Chapter 1
Dear Diary,
Today is just like any other day; mom got up at 6am to get ready to go to work at our crap town restaurant, while David rested two more hours to tend to every person whose wooden objects were breaking down. Which is a lot because our whole town seems to be made of nothing but old wood. Our town is the kind of town where everyone knows everyone, everyone is kind to everyone, yet everyone talks about each other. Do you have any idea how annoying it is to not be able to keep a secret out of the air of such a small, hokey town as ours? However, there is light at the end of the tunnel, because some secrets remain hidden from the outside world. Such a secret as mine.
I'd better get ready for school, I wouldn't want to be late and draw any unwanted attention to myself. Like walking into class after the bell’s already sounded, everyone's eyes locked on the person who had the audacity to walk in late. Why is that? Why does everyone shift their attention to the person who walked through the door unexpectedly? Are people really that nosey? Well, at least they will not be staring at me at that particular moment, I get stares all day, everyday. I guess it's the way I dress; do my beat up converse scare people away? Does my black mascara make people nervous? My entire wardrobe both draws attention to myself while sets me apart from everyone else. It doesn't bother me anymore, you kind of get used to something when you've endured it your entire life. People in this town assume that we all should dress alike, act alike, and talk alike, but why? Maybe I don't want to be like everyone else? Is that so wrong? Maybe I don't want to wear overalls or something else that begins with the word 'jean' everyday.
So I throw on my favorite pair of Levis, with a black t-shirt, along with my (often worn) black converse and head toward the door to get to class. While walking to school, I realized just how odd I look to everyone else. It's freaking 100 degrees, everyone is wearing shorts or something in the shorts family, and here I am wearing jeans and all black. I'm not saying that I'm immune to the sun's rays; I'm just saying that I have pale, white skin that really stands out in the sea of sunburned 'tans.' I’m still amazed at the fact that I’ve lived here my entire life, and have not gotten so much as a skin tone change from the blazing sun. It's bad enough that I stand out already, but my pasty skin just adds to the alienation towards me. So, I'm going to wear what is in my comfort zone: jeans. I also realized that our town is so small that everything is in walking distance from everything else. You could be at the edge of the city, and walk to any place in town within minutes, it's pretty sad. I'm almost certain that no one outside of our small town is even aware that it exists.
When walking through the halls, I did my everyday routine. Walk through the crowd, of jean-suit wearing classmates, with my head tilted down to be sure of no direct eye contact with anyone. Call me crazy, but I feel uncomfortable staring into the eyes of people who think nothing but bad thoughts of me. I don't need to see their faces, or the expressions they hold, to know exactly what they’re thinking: why is she so strange, why does she only wear jeans, what's with all of the black; the list goes on and on yet never really varies. I get through a crowd pretty easily though. No one wants to touch the weird girl, so they all move quickly out of my way when I come into close proximity to them. It's kind of cool. It's like I have the ability to part the red sea, like Moses, only my red sea consists of dull, country folk. After I got to my locker, I grabbed my book for first period, Algebra II. I'm not too bad at math, but I hate the class because the teacher insists on participation and isn't shy to always ask me to participate. I dislike anyone who draws even more attention to myself, also, I know she does it to me on purpose. She punishes me any chance she gets because I think she assumes I’m a Wicken, a witch. What gives her the idea that I am a Wicken? It possibly has something to do with all of the black that I wear, and how I stand out like a weed in a sea of beautiful flowers. I'm sure she's pretty religious, considering she's the town preacher and all. I'm not quite sure how Christianity and Math go hand in hand, but our town’s limited on staff so I guess anyone can be a teacher.
After walking into Algebra class I found comfort in being the first student, as always, and took my assigned seat in the center of class. I fought pretty hard on the first few days of this class to sit in the back of the room; however the teacher had it out for me so my weak attempts were useless. I'm sure she found it hilarious to put me in the center of the room, exposed for everyone to look at me without me even noticing. As if there were a moment everyone weren't looking at me. But after many months, I got used to my seat and although I can't say the seat in the back of the room doesn't look way more appealing than my center seat, I deal with it. After getting settled, I pulled out my book to the chapter we would be working on. As soon as I turned to page 142, the warning bell sounded and the frenzy to get into class before the final bell sounds has begun. I imagine this is how roaches look when the lights have been turned on, everyone scattering everywhere, pure chaos. I wouldn't be caught dead scattering along with everyone else, them running to class while dodging any contact with me at the same time. To avoid that, I prefer to get to class a tad bit early and miss out on the sprinting event. Once the final bell rang and the frenzy ceased, class was full and ready to begin.
In walked my math teacher, Mr.'s Chambers, wearing all white as though it were Halloween and she were dressed up as an angel. Then again, she always looked so angelic; she even glides across the floor as if she were floating. Now if only she were kind, because she definitely had the look down, everything about her appearance screams saint, until she speaks. "Good morning sinners," she bellows, in a deep, raspy voice that doesn't match her angelic appearance at all.
"Good Morning," we all say in a chipper voice, only everyone else's was heartfelt and mine was forced. I'm all for Christianity and I understand that we all sin, but you should never call anyone a sinner and act as though it were a pet name or nick name. But, I guess I'm the only one who feels this way because all of my fellow classmates were used to this greeting from Mr.'s Chambers. You'd think that after years of knowing her, I’d be used to her blunt, dry humor. Or whatever it is, but I'm not, and I'm tired of pretending that I am. After rolling my eyes, I prepare myself for the torture I’m sure to endure this class period.
"Miss Cambridge! Surely, you are not sleeping in my class?"
"Of course not Mrs. Chambers." I reply, in a monotone voice, to hide my irritation. How could she have thought I was sleeping, when I was looking at her through-out the entire lesson? This is exactly why I cannot stand this lady! She goes out of her way to make a scene, especially when I’m the spectacle of it all.
"Well, now that you are done with your cat nap, you can approach the board and attempt to complete these equations," she states, in a sarcastic voice.
"With pleasure Mrs. Chambers," I say, sarcastically as well, gritting my teeth the entire walk to the front of the class. She didn't call on me to see if I could actually solve the equations, because she already knows that I can, and with ease. She did this to humiliate me, as she often does, and watch me squirm like a fish out of water. As much as I’d love to prove her wrong, to be completely at ease with all of the attention on me, I can't help but feed her exactly what she wants. I can feel everyone's eyes locked on the back of my neck, digging into it like needles, and it feels as though I just might have an anxiety attack from it all. I doubt that I’ve ever moved so quickly in my life, the chalk moved so rapidly in my shaky grip.
After solving the equations, I place the chalk back in it's rightful place and go to take mine. Although I was walking much too fast through the narrow rows, I somehow made it to my chair without skipping a beat. While I attempted to compose my heartbeat, Mrs. Chambers reviewed my work, with such intensity it seemed she’d forgotten there were a class in progress. After she found no errors in my rushed work, she decided to include the rest of the class in the review.
“Can anyone see any errors in Miss Cambridge's' equations?"
Everyone skimmed over the equations, or pretended to, and shook their heads after finding nothing.
"Well then, good job on doing something right Miss Cambridge."
She exhaled in a defeated, but still pompous tone. She then walked up to the board and erased the equations only to write more, and my entire body went numb when I fathom the thought of having to experience that humiliation yet again. While my already pale skin shaded to an even more pale white, I hadn't realized Mrs. Chambers called on another potential victim to complete the next equations. I looked up and saw the head cheerleader Sarah, looking very much confused as she walked toward Mrs. Chambers, and felt so relieved that it was her turn and not mine. She can take the embarrassment, because when she's embarrassed it's cute and not annoying or awkward like with me.
The sound of the bell ending first period seemed to lift an invisible weight off my shoulders and triggered my eager paced walk toward the exit. Once I stepped foot out of the door, I could breathe again and go on with the rest of the day as I usually did, or so I thought. While on my way to my locker to retrieve my Spanish II book, I felt a bit odd, as if something were different, or off. I attempted to ignore the feeling and carry on toward my locker, but I stumbled over something in the process. Luckily I caught myself before I fell flat on my face, but I saw that it was a backpack that nearly broke my neck! I raised my head, giving the owner of this backpack my death stare, but I noticed her eyes didn’t meet mine, which really sucked because my death stare was lethal enough to scare her pants right off. I was annoyed I’d tripped, and my death stare miss just ticked me off even more, "Moovvee," I said in a dark voice, through my teeth.
"Get a load of that," she said, sort of under her breath but still loud enough for me to hear. Her gaze still didn’t meet mine, and due to my irritation, I thought twice about looking in the direction of her baby blue eyes. But her face, her face seemed to glow in warmth that had absolutely nothing to do with the weather.
I turned to view what it was that frozen her, and I noticed she wasn’t the only one who was stuck in this trance, everyone in the hallway was! They were all facing the same direction and wore the same expression, aside from the guys, who wore a jealous type of facial expression. My eyes skimmed over everyone else's, frantically trying to find who or what they were looking at, until finally. There it was, there he was. His golden hair slopped around his head-and his face-as though no effort had been put into it, yet it seemed to lay in all the right places as though it had taken hours to master. From between his hair his eyes were a piercing green, like a meadow in the spring time, and his full lips were astonishing.
As he walked through the crowd in the hallway, everyone shifted, as he passed them, to continue to stare. His lips curled up into what appeared to be a shy smile, flashing his pearly white teeth that looked like they would glow in the dark for being so bright. With the sun directly behind him like it was I would swear he were a god, and his toned body only added to that thought. His shirt fit so perfectly like it were carved onto him, while his jeans slightly sagged around his waist. I fully understood why no one could break their gaze from him, he was by far the most beautiful thing in the entire town, and my gaze could not be broken either. I felt as though he would ascend into the sky, as if his appearance here was an accident and he needed to return to the heavens where he belonged. For that reason, my eyes were locked on him. Not wanting to miss any moment of this mistake.


