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She’s too young for you.
You know the rules.
Stand the fuck down.
“No,” she replied slowly, cheeks turning pink. “Do you?”
“No, Shannon.” I smirked. “I don’t have a boyfriend.”
“I didn’t mean—” Pausing, she exhaled a sigh and gnawed on her bottom lip, clearly flustered. “I meant—”
“I know what you meant,” I filled in, unable to stop my smile from spreading, as I tucked that wandering curl back behind her ear. “I was just messing with you.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah,” I teased. “Oh.”
“Well?” she pressed, voice small. She glanced down at her lap before returning her attention to my face. “Do you—”
“Shannon!” A panicked female voice called out, distracting us both. “Shannon!”
I swung my gaze to the tall dark-haired woman hurrying down the corridor toward us, sporting a small baby bump.
“Shannon!” she demanded, closing in on us. “What happened?”
“Mam,” Shannon croaked out, turning her attention to her mother. “I’m okay.”
Highly uncomfortable at the sight of her mother’s protruding stomach, I took this as my cue to get the fuck away from her minor daughter.
Pregnant women made me nervous, but not nearly as much as Shannon like the river did.
I stood up and made to move away, only to be cornered by what I could only describe as a deranged mother bear.
“What did you do to my daughter?” she demanded, prodding my shoulder with her finger. “Well? Did you think it was funny? Why in god’s name are children so fucking cruel?”
“What…? No!” I shot back, hands up in retreat. “It was an accident. I didn’t mean to hurt her.”
“Mrs. Lynch,” the principal coaxed, stepping between the woman and me. “I’m sure if we all just sit down and talk about this—”
“No,” Mrs. Lynch barked, voice thick with emotion. “You assured me this kind of thing wouldn’t happen at this school and look what happened on her first day!” She turned to look at Shannon and her expression caved in pain. “Shannon, I don’t know what to do with you anymore,” the woman sobbed. “I really don’t, baby. I thought this place would be different for you.”
“Mam, he didn’t mean to hurt me,” Shannon stated, pleading my case. Her blue eyes flicked to me for the briefest of moments before returning to her mother. “It really was an accident.”
“And how many times have you spun me that line?” her mother asked wearily. “You don’t need to cover for him, Shannon. If this boy is giving you a hard time, then say it.”
“I’m not,” I protested at the same time Shannon shouted, “He’s not.”
“Shut up, you,” her mother hissed, shoving me hard in the chest. “My daughter can speak for herself.”
Gritting my teeth, I did, in fact, shut up. I wasn’t going to win any verbal disputes with her mother.
“It was a complete accident,” Shannon repeated, chin jutting out defiantly, still holding her head with her small hand. “Do you think he’d be here helping me if it was on purpose?”
That gave the woman pause for thought.
“No,” she finally admitted. “No, I don’t suppose he would… What in god’s name are you wearing?”
Shannon looked down at herself and flamed scarlet. “I ripped my skirt when I fell down the bank,” she said with a deep swallow. “Johnny…uh, gave me his jersey so everyone didn’t see my…my…well, my knickers.”
