SKYFALL, Johnny Kavanagh

Rumour has it

Maeve's Point of View

By third period, the exhaustion had sunk into my bones again.

I barely heard a word the teacher said.
My pen scratched nonsense across the margin of my copybook, and my eyes flicked to the clock every other minute like time would speed up if I stared hard enough.

Next to me, Niamh leaned in. "You going to tell me what happened with you and Johnny, or am I supposed to read about it in the tabloids?"

"Later." I said quietly. "I'll tell you later."

Niamh raised a brow, but didn't press.
She just nodded once and turned back to her notes.

A beat later, she added. "You're coming over after school."

I didn't argue.
I didn't even pretend to consider it.

"Okay."

Because anything was better than going back to that house.
And Niamh knew that.

She didn't say it out loud, but I could feel it in her voice.

By the time lunch rolled around, I was running on empty.
I moved through the corridors like a ghost – numb, silent.

And yet, something was off.
I felt it before I saw it.

The looks.

The whispers.

Subtle at first – half-turns, sideways glances, someone snorting behind their sleeve when I passed.
A few tables over, someone muttered something that sounded suspiciously like slut and snickered behind their sandwich.

I didn't react.
Didn't even flinch.
Because honestly? I'd heard worse.

I should've been pissed.
I wasn't.

Because at the end of the day, I didn't care.
I refused to care.

If people wanted to believe I was a whore, that was their problem, not mine.
It only mattered if I let it.
And I didn't.

I figured the old rumours from BCS had finally made their way to Tommen.
It was only a matter of time.
Word travelled fast when people were bored and bitter and desperate for something to rip apart.

And if it wasn't those rumours, it would've been new ones.
People always found a reason.

I kept my head high, kept my mouth shut, and kept moving – all the way to the bathroom, where I could finally breathe for a minute.

But of course, that wasn't going to happen either.

Because fate, apparently, had a sick sense of humour.
Bella was standing at the sink when I walked in.

I went to the far sink and turned on the tap, ignoring her completely.
Or trying to.

"Look who crawled out from under a rock."

I didn't respond.

"Must be exhausting." She said lightly. "Keeping up the whole poor, wounded girl act."

I looked at her through the mirror. "You got something to say, say it."

"I already did." Her smile widened. "Everyone knows now. About you. About what you did at your last school."

Ah.
So it was her.
Of course it was.

"You really are obsessed with me." I said flatly.

She scoffed. "Please. You're not that special."

"No?" I tilted my head. "You went out of your way to spread lies about me. Sounds pretty obsessed."