Chapter 2

He continued to walk through the hall, occasionally throwing a wave here and there to girls who gawked over his beauty, which sent them into a panicky, frenzy of squeals and yelps. Their excitement seemed to catch him off-guard, his brows creased downward into what looked like confusion. Which made absolutely no sense because you’d think someone with the features and attributes he had would be used to these reactions, arrogant even, but he wasn't. His expression made me rethink mine, turning my hanging open mouth and wide-eyed pupils into a sealed shut lip and squinting eyes to attempt to analyze his further expressions. As I did just that, I noticed he was moving much closer to where I stood and my heart started to flutter as though someone had released a dozen butterflies into it. I broke from the trance that I seemed to be in, and brushed past baby blue eyes to get to my locker to interchange my books. I expected to hear the squeals of the girls fade as he passed by, but they only seemed to intensify in sound and it was beginning to give me a headache.
Before I could shut my locker and rush to my next class to escape this torment, I saw him in my peripheral vision, and I fought with all of my might not to turn his way, but then.
"Hey."
His smooth voice pushed all of my thoughts away and left me completely blank for only a split second, and then my mind began to race. Did he just speak to me? No, he couldn't have been speaking to me. But just in case, I turned to face him and sure enough there he was. Both his eyes and body were lowered to attempt to meet my eyes-which was a task because both our eyes were hidden by our hair-and when they met, I froze just as I knew I would. I’d totally forgotten he’d spoken to me, until I saw the anxious look in his eyes.
"H-hi," I managed to stuttered out.
My response seemed to ease his anxiousness, and he flashed his brilliant smile my way. Once again, my heart fluttered while my knees felt about as strong as twigs and I feared they would snap. Why would he stop at my locker just to say hi to me? As if answering my mental question, he opened the locker next to mine and spoke.
"We're locker buddies."
After smiling, he grabbed his backpack to empty his books from it into his new locker. His smile sent my heart a flutter yet again, until I realized he only spoke to me because I was standing right next to his future locker. My heart ceased to flutter and my expression changed from bliss, to embarrassment, to anger. How could I think someone as beautiful as him, would treat me any different than the way everyone else treated me? I slammed my locker shut, startling him, and stomped to my next class. On my walk home, I was still fuming over my stupidity with the new guy and it had me in an odd funk all day. I was more humiliated with myself, than angry with him. Especially since no one even noticed the brief conversation between he and I. But it was easier to be angry, I liked angry. Who starts at a new school in March anyway? The school year is more than halfway over! What an idiot move. I’d just turned the corner, that was my street, when I heard footsteps running up behind me.
"Hey! Allison, right?"
I stiffened to a halt as I recognized the voice speaking to me. That same smooth voice I’d heard earlier today, that made me feel all weird inside. I spun around, dizzy, but not from the spin, and looked at his lovely face. I skimmed over all of his features, from his golden hair, to his emerald green eyes, down to his moist, full lips. I was yet again, amazed at his beauty.
"Um, your name is Allison, right?"
"Oh yeah, I'm Allison." My brows rose in shock and then lowered into suspicion, "Why?"
"Well we didn't exactly get a proper introduction. So, figured I’d make up for it now. Hi, I'm Liam, Liam Wright." He held out his hand in an effort to shake mine, and I slipped my hand out of my jean’s pocket to shake his.
"Ouch!" We said in unison, as static shocked both our hands in the mist of our handshake. "Sorry," we said in unison once again, and we both chuckled at how in sync we seemed to be. I figured our moment was over, so I started walking back in the direction I was before Liam arrived. To my surprise, he was tagging along right beside me and I assume I shot him some sort of look.
"Oh, I'm sorry,” he said, “did you want to walk alone?"
He’d slowed his walk, to where he was trailing behind me now.
"Not at all," I replied in a bashful tone, my cheeks flushing to the brightest red.
"Cool."
He hurried to walk beside me once again, and for a few seconds we walked in silence, until I noticed the crowd following about 10 feet behind us. I could hear the giggles and whispers coming from the group of girls, and it infuriated me. My pace immediately picked up to get away from the lurking crowd behind me. Liam waved to the crowd, flashing his shy smile, and it annoyed me he was paying attention to those dull girls.
"You can go join them."
The acid in my voice shocked him, and me a little. I hadn't intended it to sound that cruel. After the shock left his face, a new expression washed over it.
He wore a smug smile and teased, "Are you jealousss..."
He prolonged the ending to emphasize his teasing tone.
"Absolutely not!"
My voice cracked at the end, ruining any chance of him believing I was truly angry, but the nerve of this guy! Why was he talking to me like we've known each other longer than just the few seconds we actually have?
"Why would I be, anyway?" I muttered.
I looked past him to view the girls who still lingered not far behind us, and knew I was lying to myself if I actually believed I stood a chance at competing with their beauty. They all varied in size, some short, some tall, but they all possessed features that indeed made them pretty. One was a strawberry blonde, another a red head, and the others were brunettes. It was obvious the blonde was the leader of them all. She stood in front of them, while the rest of the girls shifted their gaze from us to her, and back to us as if they were waiting for her command to pounce.
His voice broke my train of thought, "You shouldn't be."
I was so deep in my thoughts, I forgot what our conversation was about, "Huh?"
I replied, growing more and more irritated by the second. He smiled his shy smile, that I was beginning to know too well, while looking down and kicked something with his sneaker before speaking again.
"You have no reason to be jealous of those girls, or any other girl for that matter."
I’m so confused! Is he hitting on me? Why would he be hitting on me? He looked up, from shuffling what ever it was with his shoe, to meet my eyes, looking as innocent and sincere as a child. Waiting for my response or reaction. I'm sure the expression I wore, didn't match what he was expecting. His innocence vanished and he stood upright, I saw in his eyes he was embarrassed and I felt bad. I wonder if he saw the confusion on my face. Why would he be embarrassed by my confusion? He should expect that I would be confused by him hitting on me-if that was even what he was doing-or maybe he saw something else. Darn my face!
"Err, I'm not quite sure what you’re getting at. I'm sure your just trying to be nice, but in case you haven't noticed, your like the only one," I muttered to him, in almost a whisper.
I half-expected him to become angry with me, state that he was just trying to be nice, then walk away from me forever, but that didn't happen. His embarrassment faded and a half smile spread.
"Yeah, I kind of noticed how everyone acts around you, what's up with that anyway?"
His head tilted to one side, and his eyes filled with mere curiosity. I hesitated for a moment, not sure if I should tell him. I partly feared that, after I told him why no one liked me or spoke to me, he would suddenly see what they all saw. Also, I didn't exactly have a real reason as to why everyone despised me. I could tell him what I figured the reasons were, but I personally didn't see how any of them could actually be reasons to not like someone.
I shrugged, and chuckled before I spoke.
"Um, I guess you could say that my entire existence bothers everybody."
I hoped my attempt at nonchalance landed, I wasn't in the mood for a pity party. I glanced up at him and immediately knew my humor didn't work one bit, his eyes were low and his lips poked outward a little. If I didn't act quickly, the pity would ooze out of him even more than it already was.
"It's no big deal ya know, it's not like this is new to me, I'm fine with being the ugly duckling, or the loaner. It doesn't bother me."
I suddenly felt uncomfortable standing still, I needed to move, or run, either one would be nice right now. The lower half of my body shied away from his direction, wanting to leave him and our conversation behind, but my upper half wouldn’t budge. My eyes were stuck to his, not wanting to ever leave their gaze. I couldn't run away from the only person I could talk to. I wouldn't.
"People are such jerks!"
His voice was full of disgust, but then changed into velvet.
"By the way, you are no ugly duckling."
He reached out and brushed the hair in front of my eyes away, and his fingers traced the side of my cheek, to my chin. This sent shivers down my spine, and left goose bumps all over my body. My face burned hot from blushing and I immediately looked down to hide it, even though I'm sure he saw. He chuckled and began to walk forward, and I followed without a second thought. I could see my house and I felt a new dread, not the normal dread I felt when I got home, but I didn't want this to end. I wanted to walk and talk with Liam forever. How strange am I? To want to talk to a total stranger? But in my defense, he didn't feel like a stranger. He felt right.
"You didn't have to walk me all the way home."
We were about 2 houses down from mine, so I figured we should start saying our goodbyes.
He stopped walking and looked at me with surprise, "You live on this street too?" His voice was full of excitement, and I filled with excitement when I realized what he was saying.
"Yeah! I live right there," I exclaimed, as I pointed to my house, "Where do you live?"
I began looking around, trying to find a house worthy, but frowned when I couldn't find one.
"Right there."
He pointed to a shabby house, to the right of mine.
"No way! You live right next to me?"
"Looks like we're neighbor buddies."
He smiled his brilliant smile once again, and I was glad I would be seeing it often.


Chapter Three

I dreamt of Liam last night. My mind stored a perfect mental picture, that captured his very essence. I wouldn't have known I was dreaming, had my alarm clock not gone off and nearly given me a heart attack. I didn’t really mind waking up, because I actually looked forward to going to school. Talk about weird. After grabbing my diary from the bedside drawer, I slumped down onto my bed, and turned to the next blank page.
Dear Diary,
Two words-Liam Wright! He is the most beautiful person I’ve ever met, and I feel so at ease when I'm with him. The weirdest part, he actually talks to me, and he isn't just talking to me out of courtesy. I think he’s genuinely interested. Part of me wants to take a leap, but the other part is reluctant to. I'm so afraid to let him in. What if he hurts me? I couldn't stand to be a loaner with a broken heart too. But what if he doesn't? I feel that he and I could be great together. What I wouldn't give to be in his arms. For him to caress his warm, fingertips down my cheek like he had yesterday. If he weren't interested in me, why would he go out of his way to catch up to me yesterday? Sure we live right next to each other, but we hadn't figured that out until we were both on this street. Which makes me wonder how he knew where to look for me...He must’ve asked someone! I'm sure he did. Sure our town is small, but there are other streets and unless he had guidance, he would’ve never caught me on the way to my house like he had. He really does like me! It all makes sense now; Him catching up to me, how he looked into my eyes like they were jewels, how he said I should be jealous of no one, how he touched me. I've got to talk to him!
I actually put effort into my appearance today. I brushed my teeth and washed my face twice, just to be sure everything was clean. I rolled my mascara on, and after I was done with my face, I went to my closet to find something 'pretty' to wear. It was hard trying to find something that wasn't black. It was my favorite color, so I settled for a black shirt that complimented my figure. Now for pants. I only possessed jeans, so not wearing a pair was impossible. I grabbed my lightest pair of jeans, which were light blue denim, and put them on. The pants had holes in the knees, but only because they were manufactured that way. I owned holey jeans, but they weren’t as appealing as these. I walked to my bathroom to see how silly I looked, when I was surprised to see that I didn't look silly at all. I looked, nice. Hopefully, nice was good enough for Liam. I brushed my hair longer than usual, only because I wasn't sure what to do with it. I’d worn it the same way my entire high school career, so changing it up a bit wasn't the easiest thing. I decided I’d just curl the tips of my hair in-ward. So, I went into my parents bathroom; who were already at work; to retrieve my moms curling iron.
It took a while to curl all of the ends, partly because I had really long hair, but mostly because I’d never done it before. I didn't bother curling the hair in front of my eyes. That hair was there for a reason. It served as my protector, and I wasn't going to change that anytime soon. While looking for a pair of shoes, I noticed I only had sneakers. Hadn't realized there was no variety to my wardrobe. Memo to self: call cousin Lana for some better clothes. She’s so lucky to live in New York, City. I get all of my clothes from her, sort of hand-me-downs but not really because she hardly wears any of them. I would never shop at our town's clothing store. It's full of overalls and boots, and that’s so not me. My cousin is pretty fashion forward now, so I should get some cool clothes when I ask her to send me some. After I looked at the clock, I realized I was running later than normal. So, I grabbed some socks and my converse, threw them on and skipped to the front door.
I locked the door, twirled around, then froze.
"In a hurry, Allison?"
"David."
"Oh, honey, I hate it when you call me that."
"Sorry, Dad."
My heart was beating at an un-natural rate, while my mind felt like it was moving in slow motion. What was he doing home so early? He should be at work right now.
"Um, shouldn't you be at work Davi...Dad?"
Although I was very uncomfortable calling him Dad, I wanted to sound at ease, joking even. I didn't want to upset him.
"Well, technically I am. I just wanted to stop by to get something to eat, is that okay with you?"
His tone was meant to be joking too, but it came out wrong. Too rigid.
"Sure it's okay with me," I laughed nervously, "I was on my way out anyway."
I slid to the right to go around him, but he reached his arm out to block my escape.
His arm rested on the porch, "Where ya off to, honey?"
His smile didn't reach his eyes, which gave away it’s authenticity.
"I have school today Dad, and I don't want to be late..."
I glanced at his arm and waited for it to drop, and it did.
"Well, you should get going then."
He walked up to the front door, unlocked it, then stepped inside before saying, "Love ya." He didn't wait for me to respond before slamming the door shut. I was glad he didn't wait. It saved me the trouble of having to lie to him, as he’d lied to me. How could he say he loved me when he did terrible things to my mom? That wasn't love.
"Hey Ally!"
Someone called my name, so I turned to see who it was. Liam was calling me, from his porch. Wait, did he just call me 'Ally?' When I looked his way, he smiled and started jogging towards me. I realized I was still in front of my house, and I feared David would come back outside, so I sped walked to meet him. We were right in front of each other now, and I raised my brows.
"Is that my new nick name?" I asked, teasingly.
"Oh, yeah, ya like it?" He asked, with hopeful eyes.
"I do. It's very, original."
We both laughed, and then he began to skim me up and down with his eyes.
"What?"
His expression made me self-conscious. I knew I shouldn't have tried so hard to look nice this morning. He must think I look ridiculous. He turned to stand beside me, then wrapped his left arm around my shoulders.
"You look beautiful," he whispered into my ear, and his warm breath made the hairs on the back of my neck stand.
"Really? You think I look beautiful?" I never expected him to use the word 'beautiful.' I was hoping for 'nice' but I wasn't even expecting that.
He chuckled but then frowned, "Now that I think about it..."
His voice trailed off, while he focused on what he was thinking about.
"Yeah, you should rephrase that, because if you think I look beautiful, your insan..."
He interrupted me, "I don't think you look beautiful," he paused and looked into my eyes, "I think you are beautiful."
I really didn't expect that. My entire body felt like mush. Every time he said something like that, I fell harder and harder for him. All I could do was turn red, and smile while looking into his jewel-like eyes. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder again, and we started walking in the direction to get to school. We weren't the only ones walking to school, another perk of living in a small town. You’re hardly ever alone when you want to be, and I wanted nothing more than to be alone with Liam. Even though I could see people staring at us, gossiping, I pretended they weren't even there, and so did he.
"Say, how'd you know where to find me yesterday, after school?"
I already knew the answer, but I was still curious as to who exactly guided him. I looked up at him, with a sheepish grin, and waited calmly for his answer. He looked down at me and grinned too.
"Who says I asked anyone?" His grin widened.
"Well, seeing as how you picked the correct street, and caught up to me at the perfect time, I'm assuming you had help. So, who helped you?"
"Err, I just asked a guy." He shrugged after answering, not seeing what I was getting at.
"Why?"
"Why what?" His brows conveyed his confusion.
"Why would you go out of your way, just to find me?"
I ‘d lowered my voice, and my head, not wanting anyone to hear. He looked down and lifted my chin so I was looking at him.
"Haven't you figured it out by now, Ally? I like you!"
I felt my legs go numb, and then my knees gave out. Had Liam not grabbed my waist, I would’ve landed face first on the pavement.
"Ally? Are you alright?"
His voice was full of concern. When I opened my eyes, I saw him searching my face, probably to find the reason why I had fainted there. My face flushed red from embarrassment, and he sighed in relief. After I was steady on my feet, we both laughed at how I nearly smashed my face on the concrete and continued to walk.
"Maybe I shouldn't have told you I like you, I mean, look what happened!"
He barely finished his sentence before bursting into a fit of laughs. I elbowed him in the side, and he faked a broken rib.
"I'm just kidding," he said, as he held up his hands in surrender, "I'm glad that I told you. Hey, by the way, your reaction didn't exactly help me figure out if you like me too..."
His body tensed up as if he were awaiting a mighty blow, so I laid my hand on his chest to put him at ease.
"Of course I like you, Liam."
His body eased up, and we entered the school building.


