(NOTE: This is the most hectic chapter I have ever written…)
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(MARCH, 2007)
It was time for Ronan’s screen test.
“I can’t wait for you!” Sabrina said ecstatically on the drive over, “I wonder if the girl will be from Ireland, like you!”
“I think we’re going to find out right now!” Ronan responded.
They arrived at Pinewood Studios; a young girl stood up once they entered the building.
“Hello, are you…um…Ronan Ó Foghladh?”
“Yep!”
“Oh…awesome, I’m Melanie, Melanie Fitzpatrick! The lady that escorted me and my mum here told me that I was–”
“Going to meet me for some screen tests? Yeah, I got that too.”
“Oh, okay!”
Melanie and Ronan smiled at each other from ear to ear. Sabrina’s smile, however, faded away…and had a depressed look on her face.
“You two look like you're having fun getting to know each other!” said a man that walked in with a lady.
“Are you Sir Benjamin Wayard”
“Well–”
“Cos I’m a big fan of yours!”
“Then, yes I am! Are you both ready?”
“Yes,” Sabrina said, “They sure are!”
“It’s really nice to meet you, Melanie!” Ronan said as he shook Melanie’s hand.
“You too!”
“You go and have fun,” Sabrina said as she petted Ronan’s shoulders, “Please remember this, if you don’t get the part, that’s okay! When you don’t get a part and not end up in a movie, short, commercial, or play, that just means you’ll get another chance! If you get the part of Marcellus, that’s great! If you get a smaller part, and Melanie ends up getting Lila, that’s okay. If you end up getting Marcellus, and Melanie ends up getting a smaller part…then…just look her in the eye, smile, and give her a firm handshake. You only get a certain amount of shots on this. And if–”
“Okay, can I go now?”
Sabrina chuckled, “Like I said, go and have fun.”
“Okay, Mum.” Ronan said in a chuckle.
First, they were put in separate rooms.
I hope one of them ends up getting the role they’re auditioning for, Sabrina thought.
The doors closed; Sabrina’s happiness disappeared as she sat down slowly and held her head up with her hand.
“Why the long face, Bree Bree?” Peri asked, “Are you tired?”
Sabrina nodded.
Time passed faster than a gladiator riding on a speedy horse.
“I’m a bit bored!” Sabrina moaned.
“Oh, then maybe we can entertain ourselves by watching some of your favorite videos you posted on your–”
At that point she groaned.
“Okay, never mind!”
“Ugh!” Sabrina said.
And soon the doors reopened!
Finally! Sabrina thought.
“Is the screen test over already?” she asked in confusion.
“Not yet, sweetie,” Phoebe said, “Now they have to do a screen test together!”
“Together!?”
“Together!”
“I understand, not!” Sabrina mumbled.
How mad was she? Not too much…she was angered as if someone were to come and tell her that she was not going to a prom night! Sabrina scowled at the door.
“I am so going to…” Sabrina slightly groaned;
Sabrina was distraught. Peri was half asleep when Sabrina snuck inside the room Ronan and Melanie were in.
“And cut!” said Benjamin as he stopped the camera.
Sabrina’s jaw angrily dropped and said to herself in envy.
Is Ronan…in love with Melanie? Or is Melanie in love with Ronan? Either way, it’s not true! Not a bit of it!
Sabrina stomped back to the waiting room and crossed her arms. She rolled her eyes and angrily sighed.
“Getting hungry, are we?” Peri asked.
“Maybe…maybe not!” Sabrina hissed.
And to end the whole day, it was while Ronan and Sabrina were walking out of the building, when Melanie came running up to them.
“Hey, Ronan!” she said, “I just want to say that you did incredible on your lines!”
“I think you did well on yours, too!”
Melanie awkwardly smiled and said, “I know we just met, but can I…you know…get a hug?”
“Sure, why not!”
As soon as Melanie was almost in Ronan’s arms, Sabrina spread them apart and clutched Ronan’s waist tight!
Peri and Phoebe had it on film and laughed so hard.
“I had that on film!” Peri said between laughs and gasps.
Ronan smiled lightly and then said as he patted Sabrina’s head.
“Alright, Sabrina, you’ve had your hug, now it’s Melanie’s turn!”
“Okay.” Sabrina said, discouraged.
Once again, Melanie and Ronan went into each other’s arms; Sabrina watched in distraught. She became desperate, almost resentful.
“Are you okay?” Finnegan asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine…”
Sabrina stood quiet for a moment, then said, “No, I’m not okay.”
“Why is that?”
“Well…I kind of feel like Ronan likes Melanie a little more than me!”
