SKYFALL, Johnny Kavanagh

You can't help

Johnny's Point of View

As soon as I saw Shannon Lynch sitting with her two blonde friends, Lizzie Young and Claire Biggs, I made my way to her.
Even from a distance I could tell something was bothering her too, her food looked untouched and she was gripping the edge of her jumper like her life depended on it.
I didn't know much about Shannon—hell, I'd only talked to her once, and she wasn't even fully conscious then—but I could tell something was off.
She always looked a bit skittish since I met her, but today was different. She looked like she was ready to bolt at the first sign of trouble.

"Hey, Shannon," I called out as I approached the table.

She jumped in her seat, eyes wide as if I'd startled her out of some deep thought.
When she realized it was me, she relaxed, but not by much.

Weird.
What was she so scared of?
Was McGarry causing trouble again?
I was going to kill that little fucker.

"Johnny?" She asked, breaking the silence around us. "Uhm, do you need something?"
She looked at me like she couldn't figure out what could possibly why I wanted to speak to her.

"I just wanted to talk to you." I replied. "Do you mind stepping out with me for a second?"

She glanced at her friends, who were now watching us with curious eyes, before nodding. "Uh, sure, I guess."

I led the way outside to a covered spot, since the rain was coming down hard. Shannon followed, but she still looked tense, her arms wrapped tightly around herself.

Once we were out of earshot, I turned to face her. "Has something happened with Maeve?"

She looked at me like a deer caught in headlight before trying to fake nonchalance and replying. "What do you mean?"

"She just ditched no school for no apparent reason." I shot back.

"She didn't feel like being at school." Shannon tried to tell me.

"She's a scholarship student, I doubt she got where she is by skipping whenever she felt like it." I pointed out.

Shannon looked like she was caught in a web and didn't know what to say, so I continued. "Joey told me she's not on great terms with people from her old school. Does she have a problem with them?"

"No. I mean yes, but that's not what's bothering her. She's just stressed." She explained.

"You can tell me if someone from BCS is bothering you two, I can help." I told her.
I wanted her to trust me.
No, I needed her to.
I wanted to help these two girls, more than I ever wanted to help anyone in my life.
I didn't know why I felt so strongly about them, there was just something inside me that demanded I did.

"You can't." She muttered under her breath. "Not with this."

What the hell did that mean?
What had Maeve gotten herself into?

"What do you mean, 'not with this'?" I asked, trying to keep my voice steady, but the frustration was creeping in.

She bit her lip.
Shit.
I had scared her.

"Shannon, I'm sorry." I told her. "I know this is private, and I don't want you to feel pressured. I just need to understand what's going on."

"I can't." She told me with her big blue eyes full of pleading.

Knowing there was no way of moving this conversation forward, I asked one last question to put my mind at ease. "Does Joey know whatever's going on?"

"Yes." She responded with a sigh. "Joey's going to help her. Maeve told me she was going to call him."

I took out a pen and a piece of paper I had in my jacked and handed it to her. "Here, write down your number, in case anything happens you can call me."

She looked me sheepishly before refusing. "My phone is broken, my ... brothers accidentally drowned it, but I can write Maeve's phone number for you, I doubt you have it. I'm pretty sure she forbade both Joey and Gibsie from giving it to you."

"Is that why Gibsie always changed the topic whenever I asked him?" I realised. "You won't be in trouble for it?"

"No, she probably expected one of us to cave under the pressure." She smiled.

"Alright." I said, taking a step back. "But if things get worse, or if Maeve needs help, you come to me. No matter what. I don't care how complicated it is, okay?"

Shannon nodded, but it felt half-hearted, like she was just agreeing to get me off her back. "Yeah... okay."

I wasn't satisfied with that but pushing her wasn't going to get me anywhere. Not today, anyway. "Alright. I'll see you around."

As soon as she was back inside, I turned to walk away, but I couldn't shake the feeling that I was missing something huge.
Something that neither Shannon, Joey or Maeve wanted me to know.

Once I got home later in the evening the first thing I did was charge my phone and, as soon as it turned on, I saved Maeve's number and texted her.

I care.

I wasn't until hours later my cell lit up with a reply.

Sunshine
You shouldn't.