Slur: The Riverhill Trilogy: Book 1 by Heather Burnside Read Free Book Online Page A

courage to ask her out until a couple of years after they had
left school.
    He was in Saturdays
nightclub with some of the lads when he spotted Julie and Rita only yards away.
His heart began to race on catching sight of Julie, immaculately dressed and
oozing sensuality. He couldn’t help but stare.
    Rita was
the first to react, and unfortunately, she seemed to be taking his staring as a
sign of encouragement.
    He noticed
them deep in discussion; a discussion that seemed to concern him as Julie also
began to look in his direction. To his surprise she submitted a pleasing smile,
which he returned. He could feel his face flushing and he reacted by turning
away. Mentally he scolded himself as he knew that she would interpret this as a
lack of interest. He turned back, thrilled that she was still watching him, and
this time he managed to hold her gaze until she and Rita responded by
approaching him.
    His first
impulse was to panic. “ Jesus, Julie Quinley’s coming over. What do I do,
what do I say? ” he thought. He was tempted to walk away, but he knew that
if he did he would miss his chance to impress her. So he stayed, and smiled avidly
as Rita opened up the conversation.
    ‘I thought
it was you,’ she began. ‘We haven’t seen you in here before. Is this going to
become a habit?’
    He noticed
her initial use of the word “I”, subconsciously excluding Julie, and wondered
if they had approached him on Rita’s account. The situation then presented him
with more challenges; how to talk to them without making a fool of himself, and
at the same time let them know that it was Julie he was interested in and not
Rita.
    He fumbled
for words, staring shyly at the two girls and aware of Julie’s eyes on him. It
took a few moments before he replied, but when he did he seemed to do OK. By
turning towards Julie and addressing his reply to her, he made it obvious that
she was the one he was attracted to. ‘It’s my first time here,’ he said, ‘but I
might just make it a regular thing.’
    Once he had
broken the silence they began to make small talk, discussing mutual
acquaintances, school memories and careers. He occasionally eyed Rita, trying
to keep her a part of the conversation out of politeness, but the person who he
addressed most of his comments to was Julie. As soon as Rita sensed his lack of
interest, she slipped out of their company and found somebody else to chat up,
leaving him alone with Julie. The prospect no longer daunted him, however, as
the conversation was now in full flow and he felt that they were getting along
well. The four pints of lager that he had drunk also helped.
    It was
obvious that Julie was attracted to him and he couldn’t believe his luck. In
fact, he was so eager that he couldn’t help but get tongue tied now and again. She
seemed impressed when he revealed that he had bought his own house. That didn’t
last long though when he told her that it was in the next street from his
parents, and that he still went there for tea most evenings.
    As the
night progressed and the alcohol loosened Vinny’s tongue, he confessed that he
remembered her from as far back as about the age of seven, even before they
went to the same school. He had always admired her from a distance but hadn’t
done anything about it as he had thought she would not be interested in him. As
he put it, ‘brainy girls didn’t go out with lads from his class.’ As soon as he
uttered the words he felt foolish and inadequate.
    When he
plucked up the courage to ask Julie on a date, she delighted him by saying yes.
That was two years ago, and they were still no further forward than they had
ever been. Vinny wondered why; there seemed to be an aloofness to Julie that he
couldn’t penetrate. He felt that even now she didn’t regard him as her equal.
But that wasn’t good enough for Vinny. He wanted more from the relationship
than just a casual acquaintance. Maybe with a ring on her finger everything
would be different, and