She saw Sophie and Leanne on the platform as the train drew to a halt. She wondered should she wave to attract their attention, but they had stepped into a carriage further along so she sat back in her seat and glanced in her bag just to make sure she had her wallet with the crisp fifty-euro note her grandmother had given her. She had another forty euros; surely pizza wouldn’t cost that much for three in this Barcode restaurant. She felt bereft without her credit card. As if her security had been taken away.
The train crossed a bridge and the vista of Dublin Bay opened out before her on her left, the square tower of a church on her right, before they crossed over a main road. She saw a grey building with a car park and a sign for Barcode and was relieved it wasn’t too far to walk. She could spend half an hour with the girls and then go and have a stroll around before getting the train back to Sutton, she decided as they trundled into the station. Dublin was a picturesque city, she acknowledged, looking at the small flotilla of boats sailing in Dublin Bay. She especially loved that you could see the mountains in the distance. In New York all you could see was buildings.
She pressed the red button to open the carriage door and took a deep breath. She had made a fool of herself last night. These two girls didn’t particularly want to be with her. This would not be easy. They were walking down the platform towards her, deep in conversation. Jasmine took a long breath and hung her thumbs in her jeans pockets.
‘Hi, guys,’ she said with pretended airiness.
‘Oh . . . hi, Jazzy,’ Sophie said politely. Leanne merely nodded sullenly. Jasmine’s heart sank.
‘I guess that’s Barcode where we’re going.’ She jerked her thumb to the left.
‘Yep,’ Sophie said succinctly.
‘It looks cool,’ she said flatly. Perhaps she would have been better off going to the Law Library with her granddad. At least he would have talked to her.
‘It is quite cool actually. It’s got a brilliant disco,’ Sophie volunteered as they clattered down the steps to the exit barrier.
‘Oh . . . really? Why didn’t you go there last night then?’ Jasmine asked as they fell into step and walked out into the sunshine and sea air that ruffled her hair and made her breathe deeply, enjoying the salty tang that reminded her of Nantucket.
‘Not allowed. Mam says I’m too young. Millie goes. It’s deadly; people come from all over the city to go to it. I can’t wait until I’m allowed.’ Sophie shrugged. ‘But the bouncers are quite strict about being drunk,’ she added pointedly.
Jasmine was mortified. Bitch, she thought. There was no need for that.
‘Oh well, they won’t have to worry about you then,’ she drawled sarcastically. ‘Look, I guess you and Leanne don’t particularly want to be here. I thought I’d try and make amends for last night but I’m not going to spend the next hour trying to make polite conversation with you guys. Let’s split now if you like.’ She wasn’t going to prostrate herself at their feet for another minute. She could be as rude and offhand as they were.
‘What about our pizza? I’m starving,’ grumbled Leanne. ‘We played a basketball match this morning already and we delayed our lunch to meet up, and now you’re going to brush us off just like that?’ Her voice rose in an indignant squeak. ‘We can sit at separate tables and—’
‘Stop, Leanne,’ Sophie remonstrated. ‘Look, we were mad about last night and that’s a fact but let’s forget it and go and share a pizza like we said.’
‘Yeah well, it’s not easy for me, and I have apologized,’ Jasmine said sulkily.
‘OK, apology accepted. Come on, let’s go and eat,’ Sophie grinned. ‘And you can tell us if Irish pizzas are as good as Yankee ones.’
Jasmine felt some of the tension evaporate. Sophie was a kind girl. If the tables were turned and they were in New York she might not have been so forgiving, she conceded.
‘Er . . . thanks for meeting up with me.’ She caught Sophie’s steady gaze.
‘Well we couldn’t let you spend an afternoon in a library. That would be enough to turn anyone to drink,’ the other girl teased and even Leanne laughed. An hour later, sitting on a banquette, in the trendy eatery, eating a margherita with fries and coleslaw on the side, and sipping a glass of the house red, they were thoroughly relaxed and enjoying themselves. The waitress clearly had thought they were old enough to be served drink, and certainly Jazzy, who had ordered the wine, looked much older than her years.
‘I can’t believe you have your own credit card,’ Sophie remarked enviously after Jasmine had told them her parents had taken her card back as a punishment.
‘Like, we all have, in my group, and I have a charge account in all the big stores. It’s no big deal,’ she said matter-of-factly.
‘That’s a gorgeous top,’ Leanne complimented.
‘It’s A&F. And the jeans are Calvin Klein.’ She stretched out her long legs encased in the designer jeans. ‘They are pretty awesome. I love them.’
‘We don’t have A&F here,’
