Free The O’Hara Affair by Kate Thompson Page B

‘OK.’
    ‘The ball is telling me too that you’ve had a reason to beunhappy lately. What is the reason for your unhappiness, Bethany?’
    ‘I – I guess it’s just…I’m eighteen and I’ve never had a boyfriend.’ Oh! What was she doing, blurting out personal stuff like that! It was a fortune-teller she was talking to, not an agony aunt!
    ‘You badly want a boyfriend?’
    ‘Yeah. I know it’s stupid, but I feel like a loser without one.’
    ‘But you are a special girl, Bethany.’
    Bethany shook her head. ‘No way! I’m not special!’
    ‘You are a special girl, Bethany,’ repeated Madame Tiresia. ‘And special girls have to be particular about the kind of boy they allow into their lives. You must not settle for just any Tom, Dick or Harry.’
    Bethany drooped. ‘It’s just that nearly all the other girls I know have boyfriends.’
    ‘Ah – but they probably have settled for any Tom, Dick and Harry. They think that by surrounding themselves with friends, it proves to the world how popular they are. But they’re indiscriminate. You, Bethany, being special, must wait for that special boy. He is out there somewhere, waiting for you. But you must be patient.’
    Funny. That’s what her mother always said to her. Bethany had always pretended to her mum that she didn’t care that she didn’t have a boyfriend, that she was perfectly happy without some punk hanging around, cramping her style. But the real reason she told her mum this was to reassure her, because she didn’t want her to know how badly she was hurting. She’d never told anyone how badly she was hurting. Until now…
    ‘I know it’s hard, Bethany,’ continued Madame Tiresia. ‘It’s hard to be different. And it’s even harder when you’rebeautiful, because beautiful girls are expected to be carefree and fun-loving. You do know that you are beautiful, don’t you?’
    ‘Me? Are you—’ Bethany had been about to say, ‘Are you mad?’ but, realizing how rude it would sound, stopped herself and changed it to, ‘Are you serious?’ Nobody apart from her parents had ever told her that she was beautiful. At school, she felt so ordinary next to the glossy girls who spent a fortune on their appearance. Plus, she was always being asked for her ID.
    ‘You’re beautiful, Bethany. You’re a natural beauty. Trust me.’
    ‘But everybody picks on me and calls me pleb and loser!’
    ‘You’re neither of those things, Bethany.’
    ‘Oh – I’ve been a pleb and a loser for as long as I can remember.’ Bethany gave a little laugh, as if she didn’t care that people called her names – even though in reality it hurt like hell. ‘I remember when all the girls in my class were getting confirmed and boasting about the frocks they were going to wear, and I pretended that I had a frock with lace petticoats and pearls sewn on and in fact there wasn’t a frock at all because I wasn’t getting confirmed. My parents are atheists, you see and have no truck with religion. And when the other kids found out I was lying they gave me such a hard time.’
    ‘I can imagine. Children can be very cruel.’
    ‘They’re even worse when they grow up. I’ve had so much grief since people found out that I want to be an actress.’
    ‘But haven’t you always wanted to be an actress?’
    ‘Yes – since I was a little girl. But I never told anyone. I just used to act out scenes all by myself in my bedroom.’
    ‘So you’ve never acted in public?’
    ‘No. I used to help out with the drama group at school, but I didn’t have the nerve to audition. I just used to fetchand carry for the stage manager, and sit on the book in the prompt corner during shows. And then when people found out that I had – well, aspirations – they decided I’d got too big for my boots. They started sniggering and saying things like, “Got yourself an agent yet?” and, “When’s DiCaprio coming to find you?” And I’d have to laugh and pretend I can take a joke.