Grace ♫

“Would you move all your shit, please?” Tadhg hissed.

I shot him a disapproving glare, slowly shoving more of my stuff toward him. “You have to ask nicely.”

Tadhg narrowed his eyes at me. “I said please.”

“‘Move all your shit’?” My fingers flexed in air quotes. “Sounds real nice, huh?”

“Fuck off.”

“Mr. Lynch!” Mrs. Tryzinski barked from the front, furious eyes locked on Tadhg. “Be quiet and watch your language!”

His brown eyes widened, his hands coming up to gesture to me. “I wasn’t the only one talking!”

Mrs. Tryzinski dismissed him completely. “Don’t try to blame your wrong doings on other people.”

When her back was fully turned back to us I gave Tadhg a warm, teasing smile which was met with yet another glare. He threw a middle finger up at me and I moved my paper over even more in response. We stared at each other for a minute, him glaring and my eyes a teasing amount of sweet, until Mrs. Tryzinski’s voice boomed signaling instructions.

“Alright, everyone!” she began, attention turned to the front. “Because of… requests from the school board we’ll be doing a partner project. This one focuses on teamwork and building your collaboration skills. Due to us teachers only getting recent notice of this the idea is quite rushed. You will be partnered with someone and will work together to answer a list of questions. Written in paragraphs. Not three words. Paragraphs. Any answers not written in proper form will be a deduction from your points.”

Cabhán in the front of the room raised his hand. “Are we getting graded separately or together?”

Letting out a long sigh, Mrs. Tryzinski almost sagged. “Because I can’t watch you work in your own homes this is graded together.”

Cabhán let out a small sound of achievement and I already felt bad for the poor bastard having to deal with him.

Oisin raised her hand too. “How are our partners picked?”

“Great question; whoever you sit next to. If your partner is absent then you work alone or find another single person.”

A groaned sounded from almost everyone, Tadhg’s being the easiest to distinguish. “Jesus fuck, she hates me.”

Mrs. Tryzinski rolled her eyes at the reaction, reaching over and grabbing a stack of papers off of her desk. She placed one sheet between each pair, explaining further as she went. “The final question on the back asks you to write a thesis statement and three reasons with evidence. All of that must be put into paragraphs and include an introduction and conclusion.” She stopped between Tadhg and I briefly, pressing her lips together and studying Tadhg before setting our paper down. “Now, this is probably your easiest paper yet because you have a partner and the privilege to ‘the internet’.” Her words became less enthusiastic as she went.

The pairs in front of us sat awkwardly, only one person taking the paper and beginning to write. The other looked around the room clueless, chatter erupting from the free population.

“This isn’t a time for chit-chatting. Work on your papers.”

Finally giving in I turned to Tadhg. At the same time he turned to me.

“We’re going to need time after school.” We both said.

“Yup.”

✎ᝰ.

Getting Tadhg’s number was rather easy and we had been messaging throughout the day to try and plan our paper. After investigating I found that there were ten total questions excluding the paragraph at the end. We decided to split it five and five, giving each of us an equal amount. The location of this was still yet to be determined.

I’d been told by Tadhg’s message to meet him outside at the front but he was nowhere to be seen. Until I heard a group of snickering boys.

“Ay, lads, watch this!” one of the fellas shouted, ripping off the top half of his uniform and whipping the contents around in the air like some whore. “I’m Alison!” he called.

A few feet away I spotted the girl he was talking about, her skin a sickening orange from whatever tan she’d done at home. Her skirt was pinned up high, somehow not a dress code violation.

“Feck off!” she barked, an unwanted smile creeping up her face at the lot before turning back to her group.

I rolled my eyes at the strange entertainment, still waiting for Tadhg. He finally emerged from the circle of lads, all of them whistling and hyping him up when he walked toward me. When he’d gotten close enough I raised my brows at him unimpressed.

“So,” he said, “where’d you want to do it?”

“Not my house,” I said before he could think. “If you don’t find a few mile walk then we could waste a few hours but I know you have a spin.”

He pressed his lips into a line. “Yup. I’ve got a spin.”

As if summoned by Tadhg and I’s conversation, a shiny Range Rover pulled up, two honks of a horn. A window rolled down revealing a blonde woman, eyes aimed expectantly at Tadhg.

“Tadhg, love, come on,” she hurried, “we have to get your brothers soon.”

