SKYFALL, Johnny Kavanagh

Not a damsel, not in distress

Maeve's Point of View

I could feel Johnny's eyes on my back until I reached the end of the corridor.
I didn't look back.
I couldn't.
I had to get home.

So, without wasting another second thinking about the rugby team captain, I went to my locker, gathered all my things and ran for the exit.
Once I was outside, I took out my phone and looked at the time.
12:15. Just in time.
The bus that goes from Tommen to the house only passes at 9, 12:30, 5:30 and 9 p.m.
Thank God.

Apparently, God didn't want to be thanked because not even ten seconds later I heard a voice behind me screaming my name.
"Maeve!" An annoyingly familiar voice repeated. "Maeve."

"She's not here, she already left." I shot back. "You're welcome to have a conversation with her tomorrow morning at school, after she's gone to the house to have some well-deserved sleep."

"You're ditching?" Johnny asked.

"No, I'm just enjoying the outside scenery." I rolled my eyes. "Of course I'm ditching."

"Because of what Bella said?" He asked looking concerned. "She's not going to bother you anymore, I dealt with her."

"You dealt with her?" I laughed. "How ominous of you, Boy Wonder."

"So, you're not leaving because of what she said?" He looked confused now.

"Believe it or not, what psycho barbie thinks of me isn't exactly high on my priority list."

"You don't care that she insulted you?"

"She's not the first one, won't be the last." I shrugged. "If I had a mental breakdown every time someone spewed some bullshit about me, I wouldn't have time to get anything done."

"Then why are you going home?" He wondered.

I almost flinched at the use of the word home.
That place wasn't my home.
I never called it my that, it was always the house.
But Johnny couldn't know that, so I repressed my shiver and continued talking.

"I have stuff to do, guys to screw you know the stuff." I replied using Bella's earlier taunts to try and distract him.
No way I was telling him why I was actually going to the house.
I already had enough problems without adding him to the mix.

"Funny." He spoke. "I thought you said you didn't care what Bella thinks."

"I don't." I confirmed, pleased with myself that my distraction had worked. "I am however curious about what you have told her."

"You're curious about me, Sunshine?" He grinned. "I knew that you had to be hiding something underneath that cool exterior of yours."

"Yeah, that's exactly it." I told him. "I'm secretly your number one fan, I know everything about you and yet can't stop myself from wanting to know more."

Johnny smirked, taking a step closer. "I knew you'd come around eventually."

I rolled my eyes. "In your dreams, Kavanagh."

"Every night, Connor." He shot back.

At that point the only thing I could do was just laugh. "Smooth."

"What can I say, it's a talent." He laughed back. "So, still hate me?"

"Just a strong dislike." I told him, while still smiling.

"Liar. You even tried to apologise to me the other day." He taunted me.

"Ugh. I knew you were going to bring that up." I groaned.

"Well, it's not everyday Maeve Connor, miss stubbornness herself, admits she was wrong."

"Because it so rarely happens." I pointed out.

"How about a deal then?" He suddenly asked, changing the subject.

"A deal?" I looked at him suspiciously.

Johnny's grin widened, sensing he had my attention.
"Yeah, a deal." He said, his tone light but his eyes oddly serious. "You stop pretending you hate me, and I'll stop pretending I'm not curious about what's going on with you."

I stared at him, trying to gauge whether he was actually serious or just messing with me again. "What makes you think I'm pretending?"

"You're not that good an actress, Connor." he replied, leaning against the bus stop sign. "I've seen you, and there's more going on than just Bella or ditching school."

Fuck, he noticed.

I crossed my arms, leaning back on my heels. "So what, now you're a mind reader?"

Johnny shook his head, still smiling but softer now. "Nah, I'm just good at reading people. And you? You've got that look. Like you're waiting for something—like you're running from something."

"What on Earth could make you think that?" I asked, trying to put my cool façade on again, even when it didn't seem to work on this boy.

"Every time I see you, you're either fighting or fleeing." He whispered, clearly talking about what had happened on Saturday.

That stopped me.
No, it froze me.
"Never talk about that again." I said.
I had allowed my mind to forget, for a short while, that Johnny Kavanagh had seen what happened.
He'd seen me scream, cry and beg.

His presence now was almost taunting.
Him being here beside me was like a slap in the face.
He didn't care.
He had a perfect life, perfect family and a perfect future.
He's not supposed to see the cracks in mine.

"What exactly is your deal here, Johnny? You want me to break down in front of you? Spill my life story because you think you're the first guy who's noticed I'm not okay? Hate to break it to you, but I've got this handled."

Johnny didn't flinch. Instead, he looked at me for a long moment before speaking again. "I don't want you to break down, Maeve. I just want you to stop pushing people away who might actually give a damn."

"And you think you're one of those people?" I laughed.

He paused for a second, as if he hadn't expected me to ask that.

Then the bus pulled up with a screech, the doors opening with a hiss.
I turned away, my chest tightening in a way I hated.
I hated that he'd gotten under my skin.

As I got on the bus, another realisation dawned upon me.
Johnny Kavanagh wasn't going to be as easy to ignore as I thought.