Keeping 13

When Shannon sees Johnny with his friends, she sees how happy he is and realizes that she only causes him trouble. Her anxiety gets the best of her, and she turns away, but Johnny catches up to her. She tries to explain to Johnny that she was leaving because she was afraid he might have changed his mind about her. However, Johnny insists that the incident with their parents had no impact on his feelings. He asks why Shannon didn’t answer the phone, and she tells him it died the first day and she didn’t have a charger. He gives Shannon a phone that he bought for her and, even though she says she can’t take it, he puts it in her bag.

The two kiss for several minutes in the hall as the bells ring and the students go to class. Johnny asks if they are now boyfriend and girlfriend, and Shannon agrees that they are.

In health class, Johnny is forced to sit next to Bella. She again tries to talk to him, but he grows angrier until she calls his relationship with Shannon a “pity” relationship. He demands that they change seats, and the teacher instead puts Gibsie next to him. A presentation starts about safe sex, and Gibsie enlists Johnny to help him steal free condoms.

At lunch, Gibsie tries to give Johnny some of the condoms, but he refuses several times. However, when Gibsie refuses to put them away, Johnny stuffs some in his pocket to get him to stop. As their friends join them at the table, Johnny anxiously waits for Shannon. After a while, he spots her in the doorway with Lizzie and Claire.

Shannon spends the morning hiding in the bathroom, afraid to face people in class. Lizzie and Claire find her and insist that she needs to come out. They take her to the cafeteria, where Johnny joins them in the hallway. She admits to Johnny that she skipped class all morning, and he reassures her that everything will be fine and that he is there for her. He takes her in to sit with him and the rugby players.

Shannon goes to her last three classes with Lizzie by her side, scaring away anyone who might want to talk to her.

After school, she walks with Claire to the parking lot. Claire convinces her to come over to her house. When they get to Darren’s car, Shannon tells him that she is going with Claire. Darren angrily tells her that she has to come home with him. He puts his hands on her shoulders and reminds her that it is not safe with their father out there, but Claire begins yelling at him for putting his hands on Shannon. Her yelling draws the attention of Gibsie and Johnny, and Johnny comes over and confronts Darren. Shannon tries to defend Darren, saying that Darren wouldn’t hurt her, but Johnny yells that he saw him put his hands on her. Darren stares at him, then gives up, telling Shannon to “do whatever the hell” she wants (226).

At Gibsie’s house, Johnny angrily does chin-ups, trying to calm down after his confrontation with Darren. He wavers on whether to go over to Claire’s house to talk to Shannon, and Gibsie initially discourages him. However, he eventually decides he has to go.

Johnny and Gibsie come to Claire’s bedroom. Claire and Gibsie leave so Johnny and Shannon can stay in the room and talk.

Johnny apologizes to Shannon for overreacting with Darren, and Shannon responds by kissing him. As the two kiss on the bed, she starts touching Johnny, but he pins her hands above her head and tells her they need to slow down. As she rolls over, she feels something and finds the condoms that fell out of Johnny’s pocket.

Embarrassed, Johnny insists they’re not his. He tells her that he had no intention of having sex with her and is surprised when Shannon seems disappointed. She tries to explain that he had sex with Bella, and she wants Johnny to want her that much. However, Johnny insists that “all” he wanted with Bella was sex—nothing more. With Shannon, their relationship is about a lot more than that. He wants her physically, but also wants to connect with her emotionally as well. Relieved, Shannon admits that she does not feel like she is ready for sex.

Johnny and Gibsie spend the rest of the night at Claire’s house until her mother makes them go home. Johnny thinks about how he “put what she needed before what [he] needed, and that knowledge put [him] somewhat at peace” (243); however, he still feels an intense desire for her and cannot wait to get home to masturbate for the first time since his injury. He is relieved when he can do so without pain.

When Shannon gets home, there are police cars outside her house. She, Joey, and Tadhg listen upstairs until the Gardí leave. They find Darren in the kitchen, distraught, with their mother sitting at the table, staring at nothing and smoking. Joey picks up a piece of paper from a stack on the table, reads it, then crumples it up and throws it. He tells Shannon that their father has written them letters.

Darren tells them that the police found their father: He has been in a rehab facility since he hurt Shannon. The judge is going to allow him to stay there until he completes treatment, then he will be free until his court date in November. Joey angrily says that he was right—Teddy is only doing this because he can avoid jail if he pretends to get treatment. He angrily leaves the house, leaving Shannon unable to sleep for the rest of the night.