With one deep breath Tadhg walked toward the car, no words needed to know I should follow. Even as he was turned away I could see the faintest of blush creeping into his cheeks. He leaned into the rolled down window, talking to his Mam. Their conversation was silent but obviously about me; looks from his Mam giving it away.

“Well, hello, love, how’s it been?” she asked, tone warm and smile even brighter.

“I’ve been grand.”

Tadhg tugged on the passenger handle but the door didn’t open. “You’ve got to unlock the door.”

Mischief spread in her smile. “You can sit in the back, Tadhg, love. Your friend should sit in the front.”

Disbelief crossed over Tadhg’s face, turning back to look at me as if I had been the one to make the decision. I shrugged at him, walking over and trying the door that was now unlocked. As I climbed into the seat Tadhg still stood outside the car, fury evident on his face. I smiled at his anger, waving him into the car.

“Come on, Tadhg,” I mocked, “we’ve got to get your brother.”

He shot me another signature Tadhg look, shuffling into the backseat and muttering “She’s not my friend.” He didn’t bother buckling up per road safety rules, instead dropping his schoolbag to the floor and crossing his arms over his chest. When the car began rolling forward I finally got a good look of the woman whose car I had blindly dove into putting her in charge of my life. She had the same brown eyes and blonde hair as Tadhg but there was something different. Other than that none of their features matched. I watched as she methodically pushed on the brake and pedal, fingers drumming against the steering wheel every time we stopped. Nothing about them besides hair and eye color were similar. This woman was much looser, relaxed, while Tadhg was always wound up and rigid. It perplexed me.

“What’s this project on?” she finally spoke. Her gaze flickered to me, expecting me to answer. “Is it just a paper?”

“Romeo and Juliet. We have to annotate act three and then write a thesis statement on a topic—“

“Oh my goodness!” she suddenly said. Readjusting her hands on the wheel she laughed. “I completely forgot to introduce myself; I’m Edel, Mrs. Kavanagh, not Lynch.”

My brows furrowed at the strange comment. There wasn’t much I knew about Tadhg’s family other than a house fire and something with the Kavanagh’s. Passed the fire and whatever the situation was with the Kavanagh’s, I didn’t know anything. The only other connection I could make was the Johnny Kavanagh, Edel, or Mrs. Kavanagh’s, rugby legend son.

When I realized I’d been silent for too long, I spoke. “Nice to meet you, Mrs. Kavanagh.”

My words came out strangely quiet and I watched in the rear view mirror as Tadhg frowned.

“You can just call me Edel,” she replied, eyes focusing back through the windscreen.

Tadhg scoffed from the back seat. “You say this every time and no one ever listens.”

I turned in my seat, eyeing Tadhg. “How many girls have you had in this car? Am I just some side thing, Pimp Tadhg?”

His eyes widened. “What the ever living fuck does that even mean?”

“Tadhg,” Edel said, tone warning despite the laugh threatening to break through. “Watch your language…”

I laughed at the idea of Tadhg, a fifteen-year-old with the attitude of one of the queen’s guards, having to be reminded of not cursing. Tadhg was not happy about my enjoyment at his expense, flipping me off. That only earned more laughter from me and his face turning red.

“Are we still having Joey, Aoife, and AJ over tonight?” Tadhg asked, trying to divert the conversation.

Edel hummed, turning her attention to me. “You get to meet the whole family!”

Tadhg swore under his breath, shaking his head. “I reckon Gibsie will be there too?”

“Yup!”

Pulling up outside of Scoil Eoin Primary School, two boys nearly identical to Tadhg stood outside engrossed in a conversation. One of them was much taller than the other, he looked like he was in sixth class, while the smaller boy looked like he had just joined. A little baby. I couldn’t even tell if he was meant to be here and to the nurseries around here. Same as Tadhg, the two boys shared nothing but hair and eye color with Edel, all of their nearly identical features on the face of some other man.

Smiles grew on the boys’ faces when Edel rolled the car closer to them. The two practically skipped over, pulling the door handle until Edel unlocked the car.

“Afternoon, lads!” she greeted. “How was today?”

“Good!” the two chimed, the smaller of the pair struggling to climb into the car.

The older boy helped him in, settling him in by buckling the seatbelt before doing his own. Neither of them noticed me, but I didn’t mind. This was going to give me a raw look into the family that had trained Tadhg to be the Olympic bickerist he was.

