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“It was a hypothetical question,” she shot back defensively.
“No,” I corrected. “It was failed manipulation.”
“I love you,” she sobbed. “I’m sorry for wanting to make it work.”
“Well, don’t love me,” I barked, agitated. “Because I don’t and won’t ever love you back!” Twisting sideways, I slipped past her and stalked into the hall. “From now on, stay the fuck away from me.”
57Unexpected Field Trips
SHANNON
I didn’t go back to my last three classes on Wednesday, and I stayed at home from school on Thursday. I knew it was wrong to skip school, but I just couldn’t face it.
It was too much.
Bella, Johnny, the stares, the whispers.
It was far too much.
I felt emotionally drained and physically battered, and I needed some time to think things through before going back.
My attempt at taking some breathing space was a complete disaster that consisted of my father losing his head with me last night for burning the dinner and resulted in a punch to the face.
Apparently, I couldn’t cook spaghetti Bolognese for shit. And apparently, that was crime enough to earn another infamous choking.
I felt like absolute crap this morning, but I would have crawled on my hands and knees out of that house if I had to. Nothing Bella did to me at school could come close to what he was capable of doing to me at home.
When I finally made it to school—over an hour late because I overslept without the aid of my trusty phone alarm—I all but got my head bitten off by Mr. Mulcahy, our P.E. teacher, for holding the show up.
“What show?” I had asked, because I honestly didn’t know what the hell was happening.
Apparently, I wasn’t deemed worthy enough of that information because instead of explaining what was happening, Mr. Mulcahy had all but shoved me onto a jam-packed school bus and instructed me to find a seat and fast.
Which brought me to my current terror-induced predicament as I stood at the front of the bus, at a complete loss as to what was happening or why I was being forced onto a school bus full of unfamiliar faces.
“Shan!” Claire called out, flagging me over.
Panicked, my eyes sought her out in the third row from the front with Lizzie sitting alongside her. All the girls on the bus seemed to be sitting up at the front near the driver. There were only four other girls in my class, and Shelly and Helen were paired up in the seat behind my friends. Several other girls from sixth year were sitting near them—including a glaring Bella and a huge dark-haired boy with his arm wrapped around her and his face nuzzling her neck.
Forcing myself to not look at Bella, I scrambled toward Lizzie and Claire.
“What’s going on?” I hissed when I reached them.
“It’s game day,” Claire told me, smile fading. “Remember?”
I stared blankly at her. “Game day what?”
Claire’s eyes widened. “Oh my god,” she whisper-hissed. “A text went out Tuesday night about it.”
“A text?” I croaked out. “I didn’t get any text.”
“She’s new so she’s probably not on the system,” Lizzie muttered.
No, I didn’t get the text because my phone was floating in water on Tuesday night.
“What’s going on, guys?” I choked out, terrified now. I glanced around nervously.
“The playoff is today,” Lizzie explained. “Between Tommen and Royce.”
