Tears of frustration welled up in Norah’s eyes. ‘But I’m good at it. Don’t you care about that? I’m good, Mum,’ she said.

Funny how someone had been telling her that not an hour ago, and she’d felt uncertain and modest. But now she needed to fight for it. She knew the truth. She could do this.

‘And I love it too, though I don’t imagine you care about that part.’

Her mother’s expression softened slightly, but her tone remained firm. ‘You’re talented, Norah. But talent doesn’t always translate into a paycheque. You need to be practical. You need to think about your future.’

Norah’s anger flared again, but it was mixed with a growing sense of resignation. She wasn’t going to talk her mum around. But she couldn’t give in either. ‘I get it. I do. But I’d be miserable.’

‘You’ll be miserable if you struggle all your life,’ her mother replied. ‘You don’t know about that yet. I’ve protected you from that reality.’

‘Mum, do you think I’ve just been swanning about in fur coats and diamonds with my head up my arse? I live here. I know we’re broke.’

‘You think you know what that means, but you don’t know what it is to have the responsibility for it. You’ve never known that,’ her mother told her. ‘But once you leave, it’s gonna hit you hard. That’s what life is. Hard and brutal. Don’t put more on your plate than you need to.’

Norah sat back, deflated. She could feel the fight draining out of her. Because she couldn’t deny that her mother had said something undeniably true. The world was brutal. It had taken two giant dumps on her head just this year.

‘OK,’ Norah said quietly, her voice barely above a whisper. ‘I’ll think about it.’

Her mother reached across the table, placing a hand on Norah’s. ‘I know you hate me right now. You think I’m shitting on your dreams. But I’m hurting you now to save hurt later. It kills me to have to do it, but I’ll bear it. That’s what love is. Sacrifice.’

Norah looked at her mother. ‘I hope that’s not true.’

‘You’ll see,’ her mother said.

Norah stood and went up to her room. A heaviness settled over her heart. She sat down at her desk, looking at the sketches and drawings that covered it. And she thought about her mother’s words.

Twenty-Two

Now

Poppy watched Norah stare blankly at the PowerPoint presentation on the screen in the school hall. She looked defeated, as well she might. Norah’s life had just imploded.

She hadn’t said much about it, just that the marriage was over. From the suddenness and the vagueness, Poppy guessed there had been infidelity involved. And she would have bet her entire paycheque that it wasn’t Norah playing away. But if Norah didn’t want to talk, Poppy wouldn’t push.

That was why they were at the PTA watching Susan do a full presentation on the bake sale planned for later in the year. Poppy had to do something to take Norah’s mind off it. Dragging her here had been her best idea. Her second-best idea was sitting with Norah in the back row so she could mock the ever-loving shit out of the presentation.

‘Norah, did you hear that? Fruit cake is banned due to low demand,’ Poppy whispered, her tone laced with mock horror.

Norah blinked, snapping out of her daze just long enough to respond. ‘Oh, that's... tragic,’ she mumbled, barely masking her sarcasm.

Poppy sighed, tapping her pen against the notepad in front of her. ‘You know, for someone who loves sarcasm, you're not giving me much to work with here.’

Norah forced a smile. ‘I'm sorry, Poppy. I just can’t find much to laugh about at the moment.’

‘Yeah, I know,’ Poppy replied softly. ‘But there’s entertainment to be had here. It’s just the ironic kind.’ She nodded at Susan. ‘I mean, would you look at that lunatic? She’s got a laser pointer.’

‘True,’ Norah agreed, her smile becoming a bit more genuine.

Poppy snickered, glad to see a bit of her friend's old self shine through. ‘Now, let's pretend we're taking notes before Susan kicks us out for whispering in class.’

‘Do you remember our teacher's name when we were Freddie and Luna’s age?’ Norah suddenly asked.

‘Umm... Was it Mr Bendy? Something like that?’ Poppy posited.

‘Bandy,’ Norah recalled. ‘He seemed like he knew everything, but he was probably only in his twenties,’ she sighed. ‘Funny to realise that.’

They both went quiet, listening to the absurd PowerPoint. Poppy felt somewhat jolted. They’d been operating an unspoken agreement that they didn’t talk about the old days, and Norah had just violated it.

‘Right, now everybody knows what is allowed. But we don’t have enough bakers. I need volunteers.’ Susan stated.

The room went quiet. Susan looked around the room, and her eyes landed on Norah and Poppy. ‘The newbies. Care to lend a hand, or are you just here to make jokes you think I can’t hear?’

Poppy cracked like an egg. ‘We’ll help.’

Norah rolled her eyes. ‘Oh Christ,’ she muttered.

***

‘Right, now I’ve accidentally locked us into producing a hundred cupcakes. I better come to collect my little monster,’ Poppy said as they walked out of the school gates. Norah had been kind enough to share her very responsible babysitter cousin, and both kids were with her now at Norah’s place.

‘What were you thinking?!’ Norah asked.

‘There was no thought at all. I was acting in pure fear,’ Poppy told her.

‘Can you bake?’ Norah asked.

Oddly, Poppy had not asked herself that until this very moment. ‘Ummm... I don’t know. I never tried.’

‘I think that counts as a no,’ Norah told her. ‘And I can’t either.’

‘You don’t have to do anything. Except maybe help me on the day with the stall. I’ll handle the rest. I got us into this mess,’ Poppy said guiltily. This was supposed to be funny. They weren’t supposed to have to do shit.

‘It’s a deal,’ Norah agreed.

‘Good. Let’s go and relieve your third cousin.’

Norah raised an eyebrow. ‘Or...’

Poppy raised both eyebrows. ‘Or?’

‘I paid the sitter for two hours. It’s barely been one. We could get a drink on the way.’

‘God, you’re such a bad influence,’ Poppy said, delighted.

They stopped at the Crow, a horrible pub. As they walked in, Poppy couldn't help but cringe at the smell of stale beer and sweat that seemed to permeate every corner. She shot a glance at Norah, who seemed completely unfazed by the less-than-ideal atmosphere.

‘Seriously? This is the only pub on the way?’ Poppy asked, trying not to breathe in too deeply.