Prologue

He was hot. Very hot. His eyes were dark, beautiful and mysterious and his dark brown hair hung perfectly around his face. Cliché way to start a story, I know, but it’s an important detail. Because his hotness allowed him to do almost anything. He could get any girl he wanted. He was always invited to parties and even if he wasn’t, he could always get in. He was extremely popular, with the teachers as well as with the students. And he could treat me as if I was worthless. I hated him. From the moment I had set eyes on him, about a year ago, we were at silent (or sometimes not so silent) war. The worst thing about our hatred for each other was the fact that I had to see him everyday. If it wasn’t at school then it was at parties and what made matters worse was the fact that our parents were friends. They had regular dinners and get togethers and I often did not have a way of escaping these. So I had to sit through a dinner, look at his annoying face and listen to his irritating voice. I had to endure sneers which were often sent my way and my parents did not, or would not, notice the fact that he treated me worse than dirt.

That day, we were both invited to a party. The host was Jennifer Zaria, head cheerleader and extremely pretty. She had the whole school wrapped around her finger. I had been contemplating for weeks whether I should go or not but eventually decided to go because it was one of the biggest events in the year and I hated hearing my friends talk about the party afterwards and not be able to take part in the conversations. I met up at Cameron’s house to change and get ready for the party. And this is where the story begins.


Chapter 1

“Cam, can I borrow some shoes? Because none of the shoes I have fit with what I’m wearing.”
“Yeah, sure, just pick any.”
“Thanks.”
I opened her closet and let my eyes drift over the dozens of shoes she had in there. I was happy that she had the same shoe size as me because her shoe collection was incredible. I picked some black stilettos because they fit perfectly with my pink and black top. Then I observed myself in her floor length mirror. I was secretly satisfied with the way I looked and felt as if I could conquer the world. I glanced over at Cameron and hoped that she would decide to take it easy tonight and not get too drunk.
We heard a car honk and Cameron ran around the room grabbing her purse and her phone.
“Come on, we’ll be late.” Cameron said excitedly. We were being picked up by one of her friends and so we ran downstairs.

“Cameron? Have you seen Cameron?” I asked a random person, whom I did not know. I was staring to become anxious. Who knew what Cameron would do in this state of mind? She was extremely drunk and incoherent. It was kind of a pointless question considering the fact that the person probably had no idea who Cameron was. He gave me a confused look.
“Tall, brunette, wearing a darkblue, strapless top.” I explained quickly. To my surprise, he nodded.
“She went over that way,” He pointed in the direction of the staircase.
“Thanks,” I said to him and then ran up the stairs. I had to be careful not to trip over drunk people. There was a door on the left and I opened it to find a couple making out. They didn’t even notice that I had opened the door and I quickly closed it again, uninterested in what was going on there. I opened a door on the right and then the bathroom door. Cameron was nowhere in sight. Where was she? Slightly panicked I ran up another flight of stairs to the third floor. There was one door and I opened it immediately, too impatient to knock or to listen if anything was going on inside. And there she was, sitting on the bed, with her arms wrapped around her legs. I ran over to her immediately.
“Cameron! Cameron what happened?” She looked up at me, her eyes glazed. I could see that she was still drunk but at the same time, that she knew what was happening.
“Oh Claire!” She sobbed. “I didn’t want to... but he forced me . I couldn’t help it, he was so strong. I’m so stupid, I thought he was going to show me the stars. Oh why did I ever trust him?” I wrapped my arm around her shoulder.
“Cameron, tell me what happened.”
“He.. He raped me” She said, and then looked up at me with tear-filled eyes.
“Who?” My question was blunt but I didn’t care. Whoever this person was, he was going to pay for it. A deep hatred took place in my heart, an emotion so strong that it scared me. At that moment, I was capable of doing anything to this person who had raped my best friend.
“I.. I don’t know.. I couldn’t see. He was tall and strong. That’s all I know.” Cameron whispered. I heard the agony in her voice and momentarily forgot about my hatred. I focused entirely on Cameron.
“Cam, I’m so sorry! I cannot believe anybody would hurt you like this.” I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her tightly. We cried together, tears of sadness for Cameron’s ruined future and tears of anger at the person who had taken away Cameron’s most prized possession, the one most beautiful gift she could ever give to her husband: her virginity.

Cameron was still not at school. Since the day of Jennifer’s party, she had not come out of her house. I had gone to visit her as often as I could but it was getting harder, because Cameron did not react to anything I said or did and she just sat on her bed, or in her chair, staring out in front of her. When I asked her if she had told anyone else besides me she grew furious and extremely defensive.
“Don’t you dare tell anyone, Claire. If you tell anyone, anyone at all, I will personally get back at you.”
“Cameron, your parents should know about this.” I tried telling her gently.
“GET OUT!” She had shouted at me. She picked up a book and threw it at me. I had to jump aside so it wouldn’t hit me.
“But Cameron..”. I tried to reason.
“OUT,” she screamed. I got my bag and walked out the door. Tears started streaming down my cheeks the moment I closed her bedroom door and I ran out of her house.

On my way home I pondered about the whole situation. I knew that I had to get back at the person who had raped Cameron but for that I would first need to know who it was. I had an idea, but I needed proof. I sighed as I realized that there was only one person who could help me find out if Stan was really guilty of rape, and that was the one person who I despised most: Liam.


Chapter 2

“Can you do me a favor?” I asked Liam. He was standing a few meters away and looked at me, slightly confused.
“And why would I do that?”
“Please. Just please help me.” I pleaded.
He raised one eyebrow and then asked me: “What do you want me to do?”
“Can you flirt with Jennifer to find out where Stan was at her party two weeks ago?”
“And why exactly do you need to know that?” He was skeptical and I saw that he was leaning towards saying no.
“I..” I paused, knowing that I could not tell him the truth. “I’m sorry, I cannot tell you.”
“Then I’m not doing it either.”
“No, please. It’s important.” I nearly begged.
“Hmm.” He scrutinized my face for a couple of seconds and then made a compromise.
“Fine. I’ll do it if you agree to go up to Stan and try to find out yourself.”
“How would I do that?” I asked him, completely confused.
He shrugged. “I don’t know, flirt?”
“Flirt?” I looked at him incredulously, realizing that he was making me do the same thing as I was asking him to do. The only difference being the fact that he was good at it and I wasn’t. “I can’t flirt.”
“Practice.”
“What, I have to stand in front of a mirror and practice my flirting or something?” I was starting to get annoyed at him.
“No.” He said without a hint of embarrassment or self consciousness. “Practice now. On me. Pretend I’m Stan and practice what you would say.”
“In your dreams.” I was about to walk out the door when he called me back using a simple sentence.
“Fine, then I’m not doing it either.” I was holding the door handle and saw my knuckles whiten as I tried to compose myself. I had to do it, for Cam. I took a deep breath and then turned around.
“Are you serious?” I first asked him, cautious.
“Yes. Come on. Flirt.” It was an order.
I slowly walked up to him but when I was a couple of steps away from him I turned away. “I can’t do this.”
“Ok, then I won’t do it either.” He now knew what to say to make me flirt and I hated the fact that he had this kind of power over me. I closed my eyes and resolved that I would do this and that I would see it as a personal sacrifice towards Cam later.
I opened my eyes and took the last steps towards him. I stood close, closer than I had ever stood to him before and immediately his deodorant penetrated into my nose. But, although I would never admit this to anyone, I liked the smell. I looked up at him through my lashes and ran my fingers along his arm.
“You know Stan, I’ve been waiting for this moment for a very long time.” I said to him.
He played along.
”Really?” He asked me.
“Yes. Come with me outside?” It was a question but he did not have to answer. I took his hand and pulled him out to the balcony. I put my arms around his neck and I felt his arms slip around my waist. My heart started beating faster. “I tried to find you at Jennifer’s party two weeks ago but I couldn’t find you anywhere.” I stood on my toes and whispered in his ear: “Where were you?”
“I’ll tell you.” He said, while looking deeply into my eyes. “But only if you kiss me.”
“Hmmm.” I said, pretending to think. “Promise?”
“I promise.” He said. I looked up at his handsome face and realized that it would be easy to kiss him. It would be my first kiss but the way we were standing now, I only needed to lean up a little for my lips to be able to touch his.
“All right.” I said and then leaned up to him. When our lips touched I knew that this kiss could not have been more perfect. Our lips moved together as if they were made for each other and every second became more passionate. His grip on my waist strengthened and he pulled me closer to him, until there was not even an inch of separation between our bodies. I could feel his strength but this did not frighten me, instead, it made me feel safe. His lips were so incredibly soft and his touch so gentle that I could hardly believe it was him. Then it suddenly struck me. This was Liam whom I was kissing. The same Liam who had ridiculed and embarrassed me, who had sneered at me and who had undoubtedly kissed dozens of girls before me. I pulled away from him. He seemed to realize why I had done so and made no attempt to kiss me again. I looked away from him, embarrassed and angry at myself but I could not take my arms from around his neck and I didn’t want him to release his grip on me. It took me a few moments to convince myself that I had to let go of him and that this had all been a huge mistake. I took my arms from around his neck and he immediately let go of me too. I crossed my arms in front of my body so that I had full control over myself and would not touch him again. I didn’t know if I could look him in the eye but eventually managed to.
“Ok, I flirted, will you help me now?” I tried to keep my voice steady but could not help the fact that there was a slight quiver in it. I looked away from him again as soon as I could.
“Yes, I’ll help you.” With that he turned around and walked out the door.

Things did not improve between Liam and me. If anything, they got worse. We did not say a word to each other for a week after the incident and I completely ignored him. He, on the other hand, had not ignored me. He had done the opposite, at every possible opportunity he made fun of me, ridiculed and annoyed me. I had needed to stop myself from slapping him. It was so unbelievably tempting to wipe that sneer from his face. But at the same time I knew I needed to know the answer to the quest on which I had sent him and therefore I had managed to keep my temper in check.


That Saturday, we were invited over to his house for lunch and I knew from experience that my family would also stay for dinner. I dreaded the evening and made every possible effort not to go. I told my mom that Cam had invited me over but she told me to cancel, I told her that I had homework to do but she told me that I could finish that in the afternoon. I told her I didn’t feel good and she said I could rest at Liam’s house. Then I played my last card.
“Liam and I have been in a fight. I really don’t want to go. Please, let me stay home.”
Instead of sympathizing with me, the only thing my mom answered was: “Well, then this is a perfect opportunity to put things right again.” I did not know what to do. I had tried everything possible and all my ideas had failed.

