When I woke up on Tuesday morning in Gerard’s bed, the side of the mattress he’d slept on was vacant. In his place was a haphazardly scribbled note, left on his pillow, that read, “early morning training x” in his handwriting.
I’d somehow managed to ninja-sneak my way across the street without getting caught by either set of parentals, but when I found my brother in the kitchen eating breakfast before school and not training like Gerard’s note had suggested, I felt a wave of uneasiness sweep through me.
Surviving Hugh’s in-depth interrogating, I had made it to school with my dignity intact, but that wave of uneasiness continued to fester and grow with every class that passed.
I knew the boys had a rugby match tomorrow afternoon against St. Andrews, and before game days, it wasn’t uncommon for them to not hang out together, but the fact that I hadn’t managed to snag one single opportunity to talk to Gerard all day gave me the distinct impression that he was avoiding me.
The straw that broke the camel’s back was his absence at big lunch. When Johnny arrived at the rugby table without sight nor sound of Gerard, I hit my limit. Because if Mr. Serious Captain had time to eat lunch with his girlfriend, then that was all the evidence I needed. Gerard’s absence had nothing to do with scoring tries and everything to do with scoring girls.
This girl.
Me.
Oh God …
“I need to talk to you!” I blurted out, eyes locked on Shannon, who was laughing at something her boyfriend had whispered in her ear. “It’s an emergency!”
“You do?” My bestie’s attention flicked to me. “It is?”
“I do, and absolutely.” Shoving my chair back, I leapt up, body bristling with nervous energy. “Like right now, Shan.”
Without a word, Shannon rose to her feet and moved to my side, clearly understanding the assignment.
“It’s so bad, Shan,” I strangled out, catching ahold of her hand before dragging her off in the direction of the girls’ bathrooms. Pushing the door inwards, I hurried inside and instantly began to pace the empty bathroom. “Like so, so bad, chickie.” Cracking my knuckles, I pushed at the sleeves of my jumper while I considered how to verbalize last night’s events to my bestie.
“Oh my God, Claire, what is it?” Shannon’s voice was laced with concern, and her blue eyes were wide in horror. “What happened?” Closing the space between us, she reached up and touched my brow. “Are you sick? Because I thought you looked flushed this morning when you arrived at school.”
“Yes and no,” I admitted with a grimace. “As in, yes, I’m flushed, but no, I’m not sick – unless of course you take into account what happened last night.” Whimpering, I chewed on my nails before adding, “In that case, I suppose I would be considered sick in several different constitutions where promiscuity is frowned upon.”
“Okay, you’re rambling.” She reached up and grabbed my arms. “Just take a breath and talk to me, Claire.”
“Yes, I am rambling, Shan,” I squeezed out. “I’m rambling because I am freaking the hell out!”
“Why?”
“It’s Gerard!”
“What about him?”
“He and I … last night he … ” Nope. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t verbalize last night’s debauchery out loud. “Oh God, I can’t say the word!”
“Say the word?” Shannon gaped at me in horror. “Claire, did Gibs do something to hurt you?”
“Oh my God, no.” I shook my head. “Gerard would never hurt me. Not in a million years.” Swallowing deeply, I whispered, “He did the opposite of hurting me.”
Shannon continued to frown up at me for a long beat before her eyes widened in understanding and her mouth formed a perfect little O-shape. “Oh.”
“Oh,” I confirmed with a whimper, while nodding my head enthusiastically to let my bestie know just how big of an O it was.
“You let him do what?” Lizzie demanded, standing in the bathroom doorway, clearly having heard every word. “You let that piece of shit into your knickers? Are you completely insane?”
“Oh my God, Liz, keep it down, will you?” Shannon whisper-hissed, dragging our friend into the bathroom and closing the door behind her. “Jeez.”
“Okay, you need to not judge me right now,” I snapped back, glowering at her. “Because first, I didn’t sleep with Gerard last night, and second, I never once judged you when you actually slept with Pierce.”
“Why would you have a problem with me and Pierce?” Lizzie snapped back. “It’s not like he’s related to the fucking monster that ruined your family.” Her eyes were full of hurt when she said, “And it’s not like I purposefully chose to betray my friend by getting with him.”
