Hi Bev,
I'm slightly confused about the ESC and getting to boot menu. If you have just installed new Linux, grub should not be a problem.
Are you trying to access grub on a UEFI fast boot enabled system? If so, some laptops are a real pain and you might not be able to get to grub using the ESC key. Look online for how to force/access "bios" and after exiting from there try ESC. If I recall correctly, once I had to use WinPE to get to UEFI.
Cheerio, Bart