I grunted as I left the bathroom and proceeded down the corridor to registration class. It was a stupid class we had every morning; our tutor - the person we went to if we got in trouble or needed the bathroom pass - took attendance and then let us do whatever we wanted for forty minutes until the class was over.
Usually everyone chatted about random stuff, but I didn't have any friends so I just kept to myself. That sounded pathetic, but I really didn't have any friends. It wasn't for lack of trying on my classmates part; it was all down to me really. Ever since my parents died I had been closed off and guarded. I didn't like the idea of getting attached to someone new knowing that they could be taken away from me. That's why I chose not to make friends with anyone in school or anyone at all, it was too risky. Branna said it was stupid and that I couldn't be closed off from people forever, because it wasn't healthy. I got that it was weird - I was weird - for just wanting to be on my own all the time but I was content this way so I didn't let her words get to me.
When I reached my classroom, I opened the door and looked directly at my tutor. "Sorry that I'm late, miss," I said, hoping that I looked like I cared about my tardiness.
My tutor nodded her head to me like I knew she would. I was never late for class, and if I did make it a habit, I doubted she would give me late stamps in my school journal, because she liked me. I was her quietest student.
I moved across the room and, as usual, none of my classmates bothered with me, but for some reason today everyone was very talkative and giddy. It was when I walked towards my desk that I realised why.
I looked to the lads that were seated at my desk; they were identical twins, that much was obvious. One had hair as white as snow while the other had a colour much like my own, dark chocolate brown. I didn't linger on looking at them, because they seemed to be enjoying the suggestive stares of my fellow female classmates, so I kept my eyes down as I neared them.
"That's me desk," I said when I reached them, my tone flat.
The twin with white blond hair made a move to get up but his dark-haired brother, the one who was in my seat, placed a hand on his shoulder halting his movements.
"Your desk? Does it have your name on it or something?" he asked, his eyebrow raised.
His accent made him stick out like a sore thumb, it wasn't Irish. My guess was American, but I didn't ask. I looked up at him and glared. He had grey eyes that looked slightly silver when the light hit them. I inwardly kicked myself for even noticing that about him and refocused. I simply leaned over the table and pointed to the corner of the desk.
"Yeah, it does," I replied as I pointed my name out on the desk.
I had carved it on the desk in first year when I was bored.
"Bro-what?" Dark-haired twin read aloud in a confused tone that made me roll my eyes.
"Bronagh," I said clearly.
I hated when foreign people pronounced my name, they completely butchered it.
"Bro-nah?" Dark twin correctly sounded it out then muttered about the stupidity of the G being silent.
I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, that's me name and it is on my desk as you can clearly see."
The blond twin snorted. "She has you by the balls on that, bro. Let's just move out of this lovely woman's way and sit down in the back row next to the pretty ladies."
The fact that the girls in my class giggled, and the twins grinned over this, made my stomach lurch in disgust. I didn't like pretty boys who were full of themselves; we already had one in this school, and he was an absolute dickhead. We didn't need another one, let alone two more.
The blond twin smiled at me when he stood up, I didn't smile back at him. The dark-haired twin slowly stood up from my seat. He didn't smile at me, he grinned. My glare only caused his grin to turn into a smirk.
"I warmed it up for you." He winked.
"Be sure to thank your arse for me." I rolled my eyes as I moved past him and sat down in my seat, pulled it into my desk, and put my bag onto the chair next to me, pulling it close to me also. It was obvious I was stating that no one was to sit next to me.
I heard the dark-haired twin chuckle as he moved to the back of the class.
"What's her problem?" he asked, aloud.
"Who? Bronagh? Nothin'," Alannah Ryan replied. "She just doesn't like attention or people that much, she prefers to be by herself."
Alannah was a nice girl; she always smiled at me when she passed me by and unlike every other student in our year, she left me alone. She seemed to understand that I was just content with being on my own, and I really liked that about her. I thought she was pretty cool because of that.
"She doesn't like people?" Dark-haired twin snorted as he asked, "Is there something wrong with her?"
I might be a quiet person and liked to be ignored but I wasn't a pushover; if someone pissed me off, you could bet your arse I would speak my mind to them. My mind didn't have a filter either. I tended to say what I was thinking without thinking.
"I'm sure there are many things wrong with me accordin' to you, but I assure you pretty boy, me hearin' is perfectly fine," I said aloud without turning around.
I heard some chuckles then, and when I glanced up, I caught Miss McKesson grinning down into her book.
"Inside voice, bro," blond-haired twin's voice snickered.
"Pretty boy?" dark-haired twin growled then muttered to whom I assumed was either himself or his brother. "Who does that bitch think she is talking to?"
I inwardly snorted at his little wobbler.
He thought I was a bitch?
Like I gave a fuck.
"Okay, less of that," Miss McKesson said, standing up once she heard the word bitch. "Bronagh, these lads are our new students, all the way from the United States of America."
When I realised my classmates were looking at me for some sort of reaction, I twirled my finger around in the air trying to be enthusiastic even though I couldn't care less.
"Go US of A."
Miss McKesson bit down on her bottom lip and shook her head.
"The Slater boys are twins, obviously. It's easy to tell them apart with them havin' different hair colour. Nico has brown hair and Damien has blond hair, well, more white than blond."
Nico was its name?
"I'll be sure to remember that miss, thank you," I sarcastically said with a beaming smile.
A few snorts later Miss McKesson introduced me. "And this lovely lady, lads, is Bronagh Murphy."
"It's a pleasure, Miss Murphy," Nico said.
I snorted. "I seriously doubt that, Mr. Slater," I replied making the class laugh.
I didn't care that they were probably laughing at me because it was obviously not a pleasure to meet me, but whatever, I didn't care.
"Okay, back to whatever it was that you were all doin' before Bronagh came to class," Miss McKesson said with a wave of her hand.
Not a second later the questions fired left, right, and centre from the girls to the twins, and it made me sigh. I hoped it wasn't going to be like this every day, because that shite would get old and annoy me pretty quickly.
"Miss?" I muttered to my tutor.
When Miss McKesson looked up, I shook my iTouch at her, and she nodded her head, giving me silent permission to listen to it.
"Shit, you're allowed to listen to iPods here?" I heard Nico ask.
"Huh? Oh no, just Bronagh. She gets her work done every day, so she is allowed to listen to it as long as the volume is low," Alannah's voice replied to Nico.