“Don’t be silly,” Finnegan said, “Ronan likes you more than anything in the world! He’d never want to break up with you!”
Sabrina smiled and hugged Finnegan tightly.
Melanie spotted them and said, “Is your girlfriend hanging on to that boy?”
Ronan looked all around to find what Melanie was talking about.
Ronan eventually spotted them and said to Melanie, “Oh, my gosh! Finnegan…my brother is hugging Sabrina! They never even bonded before! What’s going on?”
“Maybe they bonded when you weren’t in their space.” Melanie said.
But just as they were about to part their ways, they heard a smooch! That’s right! Sabrina kissed Finnegan’s cheek! Melanie and Ronan just couldn’t believe it (Ronan got the shock of his life!)!
In the evening, back at home, Ronan sat on the porch of his house when he spoke with Ashley.
“When me and Melanie hugged,” he said, “I felt like I was doing something wrong!”
“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Ashley said, “You were just making a friend, that’s all.”
“Yeah, but I have a feeling in my guts that’s telling me I’ve made a friendship that might turn into a relationship. I feel terrible!”
Ashley put her arms around Ronan’s shoulder.
“Sweetie, it takes a while for a friendship to grow. You’re turning 13, and Sabrina will turn 12 this year. You’re about the same age. I always have a feeling you two will be in a beautiful relationship.”
“Really?”
“I promise you!”
And Ronan sniffled, “You promised!”
“I love you so much!” Ashley said as she hugged Ronan.
Sabrina watched as Ronan hugged his sister. She smiled and fell asleep.
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(APRIL, 2007)
“I don’t understand you,” Sabrina said through the phone with Lewis, “I think it’s either the internet isn’t working where you’re at, or you like it that you’re not making sense.”
“Oh, I make sense alright,” Lewis said, “I might be helpful to you one day.”
“Whatever, you got the stuff for tonight?”
“Sure did! This party is going to be one…one…hm, I’ve seemed to have forgotten what that slang for ‘party’ was. Do you know?”
“Do you mean, ‘a whale of a time’?”
“Nope!”
Sabrina thought and thought, and then she said, “Oh, wait! I think you’re trying to say, ‘The life of the party’, correct?”
“Yup, and the life that party will get!”
Lindsay came home from the grocery store.
“I’ll talk to you later, okay? Bye!”
“Were you talking to Lewis?” Lindsay asked.
“Sure was! Tonight’s Claire’s birthday party, and I’m helping out.”
“On what?”
“The food and gifts!”
“Sounds like it’s going to be fun! Good luck with everything.”
It was while Sabrina was finishing putting away the groceries, that she heard dance music playing.
“Oh, no! Really, you guys?”
“What’s the matter, Sabrina?” Finnegan asked, “Those two are dancing their butts off again, that’s what’s the matter!”
“Maybe we can dance too!”
Sabrina stood quiet, “Well…I did take some dance lessons…let’s do it!”
Since Sabrina was 8, she and Finnegan had been dancing their entire favorite dance: the Pas De Deux. Ashley and Ronan were very worried and perplexed!
“There’s ballet music playing!” Ronan said.
“Maybe it’s your brother getting a workout! Let’s go check it out!”
Yet again, Ronan was going to get another shock of his life! His jaw dropped as soon as Finnegan lifted her up shouting, “Hoopla!”
Phoebe and Peri came in and actually caught it on film.
“Aww, would you look at that!” Phoebe said.
“I know,” Peri added, “Finnegan and Sabrina, dancing like crazy, that’s so cute!”
“In fact, everything they do is just too cute!”
Ronan slowly and quietly wrapped his arms around Ashley.
“Jealous?” Ashley asked.
The boy turned to Ashley and shook his head.
“Are you sure, like positive?”
Ronan looked down…looked up and nodded.
“Aw.”
“I don’t understand why she and my brother have to…I don’t know, bond with each other!”
“Well, Ronan, honey, she had no one else to…to play with, you know, to hang out with, no one to talk to as well, because you’re busy on the auditions. And I did tell that she was pretty jealous of you, too.”
“What? How did she even get jealous? I don’t think she was, was she?”
Ashley took Ronan upstairs and showed him the video Peri posted on Facebook.
“Okay,” he said, “Maybe she was jealous. I believe you.”
Lindsay came running up the stairs, “Hey, Sabrina just texted me, she said they’re done setting things up and that the party is going to start soon!”
“So…”
“So that means that you guys need to get ready soon! Cowabunga!”
Lindsay ran down the stairs while holding the note of her voice and shouted, “Woo-Hoo!”