We walked up the porch steps to his house. My mother was carrying a casserole type thing as an addition to the lunch, whenever we went to Liam’s house, we always brought something. Although the house was beautiful, I had never managed to appreciate it, probably because my arch enemy lived in it. I knew the house inside-out which was a little freaky considering the fact that Liam lived in it. My dad rang the doorbell and the door was swung open by an enthusiastic and beautiful woman; Liam’s mother.
“Come in,” She invited us heartily. We stepped into the spacious hallway and my mother gave me the casserole.
“Claire, would you heat this in the oven please?” My mom asked.
“Sure.” I answered and turned left into the kitchen. My parents and Liam’s parents walked into the living room. I was taking the tin foil off of the casserole when Liam came in. His face darkened when he saw me.
“Why did you have to come?” He asked, annoyed.
“Trust me, it wasn’t my choice.” I snapped back at him. With ease he leapt onto the counter and sat there, watching me. I opened the oven and placed the casserole inside but when I tried turning it on, the oven would not respond. I tried a couple of different switches but none of them would work. I turned around to Liam, not bothering to hide my annoyance with him.
“Would you care to help?” I asked sarcastically.
“Women do the housework; they should know how to handle ovens.” Was his reply. I could not believe this! I was a guest in his house and he was treating me as if I were the maid! I took a sharp breath to stop myself from yelling at him and turned my concentration on the oven again. After turning a few more switches, I finally managed to turn it on. I closed the oven door and then stood there for a few seconds, with my back turned towards Liam. I knew I would have to ask him about the information which he had obtained from Jennifer and I also knew that I would have to swallow every ounce of pride which I possessed. I turned around and looked at him.
“Did you get any information about where Stan was at the party?” I asked.
“Wait, you don’t honestly expect me to tell you that did you?” My temper started rising again until I realized what he had implied; he had asked her the question, he just refused to tell me now.
“Why wouldn’t you?” I asked.
“Maybe, it’s because of the fact that I can’t stand you, or maybe it’s just because it’s fun to annoy you. Your choice.” The expression on his face was so arrogant, so annoying that again I longed to wipe it off. But I knew I could not because he was my only link to finding out who had raped my best friend. I knew that I needed to know. At that point Liam’s mother came into the room. She momentarily looked from Liam to me and back again and then got some cups out of the cupboard.
“So, what have you been doing lately, Claire?” His mother asked me.
I had to admit, I did not feel like making small talk with Liam’s mother at all. My blood was boiling but I had to appear calm in front of Liam’s mother, which was practically impossible.
“Nothing special. I’ve been concentrating on my school work because I want to get my grades up.” I told Liam’s mother. From the corner of my eye I could see that Liam was sneering at me. “Jerk.” I muttered under my breath.
“Did you say something, dear?” Liam’s mother asked.
“Oh no, I was just noting how beautiful the weather is today.” I lied quickly. My conscience started nagging on me and the fact that Liam snorted at my quick, but slightly failed improvisation, did not make me feel any better.
“Well, don’t hesitate to ask me if you need anything!” Liam’s mother told me as she walked back to the sitting room with a plate of cookies.
“Thank you.” I smiled. Then a deadly silence fell in the room and I started shuffling uncomfortably. I felt that Liam was looking at me and it was not a pleasant feeling.
“Come with me for a walk outside.” Liam suddenly said. My first reaction was to say no, especially since he had demanded it instead of asked. But when I looked up into Liam’s eyes I saw that something had changed, his eyes were softer and somehow also more compassionate. Without a word I walked towards the glass doors which led towards the garden. Liam caught up with me and we walked in silence for a few minutes.
“Where has Cam been these last couple of days, I haven’t seen her at school.” Liam asked me casually.
“Oh, how surprising, you weren’t too stuck up to notice.” I said humorlessly.
Liam ignored my insult and kept walking. “I notice everything.”
I walked for a while in silence, trying to decide what to tell him, contemplating whether or not I could trust him with even the slightest bit of information. I decided to tell him the most obvious reason.
”She’s sick.”
“No.” Liam commented thoughtfully. “There’s more to it than that.” My heart suddenly started beating faster. How much did he know? Had Cam told anyone else besides me? I doubted it but if anyone would be able to find out information about her than it would be Liam. He had connections everywhere. I decided that the best course of action was to simply keep my mouth shut.
“I’ll tell you where Stan was that evening, if you tell me what’s wrong with Cam.” He attempted at making a deal.
“Why are you suddenly so interested in Cam?” I asked, while at the same time I felt a twinge of jealousy in my heart.
“Because I think she got raped.” I stopped in mid-step and frantically looked around to see if anyone was there who could have heard.
“How do you know?” I whispered to him, with urgency and suspicion in my voice.
“Stan told me.” He looked at me now and I could see compassion burning in his eyes. “How is Cam? Is she pregnant?”
I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know if I could tell him, if I could trust him. I had no idea what his motives and intentions were and I dared not share any secrets with him before he had answered some questions. He saw that I was struggling with some thoughts and wisely remained silent.
“Have you told anybody about this?” I asked him.
“No. Nobody.” I believed him.
“How do I know that you won’t tell anybody?”
“Claire.” He put his hands on my shoulders and the skin which he touched immediately reacted. I felt a burning sensation originating in my shoulders and then spreading throughout my whole body until I felt like I was on fire. It felt good. “I promise I won’t tell anybody anything. You have my word.” My head was spinning and I could not think clearly. I only stared at him, dumbfounded.
“I want to help.” He said gently.
He took his hands off my shoulders and my head cleared immediately.
“Oh, yeah?” I asked him, suddenly defensive. “Well you didn’t seem very helpful in the kitchen. Or very caring for that matter. What do you get out of helping Cam? What’s the catch for you?” It sounded meaner than I had intended but all the stress which I had collected during the past couple of weeks now bubbled over. “How can I trust you when you’ve been treating me like dirt ever since we met? You don’t personally care about Cam anyways! All you care about is living your comfortable life and having dozens of girls around you and being able to do anything you like!” I burst out into sobs which was definitely not my intention. I could not believe that I was showing Liam that I was so vulnerable but at the same time I could not stop the tears from streaming over my cheeks.
“I have reasons for what I do.” Liam said gently, as he wrapped his arms around me and let me cry on his shoulder. “And trust me, the reasons I have are far different from anything you imagine.” I didn’t know why, but I believed him. Furthermore, I desperately needed to tell somebody about Cam and since Liam knew part of the story already anyways, it wouldn’t hurt telling him the rest of it.
“Come on, let’s sit down.” Liam led me towards a dead tree trunk and I gratefully sat down. I wasn’t sure if my legs could hold me much longer anyways. Liam wisely did not touch me again.
“Tell me the story.” He gently urged me when he had sat down next to me.
The story spilled out like a waterfall. I knew that at times I was incoherent but I was so relieved that I could finally share this burden with somebody else.
“And I’m not sure yet if she’s pregnant but she says her period is late and she’s really worried and she doesn’t know what to do if she does turn out to be pregnant.” I concluded.
Liam thought for a few moments and then I saw a change in him. I saw a look in his eyes that scared me and his fingers formed into a fist.
“Stan will pay for this.” He said between clenched teeth.


Chapter 3

“Claire.” He said softly. “Remember when I told you that everything I do has a reason?” I did not answer him, refusing to acknowledge his presence. “When I explain the reason for some of my choices, you will understand them.” Rage, adrenaline and worry were flowing freely through me. “Understand?” I fumed. “I will never understand you.” My body was preparing itself for a fight or flee situation. The worst part was that I knew that I didn’t have allies. Liam was no longer on my side; instead, he was siding with Stan. The moment I had realized this was the moment my whole world had fallen apart but I had gotten over the initial shock and was now contemplating a strategy.
Suddenly, without warning, Stan came into the room with two other guys who I did not know. “Come on, let’s get on with it, we don’t have all day.” His voice made me feel as if a cold hand was clamping around my neck, choking me slowly.
“My turn first.” It was Liam who spoke. My mind was frantically searching for an escape route, I looked for a weapon around me but there was nothing that could protect me from these four guys. I knew that I wouldn’t even have been able to handle one of them, let alone four. I felt Liam’s body press hard against mine and my first instinct was to knee him in the groin. Right before I used my only defense, he whispered something in my ear.
“Trust me.” I so desperately wanted to do just that, trust him, but my brain told me not to. He was dangerous. He was one of them.
Unexpectedly, I felt Liam’s lips on mine but his touch was not sincere. There was no sign of the gentleness with which he had kissed me before and his touch was rough. This was pure madness; I could feel his strength through his lips and knew that I was helpless. I felt his hands slide under my shirt and realized that he was really doing this, he was really about to rape me. I bit down on his lip as hard as I could and tasted blood, but he did not stop. Instead, he just continued kissing me and in one quick motion he pulled my shirt over my head. I wanted to scream but with his tongue down my throat it came out more like a moan. Without warning, Liam turned around and faced the other boys, who were watching in amusement.
“I can’t do this with you guys watching. I’ll call you when I’m done with her and then you can enjoy her all you like.”
“Oh yeah?” Stan immediately became aggressive. “So you can use her up and leave her as a used rag for the rest of us?”
Liam chuckled. “Her? Nah, she can go on all day. I’ve seen her. She’s like a tiger.”
Stan cursed and walked out the door. The other guys followed. “You have 10 minutes. Then it’s our turn.” He warned. “And if I find out that you took her all for yourself...” He did not finish the warning but I could imagine what he would do. But Liam did not answer; his lips were already entangled in mine again. The moment we heard the door close was the moment Liam let go of me. “We need to hurry!” He took me by the hand and I had just enough time to snatch my T-shirt off the ground before he pulled me out the other door. He didn’t even bother closing it, knowing that the guys would know how we had escaped anyways. We ran through the forest, as quickly as we could. We both knew that we did not have enough time to run very far and that we needed to find a hiding place soon. Because I was running so fast, I did not see the root lying on the path in front of me and inevitably, I tripped. Liam was not gentle with me as he pulled me up and continued running. With every step I took I felt pain shoot up my ankle and into my leg. I had twisted it, maybe even sprained it but I did not have time to worry about it. We had to keep running.
Liam noticed some large bushes, tangled into a mess of branches and leaves and decided that this was a reasonable place for us to hide for the moment. He dove in and pulled me after him. With his bare arms he pushed away thorny branches so that we could crawl in even further and hide. Neither of us said anything as we listened for any noises but I was sure that if anyone came to look for us, they would be able to hear my heartbeat. After sitting in silence for around fifteen minutes, my breath and heartbeat had steadied but my heart immediately started pounding again when I heard running footsteps, heading our way. Through the leaves and the branches, I could see who it was: the three rapists. To my relief, it didn’t seem as if they were looking around, or searching for us. Instead I heard one of them pant:
“Hurry! They’ve probably warned the police by now!” The guys passed us and their footsteps disappeared. Liam and I sat in complete silence for another ten minutes before the tension became too much for me. I started crying, the pain in my foot which I had managed to suppress for some time now became almost unbearable and as I just realized what had happened, tears flowed freely. In the meantime, I attempted at pulling on my shirt but it did not work, it got stuck in branches and I couldn’t possibly lift my arms up to pull it over my head and so instead I just clamped it against my body, embarrassed by the fact that I had been running through the forest half naked.
“Claire, I’m really sorry.” Liam whispered, referring to the fact that he had forcefully kissed and stripped me. I managed to smile through my tears.
“You saved my life. I’m the one that’s supposed to be sorry. I didn’t trust you.”
He laughed. “That’s only natural. I was about to rape you, how could I expect you to trust me?” I leaned against his shoulder, not bothered to think of any of the complications which surrounded us.

