I was used to seeing a lot of strange things go down at Tommen. Hell, I couldn’t count the weird encounters I’d had in this place down through the years. But the sight of a lad in a BCS uniform stalking through the school carpark towards me after last class of the day was definitely a new thing for me.
It took me a few moments to register the lad wearing the grey jumper with the public-school crest as Joey Lynch, and a second too long to register that the arm he was rearing back was intended for me. His fist connected with my face so fast that my head snapped sideways.
‘What the fuck did you do?’ he demanded, looking livid. ‘If you hurt her, I’m going burn you alive and piss all over your bones.’
‘What are you talking about?’ I roared, spitting out a mouthful of blood. I was about done with this whole family, and while up until the punch to the jaw, I actually liked Joey, I had a feeling that was about to change. ‘I didn’t do anything to anyone!’
A huge crowd was forming around us, cheering and hollering like bleeding eejits.
‘She’s inside that school somewhere crying,’ Joey snarled. ‘She called me to come get her.’ Slamming his hands against my chest, he stalked towards me. ‘You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that now, would you?’
‘No, I fucking wouldn’t,’ I snarled, shoving him away from me. He needed to step back and fast because he was pushing my patience out to sea and I was packing about four inches of height and four stone of muscle on him. ‘Back the fuck up, Lynch.’
‘Or what?’ he sneered, moving for me again. ‘What are you going to do, Kavanagh?’
‘Whoa, whoa, whoa,’ Hughie commanded as he jumped into the mix, running through the carpark to step in between us. ‘Just calm down, lads.’
‘I am calm!’ I roared, clearly not calm. ‘He’s the prick who walked over here and hit me in the face.’
‘Because you hurt my sister,’ Joey shot back.
‘I didn’t hurt your sister,’ I snarled. ‘I would never hurt her.’
‘Well someone fucking did something!’ Joey roared before lunging for me once more.
This time it was Gibsie who intercepted Joey from behind. ‘Howdy, buddy,’ he said in a friendly tone, as he wrapped his arms around him and dragged him away from me. ‘I see we’re in the old front-to-back position again.’
‘Get the fuck off me, Gussie,’ Joey snapped, wrestling against his hold.
‘It’s Gibsie,’ he replied calmly. ‘And no can do. You can’t be going around hitting my center, Joey. He’s got some important business to attend to this Saturday, and it would be terribly irresponsible of me to let you go right now.’
‘Joey!’ a female voice called out above the noise of the crowd. Seconds later, a blonde appeared in my line of vision, moving straight for Joey. His girlfriend, I noted. Aoife. ‘What are you doing, Joe?’ she puffed out, stepping in front of him. ‘I thought we said no fighting.’ Catching ahold of his face, she forced him to look at her. ‘Ask questions first, remember?’
‘I forgot, baby,’ he muttered, sagging enough that Gibsie released him and took a step back.
‘What the hell is happening?’ I demanded, feeling a mixture of fury and panic shoot through me.
‘Shannon called me,’ Joey snarled, shaking with temper. ‘Someone in this stuck-up school did something to her.’
‘Did something to her?’ I gaped at him in confusion. ‘What?’ Something happened to Shannon? ‘What did they do to her?’ What the hell? ‘I was just with her at lunch,’ I added, feeling a swell of rage build up inside of my body. ‘What the fuck is going on, Joey?’
‘I don’t know!’ Running a hand through his blond hair, he released a growl and glared at the crowd. ‘But when I find out which one of you privileged pricks hurt my sister, I’ll do time for ye!’
‘What’s going on here?’ the familiar voice of Mr. Twomey cut through the air and the crowd around us quickly dispersed until it was just the five of us and Mr. Twomey remaining in the carpark with cars buzzing past, honking loudly.
‘Johnny,’ he said with a sigh when he noticed me in the middle of what was going on – nothing new there. His gaze flicked to Joey and Aoife and his eyes narrowed. ‘Are you two aware that you are not permitted on school property if you are not enrolled here?’
‘Fuck you,’ Joey shot back, causing Aoife to groan into her hand.
‘Joe!’ she hissed, placing a hand on his chest. ‘He’s their principal.’