Ashley walked Ronan to his house, and Ronan asked, “What’s the theme for Claire’s party? Casual, Formal?”
“Semi-Formal,” Ashley answered, “She wanted it to be a princess-like party, since she’s turning 11. Sabrina also bought you a little something to wear for it. It’s up in your room. Come on!”
When they walked into Ronan's room, Ronan spotted a beautifully wrapped box.
What is this? he asked in thought.
He opened the box carefully and gracefully…he found a suit tailored just for him. There was even a card!
“‘I hope you wear it, my future star!’” he read, “Aww, that is really sweet of her, she does care for me!”
Ronan hugged his new suit tight while he smiled; Ashley began filming it on her phone.
“What are you doing?” Ronan said as he turned around, “Making a video for Sabrina, just to show her that you’re very appreciative of almost absolutely everything. ”
“You’re joking.”
“Nope!”
“Dang it!”
“Cutie!”
“Oh!”
Ashley then stopped recording and said, “Go try it on!”
A couple seconds later, Ronan came out in his new suit.
“How do I look?” he asked.
“Fancy!” Ashley responded, “Oh, you’re going to have fun at that party.”
“I guess you’re right!” Ronan said.
“I need a picture of you in that suit.”
“For Sabrina?”
“Yup!”
“Alright!”
“But with your phone.”
“What?!”
And then Ashley laughed.
In Claire’s family, there’s always an enjoyable birthday party. There were games and decorations (courtesy of Lewis), and then food, cake and gifts (courtesy of Sabrina).
And of course, who can forget about dancing! No one of course.
Later at night, when all of the party guests left, Claire sat near the pool and said, “Thanks for coming to my party, Sabrina! You were pretty helpful on my special day.”
“You’re welcome.” Sabrina responded.
“This is out of the ordinary, but why didn’t you dance with Ronan?”
“Well…” Sabrina stammered, “I…just didn’t want to today. Sorry.”
“Funny, ‘cause he looked as if he was looking forward to dancing with you.”
“Oh…well, I didn’t feel up to it today, as I said before.”
“Okay…”
“Well, I hope you had a nice birthday.”
“I hope you’ll have yours, too.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow!”
“Bye!”
As Sabrina left, Claire looked at her charm bracelet Sabrina gave her; she saw her mom taking down all of the decorations.
“Let me help you with that!” she said, “You never know when I’ll be an even bigger help to the family.”
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(MAY, 2007)
“I wonder,” Ronan said as he laid flat on his bed, “I wonder if Sabrina is not as jealous as she used to be now.”
Ronan looked into his phone when he heard a notification: it was from Instagram, and Melanie Fitzpatrick commented, “My mum is letting me message you, do you want to message me?”
Ronan was a bit unsure, but replied, “Sure! Did you ask my mum first?”
“Yes, my mum messaged your mum my phone number! I can’t wait to message you! 😁”
“Bye-bye!”
Ronan smiled and laid back down on his bed. Meanwhile, in the Watterson home, Sabrina lolled on the couch and laid down.
I wonder, she thought, I wonder if Ronan has gotten over his crush on Melanie.
Every few seconds, she’d check her phone for any messages from Ronan: none. Until she got a notification.
Oh, please let it be him!
It wasn’t from Ronan, though. It was a message from Claire instead:
ClaireHey! How have you been?
ClaireGood; Just walked out of the house!
SabrinaWhere are you going?
ClaireOff to see Ronan…and you!
That slightly deceived Sabrina, but she was glad Claire was going to visit her after she visited Ronan (or she really thought):
SabrinaAre you going to see me straight after you see Ronan?
ClaireI’m actually seeing you tomorrow! Right now I’m going to have dinner with Ronan tonight.
Sabrina’s smile disappeared as soon as she received the response.
And said, “D’Arvit!” (since she’s a huge fan of the Artemis Fowl book).
Sabrina laid back on her bed. She quickly texted Claire:
SabrinaAre you sure I’m not going, cause I can help you out on some stuff, I’m a HUGE helper.
And Claire replied:
ClaireSorry, Sabrina, he wanted just me only. Just asked him if he was going to invite you, but he said you looked busy so he invited me instead.
Later that night, Claire arrived at Ronan’s house to have dinner with him; Sabrina saw Ashley with them as well.
Sabrina couldn’t bear it anymore; Sabrina leaped onto her bed and wept.
Cousin Nathan came around and announced that, “I’m going to move here!”
“Well, that’s wonderful news!” Lindsay said.
