Teagan
I woke up late for school with the headache from hell, a ponging taste in my mouth – you know the one you get when you've swallowed a spider in your sleep – and a serious case of the where-the-hell-am-I's.
I felt grimy from the unnaturally warm weather. My stomach was up in a heap and my freaking mind wouldn't slow down. I hoped these were first-day-of-school symptoms and not a personality trait I was developing because I was so not enjoying this anxious version of me.
"Help me…I've broken all my insides…I wanna feel you from the inside…penetrate you…"
Ugh. The sound of uncle's cringe-worthy singing voice boomed through my ears, causing me to shudder in shame.
At fifty-six, my American-blooded uncle Maximus Jones–aka Max – had two great loves in life. His work and his niece – me.
We'd been together since I was fourteen and my parents were involved in an accident on the way home from a night out in the city.
Uncle Max immediately resigned from his job in the states and made the move to the emerald isle to look after me when mom died and dad was charged with drunk-driving causing a fatality.
I'd only visited my father a handful of times since mom's funeral. The last time I'd visited Dad was back in May, the day before we left. He was still a broken mess, three years later, and that was about it.
In some ways I felt incredibly sorry for my father, but a huge chunk of me felt it was only fair he still suffered.
After all he was the one who decided to take the risk and drive under the influence. He was the one who'd taken my mother away from me. I couldn't get over that part and a four year prison sentence wouldn't bring my mom back.
But Uncle Max had been wonderful during that period of my life and had made the grieving period as easy as possible for me. He accepted a position in the A&E unit in Galway and took over the lease on my parents' house in Headford, so I was able to attend the same school and be in familiar settings.
I always thought that was a pretty awesome thing to do for someone; to just get up and go when someone needed you. But Mom and Max had been incredibly close.
Mom, being twelve years younger, had been practically raised by Max until she married Dad and moved to Galway, so I figured looking out for her daughter was Max's way of taking care of his sister.
They had two more brothers, Dixon and Moe, but neither mom nor Max had ever said much about them – just that they were twins and lived somewhere in the states.
So yeah, Max was home – home to watch my epic-fail of a first day at school.
Rolling out of bed, I stretched lazily before making my way to the bathroom for a shower.
Scrubbing my skin until I felt raw, I then washed my hair before grabbing my toothbrush and squirting a healthy dollop of toothpaste on it.
Yeah, it was a disgusting thing to do in the shower, and it wasn't something I made a real habit of doing, but I was short on time and I liked to improvise.
I dried off in record time before dressing in a pair of stone-washed denim shorts, a plain white t-shirt, and black chucks.
Not bothering to blow-dry my hair, I towel-dried it as best I could and let it hang loose down my back. The fresh air on my walk to school could dry it, not that I was bothered about it either way.
"Good morning, my favorite niece…" Uncle Max's voice trailed off the second I stepped into the kitchen and his gaze met mine.
His pale green eyes narrowed as he scrutinized my appearance with one of his 'what the hell happened to you' looks.
"Don't start," I mumbled as I shuffled over to the fridge. "It's too damn early for niceties." The dark bags under my eyes were no doubt what had caught my uncle's attention.
"Have I missed something?" he asked, eyeing me suspiciously.
Adjusting the cufflinks on his shirt, Max straightened his tie – all while keeping his eyes locked on my face. "You didn't sneak out and go clubbing after I went to bed last night, did you?"
I snorted loudly and rolled my eyes as I slugged some orange juice from the carton. "No need to sneak out," I muttered in a sullen tone before placing the juice back in the fridge. "Not when the club comes to us."
Max frowned. "I'm not following you, Teegs."
"The noise-whores next door?" I stared meaningfully at my uncle.
He stared blankly back at me.
"Tell me you heard them last night?" The fact that they'd been up most of the night pumping music was the reason I was currently in sleep mode and late for my first day. "I can't stand them, Max," I added sullenly. "They're making my life hell."
"You need to stop the bickering with those kids next-door," he mumbled before taking a sip of his coffee. "Stop looking for problems. You said it yourself, you have ten months left here and then you're going home."
"Your point?" I asked dryly.
"My point is get on with it. If the neighbors throw a party then pop some earphones on," he said briskly before running a hand through his brownish-gray hair. "Don't vandalize their cars with paint," he added with a chuckle.
I hissed out a breath and grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl. "Easy for you to say…ugh." I eyed my school bag like the devil it was before begrudgingly hoisting it onto my shoulder.
"I'm heading for my slaughter," I said with a dramatic sigh. "Wish me luck."
"You don't need it," he called out before adding. "I'm working a double shift at the hospital, so I doubt I'll be…"
"Home," I finished for him. He doubted he'd be home tonight.
Yep, that sounded about right.
****
I always used to like my car, my little three door, bright red Honda Civic, but I hadn't driven it since my fight with Noah last weekend.
Max had replaced the windshield, but I was more concerned about my brakes – and the very strong chance Noah could've tampered with them.
Maybe I was thinking the worst of him, but it was better to be safe than sorry, therefore my shoes were my current method of transportation.
Closing out my front door, I popped my earphones in my ears, stashed my keys in my pocket, and switched my phone onto music-mode before setting out on the route Uncle Max showed me.
Rounding the corner of my house, I pulled my straps tighter on my back and mentally fist-thumped along to Taylor Swift's Shake it off – a damn good song to listen to before starting at a new school.
