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GIRLS OF TOMMEN

Lizzie

SEPTEMBER 2, 2002

“I T’S LIKE A CASTLE, ” C LAIRE EXCLAIMED, CLUTCHING HER BOOKS TO HER CHEST, AS she twirled around in the courtyard, clearly awestruck by the medieval-looking building that would be our academic home for the next six years. “Isn’t it beautiful, Liz?”

“Yeah,” I replied, squeezing the straps of my schoolbag as I took in my surroundings of ivy-clad walls of ancient, church-like brick. “It’s something all right.”

“Mrs. Lowney said Tommen College was built in 1667,” she gushed, reeling off the stats our primary school teacher had doled out about the prestigious boarding school. “Admission acceptance is highly competitive, not to mention pricey tuition fees, and the school only offers six academic scholarships annually.”

“Yeah, Claire, I know,” I said with a sigh. “I was in class the day Mrs. Lowney gave the presentation.”

“Sorry,” she replied with a sheepish smile. “I forgot.”

I had been absent a lot in the past two years, so I couldn’t blame her for forgetting. “It’s okay.” I indulged her with an encouraging smile. “As you were.”

“Really?” She looked at me with big, hopeful doe eyes. “Can I give the full synopsis? I remember it off by heart.”

Of course she did . I smiled. “Go for it.”

Bustling with barely contained excitement, my friend cleared her throat before throwing herself into the role of expert tour guide. “Tommen College is a prestigious, private post-primary boarding school located in the idyllic countryside of County Cork, fifteen miles from the bustling town of Ballylaggin. Sprawled over three hundred acres of woodland and greenery, Tommen College offers admission for day and boarding, sporting separate male and female student accommodation buildings with a total capacity of two hundred and fifty.”

“Whoa,” I laughed, genuinely impressed by her ability to memorize the pamphlet. “That was ridiculously professional.”

“Ooh, ooh, I have more,” she exclaimed happily, bouncing from foot to foot. “At Tommen, we offer state-of-the-art facilities to support our students’ academic careers as well as a nationally recognized athletic department of excellence.”

“Sounds like an athlete’s dream school.”

“It sure does,” she mused, whipping out the pamphlet we’d been given and proceeding to read aloud. “Facilities within Tommen College include a dedicated music room, six spacious common rooms, a weights gym, a sports hall, a flood-lit astro turf pitch, a twenty-five-meter indoor heated swimming pool, nine-hole golfing facilities, a running track, three individual science buildings, a horticultural garden, two libraries, a pottery room, state-of-the-art home economics classrooms, three dedicated rugby pitches, a sports recovery room—”

“Okay, okay, I get the picture,” I cut in before she morphed into the human form of Tigger and bounced off. Hooking my arm through hers, I led her toward the gigantic double doors that led into the main building. “Let’s just go inside and find our lockers.”

“Do you think Shannon will be okay at BCS, Liz?”

No . “Yeah, Claire, I do.”

“Really?”

“Absolutely,” I replied, even though my heart plummeted at the thought of Shannon alone in a new school. “She has her brother.”

“Yeah, and he won’t let those mean bullies hurt her.”

“Exactly.”

“I’m so glad you’re here with me, Liz,” Claire mumbled when we stepped inside, where she was clearly overwhelmed by both the size of the gigantic entrance hall and the several hundred students bustling around inside. “I think I might be scared without you.”

“You’ve got this, Claire Biggs,” I promised, pulling her closer. “Give it a month, and you’ll be the school’s sunshine sweetheart.”

“You really think so?”

“I know so.”

“What about you?”

“Me?”

“Yeah, what will you be?”

“You can’t have sunshine without rain,” I offered with a shrug. “I’ll be the school raincloud.”

That made her laugh, and I was glad because it was important to me that this girl never lost her shine. Like I did . Claire had a unique kind of innocence about her. She saw the world through untainted eyes. Her heart was pure, and her mind was uncorrupted. Whether that was down to her mother’s parenting or the invisible bubble of protection her big brother projected around her, I couldn’t be sure, but she was a special girl who, despite her stark differences to me, I couldn’t have loved more.

“Omigod, yay!” Claire squealed then, releasing her hold on my arm. “Gerard!”

My body turned to stone as I watched her bolt off in the direction of a crowd of older boys kitted out in rugby attire. Well, older than Claire, at least. I was about the same age as all those assholes.

