Page 55 of An Irish Hope

He pressed his lips together.

“Oh, and there it is. What’s happened? No, for real. Did something happen in Kerry?”

He glanced away. Not answering meant she would keep teasing him until he replied with an answer she felt satisfactory. But he didn’t want to lie. “Look, I might have met someone, but it didn’t really work out.”

“How can it have worked out? You were only there for—what, two weeks? Less than?”

He shrugged. He still didn’t want to explain the ins and outs of his non-relationship with Aisling. “She was nice, but it’s just not the right time.”

“Excuse me. Of course it’s the right time. If Greta is about to start sniffing around again, then it’s exactly the right time.”

His stomach tensed. “You don’t honestly think Greta is going to try again, do you?”

“There is no saying what that woman wouldn’t do. We’ve all seen the way she flips from one thing to another.”

“Yeah, well, it’s a solid no from me. I’d be happy to never see her again. I just want to dedicate this time to God.”

“Oh. You’re turning into a monk, are you?”

“What? No.”

“Then maybe you should cut yourself some slack and just go with the flow once in a while.”

Going with the flow was what had gotten him into so much trouble with Greta in the first place. He’d gone with the flow, not gone with what God wanted. He’d dated someone his family had objected to, someone who had possessed an unnerving ability to distract him from his training, from his focus. And look how that had turned out. They’d been right, and now his family would forever hold that over him.

He wondered what his family would make of Aisling…

At least she was a Christian, and didn’t seem the sort to deliberately lead him astray.

He silently groaned. So much for not thinking about her.

It was just as well that school term was going to begin very soon.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Cork was, by many accounts, a gorgeous city. The second largest city in Ireland, it was filled with intriguing historical buildings, like the medieval Red Abbey bell tower and the old Our Lady’s Hospital buildings now used for housing rather than psychiatric patients. Many also considered Cork to be a university city, filled with bars and bubble tea shops and students romancing the streets each year from August to June.

Aisling strolled from her granny-flat in Sunday’s Well Road to the university college, dodging the bike-riders and others, before going to the lecture theatre where they’d met yesterday. She took her seat, next to yet another person she didn’t know, as nerves ziplined inside. Today they’d be learning about just what was involved in the school placement part of their studies.

She huddled into her pink cardigan, biting her lip, as the lecturer described all that would be involved.

“And that’s why we’d like to see you all quickly established in your home school as soon as possible. The sooner you can learn the routines and get to know the staff and students, the better. Some other courses may allow you to dip in and out of different workplace environments, but we encourage our students to participate in one school and really understand what that school is all about.”

Aisling nodded. The nerves which had been present since her arrival yesterday had only increased. Kara might say that she was a natural teacher, but Aisling didn’t feel that way at all. There was so much to recognise and remember, so many protocols and procedures, it felt an impossibly huge task for her. She might be trying to be more responsible with things—who knew that cleaning her room actually was easier when she kept it mostly tidy?—but some aspects of order and planning seemed beyond her.

The professor outlined a few more protocols, then began assigning school placements for the various school districts, and she listened for her name. Would she be assigned with some of the others she’d studied her Arts course with? Not that she’d call them friends, necessarily, but at least they’d be familiar faces. But… no. The few she knew were assigned elsewhere, leaving her on her own.

Some schools were in places she recognised, as they were within walking distance. Others, she assumed were in some of the villages nearby. The student names continued, but it seemed they were being read out not alphabetically, but according to the school location.

Eventually, the lecturer announced the student teachers allocated to a school in the northern Cork school district.

“And finally Aisling Fairall.”

Her ears pricked up. She straightened, raised her hand.

The professor nodded. “Due to a last minute cancellation, you will be joining Miles and Maisie as well. You’ll be teaching Irish, and may have some opportunities to also teach Politics and Society as well.”

She nodded. “Sláinte.”