Derry Girls: A New Arrival Part 1

Chapter 17: What more can happen?

While the boys had been talking outside Primark. The girls scoured the different clothes. They were looking to get something each for Jenny Joyce's party that night. Michelle was walking along with Erin. Both girls mirrored the same tension that James and Marco had sported. Each wanted to break the odd silence between them. Since neither knew how to address their awkward situation, they both attempted to distract by making idle chatter about certain items, asking the other for their opinion, in which both would only scrunch their face with a headshake, or a subtle "No". Clare was just ahead of them, she looked back occasionally, hoping that one of them would take the first step. Orla was nearby, floating somewhere in her own mind. Clare could feel the panic build inside her. It was ironic that they'd grown up in a place where tensions and bombs were commonplace. Now Clare wondered whether their friendship would survive the potential bomb that was about to drop, or would it destroy the foundation of the gang? She attempted to calm herself by asking Orla for her advice on crop tops and bell bottom jeans, which proved to be a lost cause. Erin's face contorted in her nervous disposition. Michelle then sighted a short black strapless dress.

"What d'ya think of this, girls?" Michelle asked, Erin shot an unsure look but tried to expand more than just saying no.

"I dunno, looks a bit....?" She started.

"It does look a bit risqué, Michelle." Clare intervened.

"Grand, that'll do me. See if this motherfucker can handle my rack!"

"Ach..."

"Don't be such a prude, Erin."

"I am not a prude."

"Ye are. Listen. Sometimes, you gotta just flaunt it, if ye got it." Michelle boasted, attempting to break the tension.

Orla observed how the dress looked as it lay over Michelle's front. She bit her lip as she listened intently.

"Aye, well my Mammy might have a slight problem with me flaunting anything in something like that!" Erin said.

"Well then how are you ever going to attract any sort of a ride then?" Michelle asked.

"There's more to me than just wanting to ride someone Michelle." Erin shot back.

"Aye, I know, ye said so yourself, ye looking for someone who's more into the intellectual... bullshit."

Erin rolled her eyes but followed Michelle towards the changing rooms. Clare and Orla followed them, Clare especially wanted to see how this conversation was going to pan out.

"What do you mean by that?" Erin asked.

"I'm just saying lads don't think like that, Erin. They're only thinking about one thing, if ye catch my drift, and you need to accept that most lads aren't gonna be into poems and all that stuff." Michelle said.

"Is that true?"

"What, Orla?" Clare asked her.

"That lads are only just thinking about... about..." Orla became nervous all the sudden.

"What, Sex?" Michelle finished her sentence.

"Aye. Like.... all the time?" Orla asked, still looking nervous.

"From my experience, aye that they do." Michelle said.

"Well, maybe, but it's like my mammy said; if a fella really likes you for who you are, it doesn't matter what ye wear." Erin said.

"Aye, if it's the right person. I like to think that when you can just be yourself around them, everything, including sex, is... easier to deal with." Clare assured her. Orla then appeared at ease.