Dominic Read online

  I rolled my eyes. "I wasn't goin' to hit 'em with it," I lied.

  I was going to hit him with it. Probably not that hard, but I was still going to hit him with it nonetheless.

  "Why are you holdin' it like a weapon then?" the sir asked me with a raised eyebrow.

  I shrugged then grunted, "He is in me seat! Tell 'em to move."

  The sir sighed and turned around. "That's Bronagh's worktop - wait, are you new here, son?"

  "Son?" I spluttered. "Don't call 'em that, he is a gobshite-"

  "Bronagh!" the sir cut me off in a low warning tone.

  Some of the lads in the class cracked up at what I said while I fumed in silence.

  "Yes, sir, I'm new. I just started today," Nico replied.

  The sir looked around to me with raised eyebrows. "You were goin' to attack a new student?" he questioned.

  Would I be in less trouble if I attacked an old one?

  "I don't like him," I replied, making the sir sigh and shake his head while pinching the bridge of his nose.

  "That doesn't mean you can attack 'em, Bronagh."

  I grunted and glowered over that fact. "I know, the school rules are stupid."

  The sir looked like he was fighting off a smile before he turned and put his back to me again.

  "What's your name, son?" he asked.

  I huffed.

  "Nico," Fuckface replied.

  I inwardly snorted, I liked calling him Fuckface instead of Nico.

  "What's that short for?" the sir asked, curiously.

  "Dominic, but everyone just calls me Nico. I prefer it that way," Dominic replied.

  Everyone might call him Nico, and he might prefer it that way, but I wasn't everyone so if I ever had to address him, it would be as Dominic or Fuckface. Most likely the latter.

  "Well, it's very nice to meet you Nico but this here is usually just Bronagh's worktop. But you can have the other end of the table since she has this one to herself."

  "No!" I shouted at the same time Dominic said, "Thanks, sir."

  This could not be happening!

  "Sir, that's not fair, I've never had to share me worktop with anyone. I like havin' it to meself, you know that," I wailed.

  The sir sighed when he turned to face me. "I know, kiddo, but all the other worktops are filled since I'm repairin' the two near the doorway."

  I folded my arms. "This is fuckin' bullshit," I muttered.

  The sir grinned - he was great like that, he never cared about students cursing - and patted me on the back. "Put your earphones in and you will be grand, kiddo."

  I huffed when the sir moved away.

  "Are you finished with your little temper tantrum, sweetie?" Fuckface asked me, grinning.

  I glared at him as I placed my sander on my worktop then pressed my hands down next to it and leaned forward. "Listen to me, you annoyin' little prick. I don't like you and want you to stay the fuck away from me, otherwise I'll imbed this sander into your stupid lookin' skull. Are we clear on that, Dominic?" I snarled, my voice ice-cold.

  Dominic's lip twitched as he looked me up and down like he was assessing me. "Crystal clear," he replied when his grey eyes landed on mine.

  "Good, now fuckin' move," I hissed.

  I was a little shocked that I was so angry; the only other person who could get to me that easily without actually doing much was Jason Bane. He was the main pretty boy in this school and had always been a dick to me. He was currently on holiday somewhere in Australia and had been for the entire summer. He wouldn't get back until late September, the end of this month. It had been the best summer and start of the school year without him around to bully me. He was an evil, good-looking bastard, and the fact that this Dominic prick might be an American version of Jason scared the hell out of me.

  I thought this over while I waited for Dominic to move to the other end of the worktop. I put my earphones in and turned my music back on when he was away from me. I could feel his eyes on me, probably to try and annoy me but little did he know that I was very good at ignoring people.

  After the first five minutes of not getting a response from me, he got bored, I knew this because he got up and went over to the sir. I looked up as the sir was pointing out some different wood materials to Dominic, and I knew he was about to get started on his first project. This pleased me, hopefully he would keep busy and stay away from me.

  It was the end of second period when I finished sanding down all my pieces to Branna's new makeup compartment box. It was going to be big with lots of spacious compartments. Branna had a lot of makeup so she would be delighted with it.