The sun had set some time ago and darkness was threatening to surround us. It was the time of day when there was just enough light to see where you were going but not enough to notice the details in your surroundings.
“Come on,” Liam crawled out of our improvised shelter, “we can’t stay here all night.” He held out his hand to help me and I slowly crawled out from beneath the bushes. The first thing I did was put my shirt on and he dutifully looked away from me though I could see that he was trying to smother a smile. I couldn’t help but smile a little also as I realized that it was perhaps a little unnecessary for him to turn around now; he had seen everything already anyways.
He helped me get up but when I tried putting pressure on my foot, it hurt even more than before. I held my mouth shut though, because I did not want him to know how much pain I was in. He put my arm around his shoulder and carried most of my weight as I limped forwards. Every step I took the pain became a little more bearable, perhaps I got used to it the more I walked on it. We walked for about five minutes, carefully avoiding roots and other obstacles on the path and also seeing that it was getting darker every minute. Suddenly Liam increased his pace a little bit.
“There’s a lake over there, I think it will be a good place to spend the night.” I was too tired and in too much agony to show much enthusiasm but I liked the idea that I could finally sit down. We came to the lake and Liam gently helped me sit down next to a tree.
“I’ll go search for a bowl to get some drinking water.” He said. But just before he left I grabbed his arm. “Please, don’t leave me here.” I begged.
He smiled. “I won’t.” Instead of looking for a bowl he walked over to the lake and tasted the water. After he had determined that the water was drinkable, he scooped some up using both his hands and brought it over to me. I drank the water out of his hands and couldn’t remember a time when water had ever tasted this good. He then sat next to me and wrapped his arms around me. I sighed contentedly and leaned against his shoulder but I could not go to sleep yet. I sill had one burning question that I desperately needed to ask him.
“Liam,” I looked up at him and he looked down at me.
“Yes?” He smiled.
“You said that if you told me the reasons for your actions that I would understand them. Will you tell me these reasons?”
He glanced off into the distance and took a deep breath. “I temporarily sided with Stan so that I could get more information about what he was up to. I also needed proof, which, I have right here.” He grinned as he pulled a tape out of his pocket. “All the proof you need.” Then he grew serious again. “I never meant for you to get involved but seeing that you are so incredibly nosy…” He grinned as he looked down at me again and I could not resist poking him in the side, “…you got involved.” He continued.
“And the reason why I’ve been such a jerk to you ever since you moved here was because I couldn’t stand the thought that a girl had finally managed to steal my heart.” I looked at him incredulously. Was he serious? Had he never fallen in love with a girl before? And was he in love with me?
To hide my forthcoming embarrassment I decided to take the easiest route, to tease him.
“Well, if that is your way of showing affection towards a girl then you have a lot to learn.” He grinned and leaned down to kiss me but right before his lips touched mine he suddenly stopped.
“You don’t mind, do you?” He asked.
“Mind? Not at all.” I answered slightly mischievously.
He immediately took advantage of my encouragement and kissed me. This kiss was far better than the previous one and I enjoyed feeling his gentle side again. He pulled away momentarily.
“How many boys have you kissed to make you such a good kisser?” He asked.
“Do you really want to know?” I chuckled.
“Yes.”
I smiled, a little embarrassed that I had to admit this. “You were the first.”
“What?” Surprise was embedded in his voice.
“At the hotel. That was my first kiss... And you?”
“Believe it or not, my story is the exact same as yours.”
I was genuinely shocked. “Really?”
“Yes. I know, you probably don’t believe me but I have never let a girl come close enough to kiss me. You can ask Jennifer and Kira to confirm that if you want to.”
I laughed softly. “Nah, by now I have learned that I can trust you. I just find it...” I searched for the right word. “Unbelievable.”
I ran my finger over his swollen lip.
“I’m sorry.” I said to him.
He chuckled. “Yes, remind me to never get on your bad side.”
“You’ve already been on my bad side.” I laughed.
“Claire, tell me, at the party, why did you kiss me?” Liam unexpectedly asked.
This time it was my turn to look into the distance. I snuggled against him a little more and then answered the question.
“I’m not sure. Suddenly you didn’t seem like such a threat anymore. And it all seemed so easy. I mean, I’ve been dreading my first kiss for quite some time and you were so close, so I guess I just decided to take the chance. And it was well worth it.”
“Tell me about it.” He agreed.


Chapter 4

“Good morning,” Liam told me, before my eyes were even completely open.
“Morning.” I answered him without thinking about it. Then I suddenly sat up.
“Where on earth are we?”
Liam laughed. “`Don’t you remember yesterday? I sure hope you do because otherwise I think I can expect a slap after this.” I giggled softly at my own stupidity.
“Of course I remember yesterday. It’s not easy to forget nearly being raped and then being kissed passionately by the person who nearly raped you.” I snuggled next to him and he put an arm around me.
“So what are we going to do next?” I asked him.
“Well, the first thing we’re going to do is get you home. And I don’t think you can walk on that ankle, look at how much it has swollen overnight.” I looked down at my ankle and was shocked to see that it was probably three times bigger than it had been yesterday. I bent my knee to check if I could put any pressure on my foot but this was impossible and I cringed in pain.
“You really aren’t very smart this morning, are you?” Liam teased me.
“Hey,” I slapped him softly on the arm. “I didn’t exactly sleep very soundly.”
“No, you were awake half the night and even when you were asleep, you were still worrying out loud.”
“What? I talked in my sleep? What did I say?” I said, slightly shocked. I had never talked in my sleep before and wondered if he was joking.
“You said something about Cameron, something like: ‘I hope she’s not angry.’ And..” Liam looked into the distance and did not finish his sentence.
“And what?” I asked, curious what else I’d said.
“And you said you loved me.” I stared at Liam for a while, not because of what he’d said but because he was actually blushing. The most popular guy at school, probably in the whole town, was blushing because I had said that I loved him. I giggled, the whole situation was just so funny, us in a forest, me not able to walk, me talking in my sleep. I couldn’t help it, I started laughing and couldn’t stop. Liam looked at me with an extremely puzzled expression on his face.
“Claire, what’s so funny?” This only made me laugh harder. “Tell me Claire!” In between fits of laughter I managed to explain to him what was so funny. He didn’t really understand the humor of the whole situation and was probably just wondering if I had gone insane overnight.
“I’m sorry.” I said to him, while trying desperately to suppress my laughter. “But you have to admit it’s funny, us in a forest, in the middle of nowhere. Us

, Liam! The most unlikely pair to ever get lost in a forest together!” Liam grinned at this. “Yes, it was quite unexpected. But Claire..” Again, he didn’t finish his sentence.
“Yes?” I urged him on.
“Did you mean that? When you said you loved me? Well, of course you didn’t mean it, you were asleep but-“
“Liam.” I stopped him, before he could say anymore. “I meant it. I love you.” He smiled and I couldn’t take my eyes off him. His smile was so beautiful, so perfect, that it momentarily drove all my worries away.
Liam looked at me and I could see that his eyes sparkled. “I love you too.” He leaned forewords and kissed me. My blood began to race through my body which caused my ankle to throb but I didn’t care. I didn’t have a care in the world, my life was perfect. Except for one thing. I couldn’t decide whether to keep my eyes open so that I could look at his gorgeous face or to close them so that I could enjoy the moment. Mid-kiss I burst out laughing.
“What has gotten into you this morning?” Liam asked, and this time he laughed too, merely because I was acting so weirdly.
I took a deep breath and leaned against the tree.
“It’s not me, it’s you. You’re just too good-looking.” I told him, with fake annoyance.
He smiled. “And how may I ask is that funny?”
Now it was my turn to blush. I couldn’t decide whether to tell him or not and apparently he noticed this.
“Tell me!” He demanded playfully.
“No.” I answered mischievously, wondering how far he’d go to get his answer. Liam started tickling me.
“Tell me!”
I laughed. “That’s unfair! Fine, fine, I’ll tell you.” I was silent for a few seconds, wondering how to formulate the answer to make it least embarrassing towards myself.
“Well?” Liam said impatiently.
“While you were kissing me..” I said slowly. “I was debating with myself whether to keep my eyes open so that I could look at you or whether to close them so that I could enjoy the moment.” I didn’t dare look at him; for fear that his expression would tell me that I was being ridiculous. Liam didn’t say anything; instead, he put a hand on my cheek and forced his lips onto mine. I gave in to his kiss willingly.
“You are the weirdest, strangest, most interesting girl I’ve ever met.” He said when he pulled away. “But that is probably why I love you.” I smiled, and suddenly it struck me that I had just given this young man the ability to break my heart if he ever chose to do so.

Suddenly Liam felt in the pocket of his jacket and frowned. He then searched the other pocket, stood up, and scanned the ground around us.
“Oh no,” He groaned.
“What’s wrong?” I asked him.
“The tape. It’s gone.”
“It’s gone?” I repeated.
“Yes. Stan probably stole it in the middle of the night.” Frustration and anger were evident on Liam’s face. I didn’t know what to say, scared that I would make the situation worse and so just looked at Liam and then at the floor around us until Liam had made sure that the tape was really gone.
“Stupid idiot.” I muttered.
“What?” Liam asked and his eyes narrowed as he looked at me.
“I’m talking about Stan.” I explained quickly, before Liam thought that I was talking about him.
“Yes, yes he is indeed. But I will get him; he will pay for what he’s done. But let’s not worry about that right now, come on, let’s go home.” Liam helped me to my feet and then suddenly scooped me up into his arms. I was surprised that his eyes and mannerisms showed not a hint of the concern and frustration that had been there a few moments ago.
“Liam! Put me down! I can walk, or at least limp.” But Liam wouldn’t even consider my demand and started walking towards the forest.
“Hmph.” Was all I said, because I knew that I wouldn’t be able to convince him to put me down. After a few minutes I said:
“If I get too heavy than just put me down anywhere.” Liam looked at me, as if I had gone crazy.
“Claire, you could never get too heavy. You’re light as a feather. Maybe you should eat more. Come to dinner with me Saturday.”
“Is that a question or a demand?” I asked him. Usually I hated being demanded to do something but this time I wasn’t insulted or annoyed, I was just curious what Liam would say. Actually, I was just jesting, in a way hoping for an argument because I was so used to arguing with him.
Liam looked down at me again and I could see in his eyes that he knew what I was up to.
“Well, technically it is a question but since I’m not taking no for an answer you could see it as a demand.” He was still looking at me.
“Liam! Look ahead of us before we bump into a tree or something.”
Liam laughed. “Stop avoiding my question.”
“Your demand.” I reminded him.
“Claire!” he said, exasperated. He stopped walking. “I’m not moving from this place until you give me an answer.”
I didn’t look at him when I gave him an answer. “Don’t get me wrong, I would love to go to dinner with you. But if anyone sees us and someone at school finds out… well, let’s just say, girls can be very scary when they’re jealous.”
Liam laughed heartily. “All right, I have an idea.” He started walking again and I could see that he was up to something.
“What?” I asked him curiously.
“It’s a surprise.” He answered, “I’ll pick you up on Saturday at 6, ok?”
I groaned. “Liam, if you embarrass me on Saturday then I promise I’ll get back at you.” Liam looked down again, amused. “Really, how? Remember that I’ve got a whole clan of obsessed school girls to protect me if you do anything to me.”
“Yeah, yeah.” I said, and attempted crossing my arms, which was impossible since Liam still held me around a meter off the floor. Instead I put my arms around his neck. I felt content, happier than I had been since I had heard about what had happened to Cameron.

Something dropped out of the sky, well, probably from a tree, and fell on me. I looked down and screamed. I wiggled and nearly fell out of Liam’s arms but he had a strong hold on me and put me down gently on the floor.
“Get it off me!” I said, panicked. It was a millipede and with its dozens of legs it was crawling up towards my neck.
“Liam! Please, do something.”
Liam took a step towards me and scooped the millipede into his hands. He was trying extremely hard not to laugh and this annoyed me.
“It’s not funny.” I told him. He put the animal on a branch and burst out laughing.
“I’m sorry Claire. But I didn’t know you were scared of things. I thought you were fearless.”
“Anything with more than 6 legs scares me.” I told him.
“Good, you’re improving. You wouldn’t have told me that a couple of days ago.”
“No, I wouldn’t have kissed you a couple of days ago either.” I said dryly. This caused another laughing fit from his side and I smiled. How had I been able to withstand his charms before? I wondered. Then I suddenly realized that Cameron was still extremely unhappy and going in a downward spiral. How could I be so happy when my best friend was so miserable? I stopped smiling and looked into the distance. Liam noticed immediately.
“Claire, what’s wrong?” He asked worriedly.
“I shouldn’t be so happy when Cameron is so unhappy.” I said. My voice broke halfway and I forced my tears back. What was wrong with me today? I laughed at the most random things and the next moment I nearly burst out in tears. What kind of influence did Liam have over me?
“Liam, we have to report Stan to the police before he does more of these things.” I was suddenly very determined. Liam nodded.
“But firstly,” he said, “we’re going to get you home so your ankle can rest.”
I smiled up at him and he picked me up again. I leaned my head against his chest and could not stop smiling.

