Page 36 of Our Secrets and Lies

His mum barely mentioned his dad, and Jenny had given him and Kelly the tiny amount of info they had. Jenny had said Lucy had been really smartin school and top of her law class in Trinity. But then she’d met their dad, got pregnant, and her dreams were shattered.

Dylan was sorry things hadn’t worked out for his mum. He thought his dad was a total prick. Life had been hard for Lucy. But since he’d got the scholarship, she had been really happy, which made him feel good too. Now his mother and sister were bickering about how short Kelly’sskirt was. Dylan was ready and raring to go. He just wanted to get out of the car and not have to listen to them arguing. He was keen tomeet his teammates and, most of all, to impress Jordan. He’d been working on his fitness all summer, when he wasn’t helping out in the shop, and he felt really good.

Lucy pulled up at the back of the car park and got out. She gave Dylan a hug. ‘Good luck today,you’ll be great.’

Dylan put his school bag and kit bag over his shoulder. Lucy tried to hug Kelly but she squirmed. ‘Stop, you’re embarrassing me.’

‘Bye, Kelly, try smiling. It might help not to scare the other kids off. You have a beautiful smile.’

‘Bye, Mum. Thanks for ruining my life.’ Kelly spun on her heels and walked up to her twin.

Dylan put his arm around her. ‘Give her a break, Kelly.You might actually like it here.’

Kelly shrugged him off. ‘I liked my old school. This is all your fault. You and your stupid bloody football.’

‘I’m not going to apologize for being a legend on the soccer pitch.’ Dylan grinned.

‘Oh, sod off, Ronaldo.’ Kelly half smiled.

‘Hi, it’s Dylan, right?’

They turned, and a boy of Dylan’s age was standing behind them.

‘I’m Conor, the goalie. We’restoked to have you on the team, dude.’

‘Thanks.’ Dylan shook his hand. ‘This is my sister, Kelly.’

‘Hi,’ Conor said, looking Kelly up and down admiringly. ‘Great to meet you.’

Kelly muttered, ‘Hello.’

Dylan had noticed that recently guys were looking at his sister in a very you-are-so-hot kind of way and it made him uncomfortable. He didn’t want them ogling her.

‘So, are you twins?’

‘Yeah,the least identical ones in the world,’ Kelly said.

‘It worked out pretty well for you, though.’ Conor grinned and Kelly blushed.

A girl came up to say hello to Conor. ‘Guys, this is Chloë. Chloë, this is Dylan and Kelly Murphy.’

‘Oh, right, you’re the scholarship kids. I think you’re in my house, Kelly – I’m vice-captain. All the students are divided into one of four houses – Knights, Spartans,Samurai and Trojans. We’re Trojans. Two of my best friends, Melissa and Alicia, are in it too. Give me your number and I’ll add you to the WhatsApp group. If you’re not on it you’ll be, like, a total outcast.’

Kelly gave Chloë her number. Her phone pinged instantly. The Trojans group. Messages began flashing up, her classmates saying, ‘Hi,’ which was nice.

‘Where do we go?’ Dylan asked.

‘Fifth-yearcorridor is through that door and it’s the first on your right, but why don’t you come with me, Dylan? I’m heading to the locker room first to dump my goalie gear. I’ll introduce you to the rest of the team.’

Dylan followed Conor and glanced back over his shoulder. Kelly was talking to Chloë. He hoped she’d be all right.

At lunchtime, Conor walked Dylan down to the canteen. They sat with theother football players. Dylan said little and observed them. They seemed like a tight bunch. There was lots of slagging and talk about previous games.

‘So, Dylan, what was your goal-scoring average last year?’ Conor asked.

‘It worked out two point four goals per game,’ he said.

‘Not bad.’

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