Chapter Four

This is so insane! Just yesterday, I felt so alone, and now today, I couldn't feel more alive. It's like I can see better. The haze that once surrounded my eyes, is no longer there. Liam makes me feel so strange, but it's a good strange. I never want to be without this strange. I never want to be without him. Liam and I made it through the day quite easily, considering we had every class together. First period, Chemistry, was a cinch. We had to identify the phases of Mitosis, Liam and I finished first, and all of our answers were correct. The rest of the class struggled, so our teacher Mr. Clay walked around the class to help everyone individually. Liam and I seized that opportunity to pass a note back and forth:
U r pretty smart, 4 a girl jk
I noticed his slang words, and it was kind of hard to read, but I didn't mind.
Well thank you, you’re not too bad yourself, for a boy :)
How bout yo other classes? How u do in those?
Not to brag, but I'm pretty smart lol like Albert Einstein smart
Cool, me 2 lol
lol
Can I ask u a ?
Sure...
Does it bother u, 2 be seen with me?
What makes you say that?
I kinda noticed how we rushed 2 get into class, u were tuggin' on my arm so hard, I've got a bruise lol
I looked out of the corner of my eyes to the seat directly beside me, where he sat. He moaned and rubbed his arm like it was sore, then grinned, and I rolled my eyes.
Sorry about your arm, guess I don't know my own strength :) But it doesn't bother me at all to be seen with you, if anything, it should be vice versa
Okay, cool. Wait, wat do u mean vice versa?
He looked upset and I wondered if I should just change the subject all together, but I decided to go with it .
I mean, look at you Liam. Look at me, we are like, total opposites! You’re gorgeous, girls go into a frenzy if you so much as look their direction. I'm not beautiful, and guys run away if I happen to be in the same room as them.
I tossed the note at him, and laid my face down into my desk.
Ally, how could you say that you’re not beautiful when I see nothing but beauty? Your eyes are a mixture between brown and green, it's like they change in sync with your mood. Your hair is the darkest black, like charcoal, and it shines in even dull light, and your skin is so soft, so smooth. Your fair skin compliments every feature you have, enhancing it. Your smile, god your smile, it's warming. You could literally melt snowmen with your smile alone :)
He slid the note underneath my right arm, since I still laid face down on my desk, and after reading his words, I couldn't stop the tears from escaping my tightly shut eyes. I'm such a baby these days, but can you blame me? No one, and I mean no one, ever told me I was beautiful. He reached his hand out to wrap it into mine and I smiled, despite my tears. I raised my head, and he wiped the tears from my cheeks. The bell sounded, but we didn't notice, time seemed to stand still when we looked at each other. Had it not been for Mr. Clay's abrupt "coughing" that startled us, we would’ve stayed there all day. After rolling my eyes at Mr. Clay for his 'subtle' attempt to get us out of his class, Liam and I walked into the hall hand-in-hand, and I took a deep breath. The hallway was full of whispers, gasps, and low laughter.
As we entered the crowd, everyone moved out of our way. I was used to this reaction, but I wasn't sure if Liam was. I didn't really want to see his expression, in case it were bad but I needed to see it. So, I forced myself to look at him and his expression shocked me. His face was smooth, aside from his eyes. They wrinkled around the edges, and I wondered why. I looked at the rest of his face and noticed a big smile spread across it. He was smiling? He looked down at me, as if he could decipher between my stare and everyone else’s, and his smile increased. He squeezed my hand before he let it drop to my side, then he wrapped his warm arm around my waist. He still looked at me, as we continued to walk, and I couldn't help but look at him. His smile held reassurance, and I felt completely relaxed. My shoulders eased and I let out a huge breath. I guess I’d been holding my breath since we left Mr. Clay's class. He chuckled, and I realized we were no longer walking. I hadn't been paying attention to where we were walking, and I didn't think he’d been either, but here we were, in front of our lockers. He already had his locker open, grabbing books from his backpack to place them into the locker. He’d handled that so well. Everyone was talking about him, probably saying what an idiot he was for hanging out with me, but it hadn't phased him at all. He just smiled. Gosh, he was amazing.
"Ally, what's your combo?"
He was standing in front of my locker now, looking at me, with his hand on the lock to my locker.
"Oh sorry, it's 07-29-93. My birthday."
"Ooo, now I know your combination," he teased, “and your birthday!"
He grinned a mischievous grin, and stepped aside to allow me to grab my books.
"Yeah, so you better not forget it," I teased, stepping forward.
"Oh, I wont!"
He leaned against the lockers, and looked up as though he were deep in thought.
"Say, you must be Liam, right?" A voice, of whom I didn't recognize, boomed to the right of me.
"Err, yeah, I'm Liam Wright."
Liam's voice was calm, but I could hear something else in it. I shifted my body in their direction, and immediately knew who the boy was and why he was talking to Liam.
"I'm Matt, quarterback of the football team," he fixed the collar of his gray and black letterman before speaking again, "I hear you’re quite 'familiar' with the game."
I was confused by his emphasize on the word 'familiar' but something told me I would find out what he meant soon enough. He wasn't alone either. Accompanying him were two other boys, who stood motionless a step behind him. These guys were huge! They also wore the knight themed letterman’s as Matt did, but their expressions were not as inviting. (Although the heat outside was intense, the school was always freezing, which is why the football team walked around parading their letter jackets.) They looked angry, possibly disgusted. Their arms crossed against their broad chests, and their heads tilted upward. As if they didn't already tower over everyone, they wanted to portray that they were better too. They were just a bunch of self-absorbed jocks.
"I'm hardly 'familiar'." Liam replied in a joking tone.
"No need to be modest Liam, I've seen the transcripts from your previous school," he looked at his nail as if something were there, flicked whatever it was off, and continued, "not bad."
He looked back at his team-mates, who looked bored out of their minds, then returned his gaze back to Liam.
"We would love to have you on our team. You would be..." his eyes searched, trying to find the right words, "such an asset."
His dark, blue eyes lit up with excitement. I couldn't picture him following Matt everywhere like these two, I looked at the guys behind Matt with disgust, but they didn't notice. My heart started beating rapidly when I realized that once Liam was one of them, he would no longer be my friend. He would no longer talk to me. No longer walk with me. No longer hold my hand, or caress my face. Liam's voice interrupted my thoughts.
"That is very, kind of you Matt, but..."
Matt interrupted him, mid-sentence.
"You don't have to decide now, just think about it."
Matt smiled and patted Liam on the shoulder, then turned to the two guys and nodded his head forward. It must’ve been some kind of command, because the two guys started walking away.
Matt spoke over his shoulder to Liam, "Don't take too long," his tone no longer cheerful, "we won't wait forever."
The edge in Matt’s voice, sent shivers down my spine. I watched him, and his followers, walk down the hallway. I saw everyone's eyes shift from Matt's direction, to ours, and back again. I wanted to scream at all of them, tell them to get to class and mind their own business. But, before I could build up the courage to, Liam was by my side.
He whispered his warm breath into my ear, "That was random, huh."
I could tell he was smiling, by how his words came out. I turned to him and smiled as well.
"Yeah, totally."
"We'd better get to class."
"Yeah."
He intertwined his hands into mine, and we hurried to class.
I had so many questions to ask him, but I didn't want to ask them on paper, not to mention we had no alone time through-out the rest of the day. Second period Psychology, was a drag. We did nothing but take notes, the entire hour and a half. My hand was throbbing, and that contributed to me not wanting to write him a note. So, I figured I would wait for our walk home. That would give me enough time to plan out the questions I wanted to ask, and the walk home was the perfect time to ask them. After second period, lunch was brutal. Liam went to the office to speak to admissions about changing his schedule, he wanted to have every class with me, on both days. So, I sat alone in the cafeteria. Today, I felt more eyes on me than I ever had before. The incident in the hallway earlier today only intensified the stares, and I expected that much. But, I didn't expect one thing.
"Are you and Liam together?" A high pitched voice asked.
I looked up to see who was asking me this question, when I recognized her instantly. Her strawberry, blonde hair and baby blue eyes were hard to forget. She was the same girl who’d been only a few feet behind Liam and I, just yesterday. I remember she’d been accompanied by a group of girls that day, so I looked around her to see where they were. No posse?
"Um, what do you mean?"
I knew what she meant, but I wondered if she had the guts to say it again. While I was looking at her.
"You know, are you guys 'together, together'?"
She smiled a fake smile, and acted as though she were my friend. Of course she had the guts to ask me again. She wanted Liam and, it appeared, she’d go to all lengths to get what she wanted. She was just that kind of girl.
"Well no, but..."
She didn't even wait for me to finish before jumping up and down, clapping her hands together.
"Great! Thanks Allison," and she was gone.
"Your welcome," I muttered, under my breath.
I knew I would have problems with this girl. I didn't want a war to break out between her and I over Liam, but I felt it would be inevitable. I shrugged out of my seat, and walked to my next class. The last two periods flew by. In U.S. History we watched a movie, that I didn't watch, and had to take notes, that I didn't take. Liam kept trying to talk to me, but I managed to pretend I was busy taking notes. It made me both sad and angry when I thought about him joining the football team, and the thought of him dating the strawberry blonde only intensified those feelings. I thought it better to hold my feelings in, until we were alone after school.
On the walk to Spanish II, Liam asked me if I were okay, I lied and said that I was. I wasn't sure if he believed me, but he stopped trying to talk to me and didn't ask me any other questions, so I guess he did. During class, Mrs. Esperanza passed out a long list of words that were in Spanish. We had until the end of class to translate them all into English, so that kept me busy enough that I didn't have to pretend. When the bell sounded, I handed in my paper to Mrs. Esperanza, and all but sprinted to the door. Liam wasn't as eager. He sat in his desk for a moment, while everyone filed out of the room and only then did he hand his paper in. He walked over to me slowly, or maybe it just seemed slow because I was so eager to talk to him, then he shrugged past me without saying a word. I walked beside him, and when I looked at his expression, I stopped walking. His eyes were low and his shoulders hung in. He was sad. I must’ve made him sad by not speaking to him. Although he hadn't seemed to be paying attention to me, he stopped walking too, and looked at me. When he met my eyes, he filled the gap between us in an instant and his arms were around me. I hadn't realized I was crying, until he whispered to me.
“Don’t cry Ally, I'm sorry."
My hands were balled up into fists, and by the way they were throbbing, they’d been that way for a while. I unclenched them, and wrapped my arms around him too. I can't believe I’ve cried twice in one day! What’s with me? Liam had my emotions going insane.
"No, I'm sorry, I was being such a jerk to you ever since...earlier."
I was certain he knew what I was talking about, and he did.
"I noticed." He laughed and stepped back an inch, but kept his arms around me.
"It's just, I have so many questions."
"Then ask 'em." He grasped my hand and led me outside.