Liam set me down and then opened the door. I was about to limp into my house when he picked me up again and carried me into the living room. My mother was in the kitchen and came out to see who had suddenly walked into the house.
“Oh Claire!” She gasped and ran over to me. “What’s wrong, are you all right?”
“I’m fine. I’ve sprained my ankle, that’s all.” I answered calmly. Liam put me down on the couch and my mother immediately went to get some ice for my ankle. She was dashing back and forth between the kitchen and the living room to get ice, then juice and then food for us.
“Thanks mom.” I smiled reassuringly at her, to prove that nothing terrible had happened.
Finally, after Liam and I had everything we needed, my mother sat down on the couch. Then, she got up again and ran to the phone.
“I have to tell your father that you’re home safe. We were so worried.” She said, more to herself than to us. I looked at Liam and could see that he was amused. After my mother had had a quick conversation with my father she sat down again.
“Tell me everything.” She said to us. Liam and I exchanged glances and at that moment we both knew what we needed to do. We told the story, but we left out certain parts; the part where Liam had formed part of the gang, where we had known what Stan was capable of but had gone to see him anyways and the whole part about Cameron.
“Well,” Liam said, after my mother had been informed of the whole story or at least, part of the story, “I think I better go home. My parents must be worried as well.”
“I’ll bring you home.” My mom offered. Then, with a worried glance in my direction she added: “Claire dear, will you be all right here by yourself?”
“I’ll be fine mom.” Liam stood up and my mom seemed to realize that we wanted a few minutes alone because she went to go find the car keys.
Liam walked over to me, leaned down and kissed me on the forehead. “I love you.” He whispered in my ear.
“And don’t you dare go off on these expeditions again.” He added sternly.
I laughed. “I won’t.” Liam turned to leave.
“Oh, and Liam?” I suddenly said. “Thanks for saving me.” It only took one step to bridge the gap between us and the next thing I knew was that Liam’s lips were on mine. Then, without a word, he turned and walked out the door.


Chapter 5

It was Saturday, ten past six and I was getting worried. There are only two possibilities, I told myself. A. Liam had lied and didn’t like me at all and this was the reason why he wasn’t answering any of my texts or calls. Or B. He was in trouble and this was the reason why he wasn’t answering. I pondered over both options and tried replaying Wednesday’s scene in my head to cancel out at least one of the possibilities.

Suddenly the phone rang. I rushed downstairs, hoping that it was Liam and luckily I got there before my mother did. I picked up.
“Claire?” I heard a voice, but it was certainly not the voice I had expected.
“Yes?” I answered.
“Claire, have you by any chance seen Liam?” It was Liam’s mother and she sounded just as worried as I felt.
“No, I haven’t. He was supposed to pick me up at six today but he’s already fifteen minutes late.”
“I’m getting worried.” Liam’s mother admitted. “I’ve already called all his other friends and he’s not there either.”
“He isn’t answering his phone.” I told her, though she probably already knew this.
“I think I’m going to call the police.”
Was this a good idea? I wondered. But then I decided that it was indeed a good idea. If Liam was in any sort of danger, the police would be able to handle it much better than I could.
“Yes, that seems like a good idea.” I told Liam’s mother.
“All right, goodbye Claire. And please call me if Liam does come over to your house.”

“Liam, where are you?” I said out loud. Every conversation that Liam and I had had was replaying in my mind. And then one sentence struck me. I had told him that we had to bring Stan to the police. Was this what Liam was doing? Finding Stan so that they could bring him to the police? Or finding proof? Why had he not told me anything? Of course, there was still my A option, that Liam didn’t care about me at all and had therefore not told me anything. But somehow I doubted that. He had seemed so sincere. But if Liam had not contacted his parents or anybody else then it was possible that he was in some kind of trouble. And if he was then I was going to get him out of it. I was the one who had gotten him involved in this whole situation in the first place. I had to go back to the forest.
I knelt down on the floor and found a small backpack underneath my bed. It was dusty because it had been untouched for so long and I blew the dust off. Then I roamed around my room, wondering what I could use to protect myself from possible attackers. I decided on taking a mini bottle of deodorant (alcohol based liquids were always useful), a knife (I immediately felt like a serial killer) a flashlight (I felt like a spy), and my phone. Would I need to take some food? I decided that if I got caught up somewhere then eating would be a good use of my time. Now all that was left was to wait until it got dark and my parents went to bed. Time crawled. I decided to watch a movie but I couldn’t concentrate and at 7:00 I went downstairs to eat dinner. I ate slowly, just to waste time and after dinner I sat in front of the TV in the living room and zapped through all the TV channels. I finally settled on a good program and when it was finished I was excited to see that it was already 8:30. Good, I just had around 3 hours left to get through.
Finally the clock struck eleven. I had heard my parents go to bed and decided that it was safe enough to go outside. I pulled on a sweater, a jacket, a scarf, some mittens and then tiptoed down the stairs. It was dark outside and I was already scared at the thought of having to go outside in the dark, with the knowledge that people like Stan, and Stan himself, were roaming around free. In the kitchen I filled my bag with peanuts, chocolate bars and some granola bars and then I filled a bottle with water. Then I opened the kitchen window. Going through the door was too much of a hassle because I would have to close it again behind me and then I had to carry around a key and worry about it getting lost. I managed to escape from my house without any problems and was happy when I reached the road. I had to walk down the road for some time before I reached the forest and I was happy that there were streetlights. At least if a serial killer or rapist walked down the street now then I could prepare myself. Just when I thought I would reach the forest safely, a dark figure appeared down the street. My heart started beating faster and I told myself to calm down. Why was I so paranoid? Keep calm. Walk at a normal pace. Don’t do anything suspicious. Be confident. What else had I read in that magazine about self-defense? The figure came towards me and I could now see that the person wasn’t as tall as I had thought at first. This calmed me down, with my relatively tall body it would be easier to take on a short person. But when the person came even closer, I saw that it was a girl. What was a girl doing alone on the street at night? And then I recognized her.
“Cameron!” I called out, and started running. I certainly hoped that I had not mistaken her for somebody else, that would have been very embarrassing. But the girl looked up and I saw that she had recognized me too.
“Claire, what are you doing here?” She asked, when I had reached her.
“I could ask you the same question! Why are you all alone on the street?”
“I asked you first.” Cam said.
I looked around nervously and didn’t know what to tell her. I hate lying to my best friend so I decided to tell her the truth.
“I’m looking for Liam.” I said.
“For Liam? Why?” She asked, puzzled. Should I tell Cameron the whole story? What would she think of me? Would she get angry? I tried to judge what I could and couldn’t tell Cameron and then decided that I would tell her everything, just because I so desperately needed somebody to share my worries with. I pulled her by her sleeve towards the sidewalk and then pulled her down. We sat on the sidewalk and I explained the whole story to her. I saw her facial expressions change and knew that at the point where I told her that I had told Liam about the incident, she was about to get mad. But she remained silent and let me finish the story and at the end she just gaped at me.
“You did what?” Was all she said and I immediately knew what she was referring to.
“I followed Liam into the forest with a video camera and then got caught by Stan’s gang. I needed proof, Cam. And since I knew that Liam had joined the gang I thought he would lead me to them.” Cameron nodded and they sat in silence for a few seconds.
Then, all of a sudden, a tiny smile crept on Cameron’s face and it grew broader.
“I cannot believe you kissed Liam.” She laughed. I smiled.
“Me neither.” I admitted. “But Cam, what are you doing out here all alone in the dark?”
“I needed some fresh air and then decided to go for a walk. I was going to go to the park. It’s strange, I know, but I needed some open space around me.” Cam said. I nodded and then leaned over and hugged my best friend.
“You’re not mad at me for telling Liam, are you?” I asked.
“No, in a way I’m glad. It brought Liam and you together. Aww, you two are such a cute couple!” She exclaimed. I laughed.
“You haven’t even seen us as a couple yet. And besides, he might not be interested in me at all. I went out today to find him just in case he might be in trouble but maybe he is just hiding from me.” Cam smiled.
“Listen to yourself, Claire. He kissed you and pretended to be a rapist. Do you honestly think he did that for me? He did that for you. And it’s true that he had never kissed any of the girls at school, I’ve heard Jennifer complain about it. Now come on, we have to go find him.”
I stared at her. “We?” I asked.
“Yes, I’m coming with you.” She said. “And there is nothing you can do to change my mind.” I smiled and hysterical happiness suddenly flowed through my body. I started giggling and then laughing and I wrapped my arms around Cameron in a tight hug.

Chapter 6

I had to confess that I was extremely relieved that I did not have to go into the forest alone. Even with Cam the forest seemed like a looming danger and I missed Liam’s presence. I felt so safe with him.
“It’s kind of creepy, isn’t it?” Cam commented, reading my mind. I giggled nervously.
“That’s exactly what I was thinking.”
“Are you sure you still know the way?”
“I hope so.”

We had walked for hours, and at a certain point I even thought we were lost, when I suddenly realized where we were.
“Cam,” I grabbed her arm. “It’s here, I recognize the place.” I whispered.
“Here?” Cam asked unbelievably. I could understand her surprise, it seemed like there was no place where anybody could hide here.
“Yes.” I then placed a finger over my lips to signal to her to be quiet. Slowly, one step at a time, with Cam on my heels, I walked over to the place where I knew the trapdoor was. The trapdoor led to a staircase which led to another door. If this door was closed then I could open the trapdoor and the people inside would not be likely to hear. But if this door was open I had a big, big problem. As softly as I could I kneeled down and I cringed with every breaking twig and every crunching leaf. I leaned forwards and pressed my ear to the trapdoor. Maybe this could tell me if the next door was open or not. I heard nothing. Was that a good sign? Maybe there was nobody inside. Maybe they were roaming through the forest and could return to their hiding place any moment and find Cam and me here. Fear caused my throat to tighten up and I glanced up at Cam. She was looking around with a very worried expression on her face. I knew she was thinking the same thing I was. Still, I had to take the risk. If Liam was in danger then I needed to help him because he was the one who had saved my life. And because I loved him.

I brushed a few leaves away until I saw the tiny opening which was used to pull the trapdoor up and so open it. I put my fingers underneath the door.
“What are you doing?” Cam hissed frantically.
“I need to find him.” I whispered back. Cam nodded but I could see that she was not happy with what I was about to do. That made two of us. Slowly, very slowly I opened the trapdoor just an inch. What I saw before me was complete darkness. All the scary scenes from all the horror movies I had ever seen in my life flashed through my mind and I nearly dropped the trapdoor in terror. At the same time I was also a little exhilarated because I knew that the second door was closed which meant that I could open the trapdoor without getting caught. And then I had to go down those dark creepy stairs and listen at the door to see if I could hear anything. I nearly burst out laughing at the absurdity at it all, no way was I going down those stairs. I silently closed the trapdoor and turned to Cam.
“I am not going down those stairs.” I told her.
“You have to,” she said, “if Liam is in trouble then you owe it to him to find out where he is and what has happened.”
“Can’t we just call the police?” It seemed so easy, we’d call the police, they’d show up and arrest all the guys down there and the problem would be solved.
“On what charges?” Cam whispered sarcastically. “We found a trapdoor and we know that there’s a bunch of guys down there and I was raped by one of them?” Who’s going to believe that? We need proof, Claire.” Cam told me what I already knew.
“There’s no dead bodies down there or anything,” Cam teased me, trying to lighten the mood, but instead her saying ‘dead bodies’ out loud made me feel even more scared.
“Stop creeping me out,” I giggled nervously.
“Claire, go. You have to do it, for Liam.” Cam suddenly said seriously. I nodded and took a deep breath.

