WHOS THAT CHICK ? - james maguire !

[vii.]

'you will never guess what she's done this time, erin.'

the hissed words came from clare as the blonde girl stood in front of michelle, iggie, and james, michelle standing with her hand proudly on the notice board from fionnula's chip shop.

'..did she nick the notice board from the chip shop, clare?'

after some walking they had made themselves situated by the bridge, and iggie leant back against the wall, borrowing orla's lighter to light up a cig before handing it back and taking a drag, squinting at michelle as she explained the great notice board heist of '94.

'fionnula was out the back, cashing up. i sneaked in, yanked it off the wall, and away i went. i was like a thief in the night.'

iggie smirked as clare scoffed, her green eyes watching the moment unfold with amused interest.

'you were 'like' a thief in the night? you actually were a thief in the night, and you stole from fionnula, of all people! fionnula! i once saw her punch a rottweiler, michelle. if she finds out about this, she'll kill you!'

'kill us.' michelle corrected, raising an eyebrow, making iggie snicker despite herself. 'you're an accessory after the fact now, my friend.'

'God!'

iggie chuckled at clare's exclamation, the girl coming to stand next to her. she rubbed her arm gently, trying to be some semblance of awkward comfort for the anxious girl.

'can i ask why you stole the notice board?' erin inquired incredulously, shaking her head

'so we can get first dibs on all the jobs!'

'wouldn't it have been easier to just remove the notices? they're only blu tacked on.' james spoke up, and iggie raised an eyebrow.

'fuck off, dickweed.' michelle snapped, and iggie snorted.

'he has got you there to be fair michelle.' iggie shrugged, her head resting against orla's shoulder comfortably as she smoked, the mccool girl never having cared about the smoke, even though iggie always tried to exhale with her head turned away.

'christ what possessed you, michelle?!'

'yeah..! the more i talk about it, and the more i sober up, the less sure i am really.' michelle evaluated after erin's disbelieving question, and clare threw her hands in the air.

'you were drunk?!'

'brilliant!'

at erin's echoed sentiment of anger, michelle's face hardened.

'fuck! we're not like jenny joyce. nobody's just gonna hand us things. but that doesn't mean we shouldn't have things. come on, clare. i know how much you've dreamed of seeing the arc de.. whatever the fuck it's called.' michelle put a hand on clare's shoulder before turning to her cousin.

'james.. i know how much you wanna practice the shit out of the past participle. orla.. you really, really buzz off those renault clio ads. iggie.. you'd look cracker smoking a ciggie in front of the fuckin' eiffel tower' she spoke, grabbing the two girls under her arms briefly, making iggie huff a chuckle

'and you, erin.. well.. you're just ridin' charlene kavanagh.'

'i'm not riding her. i just think it might be time i moved on.. friendship-wise.'

iggie's eyebrows shot up and she paused where she was blowing smoke onto orla's forehead because she'd asked to see how it felt, instead cocking her head at erin's words.

'you are aware you're talking to your current friends?!'

iggie couldn't help but nod, pointing at clare agreeably before michelle got up on the steps of the bridge.