  I took my base pieces and moved over to the glue gun station. I picked up a glue gun, grabbed a new glue stick, fitted it into the back of the gun then switched it on. I waited two minutes for the gun to heat up and melt the glue stick. I aligned my pieces how I wanted them to be, then generously applied glue to the wood, carefully placing the pieces together.

  I put the glue gun down and stepped back, looking over my piece. I bent forward and pressed down hard on the wood, forcing any air bubbles out from between the wood's open spaces and used my free hand to get a piece of card to swipe the now lukewarm excess glue away. I did this for about twenty seconds, then got some used sandpaper from my worktop to go over some of the areas that I had missed. While doing this I felt like I was being watched so when I glanced over my shoulder, I was startled when I found that some of the lads in the class were looking at me. Some looked amused while others were grinning at Dominic, who was grinning at me.

  "What's so funny?" I asked when I took out my earphones.

  "Nothin'," the lads who were looking at me said in unison, and then turned back to their work.

  That obviously meant something, so I looked at Dominic.

  "What did you do, Fuckface?"

  Dominic dropped his jaw a little at my insult before composing himself. "Fuckface? That's sort of mean, Bronagh."

  I narrowed my eyes. "What did you do, Dominic?" I repeated through gritted teeth.

  Dominic smirked and said, "I just took a picture."

  I mentally counted to ten. "A picture of what?" I eventually asked.

  "I'm not saying. I'll be a real ass if I do," Dominic replied, snickering.

  I balled my hands into fists and contemplated hitting him, but I instead put my earphones back in and ignored him. I knew he took a picture of my arse; it was obvious with what he said and the way the lads were chuckling and grinning at him. I forced myself not to care though.

  Fuck him and fuck this school day.

  It was turning out to be a bitch of one!

  "What the hell has been up your arse all week, Bronagh?" Branna's voice shouted at the same time my covers were violently torn from my body.

  I jolted awake and groaned out in tiredness and annoyance.

  I just wanted to be left alone in peace so I could sleep!

  "Branna, piss off, I'm sleepin' here!" I snapped into my pillow, keeping my eyes tightly closed.

  I felt a whack on my arse, which made me scream, and caused me to jump upright to my feet, so that I was standing on my bed. "That's child abuse!" I shouted to Branna, who stood at the end of my bed with her arms folded and her eyes narrowed at me.

  Shite.

  She didn't look amused in the slightest.

  I did something wrong.

  "What did I do? Why are you in here wakin' me up and hittin' me? I'm your little sister you shouldn't-"

  "Save it, I heard you this mornin', turnin' off your alarm and goin' back to bed. You ditched school today and that is not cool, not cool at all. You have been a walkin' hormone since you came home from school on Monday. What is wrong with you?"

  I groaned, not wanting to explain why I've been off all week.

  "Nothin', I just don't feel good today."

  I wasn't telling her the full truth. I really didn't feel very good, but the entire truth was that I didn't want to go to school today because I didn't want to deal with another day
of Dominic while I felt ill. If Branna knew that he was bullying me, she would call the school and demand a meeting, which would embarrass me. Or she would find out where Dominic lived and murder him. And that would leave me homeless since she technically owned our house and paid for everything. Plus killing Dominic would land her arse in Mountjoy Prison and I would be left all on my own.

  "I'll let it slide this once because you're always in school but in the future, tell me if you're sick, okay? I'll make a doctor's appointment for you."

  I shook my head. "I'm due my monthly, I think that's what has me sore and cranky."

  I was due my period but what had me all wound up was an American dickhead named Dominic. After that first meeting at school Monday morning, he made it his personal mission to get as close to me as he could throughout the school week, because he knew how much I hated it. I even slapped him across the face on Wednesday when he grabbed my arse. He said there was a spider on it, and he was just wiping it off for me.

