Page 10 of Treacherous

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 arealhabit 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.

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