Chapter Five

Liam and I walked home slowly after school, neither of us seemed to be in a rush to get there.
"Are you going to join the football team?" I shouted.
After he noticed I was no longer walking, he turned to me and smiled. I wasn't sure if that was good or bad, so it didn't put me at ease. He could see his smile hadn't served it's purpose.
"Of course not Ally. I don't want to join their stupid team," he placed his hands on my shoulders, “Is that what had you mad all day?"
I exhaled slowly. So he wasn't going to join the team, what a relief. Why couldn't he have just told me that earlier? It would’ve saved me from the anxiousness I’ve felt, ever since Matt asked him to join in the first place.
"I wasn't mad…" I looked for the right word, "I was, worried."
His hands still rested on my shoulders, I hadn't noticed how heavy they rested there until just now. I moved my shoulders, and he got the hint. He dropped his hands to his sides, then as if he were uneasy, shoved them into his front pockets.
Liam's attitude changed, hence the stance, and his voice wasn't smooth as it usually was.
"What were you worried about?"
He looked annoyed, and that confused me.
"What do you think? That, I'm not strong enough to play with them? Or is it that I'm not good enough?"
He wasn't looking at me anymore. His eyes looked past me, and he seemed so far away even though he was standing right in front of me.
"What? Liam, that’s not what I meant at all."
He snapped back from wherever his mind had taken him, and looked at me with confused eyes.
"What did you mean then?"
His head cocked to the right a little, like how a dog does when trying to understand.
"When I said that I was worried, it wasn't because I was worried about you. If you joined the football team, we wouldn't be friends anymore."
The thought made me drop my head and I fought the tears, once again, that wanted to spill out. Liam's warm hand was under my chin before I was fully under control of my water works.
"Ally, it'll take more than a stupid football team to break this up," he motioned his free hand between us, "and besides, I'm not joining their cult."
He chuckled, and I forced my tears away so I could join in.
"There's my smile."
The fact that he declared my smile as his, made my heart flutter. We began to walk again.
"I thought you said you had a lot of questions..."
"Oh yeah, I did. Well, I do. I totally forgot."
I tried to remember the list of questions I’d prepared earlier today, probably should've written them down. I doubt I’ll be able to remember them all.
"Um, while you try to remember," the sarcasm in his voice made me giggle, "we can go to this spot I know of."
I froze, my heart began to race and my breathing was uncontrollable. But, I managed to spit out two words.
"What spot?
I'm sure he heard my voice crack and, if not, he certainly noticed that I was as stiff as a statue.
"Ally, relax. It's just a place I remember from my childhood."
His words, and his smile, helped me do just that. I walked over to him, then we continued to walk. I replayed his sentence over and over again in my head to help me relax, until I actually listened to the last part of it.
"Wait, you said a place from your childhood?"
"Well, yeah. I was born here and lived here when I was a kid. My family and I moved away when I was younger, but I still remember a few things."
"Wow, that’s so cool. I would’ve never guessed you were originally from here."
"Yup. I'm a country bumpkin, just like you."
We laughed, not at his joke, but at the coincidence of both of us being born from this place. It was like a breath of fresh air. Liam was born here, so was I, and neither of us seemed to turn out 'right.' It wouldn't be long before everyone writes Liam off because of his friendship with me. Or try to intervene, into our friendship. Sure he has a reason why he turned out different, he did live elsewhere for a decade, but it didn't matter to me. It brought us together.
"Where did you live, after you moved from here?"
My questions were gradually coming back to me.
"New York."
"Awesome! How is it out there? I have a cousin who lives out there. Why did you leave?
My words ran together, blurring any chance of him distinguishing question from statement.
"Whoa, Ally take it easy. Could you repeat that for me, but slower this time."
He held a huge, contagious grin and I smiled.
"Sorry. Okay, first question. How is it in New York? I've always wanted to go visit my cousin who lives out there, but David would never allow it."
"Who's David?"
I hadn't meant to mention him. Talking with Liam was so easy, I didn't have to watch what I said. But I hated to even think about David, let alone talk about him. I wanted to tell Liam everything. I yearned to tell him all about David and what kind of man he was, if you could even call him a man. But I couldn't tell him, so I settled for explaining who he was.
"He’s… my father."
Nausea filled my stomach, and I clung to it in desperation. I didn't want to lose it in front of Liam, not over him. So, I pulled myself together and looked up at Liam. His face was concerned, a face I’d seen before, and I knew I hadn't pulled myself together fast enough.
"What was with…the pause?"
He’d picked up on my hesitation. Oh dear.
"Um, let's just say, he doesn't deserve father of the year."
I smiled, an awkward smile, hoping he’d leave it alone.
"Welcome to the club."
Liam's smile was just as awkward as mine. I guess his dad wasn’t so grand either, I felt better. Knowing he and I shared something else, only strengthened our bond. In my mind at least.
"Here we are."
Liam stopped in front of a large oak tree, shadowing a perfect sitting spot beneath it. The grass seemed greener here than grass anywhere in town and a few flowers bloomed only in the shadowy spot, giving it an even surreal feeling.
“Wow,” I whispered, under my breath, too low for him to hear.
How did I not notice this place before? A spot like this would be hard to forget, which is probably why Liam remembered it. Then again, it wasn’t exactly in plain sight. I looked around but didn’t see the street we were walking on before, only trees and brush. Where were we? We weren’t walking for more than five minutes, yet I had no idea where we’d gotten to.
“You want to leave, don’t you? This was lame.”
He started to turn and leave, but I grabbed his hand.
“Liam chill,” I laughed, “I don’t want to leave. This place is so, amazing.”
His voice was smoother now, “You think so?”
I looked into his eyes as he looked into mine, and we smiled euphorically.
“Absolutely.”
We sat underneath the large oak. The humidity in the air was overwhelming yet the grass was cool, so I ran my fingers through it as I took in the scenery. The large oak was by far the tallest tree, but there were other trees that attempted to be just as tall. They all leaned and swayed awkwardly away from the oak, casting it out. The way the other trees leaned made you focus only on the oak, on it’s thick bark, and many branches. I wondered if the oak minded that the other trees wanted to be no where near it. I bet the rest of the trees would run if they could but, considering they were rooted into the soil, that was kind of impossible. I could empathize with the oak. The way we were both out-casts. Only, the oak was beautiful and I…
“So…”
Liam’s voice got my attention, as he intended, and I looked at him. I wondered why he would interrupt the serenity, then I remembered I had a lot of questions to ask him.
“Oh, right.”
He laughed, as did I, and I gathered my thoughts once again.
“Okay um, let’s cover the basics first. How old are you?”
“Seventeen.”
“Hmm.”
So he was older than me by a year. Nice. I couldn’t help but smile at my thoughts, and he noticed.
His shy smile, spread across his lips, “What?”
“Nothing,” I giggled, “Your older than me.”
He furrowed his brows before he spoke, “Well I can’t be older than you by much, I mean, we’re both Juniors.”
“Yeah, your only older than me by a year.”
“Well that’s a relief,” he said, as he wiped his forehead with his hand and flicked imaginary sweat from it. We smiled.
“Okay, so what brought you to Farrell, Texas?”
“Well, my mom grew tired of the ‘fast life’ in New York, and since this place was the only other place she knew, she didn’t hesitate to come back.”
“So, you didn’t want to leave New York? I don’t blame you.”
I laughed and thought about how beautiful New York must be. How if I were there, I wouldn’t want to leave either.
“I didn’t want to leave but, then again, I did. It was beautiful there, so bright, and busy all hours of the day. There was always something to do. Somewhere to be. But I still wanted to leave.”
He paused, I waited for him to continue but he didn’t. I would’ve left it alone, but I was too curious to.
“Why? Why did you want to leave?”
My question was more like a plead. A whispered plead.
“My unhappiness had nothing to do with the place itself, I was unhappy with, my household.”
The way he chose his words, danced around them, intrigued me. He was answering my question, without actually answering it, and I wondered why he would do that. My mind told me to leave it alone. If he didn’t want to tell me then I shouldn’t push him to, but my heart screamed to know more. It seems lately, I’ve been listening to my heart and, following my emotions rather than my mind and probably better judgment. My heart won this time as well.
“Did that have anything to do with your father?”
Once my sentence was complete, I wished I hadn’t listened to my heart. Liam’s face held pain, his hands clenched into fists and, the pain was replaced with anger. He didn’t look at me when he spoke.
“Good guess.”
His statement, meant to be humorous, didn’t ease either of us. But, I followed his lead anyway.
“Yeah, I’m pretty intuitive.”
I laughed nervously. Think of something to change the subject, I thought to myself. I bit at my bottom lip, a nervous tick, as I racked my brain for different topics.
“No your not,” he laughed, “I’m sure my reaction to your question aided in your assumption.”
He looked back to me, finally, and the anger that once masked his face had gone.
“Yeah, it did.” I thought about each word before speaking them. “Why did you react the way you did? You looked, angry.”
“Why did you look nauseous when you were speaking about your dad?”
So he’d noticed, but just didn’t said anything. I wish he hadn’t asked me this, I could feel my stomach churning and I unwillingly grasped at it. Liam’s eyes were on me, I felt them burning my face, so I looked at him as well. His emerald eyes were full of guilt. Liam leaned towards me, this movement ended the churning in my stomach but began the frantic pounding of my heart and uneven breathing. He rested his forehead on mine. I could smell his sweet, warm breath. His hands moved to mine, still clutched to my stomach from before, and intertwined our fingers.
“I’m sorry, Ally. I was trying to show you that I don’t like talking about my father, just as you don’t. I ended up hurting you, and that was not my intention at all.”
It took a moment to control my breathing, before speaking. Liam’s face was still inches from mine and it was hard to focus on anything but his lips, and the sweet aroma of his breath.
“It’s okay, Liam. I shouldn’t have tried to force you to tell me your story, when I wasn’t exactly eager to tell you mine.”
I genuinely felt bad, but still curious. His reaction, anger, had triggered something within myself. Our reactions to questions about our fathers was odd, but we recognized each others pain now. Liam’s animosity toward his father meant something, as the nausea toward my father meant something as well. I made up my mind. I would tell Liam why the thought of David made my stomach churn, and my mouth fill with saliva.
“Ally?”
Although he whispered my name, it still made me jump. Thinking of David always left me jumpy and paranoid.
“Yeah?”
I tried to shake off the paranoia and focus on him. He released my hands and removed his forehead from mine. His body hadn’t moved an inch, but I could see his face clearly now.
“Um, I wanna to tell you why I acted the way I did, when you asked me about my father.” He whispered.