“You seriously want to talk to me about betraying friends with boys?” I narrowed my eyes and glared back at her, unwilling to back down this time. “One word, Liz: brother.”
“Whoa, girls, just stop, okay?” Shannon interjected, holding her hands up.
“Let’s just take it down a notch here.”
“So, I take it you’re with him now?” Ignoring Shannon’s attempts to play peacemaker, Lizzie folded her arms across her chest and glared. “You and Thor. You’re a thing now, right?”
“No,” I replied in a hard tone. “We’re not, but you would already know that if you stopped throwing around accusations and actually listened for a change.”
“Okay, shush!” Reaching up, Shannon clamped her hands over both of our mouths. “No more fighting, okay?” Her attention flicked between both of us as she spoke. “I know this is a delicate situation for both of you, but this isn’t good enough, guys. It’s hard enough to be a girl in this world without turning on each other. Especially since we’ve been friends since primary school.” Blowing out a breath, she took a step back and gestured to me. “Okay, Claire, tell us everything.” She then walked over to Lizzie and squeezed her hand. “And we’ll listen.”
I held my breath for a moment, waiting for Lizzie’s comeback, but when it didn’t come, I exhaled slowly and explained last night’s shenanigans in explicit detail.
“And then Gerard did something with his thumb and pointer finger,” I added, using my own hand to give them a detailed visual rundown. “And that was it.” I threw my hands up in despair. “I was dead, I tell you!” Planting my hands on my hips, I looked at both of them expectantly. “Well? Any ideas?”
“He made you come,” Lizzie replied flatly. “Congratulations.”
“Oh my God,” Shannon gushed between fits of laughter. “I’m so happy for you guys.”
“Don’t be,” I was quick to warn. “He was gone when I woke up this morning and he’s been avoiding me like the plague ever since.”
“Sounds about right,” Lizzie deadpanned. “The typical M.O. of a fuckboy.”
“Stop it,” Shannon scolded, still smiling. “Gibsie is not one of those.”
“Except that he is,” Lizzie challenged dryly. “And Claire is just one more in a long list of Thor’s conquests.” With a despondent look etched on her face, she looked at me. “You’re such a fool.” She shook her head. “He’s going to ruin you.”
My hackles were immediately up, and I was instantly on the defense. “Like you’re in any position to judge me.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Guys, stop, please … ”
“You know exactly what that means,” I shot back. “So just think about it before you start name-calling.”
“Claire,” Shannon tried to interject, begging me with her eyes not to feed the fire. “Just take a sec, okay.” Turning to Lizzie, she added, “Nobody knows how Gibsie’s feeling except Gibsie, so please let’s just give him the benefit of the doubt here.” She forced a smile before saying, “He clearly has feelings for Claire.”
“Thanks, Shan,” I said, needing her reassurance in this moment.
“It’s true,” she hurried to soothe. “That boy worships the ground you walk on, and the entire school knows it. I bet you any money there’s a perfectly plausible reason for him missing lunch today. In fact, I could almost guarantee that if I walked out there and asked Johnny, he would more than likely say that Gibs has detention for some disastrous prank or other.” She offered me a supportive smile before adding, “Trust me, Claire, there isn’t one single believable scenario where that boy would choose to ignore you. He couldn’t if he tried.”
“But what if he regrets what happened between us?”
“He doesn’t.”
“But what if he does?”
“That’s not going to happen.”
“But what if … ”
“Oh please,” Lizzie cut in, “you’ll be a couple by the end of the week.”
My heart hammered excitedly. “You really think so?”
“Of course,” Shannon agreed with a smile.
“And if that’s what you want then go for it,” Lizzie added in a trembling voice. “I clearly can’t stop you. But don’t expect me to stick around to watch it.” Sniffling, she shook her head and moved for the bathroom door. “You’ve made your choice and it’s clearly him!”
“Lizzie, wait!”
She didn’t wait.
Instead, she stormed out of the bathroom, letting the door slam shut behind her.
“She’ll come around,” Shannon offered, chewing on her lip nervously. “Give her some time. You’ll see.”
