him…and…he told me he loves me.”

Mum came over and put her hands on Hally’s shoulders. Dad leaned forward and with his elbows resting on the table he linked his fingers together. He glanced up at his wife and she knew that he was thinking about her words to him, sixteen wasn’t such a young age to be in love. It was just that these days, it did seem very young, teenagers had so many more opportunities for their future, so many things they could do with their lives before settling down and having a family. Yet here was their daughter, not quite sixteen but willing to stay with her boyfriend and be part of his ready made family. Hally could feel the exchange of silent words between her parents and began to worry. Were they going to try and put the breaks on between her and Wes? Dad put his clasped hands to his lips and sighed, then he looked at Hally and spoke.

“Tink, yes you are still very young, we have always tried to encourage you to make your own decisions and we think we’ve done a pretty good job of bringing you up because you take our advice and use it to help you.”

He paused and Hally thought, here it comes. Then he carried on.

“We think you know what you want to do about this and that’s fine with us. Just please try and not let it take over your life. I mean your exams are coming up and you have said you want to go on to college instead of sixth form, it would be good if you still did that. I mean whatever you choose we will be behind you…”

Dad unusually found it hard to say what was on his mind and Hally felt a little sad that she was the cause of it. Mum was still standing holding her shoulders and she leaned forward a little.

“What your dad is trying to say…”

Hally put her cheek on her mum’s hand and spoke before she could finish.

“Mum, I know what dad is trying to say.”

She leaned forward and put her own hands out to her dad. He covered her small ones with his large.

“Daddy, I do love Wes, but I am going to stick to my plans for when school finishes. Me and the girls were chatting about this a while ago, I think we will all go to college together; and just because I know who Ellie is now is not going to make me change my mind. I would never do anything without asking you and mum first about it, I might be nearly sixteen, but I’m not yet ready to take on the world on my own.”

Dad smiled and kissed her hands softly. Mum gave her a big hug and then turned to make more hot drinks.

A little later and by herself in her room, Hally looked at her reflection in the mirror. Her hair was all over the place. She hadn’t dried it after her shower and with all the holding each other and crying it had dried in all directions. She took her comb and found her hair was quite tangled in some places, so holding parts of it she gently teased out the knots until it was smooth and shiny even though some bits still stuck out. She smiled to herself laying the comb down and spoke out loud.

“Well you’re not going to make that look any better unless you re-wash it.”

She giggled at her reflection. Then she reached for her phone and tapped in a quick message for Corrinne and Clia.

could you come round now ive got so much to tell you

Only a minute went by before she received a message back from Corrinne telling her they would be straight over and she guessed that meant they were both together. She smiled again grateful that she had such wonderful friends.

Hally was still in her room when the girls arrived and they both came in looking very worried. Corrinne immediately pulled out of her large bag a box from the bakery which had three cream cakes in it. She then took out a bag of chocolate chip cookies and a packet of chocolate covered sweets. Hally laughed.

“What’s all this for?”

“Well something is obviously going on between you and Wes so we thought treats were essential.”

Corrinne stated. Hally smiled again, suddenly uncertain of how to begin. She took a deep breath and said.

“ Phew…going on is an understatement. You are not going to believe what I have to tell you. In fact, I think I’d better go and get us some cola ‘cos this is going to take some time.”

Both Corrinne and Clia frowned but didn’t ask anything as Hally trotted downstairs to get the drinks. She came back quickly and all three settled on Hally’s bed, where she again relayed Wes’ story.

Corrinne and Clia listened intently without speaking or asking questions. She could see the shock in their eyes, sometimes anger at the callousness of Sophie’s acts and the pain they felt knowing she had been so hurt by it all. Finally, the cream cakes eaten, some of the cookies but the sweets untouched Hally finished with.

“So, that’s it. Wes is a dad.”

Clia as ever was the first to speak.

“So Hally do you really think everything will still be ok between you and Wes? I mean it’s a lot to take on.”

Hally wasn’t at all cross with her friend’s question. She knew Clia was only thinking about her. So she patted her hand and replied.

“Actually I really have no idea, but I really do want it to be and after he said he loves me, well I think he means it. And like I said, I don’t think I have to worry about Ellie, it’s not like I’m going to take him away from her.”

She tried to inject as much confidence into her words as she could but the look her friends were giving her told her she hadn’t been entirely successful. However, Corrinne tried to bolster her up with.

“I think it will all work out just right. You and Wes have something special, we can all see that.”

