Needing 13 - Johnny Kavanagh

JOHNNY AND TARA SITTING IN A TREE. K-I-S-S-I-N-G!

TARA

I was on the verge of fucking losing it—really losing it. My patience, already worn thin, was teetering on the edge of snapping entirely.

Casey had been pushing my buttons for weeks now, giving me these strange, almost conspiratorial looks whenever she caught my eye. And it wasn't just her; she kept exchanging glances with Aoife, like they were sharing some unspoken secret that had everything to do with me. It was maddening.

As if that wasn't enough, Aoife had been playing her own game for the past few days. Every time she looked at me and Joey, she wore this peculiar expression, a mix of anxiousness and something else I couldn't quite place. Then, without fail, she'd whisper something to Casey, and they'd both glance at me again. It was like they were dissecting me with their eyes, trying to figure out something I wasn't privy to.

And Joey—my own brother—had been testing my patience for the last couple of hours. He kept frowning at his girlfriend during our break, his face a storm cloud of unspoken tension. Every time I asked him what was up, he'd just shrug it off like it was nothing, but I knew better.

To top it all off, Shannon had missed the bus, and Joey had called me from the garage about an hour ago with news that Jonathan—of all people—was going to bring her home. The one person I was desperately trying to keep my distance from. The one person who had the power to make me feel everything I was trying so hard not to.

So yeah, I was a ticking time bomb, seconds away from exploding.

"I think you should stop staring daggers at that poor book and tell me what's wrong," a voice interrupted my spiraling thoughts. I looked up to see Katie standing there, her eyes filled with concern as she offered me an encouraging smile.

"You've been weird for a couple of months now," she continued, her voice gentle but probing. "And before you give me the excuse of being stressed out about the Leaving Cert, I know you, and I know you're going to pass with flying colors, T."

"Thanks for mentioning that, Kitty Kat," Erin muttered sarcastically from beside me, her nose buried in her math book, feet propped up on the table like she didn't have a care in the world. "Maybe she'll listen to you and finally tell us what's got her fucking knickers in a twist."

"I have my suspicions," Darragh snorted from across the table, but the moment my glare landed on him, he quickly ducked his head back down, pretending to be engrossed in his own book. "Jesus Christ, Kitten. I was just joking."

I sighed heavily, letting my head drop back onto the table with a dull thud. "Sorry," I mumbled, rubbing my temple as if that would somehow ease the tension building inside me. "It's just... Casey, Aoife, and my brother are all acting weird. Haven't you noticed?"

"Maybe they had a fight," Erin offered without looking up, her voice dismissive like it was no big deal.

Darragh nodded in agreement. "Yeah, maybe they're on a break again. You know how they are."

"I don't know," I groaned, the frustration clear in my voice. "But they're keeping something from me. I can feel it in my bones."

And that was the worst part. The not knowing. The suspicion that something was going on right under my nose, something important that they were deliberately keeping from me. It was like an itch I couldn't scratch, and it was driving me mad.

"Okay, Sherlock," Katie laughed, her voice light as she tried to steer the conversation away from my growing frustration. "Let's talk about something more interesting."

"Like what?"

"Johnny Kavanagh."

Erin's eyes lit up, and she slammed her book shut, leaning forward eagerly. "Now this is a conversation I actually want to be a part of."