I put my finger under the opening in the trapdoor and pulled it completely open, so that if the other door opened I would be able to run up and make a dash for it. Just before I took my first step down the stairs I turned towards Cam.
“If anything happens, then run.” I told her. She nodded but from the little moonlight I saw on her face I could see that she wouldn’t do what I told her to. I was secretly relieved that she would stay and help me. One terrifying step at a time I descended the staircase. Every time it creaked I stood still and I could feel my heartbeat in my chest. If the people inside didn’t hear the creaking then they would surely hear the sound of my heart. I took a silent breath of relief when I reached the bottom and stood before the wooden door. I had made it this far and I had not encountered any dead bodies. Yet. I looked up quickly and saw that Cam was still standing there. It gave me courage to press my ear to the door and to listen to what was going on inside. I froze when I heard Liam’s voice.

“Classic,” he laughed, “the way she believed everything I told her. And the way you guys believed that I really had sided with her.” He laughed again, a chilling laugh that sent shivers up my spine.
“You are quite the actor,” came Stan’s voice, and though it sounded light it had an undertone of spite. “Though I would’ve liked at having a go at her.”
“She knew too much.” Liam became serious. “I had to pretend that I was on her side so that she would trust me and would not go running to the police on her own.”
“Are you sure she cannot find where we are?” A third voice pitched in.
“Positive.” Liam said and he sounded extremely convinced.

“Idiot.” Was the first word that popped into my mind. Then followed jerk. And after that a whole series of other insults. I ended with stupid. But stupid was not aimed towards him, it was aimed towards me. It was one thing that he had lied to me, it was another that I had fallen for it. How could I have been so ignorant? It was Liam! I should’ve known that I couldn’t have trusted him. Pain seized my heart but I refused to let it take root because he was just not worth it. Why had I let him do this? Why had I let him steal my first kiss? And my heart? How was it possible that he could lie so well? Not once had I detected any signs that he was not being sincere. Before I could stop them, tears welled up in my eyes and spilled over my cheeks. I turned around and ran up the stairs, not caring how much noise my footsteps made. Once up I pulled Cam by the arm and without bothering to close the trap door, blindly ran I a random direction, whatever it took to get as far away from that horrid hiding place as possible, to get as far away from Liam as possible.

“Claire, Claire what’s wrong?” Cam panted, when we had ran for a good ten minutes. I stopped, sank to the floor and burst out in heart breaking sobs.
“Claire, what did you hear in there?” Cameron crouched down next to me and wrapped her arms around me. I cried against her until I had no more tears left. Cameron stroked my hair and I wished with all my heart that I had never met Liam, that our paths had never crossed. I now believed that heartbreak truly hurt because my heart indeed felt like it had broken into two pieces. One piece was mine and he had stolen the other one.
“Liam, he, he didn’t mean any of it!” I finally told Cameron, in between shaky breaths.
“How do you know that?” Cameron asked gently.
“I heard him tell the guys. He was in there, telling them how funny it was that I had actually believed everything he said.”
“You mean… You mean he’s part of the gang too?” Cameron whispered.
I nodded slowly. We both just sat there for a while, trying to take it all in. Neither of us could find the right thing to say because there was no right thing to say for a moment like this. Cam was the one who finally pulled herself together. She took a deep, reassuring breath and in the vague moonlight I saw that she was trying to be brave.
“Let’s go home.” To my surprise her voice was steady. “We can sort this all out once we’re safe and warm.” I nodded, grateful for the strength of my friend. She helped me up and with our arms around each other we walked in the way we thought the main road was.

“I think we’re lost.” I stated. Cam didn’t bother disagreeing or sparking new hope by saying that we were nearly there. “I’ll call my parents.” I got out my phone and dialed my home number. After a number of rings a sleepy voice picked up.
“Hello?”
“Dad?” I asked, while already knowing who was on the other side of the line.
“Claire? Where are you, why are you calling?” He asked concerned.
“I’m in the forest close to our house. I’m lost. I’m here with Cam, I’ll explain everything when I see you. I’m fine.”
“I’m coming right away.” My father said, and hung up.
“Let’s sit down.” I told Cam, “they’re coming to pick us up.” We sat down on a fallen tree and I was so tired from all the crying that I nearly fell asleep.

“Claire, what happened?” My mother demanded. Cam and I were sitting in our living room and my parents were standing in front of us, hands on their hips, looking very stern. I didn’t know how much to tell them, how much Cameron would let me tell them. Just before I was about to start my story, I looked over at Cam.
“No more lies.” Cam sighed, as if she could read my thoughts. I nodded took a deep breath, and told my parents everything. Halfway through the story my mother sat in between Cam and me and wanted to comfort us both at the same time. My father on the other hand was pacing around the room, growing angrier by the moment.
“We need to inform Liam’s parents about this.” My father stated, when I had finished the story.
“No, no please don’t!” I sprung up from the couch. I didn’t want anything to do with Liam, not with him, not with his family, nothing. My father didn’t listen though, he was already on his way to the phone.
“Dad, please don’t!” I begged him again.
“They need to know about this, Claire.” My mother told me. I sank back on the couch, there was nothing I could say to convince my parents anyways. They also called Cameron’s parents and asked them to come over.

Liam and Cameron’s parents were at my house in no time. I was happy that my father met them at the door and explained my story to them briefly because I knew that I was not able to tell it to them myself. Especially not the part about where Liam had saved me and we had spent the night together at the lake. Telling it once had been painful enough.
Cameron’s parents walked into the room.
“Cam, why didn’t you tell us?” Her mother asked, as she walked over to her daughter and pulled her into a strong embrace.
“I was embarrassed… and scared.” Cam said softly.
“Oh honey.” Cam’s mother said, as she took her daughter’s face in between her hands. Tears sprang in her eyes. “I’m sorry I haven’t been spending much time with you lately.” “It’s not your fault that I didn’t tell you.”
“Yes, yes it is.” Cam’s mom said. “I was far too busy with work.” Cam was crying now too and even I couldn’t blink away my tears. I was surprised that my eyes were still capable of producing tears, after having cried for so long in the forest.
Liam’s parents were standing in our living room looking rather awkward. When Cam and her mother finally let each other go, Liam’s mother came up to us and gathered us both in a hug. Then she turned to me.
“Claire, I know this is hard to believe but I am sure that Liam is not in that group. I do not doubt what you have heard but I know my son. And I also know that he meant what he said to you. Even before he knew it, I knew that he loved you.” She looked so sincere. I didn’t know what to say. Was it even possible that a mother knew her son so well? At the same time, I did not want to believe her, for fear that she was wrong because I did not know if I would be able to deal with another disappointment, another heartbreak.
“How do you know?” I asked while trying to stifle my sobs.
“I saw it in the way he looked at you.” Liam’s mother answered.


Chapter 7

The police was informed and one by one we had to tell them the whole story. After that, they immediately left for the forest and I had to lead them the way. I was blinking back tears the entire time. When we came to the hiding place the police surrounded the door and pulled out their guns. I thought this was a little extreme but there was nothing I could do about it because they pushed me aside and told me to wait a few meters away. The feminist in me did not agree to this but at the same time I had to admit that I did not feel like getting hurt. Two police men descended the stairs and wanted to open the door but it was locked so they kicked it open.
“Put your hands up and don’t move!” I heard one of the police men shout. I hadn’t realized that I was holding my breath but apparently I was because I was now releasing it. I was afraid that we had made too much noise and that the guys had all left through the other door, the door Liam and I had left through. Two other policemen went down the stairs and a few minutes late the guys came up one by one, handcuffed and looking very angry. I stood behind a tree so I would not have to see them, and especially not see Liam.

However much I despised Liam, I could not testify against him when the police saw the footage of when he pretended to rape me. I had to admit that he saved me and got me out of there safely. Due to the fact that Liam gave the police a number of other videos, he was soon declared innocent. The other guys on the other hand, were sentenced to two years in jail. I thought I would be relieved when this whole thing was over but instead the situation had gotten more complicated. I didn’t know what to believe anymore, if Liam was innocent or not and although I really didn’t want to, I knew the best thing was to confront him and ask him directly. I got the chance the following day already because Liam appeared on my doorstep. My mother opened the door and then called up the stairs that Liam was here to see me. I could hardly pretend like I wasn’t there and escaping through the window wasn’t an option either so I took a deep breath, opened my door and walked down the stairs. Liam stood in the doorway wearing a light blue shirt, my favorite color on him, and his eyes captivated me instantly.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hi.” I answered. I was very uncomfortable, didn’t know what to think, what to say but Liam looked so at ease and his tranquility seemed to pass over to me.
“We need to talk. Do you want to go for a walk?”
I don’t know. Do I? I asked myself. No, I don’t. But at the same time, yes, I most desperately do. What do I say? I realized I better say something, anything, because I was just standing there, staring at him, probably looking very dumb.
“Sure.” Is what I ended up saying.
He moved out of the way as I walked out the door. The last time I felt this awkward was right after I had kissed him for the first time. We walked in silence for a few minutes, nodding and saying hello to a number of people along the way until we reached the forest. When we were completely surrounded by trees Liam turned to me and said:
“I’m sorry I didn’t make it to our date.” I looked at the ground. It was now or never, if I wanted the truth about if he truly liked me or not I had to ask him. I took another deep breath and looked up into his eyes. I nearly forgot what I was going to say and had to snap my eyes away to a nearby tree to clear my mind and organize my thoughts.
“I heard you talking to Stan yesterday night, a few hours before the police. You were laughing about the fact that I believed everything you had told me.” I was afraid to look at him, afraid of his answer. What was better, a happy lie or an unhappy truth? I wasn’t so sure at the moment. The silence started to become deafening and so I finally raised my eyes to meet his.
“Claire, I only said that so that Stan would believe me and let me into the group. I said that to get evidence against him.”
I didn’t answer him. I had all these emotions going through me and even though he had told me that it wasn’t true what he had told Stan, it still hurt. I was also afraid of believing him because if he was lying, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to handle another heartbreak.
“I don’t just tell anyone I love them, you know.” Liam’s eyes darkened and he sounded annoyed. “Do you even trust me at all?”
All of a sudden I thought of the fact that I barely knew Liam at all. We had been sworn enemies ever since we met and I didn’t know any other side of him.
“Your answer couldn’t have been clearer.” Liam said and he turned around and walked away from me. I was too stunned to answer him, I hadn’t thought of the possibility that he might take my question as a lack of trust on my side. Because even though I barely knew him, both my mind and heart knew that I could trust him. Snap out of it Claire, go tell him how you feel about him! Yes, I had to go tell him, I wouldn’t be able to bear another night in my bed knowing that Liam was not mine and that he could get together with whomever he liked. The thought of him being together with another girl hurt me even now and it fueled my decision to run after Liam and say I was sorry.
“Liam!” I called when I had nearly reached him, but he continued walking and did not turn around. I caught up to him but practically had to jog to keep up.
“Slow down,” I panted.
“Why should I?” He angrily turned towards me.
“So I can say I’m sorry.”
“How is saying sorry going to make up for the fact that you don’t trust me? You know trust is one of the most important elements in a relationship.”
“Yes, I know. And I do trust you. I was just hurt, that’s all.” I had never understood those desperate girls who would do anything to get the guy they liked back but at that point I was ready to get on my knees and beg.
Liam didn’t answer immediately and every second crawled past as if it was an hour. Then finally, in an extremely calm tone he said: “I think it might be better if we don’t continue this relationship, Claire.” The fact that he put so much authority in his voice and made it so extremely evident that he was two years older than me, prevented me from doing anything stupid and made me determined not to show him how hurt I was.
“All right.” I managed to say.

