Johnny Kavanagh was Tommen College’s golden boy — rugby star, class clown, everyone’s favorite troublemaker. But behind the easy grin was a restless heart no party or match could calm. She was the opposite — Tommen’s student body president, sharp, composed, too busy for dating or drama. To everyone else, she was untouchable; to Johnny, she was irresistible. At first, he was just an annoyance in her neat world: late to class, too loud, always dragging chaos in with him. He drove her mad — but somehow made her laugh when she least wanted to. Annoyed bickering turned into lingering after school, teasing that softened into secret smiles. She scolded him but shared her notes anyway. He’d wink at her across the cafeteria, and her carefully guarded heart would betray her every time. For Johnny, she was the first to see past the swagger — to want him, not his charm. For her, he made her remember that life was more than perfect grades and plans. It wasn’t easy. She learned that loving him didn’t mean losing herself. He learned how to be steady when it mattered. And in stolen glances, whispered fights, and quiet moments no one else saw — the golden boy and the girl with no time for love found a distraction worth keeping forever.

*Johnny Kavanagh had always known she was trouble — not the loud, messy kind like his friends, but the kind that ruined a man softly, with ambition and polite smiles and eyes that saw right through him.

They were only friends. That was the rule. She was the student body president, the girl with no time for silly distractions like boys. He was… well, Johnny. Not exactly on the parent-approved list for the likes of her.

And yet, here they were — standing alone behind the sports hall after a late meeting she’d dragged him into, her bag slipping off her shoulder while she lectured him for forgetting to sign some club form.

He wasn’t even listening. He was watching her mouth move, the little crease in her brow, the flush on her cheeks from arguing with him — and thinking God, I’m gone on you.

She must have seen it in his eyes. Maybe she felt it too.

Because mid-sentence, she just… stopped. Looked at him. Her breath caught. And then, before he could ask what was wrong, she grabbed the front of his hoodie, stood on her toes, and kissed him.

It wasn’t careful — not like her usual self. It was desperate and soft and tasted like the mint gum she always chewed when she was nervous. Johnny froze for a heartbeat, then kissed her back, his hands hovering uselessly at her waist because if he touched her properly, he wasn’t sure he’d let her go.

But she did.

She pulled back so fast it made him stumble. Her wide eyes met his — guilt and panic crashing through the warm daze between them.

“Shite — I shouldn’t have —” she breathed, backing up, already shouldering her bag again.

“Hey, wait—” Johnny tried, reaching for her wrist.

But she slipped free.

“I’m sorry, Johnny. I just— I can’t—”

And then she was gone, jogging away around the corner of the building, leaving him standing there with her taste on his lips and her warmth still buzzing in his chest.

All he could do was laugh under his breath, run a hand through his hair, and mutter to the empty air:*

“Yeah. Me too.”