"No fucking thank you."
Bella stared up at me for the longest moment before screaming and stamping her foot.
I shit you not, she actually stamped her foot.
"Why are you being so unreasonable?" she hissed. "I'm sorry I went behind your back, okay? I am sorry!"
"Fine, you're more than forgiven," I snapped, running a hand through my hair in sheer frustration. "Now move the fuck on with Cormac or whoever the hell you want. I really don’t care. Just leave me alone!"
"Are you honestly saying that you're okay with me being with Cormac?" she demanded, blocking the doorway when I tried to slip past her. "He asked me out, you know? I'm his girlfriend now. You don't feel jealous at all?"
"I. Don’t. Give. A. Shit," I bit out. "I don’t know what else I can do or say to make that any clearer to you."
"You really think that bitch is better than me?" she demanded. "Seriously, Johnny? Talk about downgrading. Does she even possess a pair of tits?"
"Don’t talk shit about her," I warned. "Say whatever the fuck you want about me but keep her name off your tongue."
"It's the truth," she spat. "She's a glorified needle." Shrugging, she added, "She looks anorexic."
"And you look and sound like a cold-hearted bitch." Repressing the urge to lose my shit right here outside the hall, I mustered every ounce of calm I could and hissed, "If you fuck with her one more time, I will ruin you."
She glared at me. "I'd like to see you try."
"I will ruin you," I repeated, voice deathly cold. "Your reputation. Your status. Your friends. Your future relationships. Everything. If you fuck with Shannon Lynch again, I will take everything from you."
Her eyes widened. "Johnny–"
"You know I can," I added, keeping my voice low. "Contrary to your beliefs, I have more going for me than a thirteen jersey and a dick."
"What if I told you I was pregnant?" she choked out. "What would you say then?"
I threw my head back and laughed. "You're unbelievable."
"Stop laughing," she fake sobbed. "It's not funny."
"I would tell you go talk to Cormac because I haven't touched you in four and a half months." Sneering in disgust, I added, "Besides, I'm pretty sure you'd have used it against me by now. Pretty fucking sure you'd be showing, too."
"Not necessarily," she bit out.
"Are you saying that I got you pregnant, Bella?" I deadpanned. "Be very fucking careful how you answer next."
She knew who my father was.
She knew where her lies would land her if she pushed this bullshit on me.
Bella stared me down for the longest moment before grumbling, "No, I'm not pregnant."
"I know," I sneered.
"It was a hypothetical question," she shot back defensively.
"No," I corrected. "It was failed manipulation."
"I love you," she sobbed. "I'm sorry for wanting to make it work."
"Well, don’t love me," I barked, agitated. "Because I don’t and won't ever love you back!" Twisting sideways, I slipped past her and stalked into the hall. "From now on, stay the fuck away from me."
57
Unexpected Field Trips
Shannon
I didn’t go back to my last three classes on Wednesday, and I stayed at home from school on Thursday.
I knew it was wrong to skip school, but I just couldn’t face it.
It was too much.
Bella, Johnny, the stares, the whispers.
It was far too much.
I felt emotionally drained and physically battered, and I needed some time to think things through before going back.
My attempt at taking some breathing space was a complete disaster that consisted of my father losing his head with me last night for burning the dinner and resulted in a punch to the face.
Apparently, I couldn’t cook spaghetti bolognaise for shit.
And apparently, that was crime enough to earn another infamous choking.
I felt like absolute crap this morning, but I would have crawled on my hands and knees out of that house if I had to.
Nothing Bella did to me at school could come close to what he was capable of doing to me at home.
When I finally made it to school – over an hour late because I overslept without the aid of my trusty phone alarm – I all but got my head bitten off by Mr. Mulcahy, our P.E. teacher, for holding the show up.
"What show?" I had asked, because I honestly didn’t know what the hell was happening.
Apparently, I wasn’t deemed worthy enough of that information because instead of explaining what was happening, Mr. Mulcahy had all but shoved me onto a jampacked school bus and instructed me to find a seat and fast.
Which brought me to my current terror-induced predicament as I stood at the front of the bus, at a complete loss as to what was happening or why I was being forced onto a school bus full of unfamiliar faces.
"Shan!" Claire called out, flagging me over.
Panicked, my eyes sought her out in the third row from the front with Lizzie sitting alongside her.
All the girls on the bus seemed to be sitting up at the front near the driver.
There were only four other girls in my class, and Shelly and Helen were paired up in the seat behind my friends.
Several other girls from sixth year were sitting near them – including a glaring Bella and a huge, dark-haired boy with his arm wrapped around her and his face nuzzling her neck.
Forcing myself to not look at Bella, I scrambled towards Lizzie and Claire.
"What's going on?" I hissed when I reached them.
"It's game day," Claire told me, smile fading. "Remember?"
I stared blankly at her. "Game day what?"
Claire's eyes widened. "Oh my god," she whispered/hissed. "A text went out Tuesday night about it."
"A text?" I croaked out. "I didn’t get any text."
"She's new so she's probably not on the system," Lizzie muttered.
No, I didn’t get the text because my phone was floating in water on Tuesday night.
"What's going on, guys?" I choked out, terrified now. I glanced around nervously.
"The playoff is today," Lizzie explained. "Between Tommen and Royce."
I stared blankly back at her. "Huh?"
"For god's sake, Claire," Lizzie groaned. "I can't believe you didn’t let her know!"
"I thought she knew!" Claire replied, red-faced. "I'm sorry, Shan. I thought you knew the game was today."
"No, no, no," I spluttered. "The Donegal match isn’t until after the holidays." Which were supposed to start today. "Remember?"
"Royce College won their last three games," Lizzie told me, tone laced with sympathy.
Apparently, I looked as stumped as I did petrified because Lizzie didn’t dish out the sympathy gazes for nothing.
"Winning their last game put Royce College second on the table with Tommen," she hurried to explain. "Royce and Tommen are having a playoff today to see who gets to play Levitt in the final."
I pinched my nose, struggling to comprehend what I was being told. "But we're supposed to be going to Donegal after Easter!"
"There won't be a Donegal trip if the boys don’t win today," Claire explained.
"Why didn’t you guys tell me about this?"
"We didn’t know for sure when the game would be held."
"Why?"
"Because Royce were playing games," Lizzie offered. "Making life awkward for Tommen in the hopes that Johnny wouldn’t be available."
"What?"
"He has a schedule," Claire explained. "Everything he does rugby related has to run through The Academy." Shrugging, she added, "I guess they were hoping to catch Tommen on a loop."
"Which they didn’t," Lizzie scoffed. "Unlucky for them."
"Oh, god," I croaked out, flustered. "Where's this happening?"
"Dublin," Claire grimaced.
"I'm not allowed to go to Dublin." My eyes widened. "If my father finds out –"
"It's only a day trip," she interrupted me to say. "Straight up and down. We'll be home by ten."
"Ten?" I whimpered. "Tonight?"
Oh, god.
I was so dead.
"Guys, I can't go," I croaked out, panicking at thought of what my father would say if I came home at 10pm. "I don’t have any money and my parents don’t know –"