‘So?’ Joey shrugged, unaffected. ‘He’s not mine.’ Narrowing his eyes on Mr. Twomey, he spat, ‘I’m here to pick up my sister since your piece of shit school can’t control its students and keep her safe.’
Mr. Twomey’s brows furrowed. ‘And your sister is?’
‘Shannon Lynch.’ Mr. Twomey paled and Joey lunged for the jugular like he could smell fresh blood. ‘Yeah, that’s right,’ he sneered. ‘You know who I’m talking about. You made all sorts of promises to her, didn’t ya? About keeping your students safe? What a fucking joke you are!’
‘I beg your pardon,’ Mr. Twomey strangled out. ‘I have no idea what you’re talking –’
‘Hi, Joe,’ a small voice said and we all swung around to find Shannon walking towards us.
Her hair was drenched and clothes destroyed with food. Her face was red and blotchy, like she’d scrubbed herself raw, but when I looked harder, I could see scratches and words? Her gaze flicked to me and her expression caved. Tears pooled her eyes as she sniffled. ‘H-hi, Johnny.’
‘What the actual fuck?’ I demanded, stalking towards her. ‘What happened to your face, Shannon?’
She shook her head and practically collapsed against me when I reached her. ‘I want to go home,’ she sobbed, shaking violently. ‘I just want to go.’
‘It’s okay – shh, just calm down.’ Cupping her face in my hands, I squinted my eyes and tried to make out the lipstick marks on her face.
Kav’s slut?
BJ-13?
‘Who did this to you?’ Joey demanded, shoving me out of the way – or at least he attempted to. It didn’t work out so well for him because I didn’t move an inch. ‘Shan, what happened?’
‘Was it her?’ I asked, shaking just as much as she was now. ‘What am I saying – of course it was her.’
‘Who?’ Mr. Twomey strangled out. ‘Who did this to you, Shannon?’
‘Bella fucking Wilkinson,’ Gibsie sneered. ‘Who else?’
‘I want her out of this school,’ I snarled, swinging around to glare at him. ‘She can’t get away with this. You know what she’s going through. She’s supposed to be safe at school!’
Paling, Mr. Twomey moved towards us. ‘Shannon, are you saying Miss Wilkinson did this to you?’
‘Back the fuck up,’ Joey warned, taking a protective stance in front of his sister. I didn’t know what he thought old Twomey was going to do, but the lad wasn’t taking any chances. He was coiled tight with barely restrained feral fury and I had a feeling the only reason he hadn’t exploded already was the blonde stroking his arm. ‘Don’t come near my sister,’ he added, glaring daggers at our principal. ‘I’m warning you.’
Mr. Twomey’s mouth fell open and I felt a pang of sympathy for the old man to be thrown in the deep end like he had. God knows, I knew what it felt like. Being at the end of Joey Lynch’s wrath wasn’t a good feeling.
Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Bella and Cormac strolling through the courtyard towards the carpark, all smiles.
Oh, hell fucking no!
‘You!’ I roared, side-stepping Shannon. ‘I want a fucking word with you!’
‘Johnny, don’t move,’ Mr. Twomey warned.
‘Johnny, don’t –’ Shannon begged.
‘Cap, you’re in contract,’ Hughie shouted.
‘Think about Saturday,’ Gibsie called after me.
‘Take the high road,’ Hughie added.
‘Fuck your high road,’ I snarled, glaring after them. ‘And fuck them, too.’
Cormac paled as I approached. ‘Alright, Cap?’
‘What did I tell you?’ I demanded, stalking straight for him. ‘Huh? What the fuck did I tell you about that bitch?’
‘Whoa, Johnny, I have no idea what you’re –’
Bang.
Cormac hit the ground like a sack of potatoes before I had a chance to raise a fist.
Confused, I swung around and locked eyes on Joey. ‘What the –’
‘I owed you one,’ he explained with a shrug as he shook out his wrist. ‘Besides, I’m already getting arrested.’
I gaped at him. ‘For what?’
‘For this,’ he replied before lunging at Cormac.
‘Get off him!’ Bella screamed as she slapped and punched at Joey’s head. ‘You dirty, little scumbag.’