  It was utter bullshit, and he knew it. He fucking squeezed my arse cheek to the point of pain, and that's why he had a grin on his face while pretending to be a do-gooder. Yeah, I was really grateful, so grateful that I left a pretty decent handprint on his cheek that was visible for the rest of the day which had him grumbling and his brother grinning.

  Speaking of his brother, it turned out that Damien was the polar opposite of Dominic; he was nice and didn't piss me off. I got paired with him for a science experiment and during that class he apologised for Dominic's behaviour and kindly asked me not to follow-through on any plans I might have formed to murder him, because he liked him alive and breathing, but only a little.

  He was extremely flirtatious, but I paid him no mind and just focused on the project we had together. He seemed to get that I wasn't interested in flirting or talking with him at all. He didn't even try after the first few minutes of getting no response from me, which I silently celebrated over. Now, if only his brother gave up as easily, then I would be on cloud nine.

  Branna's loud snort pulled me from my thoughts and caused me to look at her.

  "What?"

  "Nothin'," she chuckled. "Just thinkin' of you bein' in labour with a baby. You wouldn't be able to handle any aspect of childbirth if you can't handle period pains."

  I rolled my eyes. "Oh and you are such an expert on childbirth?"

  Uh, stupid question.

  "No, but compared to you on the subject I am an expert. I am a medical student studyin' to be a midwife, after all. I'm in my fourth year, which means I get to be present in the delivery room now while women give birth so I can get a proper understandin' of what I'm goin' to be doin' when I graduate."

  I shivered. "You're so nasty, you actually want to look at a ten pound ham comin' out of a vagina!"

  Branna burst out laughing. "Don't call a baby a ham, you bitch!"

  I shivered again and groaned before I scrubbed my face a few times with my hands. "Now I'm picturin' someone givin' birth, I hate you!"

  Branna burst out laughing again, then moved to my window and opened my curtains, making me hiss at the sunlight that streamed into my room.

  "Get up and get dressed, vampire. Since you aren't in school you can do the shoppin' while I'm at the hospital workin'."

  That was fair.

  "Are you at the hospital all day?"

  When Branna wasn't in college doing a million assignments, writing essay papers, or studying for crazy hard tests, she was at the maternity hospital volunteering. All medical students in her chosen field had to volunteer so many hours to get some live experience of childbirth. It's not required that she get paid, because she has to volunteer for experience, but her hospital did pay her. It wasn't much but it was enough for us to live on. We didn't really need Branna's wages to get by. We still had lots of money left to us by our parents, which would get us by until Branna became a midwife and had a steady income. Once I finished my final year in school and graduated, I'd get a summer job that would hopefully roll into a permanent job by the time I started college so that I didn't have to leech off Branna for everything.

  "Yeah, I get to see babies come into the world today, isn't that brilliant?" Branna beamed and clapped her hands together, getting my attention again.

  I gave her a deadpanned look making her snort. "Well, okay, I know you don't like it because you flip out at stuff like what I do but just think, one day you will be givin' birth, and I could be helpin' you deliver!"

  Branna sounded way too excited about that thought.

  "I will never have children! Why have kids only to worry about their health and safety for the rest of your life? That's way too much stress for me to deal with, thank you very much."

  Branna rolled her eyes. "Someone is going to change your way of thinkin' one day, little sister. I won't be the only person you love and care for. Someone will claw their way into that boxed off heart of yours and set up camp for the long haul, and there won't be a thing you can do about it."

  "Don't threaten me!" I snapped.

  Branna laughed and asked, "Wishin' you find love is a threat?"

  "Yes!"

  "Bronagh, you really need to get out more."

  I rolled my eyes but decided to humour her. "Okay, sis, I'll make a start on findin' love by goin' to the supermarket and doin' the shoppin'. You never know, I might find him in the poultry aisle."

  Branna laughed while shaking her head at me. "Wow, great start," she said sarcastically before giving me a wink and leaving my room.

