Galway Girl ── James Maguire

𝑣. HIGHLY FLAMMABLE

"I do not accept that." Orla responded, disbelief coating her tone.

"To be honest, neither do I." Siobhan defended, which earned her a glare from James. She fired back with a bright smile and a flirty wink, which had him turning away to hide his growing blush.

"Come on, Erin." James pleaded, looking ever so like a puppy wanting a treat for being a good boy.

Erin huffed and rolled her eyes in defeat. "Fine. So, that leaves dog walking and washing a car."

"Is it a Renault Clio?"

"No."

"I'll take the dogs."

"OK. Let's go to work."

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Their elated bubble had been harshly popped by the news of Fionnula finding out about Michelle stealing the noticeboard. Siobhan cursed Jesus himself for letting them have such a heaping amount of bad luck.

Siobhan was getting used to not fitting on the same seat as everyone else and she again found herself on the lap of James, who's blush was now highly visible on his pale face.

Michelle broke the tense silence that hung over the room. "How did you find out?"

"It doesn't matter how she found out, Michelle, that's not important. What's important is the fact we are all deeply━" Clare tried to reason but was cut off.

"Her mother rang me." Fionnula pointed at Clare, lips pressed into a thin line.

There was immediate protests from the girls, who all glared hotly at the blonde. Clare spluttered loudly, wild eyes darting around the room.

"You told your ma?" Michelle spat in disbelief.

"OK, I cracked. I couldn't handle it and I cracked." Clare shrieked, holding her hands up in surrender.

"For fucks sake, Clare." Michelle huffed, slamming her arms into the couch in annoyance.

"You've got a backbone like a wet piece of toilet paper." Siobhan sighed, rubbing at her eyes with her thumb and index finger. Maybe if she pushed hard enough, she could injure herself and get out of the conversation.

"Enough!" Mary snapped before turning to Fionnula. "Where do we go from here?"

"You're family. Well, you're good people. Well, you're decent people. But I have to set an example." Fionnula frowned.

"No, dear God, no. You're not talking about a ban?" Mary's eyes widened considerably, fear shining in the brown depths.

Siobhan felt her entire body slump in disappointment. This was one of the worst things that could have come out of this situation, and her dad would be incredibly annoyed with her at the fact that she'd gotten their family banned from the chippy.

"Let's call it a suspension." Fionnula suggested, trying to soften the blow.

"What do you expect me to do on a Friday, Fionnula? Cook? You expect me to cook?" Mary huffed.

"You could order a pizza." Fionnula pressed her lips together, shoulders rising and falling in a half-hearted shrug.

"Pizza's not as nice." Orla was melancholic, already missing the salty taste of Fionnula's world-class chips.

"No, you are right, Orla. Pizza is not as nice." Mary agreed, her stare hardening as she looked upon the six teenagers pushed together on her couch. "Maybe you should all have thought about that." She turned back to Fionnula, eyes now pleading. "Is there nothing we can do?"