Chapter Six

“He called me every name you could think of. Nothing I did was good enough to please him.”
Liam’s hands balled into fists once again, but his face was pained instead of angry. He looked hurt, and his hurt pained me. I wanted to ease his pain, somehow, but all I could do was rest my hand on one of his still, balled fists.
“My mom was always the peace maker when he and I got into it, which was all of the time. She never let us get close enough to hit each other, that annoyed me.”
He laughed at the memory, before continuing.
“She always took my side, and that angered my dad. Even though he treated me like crap, he treated my mom like a queen. He always showed her the utmost respect. When we’d get into our arguments, my mom would get in the middle of us, set her hands on our chests, and say ‘enough.’ My dad would back off immediately, me, not so much. I heard them one night, talking about me.
My mom said, ‘Why are you so hard on him, Jim?’
My dad replied, ‘That boy is useless, Maggie. He can’t do anything right!’”
Liam continued his story, changing his voice accordingly.
“‘Oh, that is bull and you know it! He’s a very talented boy, but you’re too damn ignorant to appreciate any of it. I’m done having this conversation, ease up on him. Or else.’”
Liam’s interpretation of his mother and fathers voice ended, and only his remained.
“He did ease up on me, sort of. He just didn’t speak his mind as much. He replaced his words with expressions and grunts. That still annoyed my mom but, she allowed it, it didn’t really bother me all that much. I thought the worst was over. He wasn’t yelling at me everyday like he used to, and we barely ever fought. Until, one day after school. I was upset because my Spanish teacher had given me an F. That teacher was such a jerk. I got an F solely because of participation, which was total crap because I participated every class. I’m rambling,”
Liam looked at me and we both laughed, he was rambling, but I was engaged into his story either way.
“but overall, that F prevented me from playing football, and we had a huge game coming up. Scouts were expected to be there, and I was really amped about that. There I go again,”
He smiled, then continued.
“I walked in the house and he was standing in the living room, waiting for me. I went into the kitchen to get something to drink, and he just rushed behind me. I whirled around, ready to swing on him, out of habit. But I saw his face. He looked, crazy. He was so enraged, and I gotta admit, the look in his eyes startled me. He just stood in front of me, and we looked at each other. I looked at him with confusion, and he looked at me with what I assumed was disgust or anger, or both. We stood, looking at each other like that for a few seconds before he spoke.
‘What did you do?!’”
Liam’s voice was that of his fathers.
“‘What are you talking about?”
I was glad Liam left out the he said-then I said vocabulary. He thought it easier to change his voice, and it was easier to follow this way.
“‘You got removed from playing this Friday? What did you do, boy?’
I hated it when he called me boy, so my anger escalated effortlessly after that.
‘You don’t know what you’re talking about! I didn’t do anything!’
I moved to the side to go around him, but he mocked my movements, and I glowered at him.
‘Oh, I don’t know what I’m talking about? I think I do, ya lousy sack of shit! You’ve done it this time!’
He charged me so quickly, I didn’t even know what happened. His hands were around my throat, and before I knew it, I was gasping for air. I tried to fight him off, but his grasp was unbreakable. I hit him a couple of times, one in the nose and another in the neck, but his hold didn’t budge. I felt my body go limp and knew I’d succumb to the unconsciousness that awaited me any second, at least, I hoped for unconsciousness.”
It was then I realized, Liam’s father really tried to kill him! What kind of person, no, what kind of father would try to kill their child?
“All I was able to do was look at him, watch him choke me to death. His eyes never left mine. He saw the plead in them, and I saw nothing in his. Everything started to go blurry, and my eyelids got heavier and heavier. I thought I heard a slamming sound, but I wasn’t sure about anything at that moment. Now that I think about it, it was a slamming sound I’d heard, the front door. My mom appeared a few seconds later. I didn’t see her completely, considering the situation that was taking place.”
Liam laughed, but we both knew the situation was all but funny. His laughter ended, and the pain returned, stronger this time.
“I heard her voice though. She made a shrieking noise. It was like a mixture of shock, hurt, and anger, and it was so loud. I heard her yell ’No!’ and then I heard a sort of scrambling sound, a drawer open, a moan, then I fell to the floor. When I woke up, I was in the hospital.”
Liam rose his head, and our eyes met. Tears flowed from my eyes, and I didn’t try to stop them or hide them. I couldn’t remember when I started to weep but, I’m pretty sure it was after I realized Liam’s father was choking him to kill him, and not frighten him. Not that choking someone is the appropriate way to scare them, but what would I know about father and son relationships? I wondered what the second to last sentence of his story meant. What was the scrambling sound Liam heard? Who moaned? And what made Liam’s father loosen his grasp, that Liam would fall?
“When I woke up, my mom was by my side. She cried and blamed herself, but I assured her it wasn’t her fault that my dad was insane. I told her that once I got out of the hospital, he was going to pay for what he did. She assured me that wouldn’t be necessary, and told me why. She said she stabbed him in the back, when she saw what he was doing to me. The noises I heard, after she came in, made sense now. The scrambling, was her getting to the knife drawer. The moan from my dad when she stabbed him, and I fell because of it all.”
His mother killed his father! Good for her. I know that sounds bad, but I can’t help but feel happy for her, for seeking revenge on that guy. Especially since he nearly killed her son. Even though he was Liam’s father, and her husband.
“I was so grateful for what she did, and proud too.”
A chuckle bellowed from his chest.
“What did the police say?”
I wondered if the police would have any objection to the evidence. Even though it was obvious Liam’s father was in the wrong, and his mother did what she did to save Liam’s life.
“They said they’d do their best to catch him, and for us not to worry.”
Huh?
“Wait, what? Catch him? I thought your mom killed your dad…”
“What? No! She didn’t kill him, she just stabbed him. She said he took off, knife still in his back and everything. He didn’t even try to pull it out, or hurt her for stabbing him, he just fled. I don’t even want to think about what would’ve happened to my mom if he decided to turn on her. I would’ve been no help at all.”
“Liam, I’m so sorry, about everything.”
“Thanks. I’m glad I told someone, and I‘m even more glad it was you I told.”
He breathed, a sigh of relief, and I envied how content he was after revealing such a story. I could only hope to be as relieved, once I told him mine. Would he hold my hand, as I had held his? Would he feel helpless to comfort me, as I’d been?
“Thank you, for telling me your story.”
I couldn’t put into words, how grateful I truly was.
“Now you know my sob story.”
Liam, attempting to lighten the mood, smiled. I smiled back, instantly lightened. But not fully.
“Did you guys really move because your mom got tired of New York?”
Liam shook his head, side to side, with a smile still on his face. I figure he’d lied to me earlier about his mother growing tired of New York, and the fast paced lifestyle. He hadn’t yet told me his story, so his fib didn’t bother me because I knew the real reason now. They left New York, to get as far away from Liam’s dad as possible. Which is reasonable. It seemed Liam and I grew closer everyday. The more we shared the closer we got, and we would only get closer over time.
“So, what’s your favorite color?”
He was either trying really hard to lighten the mood, or he just really wanted to get to know me better. Either way, I caved.
“Black.”
“Black? Technically, black isn’t even a color. It’s not part of the primary colors, so…”
We both laughed.
“Just kidding. You can like black all you want, my dear.”
“Thank you! Well, since you have so much to say about my favorite color, what’s yours?”
“Green.”
Figures. Green, the color of his eyes. I’m sure green makes them even more piercing and gorgeous.
“So, you wear black because it’s your favorite color and not because you want to stand out?”
Liam smirked, and I knew he was being sarcastic.
“I wear black because it’s my favorite color. It wouldn’t really matter what color I wore, I’d still stand out. I could be invisible, and still stand out.”
My humor tickled Liam, he laughed until tears ran from his eyes. After he controlled himself, he spoke.
“I’m sorry for laughing, Ally. It’s just, you’re so right. It wouldn’t matter what you wore, you’d still be an outcast. I just don’t get why. Your different, so what? I like that your different. It made you stand out to me, it made me want to get to know you.”
Liam, laughing to himself, turned red.
“What?”
I wanted to know why the color change.
Liam shook his head side to side, and looked down.
“Liam, what is it?”
I figured if I kept pushing him to tell me, he would. I was right.
“When I first saw you, I couldn’t get over how much you stood out. Not only because you had on all black, but there was just something about you. The fact that you chose to wear black, instead of wearing what everyone else was. You could’ve easily tried to fit it, be something or someone you weren’t, but you didn’t. You stood alone, and I really like that about you. You didn’t know this, but I liked you before I even spoke to you.”
Liam chuckled, a sheepish laugh, and I did too. I couldn’t believe he liked me before he even spoke to me. I couldn’t believe he got all of that from just looking at me. I really couldn’t believe he got me entirely, without even speaking to me at all.
“When I did finally speak to you, and look at you, it was like icing on the cake. You were so, interesting. Not to mention, beautiful.”
Liam pressed closer to me, my breathing went rapid. He lifted his hand and brushed the hair in front of my eyes, to the side. As he had before, he trailed his fingers along the side of my cheek. Before he could get to my chin, and drop his hand, I held his hand to my cheek. I wanted this moment to last longer than it actually would. My eyes had instantly shut when he began to trail his soft fingers against my cheek. I opened them, and saw that Liam was enjoying the moment as well. With my hair to the side still, I could see him perfectly. His eyes were on mine, as mine were on his. His eyes seemed to be moving closer to mine. It was then I realized, he was leaning. He was doing THE lean! The one people do right before they kiss. I panicked. I’ve never kissed anyone, I don’t even know how. I wanted to run away. I didn’t want him to kiss me, and then realize how terrible it was to kiss me. But I didn’t want to leave. I wanted to kiss him. So, I pulled it together and leaned in his direction.