Johnny is woken up by Gibsie early the next morning. Gibsie wants to start training to join the National Rugby Team and needs Johnny’s help; however, Johnny turns him away, exhausted, and promises to help tomorrow.

When Johnny talks to his mother, he tells her that Shannon is now his girlfriend. She is happy but reminds him that she does not want him going to her house.

At school, Johnny finds Shannon waiting for him outside. She tells him about her father. He can tell that Shannon is still upset, so he offers to take Gibsie’s car and drive her somewhere; she eagerly agrees.

The two spend the day at the beach together, with Johnny intentionally not discussing her father. Shannon plays with a rugby ball, keeping it away from Johnny and seeing how well his injury is healing. He is initially embarrassed at his weak state, but thanks to her continual encouragement, he realizes that she is giving him a chance to practice, free from judgment.

Shannon and Johnny sit in the car together. She asks him what will happen in June when he goes away for rugby. He says that he doesn’t think he will make the team, but Shannon tells him that he will. He promises that things won’t change between them, but he wonders if she will still want to be with him if he doesn’t make the team. In response, she kisses him.

Shannon shows Johnny the note from her father, telling him that she can’t bring herself to read it. He reads it and grows angry. He tells her that her father claims he is sorry and is going to change and asks for her forgiveness. She tells Johnny to get rid of the letter, and he burns it.

On Saturday, Shannon and Darren clean out the attic. She becomes angry, telling him that she has spent every Saturday cleaning up after their family for years—while their mother does nothing. Frustrated, Darren tells her he is trying, then angrily tells her to do whatever she wants and leaves. Feeling “furious,” Shannon continues to clean, then leaves the house for the “freedom” she needs.

Shannon goes to Claire’s and sits with her and Lizzie, watching a movie. Claire encourages Shannon to text Johnny to hang out. She is hesitant, but Lizzie takes her phone and texts Johnny, telling him to come pick her up.

After Johnny agrees to pick up Shannon, he gets a haircut and picks out clothes. He is not sure whether to take her out somewhere or what to do, so he decides he is going to let her pick what they do. When he picks her up at Claire’s, he is astounded by how beautiful she looks in a short red dress and high heels.

When they get into Johnny’s car, they kiss, and Johnny stops her to ask what she wants to do. She says that she just wants to be with him and doesn’t care to go anywhere, so they agree to go back to his house.

Johnny tells Shannon they are going to sneak into his room, not because Shannon is unwelcome but so that his mother will leave them alone. Johnny tries to get Shannon to watch a movie or play a video game, but she kisses him. On his bed, she tries to take off his clothes, but he tells her that they need to take it slow. Instead, he kisses her, then uses his hand to make her orgasm. She then feels his erection against her body and realizes she wants to “just fall into this boy and never come back out again” (302). They are interrupted by Johnny’s mom banging on the bedroom door.

Johnny takes Shannon home. As Shannon goes to get out of the car, he can hear yelling coming from inside the house so he insists on walking her in.

When Shannon opens her front door, her mother is hysterical. She demands to know where Shannon has been, and Shannon acknowledges that her mother is high on valium. Johnny asks Marie where her children are, and when she doesn’t know, he accuses her of not worrying enough about them. Joey comes home, defusing the situation, as Darren closes the door on Johnny.

In Shannon’s house, Shannon yells at Darren and her mother for treating Johnny as they did. Noting that Johnny is still waiting outside, Joey encourages Shannon to say goodbye to him. Marie tells her she can’t, but Joey intervenes. He informs her that whether she likes it or not, Johnny isn’t going anywhere. If she continues to push him away and mistreat him, she has “a hell of a lot more to lose out of this—and a lot more skeletons to be exposed” (310). His mother doesn’t even respond, instead sobbing into her hands, but Joey doesn’t even acknowledge how upset she is; instead, he tells Shannon to go outside. Darren tries to stop her, but she brushes past him and runs to Johnny, kissing him goodnight.

When Johnny gets back home, Gibsie is waiting for him. Johnny admits to him that his “feelings” are making things more complicated; he wants to have sex with Shannon but doesn’t want to move too fast. Conversely, he realizes that she could be getting the impression that he isn’t attracted to her. Gibsie insists that he not “overthink” it, then begs Johnny to go get a pack of condoms just in case.