Needing 13 - Johnny Kavanagh

HERE WE GO AGAIN

SEPTEMBER 3RD 2001

TARA 

I had already spent half an hour staring at the classroom clock, willing it to move faster. Mr. Watson was droning on about the past perfect, the subjunctive, and the future tense of the verb "manger."

I wanted to manger.

I was fucking starving, and talking about the verb "to eat" in French wasn't helping at all.

"Est-ce que je vous ennuie, Miss Lynch?" he drawled, raising an eyebrow at me. The French fucker had just asked if he was boring me.

The answer was yes.

Bloody fucking hell yes

"Bien sûr que non, Monsieur Watson," I responded with my best saccharine smile. "Mais comme vous pouvez le comprendre, parler du verbe 'manger' si près du midi me fait terriblement faim."

Of course not, Mr Watson, but as you can understand, talking about the verb "to eat" so close to recess is making me terribly hungry.

Erin, sitting next to me, laughed. "Nice one, bitch."

"Shut up," I muttered, not turning to look at her. "I'm trying to get him to let us out earlier."

Apparently, it worked because Mr. Watson set the chalk down on the table. "Well, as Miss Lynch has so kindly pointed out," he said, giving me a pointed look, which only made me smile wider, "recess is near. Considering that we have already covered most of the syllabus, I am willing to let you leave earlier."

Hallelujah.

Praise God for saving us from this torture.

Not even the fucking guillotine would have been as tortuous as a double French class.

"Tara, wait for me."

"What the fuck does he want now?" Erin muttered irritably. "I'm starving and have zero patience to put up with that idiot."

The source of our annoyance was Kevin Molloy, the twin brother of Aoife, one of my best friends. While I adored his sister, I couldn't stand him. Seriously, he made me want to tear my hair out—and I loved my hair.

"Kevin," I said in a bored tone, turning to face him, "what did you want?"

He scratched the back of his head, glancing at me and then Erin, clearly wanting to talk privately.

"Are you being fucking serious?" Erin exclaimed in exasperation. "It's not like you're going to ask her anything new, and she's going to give you a different answer, Molloy."

Kevin frowned. "Would you mind leaving us alone?"

"Fucking perfect," She huffed. "Tara, I'll wait for you outside."

I nodded, watching her walk away before turning my attention back to Kevin. We stood alone in the hallway, the silence between us thick with tension.

"The answer is still no, Kevin."

"Come on," he pleaded, flashing a hopeful smile. "I'm just asking for a date."

"Kevin, I'm serious. Stop insisting." I rubbed the bridge of my nose, feeling a headache coming on. "You ask me every year since we've known each other, and every year the answer is still a fucking no."

"Give me a good reason. And don't bring Aoife into this."

"Okay," I snapped, glaring at him. "I'll go out with you the day you pull your head out of your fucking arse and realize the world doesn't revolve around you. I'll go out with you the day you treat Joey like a normal person and not like filth on your shoe. I will go out with you the day you get over your pathetic daddy issues and the jealousy that eats you up every time you see that my brother is more of Tony's son than you will ever be." His smile vanished instantly. "I'm not stupid, Kevin. I know exactly what you think of my brother, so until everything I've mentioned changes, my answer is still no."

He stood there, stunned, as my words sank in. Without waiting for a response, I turned and walked away, joining Erin outside where she was waiting impatiently.

"Let's go," I said, linking arms with her. "I need food and a break from all this bullshit."

"Tara, Erin, we're here!" Casey Lordan's voice rang out as she waved her arm at us energetically.

"Looking good, Lynch."

"Don't you want to give me a ride?"

"Nice skirt, Lynch."

"Unbutton your shirt a little, come on."

"Show us your tits."

"Ignore them," Erin whispered, pulling me determinedly towards our friends. "Oh God, what's with those long faces?"

"Your brother is hooking up with Neasa right now," Alec Dempsey announced with a wolfish grin. "Lucky bastard."

"Thanks," I muttered, grimacing as I sat down next to Podge Kelly. "That's just what I needed—to know about my twin brother's sex life."

My brother and I didn't share classes. I was in Third Year 1, while he and most of our friends were in Third Year 3. The school claimed to classify us by academic ability, but I called bullshit. My brother was one of the smartest people I knew; he was just lazy when it came to studying or anything related to this fucking school.

"Your brother has asked Miss Lynch here again," Erin chimed in. "Is he just not tired of it or what?"

"Again?" Aoife gave me a funny look. "And what did you tell him?"

I rolled my eyes. "Aoif, I fucking love you, but if you're going to be my sister-in-law, it'll be via Joey, not via Kevin. God forbid."

"God forbid what exactly?"

Joey stood before us with his shirt unbuttoned and his tie wrapped carelessly around his neck. His blonde hair was disheveled, and his lips were swollen.

Ugh.

No.

Fucking disgusting.

"Dear brother," I greeted him with a half-smile. "It's a shame I missed your fight with Parker."

Joey smirked, ruffling his already messy hair. "Well, sis, you didn't miss much. Just another day, another fight."

"It's Paul," Aoife corrected exasperatedly. "Paul, not Parker."

"Paul, Parker," I shrugged nonchalantly. "They sound the same to me."

Casey smirked, clearly amused by my indifference. "You really should pay more attention, Tara. You might actually remember someone's name for once."

"And why would I do that?"

"You're impossible," Aoife sighed, though she couldn't hide her smile.

"Where's your lapdog?" my brother asked, plopping down next to me and nonchalantly swiping my sandwich from my hand.

"Asshole," I grumbled, giving him a sharp jab in the shoulder. "Darragh has fallen asleep. Again."

Erin let out an exasperated whine. "He abandoned us."

"Because of him, I had to sit next to fucking Undesirable No. 1 during double French."

"Kevin?"

"Kevin."

"What's with you Lynch twins calling everyone by names they don't actually have?" Alec interjected, his curiosity piqued as he looked between us, his eyebrows raised in amusement. "Not even I have that much imagination."

"It's in the genes, baby Alec."

Joey, who had taken another bite of my sandwich, merely shrugged. "Names are boring. Why stick to the usual when you can make things a bit more interesting?"