“I think I saw a movie by that title once,” he said thoughtfully.
I rolled my eyes. “Very funny. Where do you normally live?”
“Nowhere. I move around a lot.”
“Like a gypsy?”
He shook his head. “I prefer hotels.”
“I’ve never stayed in a hotel,” I admitted. Whenever Dad had taken me on holiday, we’d either stayed in B&Bs or rental cottages. We were usually on a budget, and he also tended to prefer a more laid-back setting.
“No?” he said, pulling a cigarette packet from his jeans and lighting up. “I like it when they put those little mints on the pillow. Makes me feel all special. Wait and see. One day, you’ll be setting up for bed in a hotel, and you’ll see the tiny mint, and you’ll say to yourself, Noah was right. I do feel special.”
I stared at him, one eyebrow arching. “You’re a bit weird, aren’t you?”
He took a drag and exhaled, the acrid smoke hitting my nostrils as he held up his thumb and forefinger. “Just a bit.” The barest hint of a smirk shaped his lips.
A moment of quiet passed while Noah went on smoking, and I went on eating my breakfast. I heard stirrings of movement come from Vee’s room above our heads and grimaced. The beast had awoken. Vee rarely slept, maybe four or five hours a night max. It was why she always had greyish bags under her eyes.
“You don’t like my sister much, do you?” Noah observed, and I blinked at him.
I hesitated on how to answer before deciding to go with honesty. “If my life were a fairy tale, your sister would be the evil queen hellbent on destroying my happiness.”
Noah tilted his head, a flicker of curiosity in his gaze. I immediately regretted my words. Would he tell Vee I’d said that?
“Don’t repeat that to Vee. If you do, she’ll make me do something awful like clip her toenails or clean out the chimney,” I pleaded, eyes wide.
Noah cocked his head to the side. “Don’t you do those things anyway?” he asked with a hint of challenge. The rest of his statement was inferred: You’re Vee’s bitch. I’ve barely been here a day, and even I can see it.
I didn’t like the implication I was weak. Something deep within me recoiled at the idea. But it was the truth. I was Vee’s lackey, and as long as I was still at school and in need of a roof over my head, I had no choice but to continue being one. I turned and dumped the last of my tea in the sink.
“Just don’t tell her, okay? My life already sucks balls. It doesn’t need to suck any more balls, thank you very much.”
His eyes followed me as I picked up my bag and walked to the back door. “You’ve a mouth on you.”
I didn’t reply to him. No doubt he’d come up with some bothersome retort if I did. Instead I left, taking the beach route to school as per usual. Noah’s amused laughter followed in my wake.
2.
“My mam says Vee came to the bar last night with some boy toy and spent nearly two hundred euros on drinks,” Aoife said as we walked to Biology, her eyes as round as saucers.
Aoife’s mam managed O’Hare’s pub in town, which was owned by Matt O’Hare, the loathsome Sally O’Hare’s father. I wasn’t surprised Vee had spent that much though. Her taste in alcohol tended to veer toward the top shelf, and she was well able to put it away.
“That wasn’t a boy toy. That was her brother. His name is Noah.”
“I didn’t know she had a brother.”
I shrugged. “Me neither. She dropped the bomb on me the other day. He’s staying at the house. I, of course, was the one to clean the spare bedroom and make it up for him.”
“You need to stop doing everything for her, Stells. It makes me so angry how she treats you.”
“It makes me angry, too, but I’m not sure she even knows how to be nice. It’s actually kind of fascinating. The woman probably came out of the womb barking orders and scowling at everyone,” I joked half-heartedly, and Aoife shot me a sympathetic look before changing the subject.
“Anyway, what’s the brother like?”
“The jury’s still out. He’s a bit of a mystery,” I answered, not mentioning the strange feeling he gave me deep in my belly. A feeling I couldn’t quite decide was bad or good.
“What does he look like? Mam said he was handsome.”
“He is. He doesn’t look like Vee. The only thing that’s similar is their eyes,” I replied just as Sally O’Hare and her group came toward us.
The moment she spotted me her eyes took on an eager, cruel gleam, and I knew I was in for it. Swallowing thickly, I braced for whatever insult she planned to throw at me. When none came, I was surprised, but a second later it all made sense when I tripped and fell, landing on my hands and knees on the cold linoleum. She’d thrown an empty water bottle at my feet to trip me up. Her bestie, Claire McBride, gave a delighted laugh as they continued down the corridor. A lump formed in my throat as I fought the urge to cry. Aoife helped pull me back to standing, a frown marring her features.