Needing 13 - Johnny Kavanagh

THE GREAT BONFIRE OF 2001

JOHNNY

Somehow, I had fucked up. For three days, I'd been racking my brain, trying to figure out what had gone wrong—how Tara and I had gone from snogging in the locker room to this silent, cold distance that now separated us. No texts. No calls. She hadn't even shown up at the Academy yesterday, leaving me in this infuriating limbo. It was as if all the progress we'd made had vanished, and we were back to square one.

I'd gone from being "Jonathan, the fella she snogged," to "Johnny, the fella who had somehow hurt her," and I couldn't even figure out how had that happened.

"You good there, Bulldozer?"

'Bulldozer' had always been a joke about my size and how I plowed through the rugby field like nothing could stop me. But right now, it felt like the only thing I couldn't bulldoze through was whatever wall Tara had put up between us.

"I messed up," I blurted out before I could stop myself. "I don't know how, but I've done something because she's ignoring me."

"Lad, it hasn't even been 24 hours. Calm down a bit."

But I wasn't calm. I couldn't be bleeding calm when I didn't understand what the hell had happened. My gaze drifted over to Shannon, who had been oddly quiet.

"Do you know something? Did she say anything to you?"

"She wasn't home when you dropped me off. She didn't say anything at dinner either, and then Joey and she stayed up late talking."

"Oh, spare me," Lizzie muttered from across the table. "Desperation doesn't look good on you, Kavanagh."

I shot her an irritated glare, ready to tell her to mind her own bleeding business, but before I could get a word out, the grand doors of the dining hall swung open, cutting off all conversation.

An angel walked in.

My angel walked in.

She was flanked by Aoife and a black-haired girl I didn't recognize, but my attention was solely on her. The murmur of voices stilled, and every head turned in their direction. A thick, tense silence followed them as they made their way inside.

"What's your sister doing here?" Claire whispered to Shannon, her curiosity piqued. Then, her eyes lit up with excitement as she noticed the necklace around Tara's neck. "Oh god, is that the pearl necklace you told me about? It looks fabulous on her. I love her style."

"I can buy you a pearl necklace if you want, Claire-Bear," Gibs quipped with a suggestive grin, earning a round of snickers from the table.

But I barely heard him. My attention was completely locked on Tara, who stood out even in her standard school uniform, her hair neatly swept up into a bun. Her every movement seemed to command the room, drawing all eyes towards her as if she was the center of the universe. The way she moved with such quiet confidence, the subtle grace in her steps—it was magnetic. And yet, she didn't even glance in my direction. Not once. My chest tightened with frustration, and a suffocating ache settled in as the realization hit me: I had lost whatever ground we'd gained. I didn't know what I had done to lose her attention, but I knew I couldn't stand it. Not for another minute.

"It's the legs, lads," I heard one of my teammates say, his voice low but clear enough to cut through the fog of my thoughts. "And that ass—I wouldn't mind tapping that."

"My brother hooked up with her at one of their parties. He swore it was the best night of his life. He got punched by her brother afterward, but he says it was worth it."

"They say she's hooked up with half the BCS rugby team. Think I have a shot?"

"You're too young for her. She likes them older, you eejit."