“By the way, we were planning on what we’re doing for dinner. Since Claire and my sister Ashley are busy with my bestie.”
“Your ‘bestie’?” Nathan asked.
“Yup!”
“I thought you two were dating?”
“‘Dating’?”
“I remember on the first day you moved here, you declared that you’d start dating Ronan until you’d enter the teen years!”
“Ronan is still 12, and I’m still 11, and Ashley’s 13 already. We’re not even hanging out as much because of his audition for Marcellus. He even thought I was jealous because of him hugging a girl who he auditioned with! How am I jealous?”
“Maybe you think he has a crush on her?”
“Yes! I also found out he messaged her as well! I wrote it down.”
MelanieHello! How are you?
RonanAlready!? LOL, we’ve only been auditioning together for 3 months. How could you miss me already?
MelanieI’m kidding, I just met you, what else do I miss? Being on The Secret Garden the Musical (the most!).
RonanWait, WHAT!?!?! You were in The Secret Garden the Musical!?!
MelanieLOL, yep I was!…my mum is calling me, H.A.G.D (have a good day)!
“So, you’re jealous because of that?” Nathan asked.
“A little bit. I just wish he’d just stop talking about her for just a couple days! I’ll just have to hold it in until the results of who gets who.”
“Good luck with that.” Nathan chuckled.
“I think it’s a good day that we get a takeaway for dinner! ‘Takeaway’ means ‘ordering and picking up’ food instead of just going to a restaurant.”
The menus Lindsay kept were Chinese, Indian, fish and chips, and Italian. Sabrina and Nathen chose to split a pizza and lasagna.
Once Lindsay brought the food, all was well…except she recounted the moment she lost the annual Galway Cooking Contest 5 times in a row.
“Every time I make a dish, I keep losing! I know I should be grateful, but I just want to win that…that…that stupid cooking trophy! I just want to win it for once!”
“Why would you call the trophy ‘stupid’?’ That’s not nice!”
Sabrina gave Nathen a gloomy look, “Oh, I see what you mean.”
“Some of my club members won it, but me! I enter it every year! I'll stop doing it because, what’s the point if I’m not even going to win?”
“When does it happen?”
“Every January 1, to mark the new year. But like I said, I don’t want to pressure myself after the first time 5 years ago. I was okay! But after this January, I’ve had enough! I’m going to rip the trophy off that podium and bring it into my arms! Do you hear me!? MY ARMS!”
“Uh…” Nathen stammered.
“No, I’m sorry, I got too far there. I don’t want to overdo it next year.”
Sabrina said as she buried her head down the table.
“It’s okay, honey,” Lindsay said, “Your dishes were just right, and you even followed what was exactly on the recipes!”
“You’re not a bad cook, I have to say.”
“Okay, okay!” Sabrina said, in sarcasm.
At night, Sabrina laid on her bed. But kept opening her eyes every ten minutes. But soon after, she fell asleep with a smile.
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(JUNE, 2007)
Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday to you;
Happy birthday dear Ronan,
Happy birthday to you!
It was June 27: Ronan’s 13th birthday.
“Happy birthday, Ronan,” Sabrina said, “I drew you a picture!”
“That’s really sweet of you, Sabrina!” Ronan said as he kissed her forehead.
“Alright,” said Phoebe, “I want a picture, light up the candles again!”
“Sure!” Lindsay responded.
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Later, Ronan spotted Sabrina petting Mymy (the cat).
Ronan sat down beside her and asked, “Do you like cats?”
“Yeah!”
“Awesome.”
Sabrina’s hand lost its grip on Mymy as the cat leaped down and ran through the dog door.
“This morning, Mymy unusually climbed up the roof and came to the window of my bedroom.”
“I saw,” Ronan said, “Was she purring?”
“Oh yeah, her back was vibrating alright. I kind of find it weird when they do that at the wrong time.”
Sabrina and Ronan looked at each other; they stood and looked as if they were going to kiss.
“Children!” Lindsay shouted.
“Yes, Mom?” Sabrina responded, “It’s time for us to go! We have Galway Castle Park to go to!”
“Okay! Coming!”
But before she walked out the door, she said, “I hope you’ve had a happy birthday!”
“I hope you will too!” Ronan responded as he hugged Sabrina.
And soon, Sabrina left while smiling. Ronan, on the other hand, frowned. But soon smiled when he remembered that he was still her friend.
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(JULY, 2007)
Ronan wandered around the house one morning, looking for something to do. Sabrina, on the other hand, wasn’t bored at all. She was busy messaging Claire.
That reminded Ronan!
