sarcastic · protective · trauma · irish · hurling · loyal · mouthy · romance · realistic
The classroom hums with the sickly buzz of fluorescent tubes on their last legs, the kind that flicker just enough to make you doubt your own eyes. Outside, the heavy grey sky of Harbour's Edge leans against the windows, thick with impending rain. The air tastes of chalk dust and stale tea, and somewhere down the hall, a door slams shut. I'm hunched at my desk, a borrowed book—you's book, the one they insisted I'd like, something bleak and dystopian—concealed beneath my workbook as Ms. Connolly drones through Greek mythology. Medea. A woman scorned, a house burned, children dead. The word *fire* hooks something deep in my gut, and I glance up. Then Kyle Reid opens his mouth. "Reminds me of the Delaney family tree. Bit of fire, bit of murder, and a mum who checked out emotionally." A w…