Edel pulled the car forward, finally—well, hopefully—on the way to the Kavanagh house. “Sean,” she said, “how did that test go today?”

“We have to do it tomorrow now,” the younger boy behind me said with an exasperated sigh.

“Why’s that?”

Sean crossed his arms. “Because Colm was being a bleeding eejit.” It was strange hearing the words in a Cork accent compared to the usual Dublin one.

“Christ, you spend too much time with Johnny,” Tadhg snickered. “Aren’t you not supposed to be calling people names?”

“Right now calls for it, Tadhg!” Sean defended.

The boy in the middle piped up, “You aren’t ever supposed to call people names. It’s impolite and gives you a bad image.”

Sean glared at the boy. “That doesn’t matter right now, Ollie.”

Ollie turned his chin up at Sean, looking away. “Y’know what? I’m not going to engage. I am disengaging.”

“Good.”

“Good.”

“Fine by me.”

“Me too.”

“That’s enough, you two,” Edel huffed out. I found a little too much enjoyment in this whole conversation. “Now, Sean, what did Colm do this time?”

Sean shifted right back in to story mode, forgetting his brother. “He tried cheating! He had a bunch of stuff written down, all the answers, and then he handed copies out to people in our class!”

My brows furrowed and I didn’t realize I was talking until the words were already out. “How’d he get the answers?”

The two blonde heads spun to face me, finally noticing my presence. Ollie frowned while Sean simply tilted his head in curiosity. Tadhg didn’t look, already knowing what he would find in the passenger seat he so desperately wanted.

“Who are you?” Sean asked, eyes noticeably bigger than his brothers’.

I turned around fully in my seat now. “I’m Tadhg’s friend.”

Tadhg groaned, sinking down into his seat and muttering a series of unintelligible words.

Ollie eyes me warily. “Tadhg has girl friends?”

“Are you Tadhg’s Johnny?” Sean asked, not allowing me to answer Ollie’s question.

“No,” Tadhg ran a hand down his face. “She’s not my— Wait. Why am I Shannon?”

Sean and Ollie shared a look then both shrugged. “You’re kind of like a girl,” Sean said.

Tadhg’s face scrunched up. “Fuck does that mean?”

“Tadhg!” Edel scolded. “Watch your language with children in the car.”

He only rolled his eyes, crossing his arms like a pouting toddler. “They’ve both heard it all before,” he said sternly.

“That doesn’t make it okay for you to say,” Ollie chimed in.

“Piss off.”

“You first.”

Tadhg side-eyed the boy beside him. “I’ll break your nose.”

Edel let out another sigh. “No threats of physical violence, please, Tadhg.” When the banter finally stopped Edel resumed her questioning of Sean’s day.

The topic put Sean in a mood again, crossing his arms over his chest like Tadhg. “Yeah, Colm was going around the class giving people answers and Mrs. Vandhoven found out. Now we have to take the test again tomorrow but in this weird way. We have to get a pencil from her, like.” Sean paused to take a breath. “I don’t get to use my mechanical pencils!”

“I understand you, lad,” I winced. “I love mechanical pencils too. Greatest invention.”

“I know.” He sounded astonished at the idea of another person liking mechanical pencils. “They’re so canveenit.”

“Convenient,” Tadhg corrected.

Sean nodded, whispering the word to himself. “They’re so convenient because you don’t have to keep sharpening them. You just pop more lead in when you run out!”

In the driver’s seat Edel was smiling her ass off, glancing at the rearview mirror and getting a look of Sean excited face. To find a boy this young so passionate about mechanical pencils with comical, only adding to all of the comforting energy radiating from this strange family. The rest of the ride to the Kavanagh house was filled with more bickering and stories from the day, most notably the “Fliuch Vs. Fuck Incident” within Ollie’s class.

When we pulled up to the gates of the Kavanagh’s house I was already awestruck by the thought of gates up to my house. Then came the drive way. The long ass driveway. No driveway, unless just to show off your wealth, needed to be this long. But when you got the house it felt like an appetizer; there to get you started for the main event.

A number of cars were parked outside and, based on the house, you would think they’d all be the Kavanagh’s. Then I remembered they mentioned “the whole family”. The reminder sent a chill down my spine. I’ve already met four of the members, three others mentioned, so how many were there?