One minute I was shaking it off with Taylor and the next I was being mauled by a bear.
A big huge brown bear that knocked me flat on my back and decided to maul me to death with his tongue – guess I wasn't lightening on my feet. "Ouch."
Did bears lick?
Play dead, Teagan, play dead. Bears don't eat dead people...
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry," a soft feminine voice cried out seconds before the weight of the bear was removed from my chest.
Blinking a few times to clear my vision, I adjusted my eyes to the brightness of the sun above me before focusing on the curly haired woman kneeling over me.
"Bear," I managed to croak out. "Run."
The woman smiled and let out a small laugh. "No, not a bear, I promise. Just my dog, Ralph."
Well hell…I'd been sure it was a bear.
"Here, let me help you up," she added and her voice was deceptively soft and…southern? She didn't sound like the other neighbors – namely the evil duo next-door.
Dazed and confused I grasped the hand of this stranger and staggered to my feet. "I thought he was a bear." I eyed the huge Great Dane currently sniffing my shoes. "He's big enough to be one."
Now I was no Naomi Campbell myself, 5'5" thank you very much, but the woman in front of me was tiny, so why in god's name did she feel the need to own a dog that reached her bellybutton in height?
"He's truly very friendly," she said as her cheeks reddened from the effort of keeping ahold of Ralph's leash. Tucking a loose curl behind her ear, she stretched her hand out to me and smiled shyly.
My gaze locked on the scar distorting what would have been a truly beautiful face and my gut reaction was to touch my own cheek in reassurance.
She smiled knowingly at my discomfort. "I'm Lee Carter. Welcome to the Thirteenth Street."
As in Mr. Carter's wife?
"Teagan Connelly," I mumbled, shaking her outstretched hand as I studied the little woman in front of me. How the hell was she the mother of those giants across the street?
"It's great to see number fifty-eight occupied again," Lee added. "It was such a shame when the Valentine's moved back to Idaho."
Her gaze darkened and my curiosity piqued. "Who?"
"Oh, the family who used to live there," she said with a blush. "Are you starting school today?"
"Yeah, first day as the new girl," I chuckled. "Should be fun."
"What grade?"
"Sixth year." She looked at me in confusion and I blushed. "Senior year," I amended.
It was going to take me the whole bloody year to work out the difference in our way of saying things and by then I'd be on a flight back to Shannon. "Lucky me."
"My daughter Hope is in your grade – although you haven't met her yet," Lee said with a smile. "We just got back last night. We've been out of state visiting family for most of the summer."
"Oh cool, I …ah met the rest of your family last weekend." Shifting awkwardly I added. "I meant to stop by and thank Mr. Carter again for what he did – he kinda saved my butt with the next-door neighbors."
I wrinkled my nose in distaste and liked my new neighbor even more when she did the same.
"Ellie and Noah." Lee nodded wisely as if she felt my pain. "Hope and Ellie have been at each other's throats since freshman year," she mused. "Noah's so different to her …troubled."
I raised my brows in distaste. "Oh he's trouble alright…"
"Mom."
A male voice bellowed and my attention immediately fell on the huge man-child walking down the Carter's driveway.
"That douchebag fucked with the shower on purpose. The water's off and I'm cold, I'm wet, I'm fucking late for school and I'm covered in some pink shit that I can only describe as Hope's lip-gloss."
Which Carter brother was he again? I could barely tell them apart…
"Did you ask him nicely?" Lee asked what appeared to be her son. Her son on steroids.
Holy hell. What was in the water around here? Were all the guys in Boulder this…buff?
"Yes," the man-child – the seriously sculpted, half-naked, wrapped-in-a-teeny-tiny-towel man-child – called back sarcastically. "But I'm afraid I don't speak horse."
Man-child's attention fell on me and he grinned unabashedly at me.
"How's my Galway girl?" he purred with a wink and I immediately remembered which Carter boy I was looking at.
He was the slutty brother.
"Hey Cameron," I said with a small wave as I mentally scolded myself for giving him that piece of information. I especially regretted it when he began to sing Galway girl at the top of his voice, wrapped in a towel, in his driveway.
"This is bad," Lee muttered under her breath before glancing nervously at me. "Last time this happened I had to take Cam to the emergency department. Colton switched his body lotion with baby-oil." Lee winced. "It was awful," she whispered. "He slipped and broke his nose on the side of the bathtub."
I struggled to keep a straight face when I nodded and said, "That must've been awkward."
"Tell me about it." Lee sighed heavily. "I could barely look the doctor in the face when I arrived back to the hospital less than two hours later with a different son – Cam broke Colt's nose in retaliation."
"Yeah," Cam snapped, suddenly serious again as he stalked over to where we were standing and took the bear – dog's – leash out of his mother's hand, before pressing a kiss to her cheek.
"Glad you're home, mom," he grumbled as he sauntered back towards his house with Ralph. "But here's a little warning, you're gonna be minus a son if he doesn't turn it back on."
Lee sighed wearily before shaking her head and following her son back to the house.
"Oh, have a nice first day at school, honey," she called out.
I should have felt creeped out that Lee Carter was calling me honey having met me less than five minutes ago, but there was something about her. Warmth oozed from her and I found myself grinning like an idiot and waving back at her.
****