The boy ran upstairs, got dressed, cleaned up his room and grabbed his phone.
He tapped the instagram app, and posted an old picture of him in a play. He put in the description, “The Last Unicorn”. Ronan smiled proudly at his post.
Phoebe came downstairs and said, “I saw your post!” I remember that day when you and Sabrina both got small parts together in the play! Aww! It all started–”
“Can we not talk about that, please?”
“Alright!” Phoebe said as she squeezed her little brother.
“Is your boyfriend coming over?” Ronan asked.
“Ding, ding, ding!” Phoebe replied, “Peri is coming over as well. Sabrina said she and Finnegan were going shopping, and take a look at this cute photo!”
Ronan’s jaw dropped as soon as he saw the picture of his own brother kissing Sabrina’s forehead!
Stay calm, stay calm, he thought, You’re brother and your bestie are just friends and nothing else…just friends. Darraigh (Phoebe’s boyfriend) and Peri arrived later in the afternoon.
Meanwhile, Sabrina showed a sad look toward her mother.
“What’s the matter, honey?” Lindsay said as Sabrina came into her arms.
“I’ve no one to play with!”
“You’re bored, aren’t you?”
“A bit. It feels weird I’m not hanging out with Ronan as much, since he’s still in the process of getting the titular role of Marcellus Pépinot.”
The girl got up, went to her room and turned on the radio. The first thing that popped on was Nu Är Julen Här by Sofia Källgren.
Imagine Ronan singing this song, she thought, And yet, he’s talented.
Sabrina looked down at Ronan’s backyard; Sabrina was distraught in a calm way. When it got dark, Ronan started to frown.
“Why the long face, Ronan?” Phoebe asked.
Ronan didn’t answer at first, so he shrugged.
“Nothing to say?”
“No,” Ronan finally said, “I just feel weird…that I’m not seeing Sabrina as much because I’m busy with the auditions. I’m sure she’s feeling the exact same thing right now.”
“Well, just remember that she is and always will be your best friend. Even if you’re both busy…okay?”
Ronan smiled and nodded, and walked inside with his sister.
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(AUGUST, 2007)
It was a sweltering day in Galway; Sabrina came out of a local book shop, Phoebe followed.
“Hey, Sabrina,” Phoebe said, “Can you at least tell me why you’re getting a lot of books? You don’t start school until the 30th this month. I take it you love reading.”
“I don’t really love reading, I just find books…interesting…that’s all.”
“But still, I think you should leave some of the books at home and you can take a few of them to school.”
“Okay.”
Meanwhile, Ronan was at home, admiring his first post.
“I wonder what I’ll post next!” he said to himself.
“Usually, you’d post whatever you want to post!” Ashley said as she walked in, “If you do have any picture you’d like to post, I’ll be sure to comment on you!”
As soon as Ashley walked out of the room, Ronan looked through all of his pictures in the gallery on his phone: they mainly had pictures of him and Sabrina.
Until he scrolled through a picture of him wearing his suit that Sabrina gave him. He posted the picture on Instagram and put in the description, “Will you marry me?”.
When Ashley saw his post, she commented, “Me or Sabrina?”
Ronan saw the comment and replied, “One of you…maybe Sabrina!”
“I knew it.” Ashley said when she saw the comment.
A little while later, Sabrina’s jealousy grew. But it softened when she forgot that she started her instagram page.
I remember that day I posted 7 pictures and a video, she thought.
It was from September, 2005. Sabrina was 10 that year. Sabrina sat outside her porch, but got up and walked next door to Ronan’s house; Ronan was on his phone.
“Who are you talking to?” she asked.
“Remember that we met a girl when we went through some screen tests in London?”
“Yup! Melody, correct?”
“‘Melanie’!”
“Oh, sorry. It’s a Disney movie that you’re auditioning for, right?”
“Yep! It’s based on a book series. Have you read Marcellus? Or Artemis Fowl?”
“I read the whole of the Marcellus series. And I read the first book of Artemis Fowl. There were some times that I got upset.”
“Why did you get upset?”
“I don't know…just because.”
“Oh…okay!”
Ashley rolled down her window and shouted, “Sabrina! It’s dinnertime, Mommy has made your favorite Four Cheese Lasagna!”
“I’m coming! I’ll see you later?”
“Sure! Bye!”
Sabrina kept a longing look at Ronan; Ronan knew and remembered what had happened the first time they were together as babies. Now Sabrina is this close to reaching her last year as a tweenager.
Ronan held back a few tears when his mom came inside. But after dinner, he had a lump in his throat and then cried softly…but they were happy tears.