When the car was parked everyone began shuffling out but I sat still in my seat taking in the house. It was huge, probably to fit all these people. Each window was squeaky clean, most rooms lit up by the yellow glow of ceiling lights.

“Ya coming?” Tadhg called, standing at the front of the car. “We’ve got work to do, remember?”

Swallowing down all the nerves creeping in I pulled myself out of the car, my bag coming with me. I hooked a strap through one of my arms, the other fiddling with the hem of my jumper. I followed Tadhg in, the sound of chatter and a lively room heard from outside. Opening the door and leading me through, Tadhg and I slipped our shoes off and walked toward the sitting room. My eyes widened instinctively at the crowd: a sea of blonde heads drowning out the few brown-haired heads. Walking forward Tadhg blended into the crowd perfectly. One person’s head turned, eyes locking on me. It was a tall-ish blonde woman, like them all, with a friendly smile on her face. She had a toddler balanced on her hip, his hand reaching up to pull on her hair.

“Well, who are you?” she asked, drawing the attention of the surrounding people. All their heads turned to me causing my heart to stop momentarily.

Thankfully, Edel took over for me, standing behind me and placing her hands on my shoulders. “This is Y/n. She’s Tadhg’s friend and they’ve got some work to do.”

The blonde man standing beside the woman who had originally noticed me suddenly spoke. “What does that entail?”

“A paper on stupid Romeo & Juliet,” Tadhg said from somewhere within the crowd. “Few questions for act three and then we write an essay type paper.”

The response was met with a collective hum of agreement, a couple “Hated that”s thrown around.

“I am going to change first,” Tadhg commented, popping out of the group. “Because I can not wear this to do work.” He gestured down to his uniform.

A small brown-haired girl emerged from behind him. “I’ll get her settled in the kitchen if that’s alright.” Her tone didn’t go up at the end despite the question structured sentence.

Blindly, I followed her through the doorway Tadhg had disappeared to, the faint sound of his steps up the stairs echoing through the large space.

“I’m Shannon, by the way,” she said, turning back to me. “I know how it feels to be here for the first time, especially with all these people.”

“It’s alright,” I assured. “My own house gets just as crowded during the hurling finals.”

That earned a laugh from her. “You wouldn’t even be able to imagine rugby here.”

The picture popped into my head, all of these people as well as more piling into the sitting room, shouting and cheering at the TV. It had to have been deafening.

“Must be Hell.”

Shannon shrugged. “You get used to it.”

The words stuck with me similar to Edel’s comment from before. Was Shannon expecting me to come back? No. I was just overthinking it.

Crossing through another doorway we entered the kitchen and it was just as large as I’d expected. The sunlight streamed in through numerous open windows, forming the scene into something you’d expect to find in a painting.

Shannon sat me down at a large table near the entryway. As soon as I set my bag down the woman from before appeared behind us, the toddler void of her arms now.

“Hi,” she said.

“Hey, Aoife.”

With a sudden gasp Aoife placed a hand on her chest. “You ruined my surprise, Shan.”

Shannon’s face fell, guilt starting to slide in. “Sorry,” she mumbled letting her head fall.

“No, no,” Aoife scrambled to say. “I was just kidding, I was coming in here to tell her something else.”

“You sure..?” Her voice was still quiet.

“Yeah, I wanted to know if—“ she turned her attention to me “—you wanted to borrow my clothes to be more comfortable. Maybe you can one up Tadhg.”

I looked down at myself and back up to the much more… developed woman. “I don’t think your clothes will fit me.”

Aoife waved me off. “It’ll be fine if they’re a little big. Besides, it’s comfy clothes, not a dinner party.”

“I guess.” I bit the inside of my cheek in thought. “So I would just give them back before I leave?”

“You can keep ‘em,” Aoife said casually. “Or you could come ‘round another time.” She gave me a wink, turning back to the doorway.

I rolled the idea over again in my head, eventually deciding against it. “I’m alright. I feel more… studious in my uniform. I’ll focus better.”

She looked like she was trying to hold back a laugh most likely because of my strange response. “Alright, Studious Sally, I’ll leave you be.”

Aoife sauntered out of the room but apparently that doorway was like a revolving door letting the next person in. The man who had been standing beside her before walked in, all relaxed like he didn’t give a shite about what people thought. The toddler from before was now placed on his shoulder, tiny hands gripping his hair. Barely taking note of Shannon and I other than a quick nod of acknowledgment, he made his way to the fridge, allowing the toddler to study the contents.

