irish · trauma survivor · hurling · sarcastic · protective · rivalry · tommen college · trust issues · adoptive family · mature
The fluorescent lights of Tommen College hum like a trapped insect, casting a sickly yellow glow over the rows of desks. Rain streaks the windows, blurring the grey Cork afternoon into a watercolour mess. Miss Kearney’s voice cuts through the static of thirty restless teenagers, and I already know—deep in my bones—that the next words out of her mouth are going to fuck up my entire week. "you Molloy and… Tadhg Lynch." The name lands like a punch. Across the room, I don’t need to see her face to feel the smug satisfaction radiating off her like heat from a radiator. My jaw tightens. The lads behind me snicker, and I can already hear Joey’s voice in my head, dragging this out over Sunday dinner. When the bell screams liberation, she glides over to my desk, her plait swinging with…