Page 118 of Our Secrets and Lies

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Dylan stared at the paper and sighed quietly. They were going over possible questions for the Christmas exams, and with every question he read, he realized how little he knew. Damn it, he should have studied harder these past few weeks. He’d been way too distracted by Taylor.

‘Students, I want you to answer the following question. “Yeats uses evocative language to create poetry that includesboth personal reflection and public commentary. Discuss this statement, supporting your answer with reference to both the themes and language found in the poetry of W. B. Yeats on your course.” ’ Mr O’Casey glanced at the clock behind him. ‘Right, you have fifteen minutes.’

There was an audible groan.

‘We have spent hours and weeks studying Yeats’s poetry. You are perfectly equipped to answerthis question. Stop wasting time and get on with it.’

Dylan looked across at Taylor. She was staring at her nails. As if feeling his attention on her, she looked up and smiled. ‘Boring,’ she mouthed.

‘Dylan, look at your paper not at Taylor, please,’ Mr O’Casey snapped.

Dylan tried to concentrate on the question, but he had no answer. He hadn’t studied Yeats. He hadn’t really studied anything.His Christmas exams were starting next week and St Jude’s took them very seriously.

Dylan felt the pressure to do well because, even though the scholarship was for football, he needed to prove he wasn’tthick, that he could keep up with his classmates. He wanted to prove to the other kids that he wasn’t just a football player: he had brains too.

Dylan tried to think of something to write, buthe couldn’t remember any detail about the poems they’d studied. There was the one about daffodils and saying goodbye so he tried to make up an answer around that, but he knew he was in trouble. He had only a week to cram for the exams and he had two training sessions after school this week, and Jordan wanted them to do two extra early-morning workouts in the gym before the final. After they’d beatenKing’s College in the semis, the pressure was really on. They had a shot at the cup, and Jordan was going to make sure they took it.

The bell went and they handed their papers to Mr O’Casey as they filed out of the classroom. Taylor came up behind Dylan and put her hand up his jumper. She whispered in his ear, ‘Will you come over tonight? My parents are away.’

‘I can’t. My mum knows we haveexams next week and she’s really on my case. She’ll go mad if I head out.’

Taylor’s hand headed down towards the belt of his trousers. ‘Tell your mum I’m hosting a study group. See you later.’ She pulled her hand away.

‘You are one lucky dude.’ Conor came up beside him. ‘She is a fox.’

Dylan grinned. ‘I know.’ He felt proud to be Taylor’s boyfriend. All the other guys fancied her but she onlyhad eyes for him. It made him feel like the king of the school, not just a scholarship boy.

‘How’s the study going? It’s hard to fit it all in, isn’t it?’ Conor said, as they walked towards their maths class.

‘The extra training sessions aren’t helping.’

‘Yeah, I only manage to cram in two hours’ study on the nights we train,’ Conor complained.

Two hours? Dylan did no study on football trainingnights. ‘How do you manage two hours?’ he asked.

‘I try to do nine thirty to eleven thirty.’

‘I’m so wrecked after training I can barely read,’ Dylan admitted.

Conor shrugged. ‘I have to put in the hours. My parents are paying a fortune to send me here. I have to get good results or they’ll be really disappointed.’

Not as disappointed as my mum, Dylan thought grimly. He’d have to get up earlyand go to bed late, cram in as much study as he could. He’d tell Taylor later that he couldn’t come over. Kelly could help him: she was a world-class studier.

Dylan sat in front of Kelly while she peppered him with questions. So far he’d got one right out of six. His phone pinged.Hey babe what time are you coming over? The sooner the better.

He looked at his watch. It was nine. He’d only justsat down to study because he’d got caught up talking to Billy and helping stock shelves in the shop. He’d have to put her off.Sry babe Im WAY behind on study, gotta get my head down. C u 2mrw.

So ur not interested in these.Taylor had sent a photo of her naked breasts.Or this.Another photo, this time of her lace knickers.

Stop ur killing me, u know I’m interested in all of it, but I haveto study.

Fine. I’ll have to find someone else to play with. So … who will I send these pics to next????

‘Dylan!’ Kelly snapped. ‘Stop staring at your bloody phone. You asked me to help you, so you could at least concentrate.’

‘Sorry, it’s Taylor. She’s sending me photos of her body parts.’

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