Needing 13 - Johnny Kavanagh

LEAP OF FAITH

JOHNNY

As we walked down the crowded hallway, I threw a sidelong glance at Feely. "Since when are you friends with my girlfriend?"

He shrugged, as casual as ever. "I'm friends with Katie, and she's your girlfriend's best friend. I ran into her at that coffee shop next to the music store we usually hit up, and she was in tears. Told me what happened, so I cheered her up by asking for a funny story about Tara. That's how I found out about the Britney incident."

"Lads, I swear to God, where has that girl been my whole life? She's my soulmate, Cap. I need to party with her. It's not even a want anymore—it's a bloody need."

A growl rumbled in my chest, low and dangerous. "Your drunk arse isn't getting anywhere near my girlfriend," I warned, glaring at Gibsie. My best friend had a well-earned reputation for getting far too handsy when he was hammered, and there was no way in hell I was letting him anywhere near Tara in that state.

He raised an eyebrow, clearly entertained by my reaction. "Afraid I'll show her I'm a better catch than you?" he teased, his grin widening. "I dance better, Cap, and—" he made a show of glancing down at his crotch, "—my downstairs department works better too. You two at it yet?"

"At what?"

"You know, mate—sleeping together, shagging, the ol' devil's tango, whatever you wanna call it. Have you two done it yet?"

I stiffened, my jaw clenching as I caught the curious glances of Feely and Hughie, both now staring at me with barely concealed interest. "No," I muttered, trying to keep my voice low. "Besides," I shoved him off me with the hand not gripping my crutch, "what the hell do you care what I do or don't do with my girl, ya gobshite?"

"It's important to the relationship, Cap."

"It's not."

"Well, she looked more than ready to go for it out there in front of everyone," Gibsie snickered, winking at me. "You're sure you haven't done anything at all?"

I shot him a dark look. "I would bloody know, wouldn't I?"

"Now's your chance to prepare, anyway. Mrs. Moore's arranged for three sexual health nurses to come in. Three, Johnny! Today's my lucky day."

"Gibsie, they're regular nurses from the sexual health clinic," Feely groaned, shaking his head. "Do ya even know what the clinic is for?"

"All I care about is they're handing out free condoms, lollipops, and bottles of lube," Gibsie declared triumphantly, swinging his backpack around and unzipping it to reveal it was completely empty. "I cleared this out just for the occasion."

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, give me patience.

What was I thinking when I made this lunatic my best mate?

Before I could dwell on it further, a door at the end of the hall swung open, and Coach Mulcahy stuck his head out, barking, "Ladies, am I interrupting something? We're waiting. Our visitors want to get the presentation underway."

"You don't have to tell me twice, Coach," Gibsie exclaimed, darting down the hallway like a kid promised a mountain of sweets. He glanced back at us, his grin wide. "Come on, lads, I'm not sharing any of this good stuff if you skip this very educational talk."

I groaned, already feeling a headache coming on. Why, in the name of God, couldn't I have just stayed with Tara? We could've had our own sex-ed talk, I thought with a smirk, my mind wandering to all the ways I could convince her to—

"KAVANAGH!"

Huffing in frustration, I limped toward the classroom, Coach's eyes drilling into me. The room was packed with fifth and sixth years, all buzzing with excitement or barely concealed dread. Grand. I scanned the room for an open seat and spotted an empty desk five rows back on the left.