When she threw her arms around him, I honestly thought I might vomit.

“Claire-Bear!” he exclaimed just as excitedly before lifting her into the air. “Lads, this here is my intended, so keep your eyes and hands off, ya hear?”

Beyond nauseous and unable to mask my scowl, I stormed off in the opposite direction, needing to put as much distance between my hands and his throat as possible.

Body trembling, I tried to step around a group of older girls who were blocking the entire corridor as they yapped.

Trying to be calm, I stood in front of them like a dummy waiting for them to move, before giving up on being polite and shoving my way through them.

When you’re walking through hell and all that jazz .

“Uh, excuse me! You can’t just barge your way through us,” one of them called out, catching ahold of my arm when I tried to get past. “Who the hell do you think you are, baby first year?”

“Your worst fucking nightmare if you don’t let go,” I spat, swinging around to glare at the dark-haired girl. “Seriously,” I warned when she didn’t let go of my arm. “You have five seconds to take your hand off me or I’ll cut your fingers off.”

“What a bitch,” one of them muttered, taking a safe step back from me, while the one still holding me seemed to ponder whether I was serious or not.

“Oh, you have no fucking idea how serious I am,” I told her, stepping closer.

“Let it go, Bella. She’s not worth it.”

“Yeah, Bells, let’s just leave.”

“Five, four, three, two, one—”

“In future, ask nicely when you want someone to move out of your way,” the girl they called Bella sneered, while still having the good sense to remove her hand before I finished counting. “I’m a fourth year, you know, which makes me your superior around here.”

“In future, don’t block the entire corridor,” I shot back, unwilling to give an inch. “And, bitch, I wouldn’t care if you were Mother Teresa herself.”

“Fiery and bitchy.” She arched a finely plucked brow, looking strangely impressed. “I think I could use a little firecracker like you in our gang.” She turned back to her posse and said, “What do you think, girls?”

The girls around her immediately agreed like a flock of obedient sheep.

“What do you say, little firecracker?” She turned back to smile at me. “Fancy a spot at the big girl’s table?”

“I think you should go to hell,” I deadpanned.

Her eyes narrowed in outrage. “Excuse me?”

“And maybe get a hearing test,” I added before storming off, flipping them the bird when one of the sheep shouted the word bitch after me.

I managed to find the first-year locker area without asking for directions, but just before I reached my locker zone, I was hauled inside an emergency exit stairwell by a boy donning Tommen’s number-ten rugby jersey.

“Finally,” my boyfriend growled when the emergency door slammed shut, cloaking us in darkness. “I’ve been waiting here all morning for you.”

Instantly bombarded by a sudden flood of emotion, I lunged for him, needing his touch more than I needed air.

“Hugh,” I breathed, climbing his body like a drainpipe to seal my mouth to his.

With his lips on mine and his hands gripping the fleshy part of my thighs, he walked forward until my back hit the wall. The move caused the growing ache between my thighs to intensify, and I greedily tightened my arms and legs around him.

“Just so you know, I would gladly kiss you in front of everyone.” His lips moved against mine as he spoke. “This shitty stairwell is for your benefit—should I say the curly-haired demon’s benefit?”

“You know it upsets your sister when she sees us together.”

“I don’t give two shits if seeing us together upsets my sister,” he argued back, lips trailing up my neck. “I care that my sister reacts in a way that upsets my girlfriend.” Everything inside of me clenched tight when he called me that. “Anyway, I wanted to wish you luck on your first day before the bus leaves,” he continued to say, while his hips gyrated against mine in a way I was certain could make me unravel. “I have an away game in Clonamore.”

“Skip it,” I begged, shivering when his tongue collided with mine. “Stay here with me instead.”

“I would if I could,” he whispered, kissing me with more love and affection than I’d ever been given from another human being. “But I’m already on Cap’s shitlist for missing preseason conditioning…fuck, Liz!”

“It’s D-day, Hugh.” Smiling against his neck, I continued to trace my tongue over his fluttering pulse. “You smell so good.” Closing my lips around him, I sucked and stroked his flesh with my lips and tongue. “Mm.”

“You should stop,” he protested weakly, only to lean in closer and bare his throat to me. “Christ, don’t ever stop.”

I didn’t plan to.

Not until I left my mark on him, at least.