‘Hey– don’t call my boyfriend a scumbag,’ Aoife snarled as she barreled towards Bella. ‘Is this her, Shan?’ she demanded. ‘Did she do this to you?’
‘Please, just leave it,’ Shannon strangled out.
‘Who the hell are you?’ Bella hissed, glaring at Aoife.
‘Oh, I’m your worst nightmare, bitch.’ Taking her to the ground in one fell swoop. Aoife straddled Bella. ‘You like terrorizing little girls?’ she demanded, straddling Bella. ‘Try someone your own size.’
‘How’s your money fairing out for ya now, rich boy?’ Joey sneered, grappling with Cormac on the road. ‘Being a scumbag has its benefits, doesn’t it?’
‘Think you can call my boyfriend a scumbag?’ Aoife continued as she full on punched at Bella. Whoa, there was no palm slapping with this girl. ‘Think you can bully his sister, huh? Think you’re safe because you’re a girl and he can’t hit you back?’ She reared her fist back and cracked Bella in the mouth. ‘Well, I can!’
‘I’m calling the Gardaí!’ Mr. Twomey roared. ‘Stop it this instant or I’ll have every last one of you arrested!’
‘Call the Gards and you’re down a quarter of the rugby team,’ Hughie interjected calmly. ‘And looking at some serious bad press for the school. Look what she did to her.’ He pointed to Shannon’s face. ‘I thought there was zero tolerance for bullying at Tommen? If so, you better change your policy because that girl’s been giving Shannon hell for months.’ Shrugging, he added, ‘I’d also love to know what your policy is on stalking, because she’s been tormenting Johnny day and night for a year. He’s just too damn polite to say so.’
‘Joey, stop!’ Shannon cried, running towards her brother. ‘Don’t –’
‘They’re not going to do this to you,’ Joey snarled. ‘No fucking more, Shannon!’
‘It wasn’t him,’ Shannon strangled out as she pulled at her brother’s shoulders. ‘Don’t – please. You’re going to get in trouble.’
‘Come here,’ I coaxed, pulling her away from the fight. ‘Stay back, Shan.’
‘Stop him,’ she begged, clutching my arm. ‘Please!’
‘Okay, the party’s over,’ Gibsie announced as he stepped in and dragged Joey off Cormac, giving me the side eye in the process, as if to say WTF.
I shrugged unashamedly. I wasn’t about to break up shit. They both deserved everything they got and more.
‘This is all my fault,’ Shannon choked out, shaking violently. ‘I shouldn’t have called him –’
‘No, it’s not,’ I corrected, tucking her into my chest. ‘It’s her fault. Not yours.’
‘Come on, baby,’ Joey panted breathlessly, as he dragged his girlfriend off Bella. ‘Come on. She’s not worth it. You can’t be fighting in –’
‘She called you a scumbag,’ Aoife snarled, trying and failing to break free from her boyfriend’s hold. ‘I’m not having it, Joe!’
‘I know, baby,’ he coaxed, walking backwards with Aoife in his arms. ‘But I need you to be careful.’
‘Everyone, follow me to the office! I’m calling your parents,’ Mr. Twomey barked as he pulled out his phone and gestured for Bella and Cormac to follow him. ‘All of your parents.’
‘You do that,’ Joey sneered, watching our principal like he was a defenseless antelope that had been separated from the pack. ‘Be useful for something.’
‘Joe!’ Aoife croaked out, slipping her hand into his. ‘You’re on a warning.’
‘I need you to get out of here, Aoife,’ Joey panted, still watching Mr. Twomey as he scampered off to the office with Bella and Cormac limping after him. ‘You weren’t here and you didn’t see shit.’ Turning to his girlfriend, he said, ‘You got that?’
‘What?’ Aoife shook her head, eyes wide. ‘No, no way. I’m not leaving you –’
‘Get in the car and go home, baby,’ he ordered. ‘Now.’ He glared at us. ‘Nobody’s going to mention you.’
‘But you’re going to be –’
‘I’ll be grand,’ he whispered, pressing a kiss to her forehead. ‘Just go, and I’ll call you when I can.’