Sabrina had told Ronan, “No matter what happens…to each and every one of us…we will always be best friends.”
At that moment in time, Ronan smiled and responded to his mother’s call downstairs.
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(SEPTEMBER, 2007) (Ronan)
On September 11, I woke up at 6 in the morning. And no wonder! It was Sabrina’s birthday!
I waited until Mum got up to have her coffee a little after 7, in which I couldn’t wait any longer.
Once the whole house was awake, I grabbed my phone, called Sabrina’s phone number and said, “Happy birthday!”
“To you!”
“No, no, no, that’s all wrong!”
“All wrong?”
“It’s your birthday, not mine!”
But then, all was nearly lost when my mum, dad, brother and sister froze for a complete minute.
“I’m glad you remembered!”
“Oh, why is that?”
“Because, a lot of my friends said that they were ‘busy’! I mean, it’s the most important day of my life here! Can’t one of them at least cancel whatever they were doing and come to my party? It’s not fair!”
“Don’t worry,” I said, “I’m coming over there anyways, are you having a party?”
“If all of my friends are busy, then nope!”
“Oh I’m coming over there!” I said before I hung up.
Sabrina just turned 12 years old! She’s in her last year of being a Tweenager. Little did I know that she’d still be in an unhappy mood.
I arrived next door to her house, but then I got very disappointed when Lindsay said, “Sabrina isn’t really in the mood for talking to anybody.”
“Can I at least try to cheer her up?”
“You can try!”
“Thank you!”
As I walked up the stairs to Sabrina’s bedroom, Lindsay wasn’t kidding when she said that Sabrina wasn’t in the mood for talking with someone.
But I had to cheer her up!
“Sabrina, dearest,” I said as I patted her back, “‘Dearest’? Why the heck are you calling me ‘Dearest’? You’re too young to call me that!”
“I’m 13, I still like you! Come here.”
Sabrina came into my arms.
“Why are you so warm?” she asked in perplexity.
“Uh–”
“Never mind that, it’s okay.”
At that point she smiled and laughed.
I did it, I thought, I made her happy…I think!
“You always find a way to make me laugh! And I’m serious.”
I sat her on the porch and asked her to close her eyes and hold out her hands.
As she opened the gift, “A locket!” she said in surprise.
“It’s the one you’ve been wanting. I thought I’d buy it for you.”
“And chocolates, too! Oh, Ronan, you're so thoughtful!”
“Am I?”
“Yes!”
But I might admit, I was planning a birthday party…surprise. It wasn’t big though.
For dinner, I took her to an Italian restaurant.
“Table for 10, please!”
“‘10’? What’s going on, Ronan?”
“You’ll see!”
She closed her eyes; I sat her down, and asked her to open her eyes; her whole Drama club was at the table; Sabrina started to cry.
“Don’t cry, Sabrina,” Ashley said, while she consoled her sister, “You always feel all smiley every birthday, I don’t know why you’re in tears!”
“I’m crying because I’m happy! You all canceled your schedules to plan an Italian dinner party…for me!”
“Well…we didn’t want you to feel like not having a birthday at all, so we planned it since…yesterday!” Ashley said.
“That’s why you guys said you were all ‘busy’?”
“Yup!”
“Okay, now it all makes sense. Just don’t do it again! Please?”
“Alright!”
“And without further ado,” I said, “Let’s get this party started!”
And Sabrina got the best birthday of her life! The funniest thing I never even saw was her getting Tiramisu with a candle.
“Now that’s original!” I said.
“Nondescript!” Sabrina added.
“I feel like something like this is going to happen on her 13th!” said Ashley.
And we bursted out laughing.
In the end, Sabrina and I sat on the porch of her house.
“Thank you for planning this awesome dinner party, I had the best time.”
“Well, I’m glad to see you happy.”
Sabrina and I stood up and we looked up at the sky.
“Hey, Ronan.”
“Yeah?”
Before she could say anything, she leaned over and kissed me.
“Would you like to go out tomorrow?”
I was about to hesitate, but I said, “I’d love to.”
As a good night, we kissed again, and I slept with a smile on my face.
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(OCTOBER, 2007) (Ashley)
On the night of the Halloween Party me and Mom planned out, I saw Sabrina and Ronan slow dancing outside.
“I’m surprised she’s forgotten about the Marcellus auditions. And her jealousy of Melanie with Ronan.”
“Well, we’ve only a couple months away until the results.” Phoebe said as she walked right next to me, “We’ll be waiting for them!”
And then the twosome kissed (for no darn reason at all).
