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"Relax," I snickered. "I'm not offended."
Joh
"Jesus Christ, I almost had a heart attack there." Rubbing his chest, he smiled impishly. "I know how mental most girls can get over their weight."
"Well, I'm not like most girls," I replied with a grimace and gestured to myself. "As you can see."
"No," Joh
There was a long, uncomfortable pause where we both stared at each other.
The silence was disconcerting, but not nearly as u
They were too sharp.
Too all-seeing.
Too much.
"Do you want another coke?" Joh
"Uh…" I glanced at my watch and then back to him. "I don’t know."
Joh
Yes.
No.
Go home before your father finds out you're in a pub and kills you.
No, stay here with him.
God…
I shrugged helplessly.
"Well, are you thirsty?" he asked. "Do you think you would like another drink?"
"I…" I glanced around nervously, only to find dozens of pairs of eyes trained on our table.
My heartbeat skyrocketed.
I did not like this.
Not one bit.
"Sha
"Uh…" Scooting closer, I leaned over the table and gestured for Joh
Frowning, he did.
"Joh
Pulling back, I looked around again and noticed the table of teenage girls had somehow pushed closer to ours. My eyes flicked to his and I nodded vigorously. "People are definitely watching us, Joh
Joh
"Is it because of the rugby?"
He gave me a resigned looking nod. "I'm sorry. Just ignore them."
"How?" I croaked out, feeling very exposed in this moment.
Joh
"Come on," he a
"The lounge?"
"It's quieter." He looked around and muttered, "Maybe we'll get some peace and fucking quiet," under his breath.
He didn’t like this, either.
He might act like it didn’t bother him.
But this wasn’t something he was comfortable with.
It was with this realization that I found myself taking his outstretched hand.
Overwhelmed, I followed Joh
This room had more of a youthful feel to it, with pool tables and dart boards on the walls, and a juke box playing in the corner.
I noticed several teenagers sporting a range of different school uniforms from the local district lounging around.
Like when we walked into the main bar, everyone turned to look at him, but after a few head nods and 'how's it going, Kav', they turned back to their company.
Joh
From here, we had a perfect view of the rest of the room, with the perk of being slightly tucked out of the way.
You should go home, Sha "Better?" Joh I nodded and reached for my coke, eyes locked on the goings on around me. I could see several boys at the far side of the lounge wearing BCS uniforms, and that made me want to crawl under the table and hide. I was so nervous that I had to use both hands to stop the bottle from shaking. Seeing Ciara Maloney, my greatest tormentor from my old school, and the giver of my eyelid scar, sitting amongst them made my entire body coil up with dread. Like she could sense me watching her, Ciara turned her face in my direction. Great. Just bloody great. The moment she recognized me, that familiar glint of malicious intent flashed in her eyes for about two seconds before her gaze moved to Joh Her mouth visibly fell open and she began to nudge the girl sitting beside her, Ha We were being watched again. But now, it had more to do with me being hated than him being the local celebrity. Panicked, I dropped my gaze to the glass bottle clasped between my hands. Breathe, Sha Just breathe… "You're a lying, little whore," Ciara snarled as she pi Knowing it was safer to say nothing, I kept my mouth shut and mentally prepared myself for the beating I knew I would receive. "Answer me, bitch!" she snarled, slamming my shoulders into the concrete, causing the air to expel from my lungs in a loud, pained groan. Several of the girls standing around us all laughed and sneered when a whimper tore from my throat. I was already aching in more ways than any of these girls could comprehend – my father's latest whiskey tantrum the cause of my pain – and they were enjoying my obvious discomfort. It wasn’t anything new to me. I was used to being laughed at. I was used to being the punching bag. And I hated myself for accepting it. When Ciara shoved me into the wall again, I forced myself to swallow down the sob that was threatening to erupt from my throat, forcing the words, "I didn’t look at your boyfriend," out instead. "He looked at me." That was the truth. Her boyfriend had a horrible habit of staring at me. My explanation earned me a slap across the face and a fistful of my hair to be yanked so roughly that I staggered forward, feeling weak and powerless. "I'm going to fucking destroy you," she hissed in my ear before tearing her nails down the side of my cheek. Go for it, I thought to myself. But you can't destroy what's already broken… "Relax," Joh His words threw me and I turned my face to look at him. God, he was just so beautiful, it was painful. Everything about Joh He was big and strong, and his face? Oh god, his face was the best face I had ever laid eyes on. "Why wouldn’t I be safe?" It was a defensive question asked out of desperation because this boy was throwing me like no one had before. I couldn’t figure any of this out, and my poor heart was working in overdrive to keep up with the feelings bombarding my body because of his close proximity. Fear, uncertainty, lust, and panic were all kicking my ass. "I'm just letting you know that you are," he replied, blue eyes locked on mine. "Okay?"