“AJ, you’re not having a Coke, that’s a big kid drink,” he grumbled.

“I am big kid, Daddy,” he whined. “I’m three!”

The man grabbed a Capri-Sun from one of the shelves, holding it up to the toddler on his shoulders. “Your uncles weren’t having Coke when they were your age.”

AJ groaned, ripping the straw off and struggling to push the sharpened tip through the plastic. The man turned around, leaning himself against the island. His eyes were on me and I noticed he looked strangely like Tadhg, Ollie, and Sean. Besides the eyes, which were green compared to the other three boys. That same shade of green was seen in the toddlers eyes as he looked up, gaze locking on me just like his carrier.

“You didn’t fall for Aoife’s unrelenting charm?” the man asked.

I stood confused feeling left out of whatever mysterious loop this family had.

Shannon spoke for me. “She held her ground, Joey. Quite well. Very studiously.”

Joey’s brows raised. “Do you even know what that word means?”

“Yeah,” Shannon said, taking offense. “Of course I know what studious means.”

“Mhm,” Joey hummed unconvinced.

The toddler on his shoulders still hadn’t shifted his gaze, eyes locked on me. He had that strange toddler-staring awe in his eyes. His struggle with the straw had slowed, the thing still in his hands. Building up some kind of confidence, I walked over to the two, reaching up and grabbing the Capri-Sun from his hand. Joey’s eyes flickered for a moment, confusion and irritation, until he realized my intent. I poked the straw through the plastic, then poked it through the small yellow hole at the top and handing it back to the toddler.

“Thank you,” AJ said, taking the Capri-Sun and starting to sip away.

I made my way back over to my seat, finding Shannon had left. As all revolving doors work, more people came into the kitchen. I first caught sight of a tall dark-haired man who I recognized to be Johnny Kavanagh. And, yeah, he was everything that people say he is. Behind him a… large blonde followed, going on about something that Johnny wasn’t listening to.

Stopping by Joey, the two men leaned against the counter as well. AJ was climbing down from Joey’s shoulders and settling on the counter.

“Where’d Tadhg go?” the unfamiliar blonde asked, looking around the room.

“Were you not listening before? He said he was changing,” Johnny explained.

The man chuckled. “What’s he trying to do? Impress the girl?”

Wow. They were talking about me as if I wasn’t sitting right here. “Why would he need to impress me?”

Similarly to what happened in the car, the three heads turned to me.

“I don’t know,” Johnny shrugged.

“You never really know with him,” Joey said. “But it’s those small things, y’know? Yeah, uniforms aren’t exactly comfortable but what he changes into tells a whole different story.”

My brows furrowed, strangely engrossed in his clothing analysis.

Joey stood taller, using his arms to support himself against the countertop. “If it’s something nicer then maybe he is trying to impress you. If he wears something casual then he doesn’t care.”

“Or, he doesn’t mind her seeing him in something more casual,” Johnny added, opening up this weird clothing analysis further.

“Good point, Kav,” the man said. “But with that little demon fucker I doubt he’s trying to impress anyone. Maybe Aoife and Claire but that’s where it stops.”

“Fucker,” AJ giggled.

Both Johnny and Joey turned to look at the man, guilt crossing over his face. “Come on, Gibs,” Johnny sighed.

“Sorry..?” he responded. This must be the Gibsie fella Tadhg had mentioned before in the car.

Everyone’s attention was on the toddler on the counter until he pointed to the doorway. “Fucker!”

Turning around I found Tadhg coming through the revolving doorway. Well, he was standing in it, eyes practically falling out of his head.

“What did you teach him?” he said.

But no one was busy answering his question. Instead our eyes were focused on what wear he had chosen for our work session. He wore a navy blue crewneck with Tommen’s crest on the left side of his chest. Below that, from the hips down, was a pair of black sweatpants, grey socks to protect himself from the cold floor. So he either didn’t care at all or he was comfortable with me seeing him like this. Amazing. Two very different options with no in between.

“Fuck are you guys looking at?” he said, irritation creeping into his voice. “Did I turn into a giraffe or something? What’s going on?”

Joey was the first to clock that we were all staring at Tadhg and analyzing his clothing choice. “Nothing, everything’s grand.”