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(NOVEMBER, 2007)
It began getting cold in Galway, Sabrina sat in her warm room looking through Instagram. She scrolled and scrolled to find a picture of Ronan in the Bonfire Night performance.
She commented, “I’m sorry that my performance was on the same day. I hope you did well on the drama piece!”
Ronan replied, “I did, thank you! And I’m glad we hurried all the way over there to see you get ready in time!”
Sabrina laughed.
“Sabrina, can you help me with dinner?” Lindsay called.
“I’m coming!” Sabrina responded and went downstairs.
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(DECEMBER, 2007)
One cold morning in Galway, Ronan woke up to the sound of the phone ringing.
“Hello,” said the muffled voice of his sister, Phoebe.
Ronan was already back asleep when Phoebe shouted, “OH MY GOSH!”
She ran upstairs and said, “Ronan you, you gotta hear this!”
“What?” Ronan yawned, “What is it? What time is it?”
“Here!”
Phoebe handed Ronan the phone.
“Hello?” Ronan said weakly.
“Hi, is this Ronan Ó Foghladh?” said a voice on the other end.
“Yes, this is him!”
“Well, I came to call you that we’re offering the role for Marcellus Pépinot. Would you take it?”
Ronan, in amazement, immediately shouted, “Yes, yes, I would take it. I’d love to!”
“Great! Meet back in Pinewood Studios for the Final Process.”
Final Process?
Ronan was officially confused!
“Hang on, if Sabrina finds out about this, she’ll never want to see me again!”
“What do you mean?”
“She’ll want to think I want to be with Melanie Fitzpatrick instead of her! This is a huge problem! What do we do!? Call in a family meeting!?”
“Ronan, honey, it’s okay, we’re going to have to tell her sooner or later.”
“She’s going to get suspicious, let me just say!”
“You’re right! We might have to tell a…little fib!”
“A fib!? That’ll get her even more suspicious! What do we even tell her?”
“Let’s just say we’re moving to London, and then we come back from London because you guys were a little too homesick and then we tell them…uh, what else? Hmm.”
“You’ve no idea, don’t you, Phoebe?”
“Or we can just tell them we’re moving away… permanently.”
“Phoebe, she’s going to get upset! We have to tell her the truth!”
“Oh, you’re right.”
“The problem is how do we tell her.”
“The most important part!”
“Anyways, yes, we will be there for the Final Process. What date and what time?”
“The 26!”
“WHAT!?” Ronan shouted, “IN 6 DAYS!?”
“Yup!”
“Well, okay! We’ll be there!”
As Ronan hung up the phone, he was in disappointment.
“Come on,” Phoebe said, “Why don’t we go get Sabrina and Ashley their Christmas presents.”
“I wonder if Melanie got her part as Lila.”
“We’ll find out on the 26th! Come on, get dressed. And it might be cold, so you might want to dress warm.”
“Okay!”
Little did the boy know that Sabrina was spying on the secret he was about to tell.
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(5 DAYS LATER…)
Christmas time came.
At noon, Ronan called Melanie.
There were 3½ rings.
“Hello?” Melanie said.
“Hi, Melanie! It’s Ronan!”
“Ronan, hi! How are you?”
“Good, and you?”
“I’m just fine! How’s Sabrina?”
“She…she’s still a bit jealous. I thought I overheard her say that I wanted to be with you instead of her! We got into this argument and, I got to say, it didn’t end too well.”
“Oh, well…who yelled first?”
“Me.”
“Ronan, why would you do that?”
“I’d never meant to do such a thing! I was just so fed up with her being jealous, all because I like you! I mean, I do like you, but only as a friend! And I don’t think she sees that!”
“Did you say anything to her?”
“What do you mean? I tried to say sorry to her, but she just counted me out!”
“Then that’s what you need to do!”
“Do what? Count her out like she did on me?”
“No, Ronan!”
“Then what do I need to do?”
“Apologize to her!”
“Apologize? What did I even do to her?”
“Maybe you were so caught up in getting the role in the movie, that you forgot about her?”
"Don’t be silly, I’ve hung out with Sabrina sometimes…and then I go back to practicing my lines for the auditions, And I do it for the rest of the day–”
“Mm-hm! Do you see where you’re getting at?”
“What? Where?”
“On the part you said ‘I do it for the rest of the day’.”
“What, I tell her that I’m busy and just go back to practicing, but she always walks home disappointed and I get disappointed and…oh…now I hear myself. I see where I’m at.”
“And who’s fault is it? Yours, or hers?”
“Mine! It…it was my fault! You’re right, Melanie I’ll go and apologize to her!”