The moment he was out of sight was the moment I crumpled to the ground and burst out into sobs.

Chapter 8

Life went back to normal, or at least to the way it was before Cam was raped. Cam did a pregnancy test and it turned out that she was not pregnant and Stan and his friends were still safely locked up. The only thing that changed was that since we last spoke, I hadn’t said a word to Liam and he hadn’t said anything to me. We avoided each other at school and now every time my parents met up I refused to join and apparently so did he because he never joined his parents when they came to my house. I was heartbroken but refused to let it take over my life. Only Cam knew how I truly felt.

I was shocked when I found out that Cam started hanging out with Liam more and more. At lunch I caught them talking a number of times and when I was looking at pictures on her phone she got a text from him. Was my best friend hooking up with my x-boyfriend? Was Liam even my x? I did not like this, the one person who knew everything about me and whom I trusted with everyone was starting to have secrets.
“Is something going on between you and Liam?” I asked her one day at lunch.
“Claire, I would never do that, I would never get together with someone you like.” Cameron answered. I smiled because with one simple sentence Cam had taken all my awkwardness and doubt away. I hugged her.
“Thank you.”

Prom was coming up and I had no date. Not that I wanted a date, there was only one guy I wanted and he was the one I couldn’t get. I was wistfully looking at prom dresses when the doorbell rang. It was Cam, we had planned a nice afternoon of watching movies and eating as much food as possible. In my room Cam immediately grabbed my laptop and saw what I was looking at. She stared at the screen for a couple of seconds, deep in thought and then suddenly jumped up.
“Claire, I have a brilliant idea.” Her eyes were glittering with excitement and she grabbed my hands and jumped up and down.
“What, what is it?” I laughed.
“I am going to find you a date to prom.” She said in a mischievous tone.
“Cam, I don’t want to go to prom.” I whined.
“Yes you do, why else would you be looking at prom dresses? Stop complaining, I am going to set you on the perfect blind date.” I couldn’t help laughing.
“Oh really? And where are you going to find this perfect guy?” I teased.
“I’ll find someone,” Cam said, and then, looking around the room: “do you have any food?”

I was nervous, but excited at the same time. I would be able to show Liam that I had moved on and I could only hope that this guy was nice. What if he didn’t talk? What if there would be awkward silences throughout the evening? I shrugged that thought away, if he decided to be silent then I’d just talk to fill up the silence and hopefully not run out of stuff to talk about. I was getting changed at Cam’s house and I put on my new dress which I had bought somewhere at a tiny boutique. I had fallen in love with it the moment I saw it.
“Cameron, what if he doesn’t talk?” I moaned.
“You’re going to love him.” Cam said, with all the surety of the world in her voice. “Besides, he’d be an idiot not to talk to you when you look like this. You look amazing.”
“Thank you,” I smiled, “so do you. Nathan is going to love you in this.” A guy in our class, Nathan, had asked Cam to prom and he had done so in such a romantic way that I had begged Cam to tell the story over and over again.

My hair was curled, my make up perfect and I was wearing a gorgeous dress. Furthermore, I was going to meet a nice blind date and it would be a lovely evening. Perfection is a recipe for disaster. Nathan came to pick us up and drove us to the dance where I would meet my handsome stranger. On the short ride to school I daydreamed while Cameron and Nathan flirted. We got to school, stepped out of the car and walked the few meters to the school gym. The party committee had spent days decorating it, leaving a frustrated coach and annoyed basketball players, but when I saw the gym, I knew it was all worth it. It looked stunning, semi see-through curtains were suspended from the roof to give couples some privacy and large ballroom-like curtains had been attached to the walls. Cameron grabbed my arm.
“Come on, let’s go meet your date.” She pulled me past dancing couples until we reached the middle of the gym. Then she pushed aside a few curtains but when I saw who was standing there I stopped abruptly. I started tugging on my arm.
“Cameron, I don’t want to go.”
“Yes you do.” Cameron said firmly. “You are going to go.”
“No Cameron, I really, really don’t want to.”
Cameron looked at me sternly and it looked like she was about to get mad at me.
“You have no choice.” She turned around and pulled me towards my date. I could hardly sit on the ground and force her to drag me, although the idea did pass through my mind, so I reluctantly put one foot in front of the other until I reached the extremely handsome young man who was standing in the middle of the gym. When we arrived I didn’t dare look up at him.
“Claire, meet your date for tonight. Liam, meet yours.” Cameron said. We both looked at her in shock but couldn’t get annoyed at her because then it would seem like we weren’t happy with our date.
“Ok, well, you two have fun,” Cameron said, as she pushed me closer to Liam, “and I will go dance with Nathan.” She was gone in a flash. I stood opposite Nathan and finally brought my eyes to meet his. How could a person look so gorgeous? I just stared at him for the next few moments, trying to see if I was dreaming or not.
“You look beautiful.” Liam said softly. I was speechless. I had no idea what to say. Liam looked so handsome in his suit and his eyes were so captivating that I wondered how I could ever have been mean to him. The only thing that missed from his face was a smile.
“Thank you,” I eventually managed to stammer. I was making a complete fool of myself, and I knew it. Liam didn’t want to be here at all and I felt like I would ruin the evening. After a short awkward silence I decided that I wasn’t going to spend the evening this way. I bit my lip, looked up at him and said: “You don’t have to be my date for this evening. I’m sure you’d have much more fun with someone else.” It wasn’t my intention to make my words sound so harsh but in a way I was trying to protect myself. Liam chuckled but when I snapped my eyes to his he became serious.
“No Claire, I’d like to spend the evening with you. We can spend time together… as friends.”
“Friends.” I tasted the word on my lips. That was a completely new concept, Liam and I had been enemies, then a couple, but never friends. “All right,” I said thoughtfully.
“Would you like something to drink?” Liam asked me and I nodded in reply.

It was a romantic evening, couples were dancing everywhere, a few were kissing, laughter could be heard over the sound of slow, often classical, music. After drinking something Liam asked me if I wanted to dance and I agreed. We walked back to the middle of the gym, the place where Liam had stood when Cam introduced us and the curtains gave us some privacy. Not that I needed privacy because with Liam in front of me the whole world vanished and I wasn’t aware of anyone being around me. Without a word Liam placed one hand on my waist and with the other he took my hand. The moment he touched me it was like fireworks exploded and my whole body suddenly felt warm. I knew I was blushing but it wasn’t long until I felt completely at ease in Liam’s arms.
“So how are you?” He asked me.
“I’m good,” I answered, which was a partial lie because I hadn’t been completely happy since we broke up. “And you?”
“Yeah, I’m good too. I’m just happy that everything is back to normal and that Cameron is fine.”
“You talk to her a lot, don’t you?” I asked, curious to what he would say. A smile slowly crept over his face.
“Are you jealous?” He teased. I was so incredibly happy at that point because one simple comment lightened the mood so much that I couldn’t help but laugh.
“No.” Was all I answered to Liam’s question because whatever else I said I would give away that I still liked him. More than liked him, in fact.
Liam unexpectedly twirled me around and I giggled. When I was back in his arms there was no space between us anymore. His arms were around my waist and mine were around his neck. I leaned my head against his shoulder. We danced in silence for a few minutes, I was enjoying his presence so much that I didn’t dare ruin this moment by speaking. Then someone pushed one of the curtains away and the magic was gone. Liam and I pulled away from each other to see who it was. It was Jennifer and she did not look happy.
“Claire, do you mind if I steal your date?” Before even waiting for an answer she started tugging on Liam’s arm.
“No, not at all.” I lied, and let go of Liam completely. Just before Liam disappeared with Jennifer, his eyes met mine. He looked at me so intently that I started wondering if he could see right through me. Then he was gone and I was standing there, feeling all alone. I decided to go get another drink. Stupid curtains, I wouldn’t be surprised if I got lost in my own gym with those things hanging there and I kept on bumping into dancing couples and having to say sorry. The joy I had felt just a few seconds ago when I was in Liam’s arms was gone and I suddenly became painfully conscious of the fact that Liam wanted us to be friends. Just friends.

Chapter 9

“Claire. We need to talk.” Liam suddenly appeared beside me and he looked so worried that a pang of fear shot through me.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, as he led me towards the doors of the gym. He didn’t answer me until we were outside in the hallway. It was empty, apart from a few stray balloons dangling from the ceiling.
“It’s Stan.” Liam told me grimly. He has escaped from jail and murdered Lisa.”
“What?” I stammered. Lisa was in the year below us, I hadn’t known her but I’d seen her in the hallway. No, this couldn’t be true. Stan raping someone was one thing but murder… I almost couldn’t believe it.
“Proof.” I said, suddenly defiant. “What’s your proof? Because if Jennifer is all the proof you have then I’m not going to believe it. She will make up anything just to…” I trailed off.
“Shhh,” Liam comforted me. “I know it’s hard to believe.” He wrapped his arms around me in a strong and safe embrace.
“Claire,” Liam pushed me away a bit so he could look at me. “I won’t let anything happen to you.” The love and concern in his eyes were so intense that it almost made me cry and forget about the tragedy that had just happened.
“But Stan.. he, he wouldn’t.” I told Liam.
“But he has.” Liam said gently. “He escaped from jail this morning and the knife which he murdered Lisa with has his fingerprints on it.”
“No.” I suddenly said firmly, and I had no idea where I got this determination from. I didn’t even know why I was protecting Stan. “Stan wouldn’t do this.” I placed my hands on my hips and stared at Liam, daring him to disagree with me.
Liam looked at me and his expression was a mixture of confusion, curiosity and exasperation.
“How do you know?”
“I… I don’t know.” I dropped my hands and the certainty I had felt seconds ago disappeared. I had no idea how I knew. I didn’t know Stan well and certainly after he had raped Cam and almost raped me I shouldn’t have been surprised at this news but somehow, this was bad. Even for Stan.
“Come on,” Liam placed his hand on my back and softly pushed me towards the exit. “I’ll take you home.” I nodded, too shocked to remember to tell Cam that I was leaving.
“You might want to tell Cameron that you’re leaving.” Liam said, “or else she’ll be worried.” I nodded and followed his advice, telling Cam that I didn’t feel well and that Liam was taking me home. She wanted to come home with me and make sure I was all right but I told her that Liam would be with me and she let us go without any further questioning. No doubt did she think we were running off together to some romantic place. How I wished that was the case.

