I Really Like The Idea

...

I'll take a walk in the park where I met you last Sunday
You were an image of love, you were Sinatra in some ways
I went weak at the knees and as we kissed I was falling
Another voice in my head singing "Hey, hold your horses"

~I Really Like The Idea, Scarlet.

...

Even at the best of times, Erin and James had all the subtly of a pair of sledgehammers.

Lured to the max as a result of their unexpected get out of jail free card (in the shape of one Mary Quinn!), the young couple were practically drunk on their own good fortune and thus ended up pushing the boundaries of their better judgement just a wee bit further than was sensible.

"We did well last night, eh?", Erin lorded smugly, squirming gracelessly to sandwich herself between James and the classroom wall.

Old and rickety to the point of disbelief, Our Lady Immaculate's practically ancient box-desks were uncomfortable at the best of times. However, since they'd given Erin a seemingly platonic reason to be half sitting on her fella's lap while they all faffed around before class...well, that was enough to make them a perfectly fine choice in her books.

James nodded eagerly, keeping his head down as they both pretended to be listening to Michelle ranting and raving about the antics of some fella in the Christian Brothers (who by all accounts probably didn't even exist!). According to her the boy had an eyepatch, a full beard and at least ten piercings...at seventeen years old...in the nineties...in Derry. A very likely story that was...

"Really well", James agreed with an equally elated responding whisper as he took Erin's hand beneath the desk, leaving them both starry eyed, smiling and weak at the knees.

James puffed his chest out proudly as he recalled their top-notch display of acting skills in the hallway of the Quinn's house the night before.

In his opinion, he and Erin had been nothing short of spectacular! A true dream team...one of the many reason he felt himself falling for her a little bit more with every day that passed.

"Really really well."

"Really really really well."

Little did Michelle know that none of her mates were all that invested in her wild cock and bull tales that morning. Orla had already commenced an extensive roll call on her recently accumulated collection of sweets from Dennis's Wee Shop and Clare, strangely silent, was busy observing the goings-on between a certain cozy cartel.

Even though it usually turned her into a nervous wreck, Clare Devlin had a good eye for funny business. It also helped that she knew her eejit friends like the back of her own hand and was painfully aware of the sort of stupid shite that they were liable to get themselves landed into.

Eyes narrowed slightly, Clare had initally disregarded her suspicions from the night before. True, she'd been well aware that there had definitely been some mutual fancying going on in the last number of weeks but Erin and James weren't daft enough to try and maintain a secret relationship, were they?

...like a secret relationship? Requiring ACTUAL secrecy to maintain? In their group? Sure, that was never going to stay under wraps for long! Not a chance!

Trying to capture her friends' attention, Clare kicked the nearest shin she could reach from the confines of her own desk...certain that she'd done so without Michelle or Orla being any the wiser.

"Feck's sake! What'd ya do th-", Erin huffed indignantly, catching Clare's eye as she reached down to rub her leg.

Her verbal explosion was only cut short by the frazzled look on the smaller blonde's face and, as a result, Erin shuffled as far away from James as she could without falling off their shared seat.

"WHAT?", she mouthed, feeling her face heat up guilty.

Clare gestured to both Erin and James, purposefully eyeing the door at the other end of the classroom. "Talk! Both of ye! Now!"

James's eyes ping-ponged between the two girls in confusion and watched as Erin grudgingly got up to follow Clare who was characteristically working herself up into a total state over the whole situation.

"C'mon", Erin hissed, her lips dropping to James's ear as she nudged him into a standing position. "Yer not leavin' me to deal with this on me own!"

James glanced up, immediately knowing from the startled look on Erin's face that Clare had copped on to a little more than they had originally anticipated.

"Of course not! I'll come."

Observing the mass exodus going down right before her very eyes, an affronted Michelle raised her eyebrows in surprise. She didn't particularly like it when her stories were cut off midway, especially not by the whole gang (minus Orla who didn't seem all that bothered either way!) unexpectedly running off.

"The fuck's up with ye?"

James gulped, watching as Erin was practically frog-marched out of the room by Clare. Both of them now looking fit to explode, brimming with embarrassment and nerves respectively. Straining to hear, he could just about make out the whispered conversation going on by the door.

"A secret like this'll eat me up inside, Erin! I can't do it! I won't do it! No way José!"

"Stop with the gibberish, will ya Clare? We all know you did better than me at French!"

"That's not even french! And never mind about that! What in the name of God is goin' on with you and James? Be specific!"

Erin looked over at her boyfriend. In that moment, she wished the ground would just swallow her whole as her mind traitourously returned to the pretty cracker shenanigans between herself and James that had been cut short the evening previously.

Pointedly avoiding Clare's gaze, Erin's face was beet red and her voice was almost inaudible when she tried to respond.

"How specific are we talkin' here...?"

"Ach, not that specific!"

His girlfriend's words were the last straw that effectively sent a bashful James rushing to his feet. He turned to his cousin apologetically, hoping beyond hope that his face didn't blatantly showcase his internal panic and that she'd hadn't overheard the same words he just had.

"Sorry, Michelle", James spluttered out, hurrying after Clare so he and Erin could properly set the record straight with the least amount of mutual mortification. "Can you give us a minute!"

Unamused, Michelle rolled her eyes.

She may not have been some freaky Mensa whizz but Michelle Mallon wasn't thick either! She knew when people were trying to pull the wool over her eyes and she didn't appreciate it! Not in the slightest!

"Dicks", she mumbled under her breath, looking to Orla for support as the other three sprinted from the room like a bunch of scatter-brained piglets being pursued by the big bad wolf.

Orla glanced up, eyes wandering from the sugary goodness of her Pick n' Mix for the first time that morning. The stick of her cola flavoured Chupa Chup hung off her bottom lip like the finest of cigars.

"Ooooh, Michelle. Look!", she announced unhelpfully, pulling out the lollipop with an audible pop as though having just taken a long and satisfying drag. "Where'd everyone go?"

...

Sometimes good can be bad
It's always horses for courses
You held my hand and I smiled
You know it made my heart sing.

I really like the idea, I really like the idea.

~I Really Like The Idea, Scarlet.

...