Walking out of the classroom, I caught sight of bright blonde hair.
"Hey Claire, is Shannon okay?" I asked worriedly as I thought about the small girl who hadn't returned to school all week.
For some reason, my brother was worried about the girl he had concussed.
"Oh hey, Maeve. Last I heard is that she spent the night at the A&E and was diagnosed with a concussion."
I sagged. I had already heard this and hoped for some news on her recovery.
"Okay, thanks, Claire. " With a final glance, I turned around and headed to the lunchroom.
My gut twisted uncomfortably. I had skipped breakfast and dinner and felt great, but now, facing the lunchroom raised all my worries.
I halted before the door but was pushed when someone bumped into me
"Oh, sorry, Maeve, I wasn't looking where I was going," Claire said as she moved past me. She suddenly stopped and turned around.
"Hey, do you want to sit with Lizzie and me? I'm not trying to sound like a stalker, but I noticed that Siobhan and Cara had started hanging out with Shelly and Helen, and you haven't shown up to lunch in a couple of days. We have an extra seat since Shannon isn't here."
I stared at Claire, bewildered by her little rant. If I sat with them, would Lizzie ignore me or, worse, say something mean? I've been called all the names before, but hearing them from Lizzie, whom I used to be best friends with, would hurt too bad.
Claire looked embarrassed and quickly backtracked, "It's fine if you don't want to. I get it if you're sitting with someone else already."
"No, I'd like to." I put all my worries aside and followed my gut.
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"Hey Liz, sorry for keeping you waiting, but I brought a friend." Lizzie looked up at us and immediately glared at me
I cowered and looked down, ashamed of something I hadn't done.
"If that's the friend you're talking about, then count me out because I want nothing to do with her," Lizzie spat angrily as she started gathering her things.
"Liz!" Claire shot out, embarrassed. She looked back at me with a forced smile and was about to yell at her friend before I cut across her.
"Oh no, I'll go. I thought this was going to happen anyway. Sorry, um, have a good lunch," I said awkwardly as hot tears clouded my vision. I quickly turned on my heel and booked it out of the lunchroom before I made another decision I might regret.
While walking, I felt more tears flowing down my cheeks and coincidentally ran into a hard chest.
I felt like I was in deja vu and was hoping I wouldn't see the same person I had encountered earlier this week. Relief washed over me as I saw Patrick, not Pierce. He looked down at me, concerned, and I remembered I was still crying.
"Oh shit, did I make you cry?" He asked as he knelt to where I was on the ground. "Do you want me to grab Johnny or one of your friends to help you?"
His words made me cry harder as I thought about who he would grab to help me. Johnny hated my guts, and I had no friends.
"No, don't get anyone. I don't want anyone to know,"
I said between sobs. "Well then what's wrong?" I looked up at him hesitantly, not wanting to be judged on why I was crying.
"I won't tell anyone, I swear. Your secrets are safe with me," he said reassuringly.
"I'm gonna graduate, and I'm going to have no friends," I sobbed as I leaned my head on his shoulder. Thank god for the void hallways because if someone walked by, I would never step foot into the school ever again.
"What, Maeve? Don't say stuff like that. You've loads of friends. You have Siobhan and Cara, and even if you don't want to be friends, you still have Claire and Lizzie." Patrick tried to reassure me, but I was helpless.
"No, you don't understand Siobhan and Cara hate me. I just tried to sit with Claire and Lizzie, and I was cast out because Lizzie thinks I kissed her boyfriend, but I never did." I continued sobbing into his shoulder as I thought about how few people liked me.
Ma and Da were forced to like me because they gave birth to me. Johnny would rather be an only child than have an annoying younger sister, and I have no friends.
My crying stopped as I heard an all too familiar voice.
"Maeve, what are you crying about now?" Pierce asked as he walked closer to me.
"No, Pierce, stay away from me. I don't want anything to do with you. I've told you a million times." I cried more thinking about how much my life had gone to shit, and then Pierce coming in was just the cherry on top.
"C'mon babe, ever since we kissed, you've been ghosting me," he smirked at me, knowing that we kissed was so much more than that.
"No, Pierce. We never kissed, and I never want to talk to you again." Fear enveloped me as I backed away from him, accidentally running into Patrick, who was right behind me.
"Alright, Pierce. Leave the poor girl alone. She's gone through enough as it is. Don't need to add more insult to injury," Pa said coolly while turning around and leading me toward the school entrance.
"You and I are going to chat, and then we'll return to class only if you're up to it. I'll gladly give you a spin home if you want to go home." Patrick's cheeks turned pink from his previous rambling.
"Um, I'll go back to class after lunch. Is that okay?" I replied, unsure of what he might say.
"Shit yeah, lunch. Do you want me to go in and grab something from the canteen for you? It's no bother."
Oh god, how was I getting out of this one?
"Uh, no thanks, I already ate."
"You already ate? Lunch only started 15 minutes ago, and you were crying for 10 of those minutes."
"I guess I'm a fast eater," I shrugged, but I could feel his eyes burning a hole in the side of my head. I could practically feel the judgmental look I was receiving. He probably thinks you're fat for eating an entire lunch in five minutes.
———————————————————
Patrick
I stared at the side of her head, concerned and confused. What was she not telling me? She started getting squeamish and was about to leave the seat before I stopped her.
"You know I'd never judge you, right? If there's something you need to tell me, I'm the person to go to, okay?" She stared at me uncertainly for what felt like hours but was only a few seconds.
"Uh yeah, of course, Pa."
She was lying to me, and it bothered me a lot more than I thought it would. Maeve was always pretty quiet and shy. She never really talked to any of Johnny's friends, which was a bit weird considering we'd been friends since 6th class.
As we heard the bell from inside going off, she quickly gathered her stuff and was about to walk off before turning back around.
"Thanks, Pa, for, you know, being there and stuff," she said awkwardly as she walked back into the building.
I didn't respond because I was so caught up in trying to figure out what was wrong with Maeve. I didn't go around talking to her every day, but we'd talk back in the first and second year until last year, when she just stopped talking to everyone.
Johnny told me privately that his Mam was thinking about putting her in therapy to try and figure out what had gone wrong with her. Since then, no one has been able to reach out to her, and she hasn't spoken to anyone about what's wrong.
But it's just teenage hormones. Right?
I'm thinking about doing a short chapter about who I am and stuff because I feel like I just got straight into this book and didn't really tell you guys who I am. So I'm going to do that and then return to the regular book. I hope you guys are enjoying it so far. Feel free to send me your thoughts and feelings!!