Hally smiled, accepting Corrinne’s words as a talisman to her future happiness.

For the rest of the afternoon the girls chatted about Wes, about Ellie and about how Corrinne and Clia were getting on with their own boyfriends. Hally had told them that Wes wanted the boys to know about Ellie and they agreed to explain it all to them. This was a relief to Hally as she didn’t think she wanted to have to go through the whole tale again; even though she knew it wasn’t her responsibility and Wes would willingly do it himself, she felt better that the girls would speak to Rhys and Gregg for them both.

“But that Sophie sounds like one of the plastics in Dana’s old gang.”

Clia said.

“Yeah, she would have fitted in very well.”

Corrinne replied, but Hally frowned and shook her head.

“Actually I don’t think she would.”

Both Corrinne and Clia looked at her with perplexed expressions. So she carried on.

“Well Dana was the leader of the whole group and from how Wes has described Sophie she would never have been satisfied being one of Dana’s minions. Sounds like she had to be the centre of attention all of the time. You know the sort, look at me, look at me (her voice high pitched and squeaky making Corrinne and Clia laugh). So no I don’t think she would have fit in at all. Dana and her lot were definitely plastics, well even without Dana they still are; but this Sophie just sounds like a spoilt little cow that took everyone in.”

She finished with a little shrug and Corrinne and Clia both nodded in agreement.

Mum came up and asked Corrinne and Clia if they wanted to stay for dinner and Hally was very pleased when they accepted. She very much wanted to keep her friends close to her as she didn’t want to be alone with her thoughts. For even though she kept telling herself that things were going to be fine, in the back of her mind she had doubts. She doubted Wes’ words of love and kept wondering if he had only said it to appease her. She didn’t doubt her own feelings at all and wondered how she could handle such a big feeling, not wanting it to consume her and again wondering how a person could be so happy but sad at the same time. All of this flew through her mind at a rate she couldn’t measure but could at least push into a corner whilst she had people around her to distract her.

Hally, Corrinne and Clia came downstairs and into the lounge where Nathan had a pile of toys on the floor recreating the film he had watched earlier. Hally knelt down next to him and felt so much joy from her little brother’s happy play. She picked up the character toy she had given him for Christmas and Nathan turned to her.

“Oh no Hally. He’s hiding in a special place on planet Zipto waiting for Gripper ‘cos he’s gonna stop him from taking the Zipto people’s stuff.”

Hally quickly apologised and replaced the toy exactly where it had been and then standing up moved over to the sofa where Corrinne and Clia already sat.

“Whoops nearly destroyed Zipto then.”

Clia said to Hally with a grin. Hally raised her eyebrows to her friend and stifled a giggle. For a while the three girls partly watched television and partly watched Nathan play; reminding Hally of when Wes, Rhys and Gregg all sat on the floor playing with him.

The family sat in the kitchen with Corrinne and Clia and tucked into a delicious dinner. Hally had spent many hours cooking with mum but was still in awe of how she managed to put together meals that were always varied, healthy and tasty. As they ate they chatted about various topics, Nathan’s football to which he joined in enthusiastically, and a funny incident mum and dad had encountered in the supermarket. There was no talk about Wes’ daughter or the secret he had kept for so long and Hally was grateful for this.

“So Tink, what do you want to do for your birthday this year?”

Hally swallowed a piece of potato and raised her eyes to the ceiling mulling over the question. After a bit of thought she said.

“Well, I think I would like a barbeque with just family and close friends.”

Mum looked at her daughter.

“You don’t want a party then, it is your sixteenth?”

Before Hally replied dad chipped in with.

“Your mum thought about hiring the community centre.”

Hally smiled brightly at her mother.

“That’s such a lovely thing to think of, thank you, but well, I just don’t really want such a big event. I mean last year was terrific here at home, but we all remember what happened there, and this year what with Gran not being here (there was a slight catch in her voice) I think it would be a lot more special with just a few of us. That way granddad will come too, he won’t come to a noisy teenage party.”

Mum’s eyes glistened and she hastily wiped a hand across her face before anyone could notice. All but Nathan did notice but didn’t comment. Instead dad covered his wife’s hand with one of his and Hally’s hand with his other.

“You two amaze me.”

He told them emotionally, not in the least bit embarrassed that Corrinne and Clia were present. Nathan continued shovelling food into his mouth, seemingly oblivious to the subject being discussed, but surprising them all by mumbling with a mouthful of food.