Tadhg still wasn’t convinced. “Ya sure? ‘Cause all of you were staring at me for an uncomfortably long amount of time.”

“All good, lad,” Johnny said, lowered his head and laughing to himself.

Rolling his eyes Tadhg took the seat across from me, dumping out the contents of his backpack. I followed along, taking out my own things, including the paper he forced me to keep track of, and lined up my highlighters.

“Not the highlighters again,” he groaned. “You don’t even need all those.”

“You don’t use any highlighters which I think is a problem.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Yeah, I don’t, and my work has turned out fine.”

My jaw almost unhinged. “Because I give you all the answers!”

“No you don’t. You refuse to give them to me!”

“Because that’s cheating and I am not going to be an accomplice to your crime,” I argued.

He scoffed at me. “It’s not a crime to cheat once in a while.”

“I hope you never get a girlfriend.”

“Jesus H. Christ, you two,” Johnny groaned. “You haven’t even been in the same room for five minutes.”

Both Tadhg and I turned to Johnny. “We don’t need you intruding on our conversation right now, Kavanagh,” I spat, narrowing my eyes on him.

Gibsie chuckled. “Hard to not listen when you’re shouting at each other.”

“We aren’t shouting!” both Tadhg and I said.

“Really,” I heard Joey mutter, throwing away the empty Carpi-Sun pouch AJ had put in his hand.

Tadhg shook his head, turning back to me. “Just ignore them. They make a comment every chance they get.”

I could see a smile sneak up Joey’s face at Tadhg’s words.

We proceeded to work in silence, getting our questions done and out of the way. Joey, Johnny, and Gibsie continued their conversation, lots of it revolving around Johnny’s upcoming rugby season. A few people passed through, mostly Aoife coming into the room to pick up or drop off AJ who had wandered in and out of the kitchen.

Forty minutes into our work session Tadhg threw down his pen, leaning back in his chair.

“I’m done,” he sighed, stretching his arms behind his head.

I let out a relieved sigh.

“With my third question.”

The relief was short lived but brilliant when it was there.

“Then you better get your work finished,” I said, still staring down at the work I had been finishing while I waited for my question.

He rolled his eyes, making no move to continue his work. Instead he leaned back to Joey, Johnny, and Gibsie.

“How long are you gonna stand there? You’ve been here the entire time.”

Johnny shrugged. “How ever long I want. It’s my house.”

“Mine too.” His voice raised at the end like he was questioning if this was his house.

“I’ve been here longer.”

Tadhg chuckled. “Doesn’t matter who’s been here longer, I’m the favorite.”

Gibsie must have taken great offense, gasping. “I am the favorite, not you. I have always been the favorite.”

“No you’re not,” Tadhg and Johnny say.

Joey let out a soft laugh. “At least there’s one thing you two can agree on.”

Thinking about it now this whole situation was strange: sitting in Tadhg Lynch’s house—more formally known as “The Manor”—with Johnny Kavanagh, another rugby lad, and one last boy I assume to be Tadhg’s brother. Along side that, the rest of Tadhg’s family is in the other room chatting away. Their family dynamic is… strange, consisting of mostly light-hearted banter and constant reminders not to swear. From the way I’d seen Tadhg at school I’d never suspect this to be his family. I always thought he saved all his bickering and comebacks for me. But nope, he’s got other people to shoot retorts at. Maybe that’s why he was so quiet some days, all his responses either being saved for his brothers or because he’d used them all up.

I reached over the table, sliding the paper across to see his work. He did, in fact, have three perfectly formatted paragraphs done. I was pleasantly surprised.

“Hey,” Tadhg’s accusatory voice came. “Give me my paper back.”

“It’s our paper,” I muttered, my eyes still skimming over his answers.

Tadhg crossed his arm. “If you want me to get my work done I’ll need that paper.” I looked up, slowly sliding the paper over to him. “Doesn’t look like you’re doing much work either,” he mumbled.

“Sorry that I’ve been doing the other homework that I was hoping to get done while here,” I bit back.

“Doesn’t look like you’ve been doing anything. You’ve still got the same amount of paper stacked there.”

“I have French homework!” I snapped.

Johnny’s head whipped around at my outburst. The words he said were what I expected the least. “You do French too?”

“You do French?” Tadhg asked, genuinely taken aback by this information.

I nodded. “Yeah.”

He studied me for a moment, looking me over. “You don’t look like you’d do French.”