We got to Liam’s car and, like a true gentleman, he opened the door for me. I got in the car and waited for him to get in on the other side. I had never ridden in his car till now and I leaned back against the seat, closed my eyes and breathed in his scent. I opened them a few seconds later when I realized that Liam had still not gotten in the car. I checked the mirrors, if I could see him and found out that he stood behind the car. I opened the car door, got out and walked up to Liam. The moment he heard the car door, I saw him put something away.
“Liam, what’s wrong?” I asked, when I saw the expression on his face which he was desperately trying to cover with a neutral one.
“Nothing,” he smiled, “get back in the car and I’ll take you home.”
“Liam,” I demanded, “tell me what’s wrong.”
“There’s nothing wrong.” Liam suddenly said. “There’s only something right.” He lowered his tone. “You look so beautiful tonight.” Then, he took a step towards me and closed the distance between us. He placed both hands on the sides of my face and lowered his lips to mine. His kiss was harsh and demanding and though at first I tried fighting it, I soon surrendered to his touch. Our lips fit together so perfectly that I forgot everything around me and only wanted him to pull me closer. His arms slid around my waist and pulled me so close to him that I could feel his heartbeat. When we finally pulled apart I was breathless. I stood there in front of him and he placed one hand on my cheek again.
“I will never let anyone hurt you.” He told me and there was so much intensity and determination in his voice and eyes that I thought I might faint. At that moment I remembered that there was something Liam was not telling me.
“Liam, what do you know that I don’t?” I asked, and it pained me to be the one ruining the romantic atmosphere.
Liam took a deep breath. “You don’t give up, do you?” He asked, with a small smile, though I could tell he was not finding any of this funny. I didn’t answer him, just waited for him to tell me what was going on.
Liam sighed and pulled a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket. He handed it to me and when I opened it and read the writing, I put a hand in front of my mouth to stop myself from screaming. There, in bright red letters, the color of blood, were the most frightening words I had ever read. You and your girlfriend are next.


Chapter 10

Liam checked the trunk and the backseat and then, like a true gentleman, escorted me to the passenger seat. He opened the door for me and I slipped in the car without saying a word. It was only seconds before Liam got in the car beside me but it felt like hours and I was shaking with fear. When Stan, and Liam, had nearly raped me I had been scared for my virginity but now I was scared for my life. And Liam’s life. When Liam got in the car I released my breath which I did not know I was holding and Liam took my hand.
“It’s all going to be ok, Claire.” He said, and his words soothed me.

We rode straight to the police station and once there Liam handed the paper to the police and explained everything to them. I sat on a chair and stared blankly at the wall. Why was this happening to us? Why did Stan hate us so much? At the same time, I still had the nagging feeling that it wasn’t Stan doing all these things, though all the signs pointed to him. I didn’t even notice when Liam came in to the waiting room.
“Where’s the girl who charged straight to the hiding place of a bunch of rapists?” He teased, trying to lighten the mood. I smiled wryly.
“She disappeared when she,” I glanced up at him, “and the guy she loves, received a death threat.”
Liam sat down in the chair next to me and took both of my hands in his.
“The police will take care of things. They’ll track him down. In the meantime, we are going on a little trip.”
I looked at him, confused.
“A trip?” I asked. “Where to? Why?”
“The police think it’s better if we lay low for a while. They have a cottage for people like us, up in the hills. I hear it’s beautiful there.”
“Who else is going?” I asked.
“Just the two of us.” Liam replied and I could see a mischievous glint in his eyes. Even though the situation was serious, I felt my enthusiasm growing too. Liam and I were going to some cottage in the mountains together.
“What about our parents? And I need to go home to get my stuff.”
“Our parents have already been informed and the cottage is stocked with whatever we need. It has clothes in all sizes, toothbrushes, hairbrushes, food… These people do this stuff all the time. Hey,” He leaned forwards and gently placed his lips on mine, “this can’t be so bad.”
I smiled. “You’re right,” I said, and abruptly leaned forwards and gave him a tight hug.

“Are you ready?” A policeman walked into the waiting room. Liam nodded and took my hand. We followed the policeman out to a police car with blinded windows and I felt like a criminal. At the same time, the excitement I felt earlier returned. The policeman opened the door for us but just before I got in the car I grabbed Liam’s arm.
“What about Cam?” I asked and alarm coursed through me. How could I have forgotten my best friend?
“Is she safe?”
“We have already sent some body guards to her house who will stay there until we have caught Stan. For now, our main priority is keeping you two safe.” The policeman replied in a business-like tone. My eyes flashed from the policeman’s to Liam’s and it wasn’t until Liam nodded at me encouragingly that I got in the car.

The car ride was long and slow as the roads spiraled up into the mountains. I didn’t care though because Liam had his arm around me and my head was resting on his shoulder. Halfway through the car ride I fell asleep and I didn’t wake up until we arrived at a little cottage, high up in the mountains, on a deserted road. I got out of the car and stretched, my body stiff and sore from sitting so long. It was at that point that I realized that we were all alone. There was not a house in sight; there were only mountains everywhere. It was a lot colder here than it had been down at the police station and I took a deep breath of clean mountain air. Liam was talking to the policeman again and momentarily felt like a little girl, everything was being organized for me and I was standing around helplessly. The wind helped clear my mind and reminded me of the fact that I had to stop being so fussy and dependent on everyone around me. I walked up to Liam and the policeman and stood next to them. They abruptly stopped talking and glanced over at me. I frowned and turned around, ready to stalk off angrily, but Liam called me back.
“Claire, we don’t want to scare you.” He said gently. I spun around and looked at them with annoyance.
“I think I’ll be even more scared if I don’t know what’s going on.”
“I was just telling Liam what do in case of an emergency.” The policeman told me and I could see that he thought I was being childish. I couldn’t disagree with him, I was being childish. But I still couldn’t stop myself.
“Well, what if something happens to him? Then shouldn’t I know what to do as well?” I asked defiantly.
Liam sighed and I could sense annoyance in his voice when he said: “Come on Claire, let’s go inside and I’ll tell you what to do in case of an emergency.” He steered me to the house but I caught the apologetic look he sent to the policeman. What was my problem? Why was I acting this way? But I already knew the answer: I was terrified. I was scared of something happening to Liam and all the horror movie scenes I had ever seen were flashing through my mind again. Creaky doors and dead people in the basement or under the floorboards… I shivered.

The inside of the cottage was simple but beautiful, there was an open fireplace with a stock of wood beside it and a couch, two armchairs, a tea table and a rug made for a cozy living room.
“Sit down and I’ll make you some tea.” Liam said and I could still sense an undertone of annoyance in his voice which he was attempting to cover up by gentleness. He was trying to understand why I was acting so strangely.
“But I--“ I sputtered.
“Sit.” Liam said sternly and the exasperation in his eyes annoyed me. I begrudgingly sat down in one of the armchairs and stared at the empty fireplace. It was at that point that I realized that this whole situation was taking its toll on Liam as well. He was probably scared, just like I was but trying desperately to cover it up for my sake. I wanted to walk over to Liam and tell him I was sorry but then decided against it because it would probably annoy him further that I couldn’t even stay seated for half a minute.

Apparently the water boiler worked well because Liam was back in no time with a steaming hot cup of tea. He handed it to me wordlessly and then sat on the tea table in front of me, with his arms leaning on his knees and hands clasped together in front of him. I stared at my tea as I warmed my hands on it and tried to think of what to say.
“I’m sorry.” I finally said, without looking up at him. “I know I’m being childish but what if something happens?” Before I could go any further, Liam cut me off.
“Nothing is going to happen. Don’t worry, you’re safe here. And I will protect you if something does happen.” I glanced up at Liam and could not look away because his eyes had captured mine. There was such an intense love in them that I caught my breath and almost dropped my tea. When I finally managed to tear my eyes away from his, I stood up, placed my tea on the mantelpiece and frantically started pacing around.
“If something happens then I’m not just going to stand around and do nothing, I want to—“ I stopped talking because Liam had blocked my path and forced me to look up at him.
“You know,” he said tenderly, and I could only stare up into his beautiful dark eyes, “that determination is one of the reasons I fell in love with you.”

Chapter 11

It was already late at night and so we decided to go to sleep. Liam’s room was right next to mine and I was happy about this. I didn’t think I would be able to sleep if he was so far away. I opened my room door and saw that there was a large bed in the middle, with neatly folded sheets and fluffy pillows. The beige curtains of the windows were open and the first thing I did was walk over to them and close them. Every gust of wind made the house creak and I was terrified at every sound I heard.
“Are you going to be all right?” I think I jumped about a meter into the air when Liam spoke. He laughed softly.
“Sorry for scaring you.” He walked over to me and placed his hands on my hips.
“Don’t worry, you’re safe here.” He said and then placed a quick kiss on my lips. I tried to smile but it wasn’t sincere and my attempt quickly faded.
“Come here.” Liam pulled me into a tight hug.
“Liam?” I said when we pulled away, and I couldn’t help that my voice came out in a squeak.
“Yes?”
“Could you… Could you stay here tonight?” I was too embarrassed to look at his face when waiting for his reply.
Liam placed his hand on my cheek and rubbed his thumb across my skin, leaving a tingling sensation behind. I raised my eyes to meet his.
“Sure I’ll stay here.” He smiled and relief washed over me. I crawled into bed without bothering to put on my pyjamas and after turning off the light Liam lay down next to me. He wrapped his arm around my waist and I snuggled into him, instantly feeling safe in his strong embrace.
“Thank you.” I whispered softly.

I woke up because I heard something creak. I snapped my eyes open and tried looking around but the room was quite dark, the only light coming from the sliver of moon that was visible tonight. The moment I heard the creak for the second time, my heart started beating like a drum. All of a sudden I saw a figure move in the shadow and I couldn’t help but scream. Liam sat up so quickly that I barely saw him move.
“Claire what’s wrong?” He said alarmed and straight to the point.
“There’s someone here.” It came out like a sob but that was because at this moment I was sure we were going to die. Within seconds Liam had moved over to the light switch and the room was flooded in light.
I looked around the room but saw nobody. Where had the person gone? I was so extremely terrified that I could barely move, all I could do was keep looking around me and hope that the person wasn’t going to attack me from the back.
Liam looked at me. “Are you sure you saw someone?” He asked.
I nodded frantically; I had to make him believe this. I was not going to get a minute of sleep if this person was roaming around the house and Liam didn’t believe me.
“Ok, you better come out.” Liam suddenly said sternly, all the doubt had disappeared from his voice. When nobody answered Liam grabbed a pillow off of the bed and slowly inched towards the only blind spot in the room, next to the cupboard. And we hadn’t checked under the bed yet, of course, but I doubted that in the time that I saw the figure and Liam turned on the lights this creep could have gotten under the bed without us noticing. So that meant that he was indeed next to the cupboard.
“No Liam, don’t go there.” I whimpered. Liam ignored me though, and inched closer and closer to the cupboard. When he was a few mere centimeters away Liam stopped.
“Come. Out.” He growled. Silence greeted him. Liam crossed the distance and then stood in front of the space next to the cupboard. He could see something that I couldn’t.
“Drop your weapons.” Liam suddenly ordered. All I could do was sit there, frozen on the bed, wondering who on earth was in our room and how exactly he was trying to kill us.
“I don’t have any weapons.” I suddenly heard a familiar voice. I couldn’t help but gasp.
“Liam, get away from him!” I yelled but Liam ignored me and kept his stare fixed on the person in front of him.
“Come out and stand with your back towards the wall. And keep your hands where I can see them. If you don’t, you’ll regret it.” Liam spoke harshly. Wow, Liam could be scary if he wanted to be. I had to put my hand over my mouth to keep from screaming when an all too familiar figure stepped out of the shadows.

