Once we were on the ferry, we headed for the breakfast bar, and got ourselves something to eat. Not that Rachel had time to eat much. She was too busy withering on about meeting Westlife.

‘Rach, look, just because we’ve got in, it doesn’t mean we’ll get to meet them. Mum’s got no idea how many people will be there. And anyway, they’ll probably just want to spend time with their friends and families. Don’t get so excited!’

‘Don’t get so excited? Are you kidding? I don’t care if we don’t get to see them, well, I do, but never mind, I mean, we’re going to the Westlife album launch party! How cool is that? Everyone at school is going to be so jealous.’ Rachel was starting to sound about 12, as opposed to nearly 18!

‘Yeah, well, you might have to pretend you’re not at school. Most of the time these things are for over 18’s anyway.’

‘Not if it’s for family! Duuh!’

As she started to wonder what she was going to wear out of the clothes she’d brought with her, I tuned her out, and imagined myself walking straight past the guys on the door of the party, and then having a drink with Kian. I know, I know, I’ve sworn off men, but who in their right mind would say no if Kian Egan offered to buy them a drink? You’d have to be mad!

When we arrived in Belfast, we wandered around for a while, to stretch our legs before squashing ourselves into the car for the trip. I wanted to try and make it to Liz’s before dark. I didn’t think it was likely, but I wanted to get as much of the way there as possible.

‘Come on Rach, we’d better head.’ She had borrowed my phone to call all her friends and tell them about the party. And of course, was she going to pay for the calls? At least we’re still in Belfast and it’s not international calls. ‘Rachel, get a move on!’

‘I’m coming!’ She spoke into the phone again. ‘Jo, I’ve got to go. Hanny’s getting edgy! I hate to think what she’ll be like on Wednesday. She’d better not get all star-struck. That’d be soooo embarrassing.’ I rolled my eyes. Sisters. ‘Anyway, I’ll call you when I get back. Byeee!’

‘Finally. Can we please leave now?’

‘Jeez, someone got out of bed the wrong side this morning.’

‘I don’t think there’s a right side of bed that early in the morning! Look, Rach, I don’t want to argue this holiday. We’re both gonna have a good time, as long as there’s a little bit of give and take. Okay?’

‘Yeah, yeah. Quit the big sister bit, and let’s hit the road!’ We climbed back into my car, and started the long drive to Sligo.

As it happened, the roads weren’t as bad as I expected, so we decided, after a call to Liz, that we’d just keep driving and try and get there that night, instead of kipping over somewhere. We arrived in Sligo just after 10pm, and I nipped into the first pub I saw to ask directions to Liz’s house. Obviously, Kian, Shane and Mark aren’t the only gorgeous Sligo guys! Wow!

Quarter of an hour later, we pulled up outside a little house, about 5 miles outside Sligo. I saw Liz’s face at the window, and as soon as she saw the car, she came running outside.

‘Hannah!’

‘Lizzie!’ We hugged, and Rachel stood there, looking slightly awkward. ‘Liz, you remember Rachel.’

‘Yeah, of course! God you’ve changed! You look so much older.’ Anybody who tells my sister she looks older goes straight into her good books. Rachel smiled. ‘And Hannah, you’re hair, why didn’t you tell me?’

I reached my hand up to my hair, which I’d had cut a lot shorter. ‘I only got it done last week, so I just thought I’d surprise you.’

‘You have! It looks great.’

‘Thanks, I just felt like a change.’

Liz’s boyfriend, Andy appeared on the doorstep. ‘Are you girls going to stay outside all night long, or are you going to come inside?’

‘Oh yeah. Andy, come and say hi.’ Andy came outside. ‘This is Hannah, and her sister Rachel.’ We all said hi. Liz turned back to us. ‘Andy’s going up to Dublin for the week, and leave us girlies to ourselves.’

‘Oh, we’re not pushing you out are we?’

‘Don’t be stupid! You wouldn’t catch me trailing around after Westlife with you! And anyway, my parents have been going on about how long it’s been since they’ve seen me, so I’ll go and stay with them and see some mates at the same time. I’ll be leaving tomorrow.’

‘Anyway,’ Liz interrupted, ‘let’s get you two inside and show you around.’ Rachel and I grabbed our bags out of the boot, and followed Liz into the house. ‘I’ll show you your rooms first, so you can dump your bags, and then show you everything else.’ We went upstairs, and Liz took us into the first room on the right. ‘I hope it’s okay that’s you’re sharing.’

‘I’m sure we’ll manage. As long as you don’t mind cleaning blood off the walls at the end of the week!’ I smiled. ‘No, seriously, that’s cool. It’s not as though we’ll be here very much!

‘That’s what I thought. And we just haven’t had time to clear out all the junk from the box room. It turned into a bit of a dumping room when we moved in.’

After a quick tour of the rest of the house, we sat down in the living room.

‘Can I get you three a coffee before I go to bed?’ Andy was at the door.

‘Ooooh, you’ve got him well trained! No thanks Andy. Not for me. I don’t know about Rach, but I need to get to bed too. It’s been a long day, and if Liz and I start chatting, we’ll still be here at three in the morning!’

‘Yeah, I need to sleep too.’ Rachel was almost falling asleep in the armchair. We all stood up.

‘It’s really good to see you again Hannah.’

‘You too Lizzie. See you in the morning!’

‘Sleep as late as you like. I might have to go out to do some shopping, but I won’t be long. And help yourself to anything you find in the kitchen.

‘Thanks hun.’ We were already half way up the stairs. Rachel and I got changed quickly for bed, and I don’t know about Rach, but my I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.