Chapter Seven

Our lips met, and his lips were softer than I could’ve ever imagined them to be. They pressed against mine, so softly. I guess kissing wasn’t hard at all. I was nervous for this moment, for no reason. Our lips parted when Liam pulled back, to look at me. His eyes, filled with excitement, were frozen on mine.
“Wow,” was all he said, before his lips were back on mine.
They pressed against mine, soft still, but more urgent. It felt like he couldn’t get enough, and his eagerness excited me. The kiss before, nothing like this one. His lips opened mine, and guided them in a rhythmic motion. Warmth exuded from his parted lips, his sweet breath enticed me for more. His hands were on my cheeks, caressing them, and my hands were on his. I came in and out of the moment. One second, I was screaming with joy on the inside, and the next, I couldn’t remember my name. I felt myself aging. That either meant this kiss was extremely long, or I really was aging. I’m sure this kiss is just long but, I do feel older. A first kiss changes a girl. Liam’s lips slowed, then, our kiss was over. Our breathing was uneven and, for once, I didn’t try to even it. He hadn’t moved away from me, so I guess that was a good sign. Maybe my kissing skills weren’t as bad as I’d thought them to be. His hands rested on the sides of my face, and he hadn’t yet opened his eyes. But his hands traced my face, as though he were blind and my face were his brail. His emerald eyes opened, about as slow as the smile spread across his lips.
“I can’t believe I just did that.”
His words caught me off guard. Or did they? I knew all along there was no way he could enjoy a kiss from me, and although he’d appeared to enjoy it, his statement proved he definitely hadn’t. His smile still held, on his soft, moist lips. I was too hurt to say anything, but I could feel the pain flush to my face, and he noticed.
“What’s wrong All…”
Before he could finish, I popped to my feet in an attempt to rush home. I felt sick, like I was going to puke any second, and I held my hand over my mouth to hold it in. Liam jumped to his feet, and grasped my free hand.
“Let go!” I shouted, and he did as I’d asked.
“What did I do, Ally?”
His eyes pleaded to mine. I looked down to avoid their intensity, but I remembered I was mad, so I looked at him again.
“What did you do? Are you serious! Hmm, let me see,” sarcasm was the only way I could talk, at the moment, without bursting into tears, “all you did was marvel at the fact that you actually kissed me. Sorry if my kissing repulses you, and wasn’t up to par!”
I brushed passed him. I felt the tears welling up in my eyes, and I wasn’t going to be able to hold them in much longer.
“Ally!”
Liam ran over to me, and stood in front of me. I tried to go around him, but he didn’t let me by.
“Just, move.”
I hit his chest as hard as I could, but holding my tears in left me weak.
“Ally, would you just listen to me? I didn’t marvel in a bad way! All I meant was, I didn’t think I had the guts to kiss you. I was so nervous to because, I like you, a lot.”
I shot my head up, the tears left as quickly as they came. Embarrassment replaced them.
“Oh my gosh,” I held my face in my hands, “I feel so stupid.”
I couldn’t help but laugh, and Liam joined in.
“You are insane to think that I didn’t enjoy our kiss. It was perfect.”
Liam smiled down at me, his contagious smile. I smiled back.
“Ya think so?”
I couldn’t believe he called our kiss perfect! It felt like I were flying on a cloud. I didn’t think it possible, for me, to be this happy. The word was so foreign.
“For sure. It was the best kiss I ever had.”
I wanted to get a feel for how many girls he’d kissed.
“The best? Really? Out of all the girls you’ve kissed?”
Jake smirked. I was definitely busted.
“You’re a devious one, aren’t you?”
I laughed, so hard I cried. I’ve never been called devious, before.
“Just a little bit,” I said, after my laughter calmed.
He laughed, at how his statement tickled me.
“But honestly, I haven’t kissed that many girls.”
I looked into his eyes, to find his lie hidden there. I found nothing, so I dropped my investigation. I shrugged, and thought about what our kiss meant. It meant so many things. It meant someone actually cared for me, truly cared. I was no longer alone. It meant I had something to look forward to, and I’ve never had that before. I had a reason to be happy, and that made me happy.
“So, how many guys have you kissed?”
“Oh, not that many.”
If I told him the truth, he’d probably think I was pathetic. Then again, I didn’t want him to think I just went around kissing everybody. Like he’d really think that.
“Just one.”
“Just one other guy?”
He wasn’t getting it, at all.
“No, just you.”
I looked down, but looked back up at him to catch his expression.
“I, was your first kiss?”
His tone, wasn’t what I expected. He seemed blown away, almost shocked.
“Well, yeah.”
I couldn’t help but frown, but I managed to cover it with an awkward smile.
“Wow.”
Liam moved closer to me, and took both my hands into his.
“It’s pathetic isn’t it?”
Of course I was pathetic. Who has their first kiss, when they’re juniors in high school? My first kiss should’ve been when I was 7, playing at a park in the dirt, with a kid I hardly knew. Not with this guy, of whom I was infatuated with.
His burrows frowned at my question.
“Not at all, Ally. It’s surprising, not pathetic.”
He tilted his head downward, and stared into my eyes.
“Who could resist these beautiful lips?” Liam caressed my lips, before answering his own question, “I have not the slightest idea.”
Out of habit, I lowered my head to hide my embarrassment, but he lifted it back up. His warm lips were on mine, and everything else seemed so insignificant. I felt myself becoming more and more addicted to him by the second, and I could do nothing about it. As if I wanted to. Although my eyes were closed, and everything was already black, it seemed darker. When I opened my eyes, they hadn’t played a trick on me. It was darker. The sun was so low in the horizon, there was hardly any light. That sight made me freeze. Liam’s eyes opened.
“Ally? What’s wrong?”
The urgency to get home overwhelmed me, and I was scattering to get there as soon as possible.
“I need to go home.”
I looked at the trees around me, searching for an exit.
“Why? Did I do something wrong?”
His question ceased my urgency for a moment. I turned to him, calm, but still frantic to get home.
“No, you didn’t do anything wrong Liam. I just really have to get home. I wasn’t keeping track of the time.”
Liam looked at the watch on his wrist. I hadn’t noticed it before now.
“Ally, it’s only 6.”
The confusion on his face irritated me.
“Ugh, I just have to leave, alright!”
I stormed off, even though I had no idea where I was going. I should’ve paid more attention when he led me in here. Then again, I thought I knew every inch of this small town. I heard Liam chasing after me. When he reached my side, he grasped my hand into his.
“If you really wanna get home, follow me ‘cuz your going the wrong way.”
While laughing at me, he turned me around and guided me in the right direction.
“Thanks,” I replied, mutely.
“No problem.”
Liam’s voice was chipper, even though I was being rude, and I felt bad.
“I’m sorry that I snapped at you, and that I’m being all weird about having to get home. I totally ruined our time together.”
I really had ruined our moment. It was the best time I’ve ever had, with anyone.
“You didn’t snap at me, at least I didn’t think you did,” his smile shone through the darkness, “and if you have to get home, I totally get it. Your parents are smart to have a curfew for you. It means they care.”
His statement would’ve been correct for anyone else’s family, but not mine. My curfew had nothing to do with my parents love for me. It was more like David’s way to control my every move. I could see both our houses now, and I definitely didn’t want Liam to walk me to my front door. My palms started to sweat from nervousness. When we got close to Liam’s sidewalk, I turned to him.
“Thanks Liam, I had a great time!”
I kissed him softly on his lips, stared into his beautiful eyes, and ran to my house. When I reached my porch, I breathed in a gust of air, prepared myself for the argument that was sure to occur, and twisted the doorknob.


Chapter Eight

The door opened, and my mother stood in front of me. There was fear in her eyes, and tears streamed down her cheeks. I wanted to ask her why she was crying, but she pulled me inside before I was able. With the living room lighting, I could see her face more clearly, and what I saw horrified me. Her hair was matted around her small face, wet from tears that streamed down continuously. Prints of red surrounded her face, and as I skimmed over her frail body, red covered it also.
“See, I told you she’d be home.”
My mothers voice was nervous, and shaky. Her eyes were focused on something, and my eyes darted to where hers were fixated. David. He stood several feet away from where we stood, his eyes on us, smoldering. His hands were in fists, at his sides.
“Where ya been?” He boomed.
His question frightened my mother and I, causing us both to jump. She hadn’t released my hand since she pulled me inside, and her hand grasped tightly around mine in reflex to David’s shouting. Before I could even think about answering his question, I realized this was all of my fault. David hit my mother because I wasn’t home, like I should’ve been. I felt a huge wave of guilt wash over me, and I knew the nausea wasn’t far behind. I can’t believe he would hit her, for something so small as me being late to get home. Well, then again, maybe I could believe it.
This wouldn’t be the first time he put his hands on my mother. I’m not sure what age I was when their relationship went downhill. For some reason, my mind tends to protect itself from traumatic experiences. All I know is, it started with their constant arguments. Over nothing really. It turned into him shoving her and pushing her around. I witnessed him doing this, but my mom brushed it off. Even though she played it down to be nothing, we both knew it wasn’t nothing. It progressed quickly after that, to him flatly slapping her across the face. I didn’t actually see him slap her, but I definitely heard it. When I asked my mom what had happened, she made up an excuse. She told me she ran into the wall, but I knew the truth. It was hard not to know, seeing as how, his entire hand was imprinted onto her left cheek. I wonder if she would try to play this situation down.
“You hear me, girl?”
David’s anger escalated. He started to close the distance between us and, by the look in his eyes, I knew him being any closer to us could end terribly. So, I thought quickly.
“I hear you, Dad.”
I was sure he’d enjoy me calling him that and, from the way he stopped in his tracks, he had. I knew this distraction wouldn’t hold for long.
“I’m so sorry, Dad. I know that I’m super late and, I really am sorry.”
I decided that sucking up to him would be the best move, regardless of how painful it was. Apologizing to him was harder than eating nails, not that I would know. But I’m sure eating nails would be extremely, painful.
“What were you doing out at this time of night?”
Although his voice was calmer, and his fists were unclasped, I wasn’t out of the woods just yet. His arms were folded, tightly over his chest, and his expression was that of annoyance.
“Well, Lana’s birthday is coming up, and I wanted to get her something from Ann’s clothing store. I couldn’t really find anything she would like, so I went to some other stores. Before I knew it, hours had passed, and it was nearly dark. Again, I’m sorry.”
Can you blame me for lying? Oh yeah Dad, I was just out with a guy that I’m crazy about, we made out, and spent the entire time, while we weren’t kissing of course, alone in a hidden place that no one knows about. Had I told him the truth, he would’ve strangled me. Literally. My mothers hand released mine, and she wrapped her arm around my shoulders gently.
“See honey, I knew she had an explanation. And quite a good one, by the way.”
She squeezed my shoulders tightly, and a meek, forced smile spread across her lips. I was both grateful, and annoyed by her attempts to ease the situation. It annoyed me how weak she was. Why she allowed David to do this to her, I would never understand. Nor did I want to. Regardless of whether she allows it or not, it happens, and she would be better off without him. If she only knew that. I always feel obligated to inform her of how better it would be for her to be alone, or at least with someone else, someone decent.
“Oh, well then. I guess time just got away from you, ‘cuz you know better than to be out, especially without my permission.”
I could see David’s anger fizzle out, and I knew the storm had passed. I exhaled slowly, and my mothers arm dropped from my shoulders, with relief.
“So, who’s hungry?”
My mothers chipper voice was an octave too high, and I frowned at her eagerness to forget all that just happened. She all but sprinted to the kitchen to prepare David’s plate of food, just the way he liked it. Meat, mashed potatoes with tons of gravy, green beans soaked in butter, and rolls of sweet bread. The sodium they consumed in one meal could kill an elephant! I never eat what they eat, and I get loads of crap from them for it. I decided to just make a plate, with everything on it. Even though I could never eat all of it, I’d at least pick at it to avoid any further argument. David sat to the far left of the dining room wooden table, while my mother sat opposite of him. I sat in the middle of the table, as usual. From the outside looking in, it would appear, we were a happy little family. Actually, to everyone here in town, we did appear to be this happy family, and that couldn‘t be further from the truth. Sitting here next to them, pretending, it sickened me.
My face construed to match my emotions, and my mother noticed.
“What’s wrong, honey? Is it the food?”
“Oh no, mom. The food is, great.”
Although I paused a little too long for my statement to be true, my mother left it alone. David finished his meal faster than usual, and excused himself to his room. My mother, although she wasn’t quite finished eating, took her and David’s plate into the kitchen and began to do the dishes. Figures. My mother never could be in the same room as me, alone. I guess it makes her uncomfortable, or something like that. Either way, we don’t have a good mother-daughter relationship. I’m not sure if I’m the problem, or if she is. While my mother finished the dishes, I picked at my plate, and forced a piece of over-seasoned meat down my throat. The seasoning was like a shock for my taste buds, and I grabbed for my glass of water to ease the burn. The coolness of the water overpowered the taste, and I breathed a sigh of relief. I was definitely done.
And apparently, so was my mom. I no longer heard clanging dishes, and the kitchen was dark. All signs said, the coast was clear. I grabbed my plate, which appeared hardly touched, dumped it into the garbage disposal, and let it shred the food to bits. The sound was music to my ears. After rinsing my plate, and setting it in the dish washer with the rest of the dishes, I headed to my room. I always feel so at ease there. It was my sanctuary. I slipped my shoes off, grabbed my pajamas, and skipped into my bathroom to take a nice, hot shower. The heat from the steam was almost unbearable, just the way I liked it. A long, steamy shower can cure almost the worst of days. It was as if all of my problems and worries trickled away, along with the drops of water that rolled down my back. After getting dressed, and having groomed myself, I stuffed my headphones into my ears. Blue October was one of my favorite bands, and their sound filled the headphones, vibrating my eardrums with Justin’s amazing voice. Perfect inspiration for writing. Not that I needed inspiration to write in my diary. I wrote in it every morning, and every night. I wrote in the morning, so I could sort of set out what I planned to do that day or at least how I wanted the day to go, and I wrote at night to recap the entire day. Pretty sure today would be, by far, the best recapping ever.