  I rolled my eyes heavenward and fell backwards onto my bed. Groaning, I closed my eyes. I stayed that way for so long that I eventually dozed back off, and when I awoke it wasn't so bright out anymore. I checked the clock in my room and saw it read 4:32 p.m. I yawned and got up from my bed and stretched; I held my belly when light cramp pains attacked. I went into the bathroom and groaned. Sure enough, my period had arrived as predicted. I got cleaned up, washed, and dressed before heading downstairs to take some painkillers.

  Branna had already left for work hours ago and had left the shopping list I needed on the counter along with cash to pay for the items. I tucked the list and money into my jeans, and then plaited my hair back out of my face.

  I didn't bother with putting makeup on because I felt like shite and would be going to bed when I got home anyway, so I left the house barefaced. I put my earphones in my ears as I walked down the street and hit shuffle on my iTouch.

  I passed two people on the pathway, but if I passed more I didn't notice because I was too busy taking in the stunning view I had on my left. I sighed a little, living on the bottom side of the Dublin Mountains really did have its perks. I would never tire of the view it offered; the mountain cliffs, the trails, the multiple shades of green, the huge trees, and of course, a few sheep off in the distance. Content and happy I looked away from my left and glanced to my right, which only deepened my feeling of happiness. To my left I had a mountain view and to my right, a town view.

  My housing estate was higher up than the rest of the estates in my area because we were right on the mountain side. That meant I overlooked the entire town which was brilliant. I never usually thought where I lived was beautiful, but it was, once you looked hard enough.

  My walk to Citywest Shopping Centre was a quick one and before I knew it, I was in Dunnes Stores walking around pushing a trolley. I took out the list Branna made and began picking up the items she wrote down. I added some cookies and other treats into the trolley, because it was that time of the month, and I needed them.

  I was bending down to get the triple chocolate cookies - best cookies ever - on the bottom shelf. I had to go down on my knees, because there were only two packets left, and they were at the very back. I got them though, and when I stood up and turned to toss them in my trolley I froze mid-step.

  "What the fuck are you doin' here?" I growled.

  Dominic Slater's smirking face morphed into a smiling one. "What do you think I'm doing in a grocery store? Takin
g a shower?"

  I pulled a face at him. "It's called a supermarket, you bloody eejit," I said coolly before moving towards my trolley.

  Dominic stepped in front of me, blocking my way.

  I blew out a big breath. "Move. Now!"

  "Why weren't you in school today?" he asked, ignoring my demand.

  He noticed I wasn't in today?

  Probably because he had no one else to bully since I wasn't there.

  "I'm sick," I said and tried to get around him once more.

  He blocked my way again by stepping to the same side as me at the same time.

  "You don't look sick," he commented.

  I glared at him.

  "Shows how much you know, doesn't it?" I growled.

  I hunched forward a little when pressure erupted across my lower abdomen and caused me immense pain.

  "Dominic, move out of me way!"

  "Are you going to puke?" he asked, still blocking my way.

  "Yeah, I'm goin' to puke, and I'm aimin' for you so move!" I warned.

  Dominic snorted. "Nah, you don't look like you will be sick. You're obviously having stomach pain though."

  "Thank you for that observation doctor Fuckface, now move!" I spat.

  Dominic laughed at me then glanced to my hands. "I'll happily move… when you give me those cookies."

  I cuddled the cookies to my chest as I would with a newly born infant.

  "No fuckin' way, I got them first!"

  Dominic rolled his eyes. "They are mostly likely the last triple chocolate cookies in the entire store since you had to get them from the very back of the shelf. If you want me to move, then you will give them to me."

  "They were the last two packets in the shop, but I'm not givin' you either of them, and if you don't move I'll scream rape and have you arrested!" I warned.

  He tipped his head back and laughed, so I took the opportunity and manoeuvred around him. I used one hand to hold the cookies to my chest and the other to grab my trolley.

  "Oh, no you don't!"

  When I felt hands come around my stomach from behind, I almost died.

  He was touching me!

  Dominic Slater had his hands on my stomach and had his body pressed into my back.