MANDY AND IAN sat on the curb, sharing a cigarette in silence. Ian had just told her he was gay, and she was still trying to wrap her head around it.
“You don’t look the gay type,” Mandy finally muttered, taking the cigarette from him.
“Is that better?” Ian said, flicking his wrist dramatically and lifting his hand in a girlish way.
“Piss off,” Mandy scoffed. “You know what I mean. But people’ll suss it out, though. Fifteen, no girlfriend, all them lads at school to gawp at. You know what you need?”
“What?” Ian asked.
“A girlfriend. Like the film stars do when they don’t want anyone knowing,” she said.
“And what do you get out of it?”
“Know what it’s like being me? All them morons hitting on me, trying to get in my knickers. I just want someone nice. Someone interesting. Someone like you… except not gay.” She kissed his cheek lightly.
“Fancy coming to a wedding?” Ian asked, smirking.
“I’m already going,” she replied with a small smile. He cocked his head.
“Kodi asked me,” she added.
Ian nodded. “I reckon my brother could take her,” he teased.
“You wanting to start a fight?” Mandy shot back, laughing faintly but glancing down at her shoes.
Ian noticed, then stood and offered her his hand. “You’re right, though. It would cause shit. And we don’t want that.”
“Like them shagging hasn’t already caused enough,” Ian muttered before he realized what he said. “Oh—shit. I…”
Mandy laughed, cutting him off. “Oh, I already know. Just like our deal. We too had a deal.”
“What—you pretending to be her friend so no one finds out?” Ian said, half-joking but watching her closely.
Mandy just laughed, not denying it.
“You’re one of a kind, Mandy McGuire,” Ian said as she looped her arm through his, and they walked away together.
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LATER THAT MORNING Kodi stepped into the Gallagher house, still wearing last night’s dress. Her eyes fell on Lip, who was staring intently out the window, seemingly oblivious to her arrival.
“What’s up?” she asked.
“It’s Marty,” Veronica said, without looking at her.
Kodi nodded, her expression flat. She stepped outside, spotted him, and called out: “Hiya, Marty.”
“Hiya, Kodi,” he replied cheerfully.
She smiled at him, but Kev frowned. “Not the time, Kodi,” he said gently.