“Ronan! Are you ready?” Phoebe called.
“Hang on, yep, I’m just finishing a phone call! I have to go! There’s a Christmas event at the shopping center!”
“I hope you find the right time to tell her before tomorrow! And apologize!”
“I will! Bye!”
“See you then!”
Ronan hung up the phone, grabbed his coat and ran out the door.
“Who’s driving?” he asked.
“Lindsay!” Cara responded.
Great! Ronan thought, I sit between Sabrina and Ashley all the time when Lindsay drives!
But Sabrina was a bit busy taking selfies with Ashley on the way.
“I should have known that Sabrina wanted to spend some time with her sister!” Ronan mumbled.
At the shopping center, there was a lovely Christmas event!
There was ice skating (Sabrina’s favorite Christmas hobby), a tunnel of lights (or Twinkle Tunnel; Ronan held Sabrina’s hand in that part), Ornament and Cookie decorating, and swings that have candy cane colored rope and the seat with a gingerbread color (Ashley’s favorite activity).
But, alas, Ronan couldn’t find the exact moment to talk to Sabrina.
Until on the way home:
“Hey Sabrina?”
“Yes, Ronan, what’cha need?”
“Can we talk?”
“Yeah, what about!”
“Um…uh–”
“Yes? I’m listening.”
Ronan sighed, “I’m sorry.”
“Whatever for?”
“For me yelling at you. And also ignoring you for my audition.”
Sabrina stood quiet, but in impressment.
“Ronan…that’s what I wanted to hear! Why didn’t you say that before?”
“I wanted you to be happy for a moment…I didn’t want to make you upset.”
“Am I upset?”
“No!”
“I didn’t mean to get jealous of you. I just wanted to see you! I never see you anymore because of your audition! I could’ve helped you, you know.”
“Again, I’m very sorry…for upsetting you!”
Sabrina rolled her eyes while she smiled.
“I forgive you!”
And Ronan wrapped Sabrina in her arms.
“Did you get in the movie?”
And the car abruptly stopped. Ronan was flabbergasted! He knew he couldn’t keep the secret any longer!
“You did, didn’t you?”
Ronan sighed, “Yes, I did!”
“What part did you get?”
Sweat beads ran down Ronan’s cheeks! And he finally confessed.
“The truth is, I got the part of Marcellus Pépinot! Okay? I didn’t want to tell you, because I knew that you’d get jealous all because I like Melanie and that we’ve auditioned for longest time, and I just called her earlier today and she told me that I had to apologize to you because I was ignoring you and then I–”
Sabrina kissed Ronan’s loquacious lips. It stopped him from getting frustrated of telling her the truth.
“That was one way of telling me to ‘Shut up’.” Ronan said.
“You kind of needed it. I’m actually happy for you! How long will it be until you get back?”
“For the rest of the week!”
Sabrina’s jaw dropped!
“Sorry!”
“Do you know what, Ronan?” Sabrina said, “I’m happy and frustrated with you at…the…same…flipping…time!”
“I am, too!”
Sabrina and Ronan sighed.
“I love you!” Sabrina said as her head was on Ronan’s shoulder.
“I love you, too!” Ronan answered as he laid his head on top of Sabrina’s head.
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(DECEMBER 26, 2007)
As soon as Cara got the car all packed up, Ronan and his brother, sister, and father walked out of the house.
Sabrina watched from the window, and ran out the front door while she was still in her pajamas. Ashley and Lindsay slowly followed.
Sabrina and Ronan’s eyes met; Sabrina’s eyes blurred with tears and many started running down her cheeks.
“Ronan!” Sabrina said while her voice broke.
“Sabrina!” Ronan said when his voice started breaking.
Ronan wrapped Sabrina’s arms around his waist, and wrapped his arms around Sabrina’s back; Sabrina sobbed and gasped in on his chest.
Ronan broke free slowly as soon as Sabrina’s sobs softened, and kissed her forehead tenderly.
“My pretty girl!” he whispered.
“Please come back soon, Ronan.” Sabrina said, cupping her hand on Ronan’s cheek.
“I will!” Ronan responded, pecking her cheek.
Ronan then leaped into the car with his side window down.
Sabrina reached out her hand and grasped Ronan’s hand. But as the car started to move, both hands struggled to hold on and Ronan broke his hand free.
“Ronan!” Sabrina said as she ran a few steps after the car. Ronan waved his hand; Sabrina answered his wave.
Sabrina ran and hugged her mother.
Before she followed her mother and sister, she hugged her consoling tree…and banged her head against it.