Chapter Nine

He and I ran, holding hands along side each other. Our smiles beamed, while rays of light hit our skin. I could feel how happy I was. It was overwhelming how much I loved him. Although I couldn’t take my eyes off of him, I could feel that something was definitely different about us. We seemed closer. Almost, one. I caught glimpse of what looked like a bow-tie and, instantly, my eyes shot to the rest of him. Was he wearing a, tuxedo? I looked over his attire, and he was stunning. He was indeed wearing a tuxedo, and I doubt anyone could look any better in one. It was black and white, penguin like but, very flattering. I wonder what occasion would require him to look so snazzy. I realized we were still running, and I wondered why that was as well. Our run, was more of a jog. Everything felt like it was going in slow motion, and it was weirdin’ me out. His left hand was still in my right hand so I gripped it harder, in case I fell from all of the jogging.
Something in his hand, rubbed against mine. I looked down at it, and gold flickered back at me. Liam didn’t wear rings, at least I’ve never seen him wear any, so I was stricken with confusion at the golden band on his finger. Although everything else was moving in slow motion, my mind wasn’t. The pieces came together, and fit like a puzzle. The sudden feeling of closeness, his tux, the ring, they could only lead to one thing. I forced my eyes away from his hand, and turned them onto myself. A sea of white was what I saw. The beaded, white cloth flowed around me, and I was amazed at how beautiful a dress it was. It was the wedding dress of my dreams and, apparently, today was my wedding. My eyes shot open, from the best dream ever. It was also pretty strange. I mean, I’ve only known Liam for a few days, and here I am dreaming about us being married. Talk about random. What time is it? 11:45am. What to do today? I didn’t really feel like writing, so I kept my diary entry short and simple.
Dear Diary:
I had a weird dream, it kinda freaked me out. Of course it was about Liam. Don’t get me wrong, the thought of me being with Liam forever was very nice, but the dream was odd. Sort of far fetched if ya ask me. Even if Liam would have me as his bride, it wouldn’t be any time soon. So, I’m just gonna enjoy the time we share together now, and not worry about anything else. Well, I’m gonna try to not worry about anything else. 
I hopped out of bed, and made my way over to my window. I wanted to see the sun for some reason. Probably because of my dream, but I’m not sure. I pulled my curtains back and sat on the window seal. Outside, it looked nice. Peaceful. I opened the window to feel the air, and the heat surrounded me instantly. The heat wasn’t as unbearable as yesterday, but I wished it were cooler. Any kind of cool breeze would’ve been nice. But here in Texas, when it’s hot, it’s hot. I prefer the winter. Cuz here in Texas, when it’s cold, it’s cold. It’s like, Texas is extreme, in every aspect. The food, the weather, the people, you just can’t catch a break. It’s so frustrating! But, I pretended to enjoy the sun. Raising my head towards it, I soaked in the rays of heat that seemed to strike harder and harder each second.
“Ally!”
I looked in the direction that the voice came from, and it came from the window next door. Liam’s house. Sure enough, Liam was in his window seal as well. His smile was brilliant, even from a distance, and his arm waved side to side enthusiastically. I waved mine back.
“Hey, Liam!”
Every time I saw him, I wasn’t in control of how much I smiled. Something about him, made me feel like a different person. A more attractive, joyful person was what I became, and I enjoyed that.
“What ya up to?”
He asked.
“Nothin much, just woke up.”
“Me too. So, did you have anything planned for today?”
“No, not really. On Saturdays, I usually just watch crummy movies.”
I didn’t really feel like doing what I usually did on Saturdays, probably because I’d much rather be doing something with Liam.
“Ya think you could press the pause button on those crummy movies…to spend the day with me?
Even from my window, I could hear the anxiousness in his voice. As if I wouldn’t want to spend the day with him. It would be insane not to.
“Definitely.”
We both smiled for a short moment, and gave each other thirty minutes to be ready and meet at his porch. Even though David and my mom were both at work, I wasn’t comfortable with Liam being too close to my front door. He’d probably want a tour or something, and David could pop up at the house any second. Not a good look to have a boy in the house, let alone when no one was home. Unlike most girls, I only take a few minutes to get ready. Mostly, because I don’t work as hard on my appearance. I put together an “outfit,” as best I could, that consisted of my normal jeans, a t-shirt, and sneakers, of course. It was way too hot to wear my lengthy hair down, so I threw it into a sloppy pony-tail, but with my security hair still out in front of my eyes, and started downstairs to the kitchen for a quick snack. Peanut butter and jelly sounded good. After gobbling that down, along with a glass of milk, I grabbed my house key and went to meet Liam. He was already on his porch. His eyes crinkled around the edges from the smile on his lips, and his teeth peeked through. It was like I could see all of my hopes and dreams in his smile, it was hard not to stare. But then again, there were so many other attributes he possessed to marvel over. Picking just one, terribly difficult.
“Hey, Ally.”
He stood, from leaning on his porch, to give me a hug. His arms wrapped around my back, and slightly tightened before releasing. His scent, an amazing scent, filled my nostrils. Hygiene, another great attribute.
“Hey, Liam.”
“Water?”
He extended a dripping, water bottle in my direction.
“Oh, no thanks, I’m not thirsty.”
His eyes crinkled again.
“You, will be. It’s pretty hot, and since we’re gonna be out and about, you should take some water with ya.”
His arm was still extended, so I took the water. He was definitely right. The heat could dry out an ocean, and I would get thirsty. How, thoughtful.
“Thanks.”
“No problem.”
“So, where is ‘out and about’ exactly?”
He chuckled out loud, and his expression was that of a little kids, who’d been caught telling a lie.
“Well, I didn’t really plan where we would be going,” his smile increased, “I just knew that I wanted to spend the day…with you.”
My heart started to race, and I swore he heard how dangerously fast it was beating.
“That’s so, sweet.”
I felt my face grow hot, and it wasn’t because of the weather. I blushed more these past few days, than ever before.
“I know.”
Liam’s sudden revelation startled me, “ya wanna go to Rockwall?”
I laughed. The thought of leaving town tickled me, until I saw the confusion on Liam’s face.
“Why are you laughing?”
He asked.
“You can’t be serious!”
I asked, as I searched his eyes. But he was.
“Liam, Rockwall? That town isn’t exactly in walking distance from us.”
Liam’s confusion faded, and a smirk appeared.
“Who said anything about walking?”
We stood silent for a few moments. Until he reached into his pocket, pulled out a cell phone, and dialed. I didn’t know he had a cell phone. Then again, I hadn’t asked him if he owned one. There wasn’t much use for cell phones out here. Not when you can stick your head out the window and have a full blown conversation with whomever you were going to call. Sure there were a few people with them, but they always complained about never having a signal.
“Hey, ma. I’m gonna take the car, alright?”
He had a car? Wow! Now that, is hot. Was he seriously gonna drive out to Rockwall? I mean, it wasn’t far, but still. The real question, was I seriously gonna go with him? If David found out, he’d have my head. But, for some reason, I wasn’t as concerned with that fact as I should’ve been. I mean, I can’t remember the last time I was ever out of Farrell. The thought of going to Rockwall was overwhelmingly enticing, and I just couldn’t pass up an opportunity like this. Especially not when Liam would be accompanying me.
“Alright, see ya later,” he said, into the phone.
Liam hung up, slid the phone back into his pocket, and grinned up at me.
“Ya in?” He asked.
Although my normal instincts; the ones I used to listen to; told me to tell him that I was out, my new instincts; the ones I’ve been listening to lately; told me to tell him hell yeah I was in.