“Well, I do.”

Tadhg raised his brows. “How much do you know?”

I mulled over my response in my head. “Suffisamment.”

His brows furrowed. “Huh?”

“Suffisamment,” I said again, much slower this time. “J'en sais assez pour parler à quelqu'un.”

“I don’t like this.” Tadhg looked confused, scared, and frustrated. “Why are you talking like that.”

I shrugged. “Parce que je peux.”

✎ᝰ.

“Stop talking in French!” Tadhg screeched, voice cracking.

I couldn’t hold back my laughter, my head falling against the table. For the past twenty minutes Tadhg had actually done his work. But for each question he asked I answered in French. For the craic.

Lifting my head I stared at his reddening face. “Fine, fine, I’ll stop.”

He sighed. “Jesus fucking Christ, thank you.”

“Actually,” I said. With a mischievous smirk, I said my final French words. “Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir?”

Johnny, again, whipped his head around to look at me, eye bulging out of his head. Joey beside him seemed to have caught onto what I’d said too, a smirk tilting the corner of his lips. Gibsie, the last of them, stood just as confused as Tadhg sat across from me.

“What does that mean!” he shouted. “Why do you keep talking in French?! What does any of this mean?”

Giggles slipped out of me again, becoming too overwhelming to hold back as my head fell into my arms on the table. Through my laughter I could still hear Tadhg asking the lads behind him if they could tell him what I’d said. There was nothing but laughter from their end too. Expect for one.

“I don’t get it either,” Gibsie chimed in. “What does it mean?”

No one answered.

“Cap, if you don’t tell me I’ll say it to Mammy K and figure out what it means then.”

Lifting my head I caught sight of Joey’s face buried in his hands, Johnny in a similar situation beside him.

Through laughs Johnny said, “You go do that, Gibs, see if you make it out alive.”

“I’ll go with too, then,” Tadhg said, his chair screeching as he sent it backward.

“No,” Joey laughed. “Tadhg, let Gussie suffer by himself, please.”

Gibsie’s hurried steps through the revolving door suddenly stopped. “Is it something really bad?”

Johnny, Joey, and I shared some secret message. “No,” Johnny said. “Trust me lad, it’s really funny actually.”

“Will I impress her? Shoot my shot—“

“Don’t hit on my mother.”

Frowning Gibsie resumed his steps through the doorway. Everyone in the room stayed quiet, ear-wigging on the conversation between Edel and Gibsie. He repeated my words back to her, a deafening silence following.

“No,” she finally said. “No, Gibsie, no.”

“What?” Gibsie’s confused voice came.

I didn’t know what face she was making, but I assumed Edel was making the same face as when Ollie and Sean first acknowledge me in the car.

“That’s highly inappropriate, Gerard.”

“But Johnny told me to say it!” he whined.

I could feel Edel’s mother aura radiating through the walls, hands firmly on her hips and shaking her head. “Tell him to come in here.”

Everyone looked to Johnny like the teacher got a call to send him to the office. Just without the ooos and ahhhs.

Minute after minute passed of Johnny and Gibsie’s absence, the sound of Edel’s authoritarian voice drowning out the two when they tried to speak.

When Johnny and Gibsie finally came back Johnny made a bee-line for Tadhg. He leaned down, whispering something he thought I couldn’t hear.

“You can one-hundred percent have your friend over again.”

✎ᝰ.

Another hour later and the bulk of the work had been done. Joey, Johnny, and Gibsie had finally made their exit after Tadhg continually harassed Gibsie to which he stormed out. Since our work had been finished our conversation had gotten juristically off topic.

“So what’s up with Alison and that lad you were with?” I said, shifting into gossip gear.

Tadhg’s eyes looked up from his phone. “Parker?”

I deadpanned. “I would’ve used his name if I knew it.”

He rolled his eyes in typical Tadhg fashion.

“What was going on outside, like? With the shirt and shit.”

Laughing Tadhg said what I was least expecting. “He knows what she does with her shirt because he’s the only one who’s seen her with it off.”

My eyes widened. “What?”

“Well, they’ve been riding each other a while actually. A few months.”

My eyebrows raised. “Really…”

He nodded proudly. “Yep. Started at one of the parties at the pavilion and haven’t stopped since.”

“What do you mean ‘haven’t stopped since’?” My fingers flexed in air quotes.

