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No wonder he reacted so badly.
I'd seen the attention people gave him when we were out.
Joh
Everybody talked about him.
All the time.
I think if I were him, I would crawl under my bed and hide.
A huge swell of sympathy filled my chest, all directed at him.
"Poor guy," I mumbled, thinking about how desperate he must be feeling to have to hide his injury.
"Poor guy?" Helen scoffed and made a pffft noise. "There's nothing poor about Joh
"You should see the crowds and media at his local games," Helen added with a dreamlike sigh. "It's insane."
I know.
I saw.
Maybe he was off to the pros or maybe he wasn’t.
I didn’t think that it was any of our business to be talking about him like this.
This was his life that was being openly discussed and I wasn’t comfortable.
"You're awfully quiet there, Sha
He was, by far, the most beautiful boy I'd ever seen in the flesh.
However, I got the distinct feeling that without the allure of fame and money that was attached to him, these girls wouldn’t be so obsessed.
Then again, maybe they would be.
Meanwhile, I couldn’t care less about what shaped ball he kicked around a field.
Rugby was a sport.
It was a game.
It wasn’t all he was.
It was just one part of him.
The only part that mattered to these girls, apparently.
It was disgusting and I refused to join in on a conversation that reminded me heavily of the conversations I'd overhead girls have about Joey.
"I guess." I shrugged noncommittally. "He's a very good player."
Both girls laughed.
"She's totally blushing," Shelly teased. "Look, don’t even bother, Shan."
I frowned. "Bother with what?"
"Liking him," she replied. "Joh
"Actually, that's not true," Claire tossed back cattily. "He gave her a spin home from school." She cast me a mischievous grin. "Twice."
Blushing, I made a mental note to never tell Claire a goddamn thing again.
Both girls swung their gazes towards me.
"You lucky bitch," Shelly breathed, wide-eyed.
"You were in his car?" Helen demanded.
I shrugged, feeling very exposed in this moment, but didn’t reply.
"And she was in the papers with him," Claire added. "Hughie showed me. All the lads were talking about it because Joh
"He's never in the papers with girls," Helen accused. "When did this happen?"
"Before she went out to di
"Oh my fucking god!" Both girls gasped at the same time.
"Did you score with him?" Helen asked – actually, it was more of a demand. "Oh my god, did you ride Joh Claire looked at me with an expectant expression. "No! God, of course I didn’t," I choked out, spluttering on my words. "Why would you even ask that?" "Ah, because he's Joh "Not Lizzie," Claire waved a hand in the air. "She despises rugby players." "That's because Lizzie is fighting with Pierce. She'll love rugby players again next week when he smooths her over again," Shelly retorted, then quickly turned her attention back to me. "Oh my god!" Planting her hands on her hips, she squealed, "Did you see his bedroom? What's it like? Does he have a huge bed? I bet it's huge. Is he driving you home from school again? Is that why he's here? Oh my god, are you two a couple?" "Oh god, Bella is going to be maaaaad," Helen interjected. "She'll hit the roof when she finds out you're after her fella." "Joh "Actually," Shelly chimed in, holding a finger up. "I heard some of the sixth-year girls in the bathroom the other day talking about Bella being with Cormac Ryan now." Arching a brow, she added, "Apparently, she's been shagging him for ages." "While she was with Joh "Mmm-hmm," Shelly said. "Stupid girl, huh?" "Well, Cormac's a good-looking guy," Helen replied with a frown. "But he's no Joh "I know, right?" Shelly agreed. Claire took a dramatic half-bow. "And there you have it," she said. "Everyone's girl." "Still, though." Helen chewed on her nail, gaze flicking to mine. "Bella won't be happy about you." "She doesn’t own him," Claire scoffed. "They were never an actual couple, and even if they were, Bella can't talk. Everyone knows that she's been riding half the school behind his back for months." "Yeah, but he's her horse in the race," Helen reasoned. "Operation Bind Thirteen anyone?" "Ugh, those girls are dopes," Claire grumbled. "I thought that stupid competition phased out last year." "It did," Shelly said in a sulky tone. "Bella won." "Operation Bind what?" I croaked out. "Binding Thirteen," Helen repeated, staring at me like I was clueless. In this instance, I was. "What does that even mean?" "The fifth and sixth-year girls had this stupid competition going last year to see who could get with Joh "I don’t get it," I admitted, mortified. "Joh "What –why would they do that to him?" "Because he's impossibly picky," Shelly groaned. "And rarely looks at any of the girls around here. He's a complete snob when it comes to who he's with." "I suppose he can afford to be with the kind of women he's surrounded by on those tours," Helen injected. "True," Shelly said glumly. "Did you see those girls on their last tour?" "The model?" Helen asked and gave a resigned nod. "She was like twenty-seven." "They were all over the internet," Shelly sighed. "Bella won't be happy with competition," Helen offered with a grimace. "Shan, you should stay away from him, because she'll scratch your eyes right out." "She's a bitch," Shelly agreed. "It doesn’t matter if they're taking a break right now or not. She'll go batshit on you." "They're not taking an anything because they were never in a relationship," Claire grumbled. "They were glorified fuck buddies, guys. It was hardly the romance of the century." "It doesn’t matter," Helen countered. "You know what she's like, Claire. In Bella's eyes, she and Joh