#keely aherne

[ice-creamforbreakfast]

Keely returned home from a perfectly nice night, still floating a little, calmer than she’d felt in weeks.

“There’s a whole other sofa!” Clementine screeched. “Why do you have to sit next to me?”

Keely sighed. Clemmy had been in a foul mood all day and she knew exactly why.

“Clemmy, just because Mum caught you watching Sizzling Hostility again and put a child lock on your account doesn’t mean you have to be a raging bitch. If you were nicer to me, I might let you use mine…” Keely smiled sweetly.

“Liar…”

“Guess I’ll just have to find out what happens to Blane and Yevgeny myself,” Keely said, smirking.

Clementine’s eye twitched.

[ice-creamforbreakfast]

“Besides,” Dallas added, quieter now. “There’s something I’ve been wanting to do all night.”

Keely barely had time to process that before he leaned in and kissed her.

It was shaky, and she was fairly sure he misjudged the location of her mouth slightly, but it was perfect.

All thoughts of Clementine slipped away into the evening air.

[ice-creamforbreakfast]

“You’re stunning! Dallas is a lucky boy. Anyone would be lucky to go to prom with you,” Siobhan smiled as she watched Keely check her dress in the mirror.

“Just Dallas, Mum.” Keely rolled her eyes.

Siobhan fussed with the hem of Keely’s dress, resisting the overwhelming urge to ask about the other boy she’d been mentioning since she started attending Celeste's group. She had promised herself she wouldn’t become that mother.

Unfortunately, her children’s lives had become far more interesting than her own.

[ice-creamforbreakfast]

“I know what I saw, Dallas!” Keely snapped, her voice rising with every word. He didn't understand. He couldn't possibly understand the betrayal she felt.

“Okay, I believe you,” Dallas said gently. “Sneaking into prom is very Clemmy-coded. But she could've just been standing next to him.”

“They looked too comfortable. She's up to something. I just...”

Before she could work herself up any further, Dallas wrapped his arms around her.

Keely let out a long sigh.

This was supposed to be their night.

She wasn't going to let Clementine steal it from her.

Whatever her sister was playing at, it could wait until morning.

[ice-creamforbreakfast]

“Please give a huge round of applause to your Prom Royalty, Keely Aherne, and your Prom Jester...”

The rest of Principal Prescott's announcement washed over Clementine. Beside her, she felt Bryant stiffen in anger.

On stage, Keely and another girl chatted excitedly as they were presented with a crown and jester's hat. Keely looked out across the crowd, her smile growing.

For the entirety of her time at school she'd felt isolated. Othered.

Yet these people had voted for her.

Maybe not all of them... but enough.

She smiled warmly at the crowd until her eyes caught a flash of familiar long red hair...

...and the unmistakable shimmer of a very familiar little green dress.

[ice-creamforbreakfast]

Prom was every bit as unexciting as Clementine had expected.

She kept to the edges of the room, slipping from place to place to avoid being spotted. Keely looked revoltingly happy with that idiot Dallas. They'd just had their photos taken. Her little band of do-gooders were gathered in another corner, one of them being chatted up by a random boy, while Burton (that blue-haired buffoon) appeared to be schmoozing the headmaster for reasons known only to himself.

None of them were her objective.

Where was Bryant?

[ice-creamforbreakfast]

Keely, Burton and their friends gathered in front of the house as Mikel wrestled with the camera settings.

“Okay everyone, squeeze in! And keep it PG with my daughter!” he called, only half joking.

Keely rolled her eyes. As she wondered when her dad had become so cringe, Mikel found himself wondering exactly the same thing.

Siobhan watched with quiet pride. Niamh and Finn wandered into frame briefly before becoming distracted by something infinitely more interesting.

Under normal circumstances, Clementine's absence would have been conspicuous.

Tonight, with everyone focused on prom, no one noticed she was missing.

[ice-creamforbreakfast]

“Are you sure he’s not avoiding me?” Keely whined. Dallas had said a rushed hello before disappearing to work on his “art project,” and naturally her brain had sprinted straight to the worst conclusion.

Jaya rolled her eyes.

“Okay, let me be real with you. Angry Keely from this morning? She was cool. We need more of her. Mara couldn’t handle the heat, sure—but Dallas really is just finishing a project. I promise.”