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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 inward, 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 , 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.”
