1
I was late for school today, but it wasn't my fault; it was Branna's fault.
Branna was my older sister and became my legal guardian nine years ago when our parents died in a car accident. She was twenty-eight years old while I was pushing eighteen. She might be my guardian, but the girl was all sister when it came to pissing me off. She hogged the bathroom for twenty-five minutes this morning.
Twenty-five f**king minutes!
She was the sole reason I was fifteen minutes late for school and why I looked like shite. I was currently entering the school when the urge to 'fix' myself got the better of me. I paused mid-stride and then turned in the direction of the girl's bathroom. I wasn't one for constantly thinking about my appearance but I did want to be as put together as I could before I went to class.
When I got to the girl's bathroom, I did my business in the toilet and then went to the sink to wash my hands. When I was finished I looked up at the small mirror over the sink and frowned at my appearance. My bright green eyes looked tired, the bags under them proved me correct. I was a bit of a mess today. I didn't have time to do much more than French plait my hip length, chocolate brown hair to keep it under control, then put a few strokes of mascara on each set of long lashes, and brush my damn teeth. My chubby cheeks were red from wind burn, and my usually pale pink lips were a little chapped and puffy. I was pretty sure that if death was a person then that person would resemble me.
I stood up straight and moved to the full-length mirror in the bathroom to stare at myself. I sighed; I was so white I could give Casper a run for his money. I was Irish, and my skin repelled any sort of tanning. Natural tanning anyway. I was probably the only girl in school who didn't put on fake tan and wore makeup that actually matched my skin tone instead of trying to make myself appear darker than I was. Why try to be something I wasn't? I was pasty white with a splash of light freckles across my upper nose and under my eyes. Branna said they made me look adorable and that I should embrace it; so embracing my pasty whiteness and freckles was what I was doing.
I fixed my school skirt, pulled up my stockings, and adjusted my school jumper. I ran my hand over my uniform to smooth it out. I tilted my head to the left as I studied myself. I liked how I looked. I had big h*ps and a small waist; I didn't have a big bust, but I had something else that was huge. I turned to the side and rolled my eyes; if I could change one thing about my body it would be my arse. It was big, and more than a few times I have gotten crude comments about it. It made me mad because it messed with my need to be ignored.
I liked being practically invisible.
I grunted as I left the bathroom and proceeded down the corridor to registration class. It was a stupid class we had every morning; our tutor - the person we went to if we got in trouble or needed the bathroom pass - took attendance and then let us do whatever we wanted for forty minutes until the class was over.
Usually everyone chatted about random stuff, but I didn't have any friends so I just kept to myself. That sounded pathetic, but I really didn't have any friends. It wasn't for lack of trying on my classmates part; it was all down to me really. Ever since my parents died I had been closed off and guarded. I didn't like the idea of getting attached to someone new knowing that they could be taken away from me. That's why I chose not to make friends with anyone in school or anyone at all, it was too risky. Branna said it was stupid and that I couldn't be closed off from people forever, because it wasn't healthy. I got that it was weird - I was weird - for just wanting to be on my own all the time but I was content this way so I didn't let her words get to me.
When I reached my classroom, I opened the door and looked directly at my tutor. "Sorry that I'm late, miss," I said, hoping that I looked like I cared about my tardiness.
My tutor nodded her head to me like I knew she would. I was never late for class, and if I did make it a habit, I doubted she would give me late stamps in my school journal, because she liked me. I was her quietest student.
I moved across the room and, as usual, none of my classmates bothered with me, but for some reason today everyone was very talkative and giddy. It was when I walked towards my desk that I realised why.
I looked to the lads that were seated at my desk; they were identical twins, that much was obvious. One had hair as white as snow while the other had a colour much like my own, dark chocolate brown. I didn't linger on looking at them, because they seemed to be enjoying the suggestive stares of my fellow female classmates, so I kept my eyes down as I neared them.
"That's me desk," I said when I reached them, my tone flat.
The twin with white blond hair made a move to get up but his dark-haired brother, the one who was in my seat, placed a hand on his shoulder halting his movements.
"Your desk? Does it have your name on it or something?" he asked, his eyebrow raised.
His accent made him stick out like a sore thumb, it wasn't Irish. My guess was American, but I didn't ask. I looked up at him and glared. He had grey eyes that looked slightly silver when the light hit them. I inwardly kicked myself for even noticing that about him and refocused. I simply leaned over the table and pointed to the corner of the desk.
"Yeah, it does," I replied as I pointed my name out on the desk.
I had carved it on the desk in first year when I was bored.
"Bro-what?" Dark-haired twin read aloud in a confused tone that made me roll my eyes.
"Bronagh," I said clearly.
I hated when foreign people pronounced my name, they completely butchered it.
"Bro-nah?" Dark twin correctly sounded it out then muttered about the stupidity of the G being silent.
I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, that's me name and it is on my desk as you can clearly see."
The blond twin snorted. "She has you by the balls on that, bro. Let's just move out of this lovely woman's way and sit down in the back row next to the pretty ladies."
The fact that the girls in my class giggled, and the twins grinned over this, made my stomach lurch in disgust. I didn't like pretty boys who were full of themselves; we already had one in this school, and he was an absolute dickhead. We didn't need another one, let alone two more.
The blond twin smiled at me when he stood up, I didn't smile back at him. The dark-haired twin slowly stood up from my seat. He didn't smile at me, he grinned. My glare only caused his grin to turn into a smirk.
"I warmed it up for you." He winked.