A mischievous smirk crawled up his lips. “Every moment they can. In a car, at school, at mass—“

“That’s disgusting,” I cringed.

Shrugging, Tadhg stretched his arms behind his head again. “I would too if I could.”

“Jesus fuck, you’re that horny?”

His eyes trailed over me for a moment. “If I had a girlfriend I would be.”

“Reason number two as to why you shouldn’t ever get a girlfriend,” I grumbled.

The smile never left Tadhg’s face even as I started to work on the essay, his eyes never leaving me either.

✎ᝰ.

Throwing my hands up I let out one final sigh.

“Thank the Lord, I am done!”

Tadhg’s eyes shifted, relief and achievement evident. “That’s a wrap, I guess.”

“Fucking finally.”

Suddenly, Edel popped her head into the room. “Have you finished?”

We both nodded, eyes drawn from each other’s.

She smiled. “Just in time for dinner! We ordered some pizza.”

The idea was nice, eating pizza here with the rest of the Kavanagh/Lynch household, conversation and laughter heard from miles away. But as I glanced at the clock in my phone the idea didn’t seem possible. It was already almost seven o’clock and I promised my mam I’d be home by seven-thirty.

Guilt flooded me. “Sorry, Mrs. Kavanagh, but I told my mam I’d be back home by seven-thirty.”

Disappointment flashed across Tadhg’s face, looking between me and his mam as if she could change my mother’s mind. She most definitely couldn’t, stubborn she is.

“That’s a shame, pet,” Edel’s voice was laced with sympathy. “Who’s taking you home?”

That was something I hadn’t thought about. “Maybe because you brought me here you could bring me back…?”

Silence took the room for a moment, waiting for an answer from Edel. “Sure thing, love.”

The sigh Tadhg let out was a mixture of relief and, yet again, disappointment.

“Well, if you’re meant to be home in forty-five minutes I suggest we get moving!” Edel disappeared from the doorway, never entering the room like everyone else had.

I started to pack my things while Tadhg left his stuff laying out. He didn’t leave the room at all, just sat and watched as each of my million highlighters fell into my pencil case.

The sudden sound of his voice caught me off guard. “So, you actually use all of those highlighters?”

My gaze flicked up to him. “Yeah.”

“You don’t have a single one to spare?” There wasn’t an ounce of hesitance in his voice. Two hours ago he had been making fun of my collection and now he was asking for one?

“For you… maybe.”

With the corner of his lips twitching up Tadhg reached over the table to grab my pencil case, sifting through and pulling out one of the highlighters. It was a muted teal, one of my favorites. But he didn’t allow me to protest, just pocketing the item without even saying thank you. Smug smirk and a boosted ego, Tadhg exited the revolving door. When I finally had my things put away I followed out the same way, passing the lively sitting room. Slipping my shoes on I walked to the car with headlights blinding, Tadhg only a few feet in front of me.

Instead of fighting for the passenger seat Tadhg climbed into the back, leaving the door open.

For me.

The invitation made me hesitate but I accepted anyway because it would be strange for me to sit up front again without it being a request from Edel. I climbed in beside Tadhg, setting my bag on the floor. The ride was quiet, only the radio Edel had put on making any noise. Because of the quickly passing autumn, the sun kept setting earlier and earlier, plunging us into darkness at the lack of street lights along the long, straight road from the Kavanagh’s into town. Throughout the ride I could hear the clicking of Tadhg uncapping and capping the highlighter shoved in his pocket.

When we finally pulled up outside my house I studied the state of it. All the lights had been shut off except for the glowing TV in the sitting room. I threw my goodbyes and thank yous to Edel as I walked up. Unexpectedly, Tadhg jogged out in front of me, walking a few paces ahead.

“I’ll walk you up,” he muttered, not turning back to look.

Walking up the garden path, Tadhg stood still in front of the door making no move to say goodbye or allow me to leave. He simply tilted his head, a small smile gracing his lips.

“I’ll be seeing you?”

It was more of a request than an actual question. But I wasn’t mad with my answer.

“Sure.”

✎ᝰ.

a/n: it took me like three days to write this and it was longer than I expected. The ending might seem kinda rushed but that’s because I wrote it during the day rather than at night when I do my best work 😏 anyway, hope y’all enjoy and i’ll pray i keep writing. I was looking back at my drafts and saw something that caught my attention so maybe I’ll pick that up