Chapter 12

“What are you doing here?” Liam spat. Stan looked worse than I’d ever seen him before, his eyes were deep set and had huge bags under them and it seemed as if he’d lost weight. He looked like a scared mouse, the way he was cowering next to the wall but Liam wasn’t fooled by his act.
“Answer me!” He yelled, as he grabbed Stan by the shirt and raised his fist to punch him.
“No Liam!” For some reason, I felt like I needed to stop Liam from punching Stan. Liam didn’t even acknowledge that I said anything, he just kept his eyes trained on Stan and I knew that if Stan didn’t answer within the next 3 seconds, he would get a broken nose.
“I.. I’m sorry.” Stan whimpered. Liam pulled Stan forewords and then slammed him into the wall.
“I’m not going to ask you again.” He said in a deathly voice and I had to admit that at this point even I was afraid of him. “What are you doing here?”
Suddenly, a look of anger and determination swept over Stan’s face and he stood up a little straighter and tried to regain his composure.
“I need your help.” He said calmly. “And I came to warn you.”
If Liam was as confused as I was then he certainly didn’t show it.
“What did you come to warn us against?” He asked, completely ignoring the first part of Stan’s confession.
“There’s a murderer and he’s out to get you.” Stan said and a look of fear crossed over his face.
“Last time I checked, you were that murderer.” Liam commented dryly.
“I know.” Stan sighed. “That’s all part of his game. If you let me go I’ll explain it all.”
“Yes, and then you can pull out a gun and shoot us? I think not.” Liam said.
“I swear I don’t have any weapons on me. You can search me if you want to.” Stan said and he raised his hands up in a sign of innocence. Liam gave Stan a look of distrust before he checked his pockets and all other places where Stan could possibly be carrying a weapon.
“All right.” Liam said slowly, still hesitant to let Stan go. “Sit on the floor here and don’t even try coming any closer to us.” Liam then walked back over to me and stood in front of the bed, with his arms crossed while Stan sank to the floor.
“Explain.” Liam demanded.
“I was sent to jail for raping Cameron and a number of other girls.” Stan began. “One night, somebody whom I did not know helped me escape from jail. The day after I was free I heard on the news that I had supposedly killed Lisa with a knife. They knew it was me because it had my fingerprints on it. The only reason that knife had my fingerprints on it was because I used it to cut through a fence, when I was trying to escape. The man gave it to me to use.” I was growing more terrified with every word Stan spoke. What if what he said was true and there was some crazy murderer on the loose who could kill us at any moment? But what if what he said wasn’t true and that crazy murderer was sitting in my room right at this moment in a supposed “safe house”? Oh how on earth did I get into this situation? Why couldn’t my life just be easy and normal?
“How did you get here?” Liam asked, ignoring Stan’s confession.
“The man who helped me escape gave me directions.” Stan said, a little confused. “He said that you wanted to speak to me and could help me.” Fear was evident on his face and I started feeling a little sorry for him.
“You’re lying.” Liam said through clenched teeth. “You’re trying to make someone else take the blame and erase evidence of what you have done.”
“No, no I’m not, I swear!” Stan said and he placed his hands out in front of him in an innocent gesture. He also seemed to get more scared every word Liam spoke. Liam walked up to him, grabbed him by his shirt and lifted his fist in the air ready to punch him.
“No wait Liam, what if he’s telling the truth?” I said before Liam could punch Stan.
“I don’t think he is.” Liam snarled.
“Well I think he is.” I said, with more confidence in my voice than I felt.
Liam turned to look at me angrily. “Why are you defending him? He is the one who raped Cameron and nearly raped you too!” That was a good question, why was I defending him? Truth of the matter was, I felt sorry for him. The fear that was evident in his eyes prevented me from running up to him and beating him up myself.
“I... I don’t know.” I said lamely.
“Well, then I’m sure you’ll have no problem with it if I beat him up after all?” Liam asked sarcastically. I didn’t know what to say and tears sprang in my eyes. Why was Liam being so impatient with me? And why was I making such a big deal over Liam beating up Stan? All I could do was stare at Liam and silently beg him not to do it. I saw Liam’s eyes soften and he released Stan, who fell to the floor.
“I swear I’m telling the truth.” He said desperately. “You have to get out of here. The man is coming, probably to kill us all. If we are all dead then he will no longer have any witnesses.” At Stan’s words fear overtook me and threatened to take control over me. I was having trouble breathing when I realized that this murderer could be in this house right now, at this moment.
“Liam?” I said in a tiny voice. “Liam I’m scared.”
Liam walked towards me, gave me a quick hug and looked me in the eyes.
“I’m just going to take a quick look around. Don’t be scared, I’ll keep you safe.” Then, he turned around and grabbed Stan, yanking him to his feet.
“And you, come with me.” He said harshly. No! Liam don’t leave me here all alone! I wanted to scream but I couldn’t, my voice didn’t let me.
I stood there, in the middle of the room, too scared to move or make a sound and waited. Each second seemed to take an hour and my heart was beating painfully fast against my chest. Why was Liam taking so long? Why wasn’t he back yet? Had Stan beaten him up? Or was the murderer in the house? Breathe, Claire, Breathe. I urged myself.

I nearly jumped out of my skin when I suddenly heard a loud noise. I clamped my hand over my mouth to stop the scream that was threatening to escape my lips and stared at the door in horror. That was a gunshot. Then I heard another.
Oh no, oh no, this was not happening! For all I knew, Liam could be lying on the floor, bleeding to death and the murderer, whoever he was, could walk through my bedroom door any moment. I had to do something! If this person had hurt Liam then he was going to pay for it. Suddenly, my fear disappeared and determination took its place. This person was not

going to get away with hurting the man I loved. If he thought that, then he would have to think again because I was not the type of the person like in those movies where their boyfriend gets beaten up and they stand on the sideline begging the to stop. No, I was the type of girl who would jump right into the fight and beat the guy up.

I inched my way towards the door, without having any idea of what I was going to do. As quietly as possible, I opened the bedroom door and peeped my head out to look around the corner. The hallway was empty except for the plant that was sitting next to my bedroom door. And then an idea struck me; I could take the plant pot, seeing as it was the only thing that was remotely close to a weapon, and throw it down from the top of the staircase. Though with my aim- and luck – the plant pot would probably land at least 5 meters away from my target, I still thought that I should try. I picked up the plant pot and cradled it against my chest. I must’ve looked like a walking palm tree because the plant was at least a meter taller than me. And boy was it heavy. Stupid plant. I tried looking around the green leaves and slowly walked towards the top of the staircase.
With the plant still cradled against my chest, I looked over the railing. What I saw there caused my heart to stop beating and then start up again at an incredible pace. The scene below me was terrifying. A man, around 40 years old, wearing old torn jeans and a dirty brown T-shirt with a beard that covered most of his face, stood in the doorway with his gun pointed at both Liam and Stan. Apparently the shots I had heard was the man shooting the lock of the door. Liam and Stan both had their hands up in the air and the man had an evil grin on his face. He took a step towards Liam and Stan and his grin grew wider.
“Both of you, in the same house. And to my knowledge, the girl is here too. Things couldn’t have worked out better.” His voice sent shivers down my spine and tears of both anger and fear appeared in my eyes.
“I will first kill both of you, and then I will go after the girl.” He narrowed his eyes at Liam. “Where is she?” I took a deep breath and held the plant out in front of me, so that it was hanging over the railing and right above the murderer’s head. Goodbye plant, I whispered softly.
“Right here.” I said in a clear voice and the moment the murderer looked up, I dropped my palm tree. Or whatever type of plant it was. In slow motion I saw it fall to the floor and I could only hope and pray that it would hit the man. My eyes grew wider and wider as I saw the plant turn and spin away from the man, to land half a meter away from him. Oh no, this was the end, I was going to die. The man looked from the plant up to me and then started laughing.
“You foolish little girl.” He said. I closed my eyes, ready for what was to come but instead of a gunshot, I heard a grunt. I snapped my eyes open, wondering who had made the noise and then saw that Liam had used the moment of confusion to kick the man’s gun out of his hands and then land a few good punches. But the man was strong, and apparently used to fighting because he did not let Liam punch him mercilessly for long. He started punching and kicking Liam back and I screamed softly. Then suddenly, a third body was involved in the fight: Stan. It took me a second to realize that he was on Liam’s side because he was also beating up the man. And I was the only one who wasn’t doing anything. I was not going to be one of those girls who stood on the sideline watching a fight and so I ran down the stairs and was about to jump the man from behind when I heard Liam growl: “Claire, stay out of this.”
I huffed. “As if.” I said, right before jumping on the man’s back and wrapping my arm around his throat. The man started clawing at my neck and before long, he was gasping for air. I held my arms tight around him and Liam landed another good punch in his gut. A few moments later, the man passed out. I dropped my arms from around his neck and took a step away from him. Then I suddenly felt strong arms wrap around me, so tight that I could barely breathe. I smelled his scent though, and instantly knew who it was.
“Liam, I can’t breathe!” I choked out.
Liam placed his hands on my shoulders and looked into my eyes.
“Don’t you ever

do that again.” He said sternly.
I smiled. “A simple thank you would suffice.”
Liam didn’t see any humour in the situation. He shook me softly. “I mean it Claire.”
I looked at the ground and nodded. Liam placed a finger under my chin and lifted my face to his and then placed his lips on mine. He kissed me harshly, hungrily, as if he was terrified of losing me. Then his kiss grew softer.
“Never. Do that. Again.” He said between kisses. When he pulled away the situation finally sank into my brain and I couldn’t stop the waterfall of tears that cascaded down my cheeks. Liam wrapped his arms around me and I buried my head against his chest.
“I was so scared!” I sobbed.
“Shh, I know.” Liam soothed me, while running his fingers through my hair. “But it’s all over now. We’re safe. Shhh.”

Chapter 13

Liam called the police and they arrived within minutes. They arrested the murderer and, though Liam and I both begged them not to, Stan was also arrested and taken to jail. Liam and I were transported back to our houses. After the whole story was explained to our parents, I was sent to bed. After showering and changing, I lay down in my bed and pulled the covers over me. I lay there, staring at the ceiling, growing more terrified with every noise I heard. I would never be able to get to sleep this way. I rolled over and took my phone from my nightstand and dialed Liam’s number. He picked up on the first ring.
“Claire, is something wrong?” He asked panicked. I felt a little bad for making him worry so much.
“No, nothing is wrong. It’s just that I can’t sleep. And I’m scared.” I admitted to him.
“Do you want me to come over?” Liam offered.
“Yes.” I admitted, a little embarrassed. Liam laughed softly.
“I’ll be there in 10 minutes. If you hear someone knock on your window then don’t freak out, ok?”
“I’ll try.” I promised.
“I love you.” He said.
“I love you too.” I answered, before I hung up.

10 minutes later there was a knock on the window. Though I had promised not to freak out, I did jump a little at the sound. I inched my way over to the window and pulled away the curtain a tiny bit. I let out a sigh of relief when I saw Liam’s face. I opened my window and he crawled in, wearing track pants and a tight fitting T-shirt that accentuated his abs.
“Hey.” He smiled, when he was standing in my room.
“Hey.” I smiled back. Liam closed the distance between us and placed his hands on my hips.
“I missed you.” He said.
“You saw me this afternoon.” I reminded him.
“I still missed you.”
I smiled again. “I missed you too.” I admitted.
“Good.” Liam said before leaning in to kiss me. His kiss was soft and sweet at first but then it grew hungrier and more passionate. He pulled me against him tightly and without him asking to I opened my mouth to let his tongue in. My hands tangled in his hair and I moaned against his lips. Liam’s grip on my hips tightened and I wanted nothing more than to be closer to him. But I knew that I couldn’t, I would never do anything more than kissing before I was married and Liam felt the same way. Which is why I pulled away and then created some space between us. We were both breathing hard and I was aching to kiss him again. Liam grinned, knowing why I had pulled away and I looked away slightly embarrassed.
“Shall we go to sleep?” He asked. “It’s been a long day.” I looked back up to him and nodded. Liam pulled back the cover and I crawled into bed and then he took off his shoes and lay down in the bed next to me. He wrapped his arms around me and I snuggled against his chest, feeling completely safe in his arms.
“Goodnight.” Liam whispered against my hair.
“Goodnight.” I answered and soon after I fell asleep.

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Tag der Veröffentlichung: 06.10.2010

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