Chapter Ten

The radio boomed a new favorite song of mine. Kesha-Tik Tok. I sang along, and so did Liam. Well, the best he could. He didn’t really know the lyrics, but he pretended to, and I laughed at his efforts. He drove down the main road, to Rockwall. I could be grounded for life, or worse, but that thought was far from my mind. I left all of my bad thoughts back in Farrell, and felt as free as a bird. Liam held my hand in his, and I couldn’t feel more alive.
“Ya sure you won’t get in trouble for coming out here, with me?”
I’d already told Liam my parents wouldn’t mind, but I guess he hadn’t believed me; with good reason.
“I won’t get in trouble, Liam. It’s totally cool.”
I tried out nonchalance, and it worked.
“Cool.”
He squeezed my hand, and I knew he was satisfied with my reassurance. The warm, wind blew through my hair. It was the only “breeze” I was gonna get, so I enjoyed it as best I could. Liam’s Jeep wasn’t the typical country car, but it seemed to adapt well. The dark green color of the car suited Liam well, and I knew he hadn’t lied about green being his favorite color. He took the plastic-roof top off, and zipped down all of the windows for more air circulation. He said his air conditioning was busted, and that was the reason he took everything off of the Jeep, but I think he did it because it looked cooler. Which it did. The drive took about 30 minutes, which was the norm. When we arrived in Rockwall, I couldn’t only see the difference between my town and this one, but I could feel it too. The atmosphere was more energetic, and I felt myself adapting to it. I was so excited to be somewhere new, I just didn’t know what to do with myself.
“What do you want to do first?” I asked, with so much enthusiasm Liam burst into laughter.
“Well, I was thinking we could get a bite to eat first, and then go from there.”
“Ok!”
His laughter, although directed at me, didn’t bother me at all. I doubt anything could, not today. Not right now. Liam parked in front of a restaurant and, from the outside, I knew it would be nice on the inside. People sat at fancy tables in front of the restaurant, well they were fancy to me because they weren’t any type of wood, chattering away with the individuals around them. Everyone seemed to interact with each other. I figured they all knew one another and seeing as how Rockwall wasn’t much bigger than Farrell, that was highly possible. Liam and I walked, hand-in-hand, into the restaurant and the smell of food was incredible. I hadn’t realized I was hungry, until I smelt the food. I felt the inside of my mouth watering up, and I rushed to get to a table to order something. Liam and I sat at the bar, and it was way nicer than the one in my town. Naturally. Almost everything was made out of silver steel, the chairs, the tables, even the bar. The floor was a polished, cement brown, and it meshed well with the steel. Although the décor had a cold feel to it, the restaurant was far from cold. The people made it warm.
“Here you go.”
A petite woman with chocolate, brown hair handed Liam and I menu’s. We thanked her, and began to look over the lunch section. Liam ended up ordering a burger, and I ordered a garden salad. I preferred green foods, over meat. Probably because my family ate meat way too much, if that’s even possible. Don’t get me wrong, I eat meat. I just don’t eat it every day, or in every meal.
“Liam!”
A boy’s voice carried over everyone else’s and, for a moment, everyone was silent and stared at the boy who’d called Liam’s name. Seconds later, everyone continued to do what they were doing before the interruption. Except for Liam and I. The boy made his way over to where Liam and I sat. I looked at Liam’s expression to figure out if he knew the boy or not, but his face didn‘t hold the assurance I needed. Until the boy got closer, did Liam’s eyes widen, and as soon as the boy was near Liam, they embraced in a very enthusiastic hug. They slapped each other on the back while in their hug, but this time no one looked. I wondered who this guy was, and how he knew Liam. Liam and the mystery guy turned to me, and Liam’s smile was the widest I’d ever seen it.
“This is my good friend, Max.”
So the mystery guy, Max, was Liam’s friend. Cool. They didn’t look like they would be friends. Liam looked like an athlete, in my eyes a god, while Max looked more like a bench warmer. Liam’s hair was a perfect mess, while Max’s was just a mess. Max’s smile was amazingly nice, for someone who looked like he just rolled out of bed.
“Max, this is my…Ally.”
Liam’s cheeks flushed, due to his stumble on what to label me. I flushed too, but reached out to shake Max’s hand.
“Nice to meet you, Ally.”
“Nice to meet you too, Max.”
Despite Max’s appearance, I figured I owed him a fair chance. Seeing as how, no one ever gave me one. He seemed kind, and a friend of Liam’s, was a friend of mine. Max joined us at the bar. He and Liam chatted like two school girls who hadn’t seen each other in years, which I found to be the case, while I attempted to keep up with the conversation. But, I caught the end of it.
“Dude, it was like you fell off the face of the earth when you moved!”
Max said to Liam.
“I know, I’m sorry about that. I called you every chance I got, but I guess your number changed.”
“Yeah, it did. I called you to give you the new one, but I think your number changed.”
“It did.”
They both laughed, and slurped their drinks.
“So, how do you two know each other?”
Max asked, while still slurping his smoothie.
“From school. We both go to Farrell High.”
Liam answered.
“Dude, you guys moved back to the same town?” Max exclaimed.
Liam chuckled.
“Yeah, we did.”
“Why?”
“I’ll tell you later.”
They rolled their eyes, and shook their heads in unison. Obviously sharing a moment, and I looked away to give them privacy. It felt weird sitting with them, like I was intruding on their reunion. Had I known this was going to happen, I would’ve stayed home. Yeah right, not a chance. Even though I felt a tad bit uncomfortable, I preferred it here, than home. They included me in the conversation often, but it was evident they were more interested in each others stories. Which was understandable. Max and Liam were best buddies, before Liam moved. Which was before Kindergarten, I learned. Which also made sense. I would’ve known Liam then, had he attended school. Small town, only one of anything. It amazed me how close they were at such a young age. They were practically brothers, from what they told me. Even when they were babies, they were friends. Their moms were friends, so their friendship was never their choice. Until now.
“So, what are you doing in Rockwall?”
Liam asked Max.
“I live here.”
Max’s smirk intrigued me, and I paid more attention to their conversation.
“That’s cool. At least you got out of Farrell.”
Liam’s tone was that of envy, and I envied Max too. Rockwall was way more awesome than Farrell. Not to mention, way less closed-minded. Almost anything was accepted in this town. Even me.
“Yeah, it’s pretty cool. Especially, since I live on my own.”
Max’s grin curved upward, evil like. I felt my eyes widen from his statement, and my mouth hung open.
“How old are you?”
I asked. He didn’t look old enough to be living on his own.
“Seventeen.”
Liam answered, for him. His statement, sounded more like a question. Max nodded, with his grin still intact.
“Why are you living on your own?” Liam asked.
Max’s expression changed. Apparently, Liam’s question caught him off guard.
“Well, my dad works all of the time. He travels a lot and pretty much lives in California, ‘cuz that’s where his business is located.”
Max shrugged after his answer, as if nothing were wrong. But a seventeen year old shouldn’t be living on their own, even though I wish I did.
“Where’s Carol?”
Liam’s voice was a low, soft whisper. I had a feeling that Carol was Max’s mom, and I was right. Max’s voice was equally low.
“She’s gone. Cancer.”
Emotion overcame me. I extended my arm to rest my hand on his. When our hands touched he looked at my hand for a moment, then met my gaze.
“I am so sorry, Max.” I told him.
He set his free hand on top of mine, without loosing eye contact.
“Thanks,” he replied.
For a moment, I was lost in his smoldering, dark eyes. They looked sad, and hurt. Very much like mine. The dark circles under his eyes told me he hadn’t slept well in days, maybe even weeks. My heart yearned to ease his pain, his hurt, in the hope that it would heal mine.
“I’m sorry too, Max,” Liam said.
After realizing our hands still held each others, I quickly dragged mine away. Max’s grin returned, and I glanced at Liam, but he didn’t seem phased by the moment Max and I just shared. After returning my gaze back to Max, his grin was gone once again.
“Thanks, bro,” Max answered.
Liam may not have been phased by the moment Max and I shared, but I sure was. When I looked into his eyes, I saw him. I saw his entire story, and it felt like he saw mine.


Chapter Eleven

“How about…FunFest?” Max asked.
We all stood outside the restaurant, pondering what fun thing to do first. Max seemed to be the perfect person for the job, since Rockwall was his place of residency. FunFest consisted of anything fun. Everything from video games, laser tag, bowling and golf, to rock wall climbing.
“Dude, totally!” Liam replied.
His enthusiasm tickled all of us, and after a few chuckles and jokes, we decided to get going. Liam and I got into the Jeep, while Max got into his car, which was directly beside us, and a nice car it was. An all black Ford Mustang, with all black rims, and black-leather interior. By the gorgeousness of it, I could tell it was a newer model. I was in love, with his car. All black? Nothing’s better.
“Whoa! Nice car, big spender!” Liam shouted to Max, and they both laughed.
“I’ve got so much money, I don’t know what to do with it all!” He replied.
Although he seemed to be joking, I didn’t believe he was. While Liam blasted his radio, my eyes shifted all around me. From people, to buildings, and everything in between. The sights were beautiful. Well, to me they were. When we arrived, I could hardly contain myself. FunFest lived up to my expectations, within first glances of the place.
“Let’s do laser tag first!” I exclaimed.
I’d played before, but playing laser tag when you’re in elementary, as well as playing with your parents, could never be as fun as playing with people your own age. Both Liam and Max agreed that laser tag could be played first, so we went to stand in line. The wait wasn’t long, but it was long enough for them to make a bet on whose team would win. I was leaning towards Max’s team winning, because they didn’t have me on their side to weigh them down. I suck at sports. I suck at anything remotely athletic. Plus, Max had the most butch looking girl on his team, who looked like she played this game for a living. Note to self: See her coming, get out of the way. After getting suited up in the glow-in-the dark gear, Liam and I; and the rest of the people on our team, went to our side, while Max’s team went to theirs. The lights shut off, and the siren beginning the game sounded. I ran. We all did. Simultaneously, but in different directions. I’d planned to stay next to Liam, but I noticed he was no where to be found. Neither was anyone else on my team. I guess, I’m on my own. Not good. I figured it wasn’t a good idea to continuously prance around, so I crouched against a wall with a hole in it big enough to see anyone coming. I just hoped the hole wasn’t too big, that someone could see me. The paranoia of being spotted caused me to lay belly-down on the ground. No one would spot me now. I heard something, so I gripped my paper-weight gun tighter. By the rate of my heart, you’d think I were in a life-or-death situation. I heard foot-steps, but I wasn’t sure what direction they were coming in. My eyes were glued in the direction they would come, or so I thought.
“Ouch!” I exclaimed in pain, as I grabbed at my legs.
I quickly, well sort of, realized what happened. The person’s foot-steps I’d heard weren’t coming from in front of me, but behind instead. They tripped over my sprawled legs, and were somewhere around me! I fumbled around for my gun and, when I finally grabbed it, fired. I saw the aggravation on her face, as the colors on her gear went into a bright frenzy. A computer voice spoke overhead:
“Red has taken the lead.”
Guess my team was red, makes sense cuz my gear’s red. Good to know. I struggled to get up, but once I felt the ground beneath my feet I sprinted away from the scene. I kept replaying her face over and over again, and it cracked me up every time. I indulged in my greatness, a little too long.
“Freeze!” He shouted.
I did as he said. I put my arms up, with gun in hand, and slowly turned to see who was being so lenient. His blue gear was the first thing I saw, and I knew I was in trouble. Next, I saw a smirk I’d seen before, and before even looking at his face, I knew who it was. Max.
“Well, well, well. Look what we’ve got here. A straggler.”
His voice was that of an Englishman. His smirk intensified, and I couldn’t help but smile back. I lowered my arms, but kept my gun by my side. His accent was pretty good, so I played along.
“Ya got me, Max. Finish me.”
“I will. Or maybe, I wont. Are you up for a truce?”
I lowered my eyes, “What’s the catch?”
His smile beamed, “No catch. It’s more like, a trade-off.”
I leaned forward, in interest.
“What do you want to trade?”
“A kiss-for your life.”
His accent had left, as did my smile. I was shocked he’d think I would ever kiss him, especially when he knew Liam and I were…together? Well, regardless of the fine print, it was obvious Liam and I had something. Right? Max couldn’t be that blind. I was super uncomfortable, but I didn’t want him to see that. I noticed he was creeping forward, and my heart started beating a million miles an hour. My first instinct was to run, but then he would shoot me, and I didn’t want that. But, I’d handle that situation much better than this one. Max was in grasps reach from me now, and I knew what I was going to do to avoid all of this.
“So…do we have a deal?” He asked, smirk still in place.
I was beginning to think it was glued in that position. I didn’t know how to flirt but, if my plan was going to work, I had to try my best. I tried to embody someone very sexy, so I just drew my inspiration from Naomi off 90210. She was super sexy, and she had flirting down to the t. I batted my eyelashes, lowered my eyes, and placed one hand strategically on his chest.
“Sure, close your eyes.”
His eyes quickly shut and, for a moment, I skimmed him over. He was indeed, handsome. From his bed-head to his biker boots, I’m sure the ladies went wild over this dude. His lips puckered outward as he awaited a kiss that would never come, and I marveled at his stupidity. He was vulnerable. I’d planned on that, hoped for it. I pushed him back with my left hand, that rested on his chest and his eyes shot open. Before he could react, I shot him. His gear went into a frenzy of light, as I’d seen before, and I felt such a rush from deceiving him. His face couldn’t have been more shock stricken, and it was all the pleasure I needed.
“Sorry love,” I replied, accent and all, before retreating.
“Red Team is in the lead,” the voice overhead exclaimed.
I was on alert this time, so another awkward position didn’t present itself. This game was pretty fun. Before the lights cut on, I caught up with Liam and we finished off a few blue team members. Our lead was tremendously greater than that of the blue teams, and I felt proud to be apart of the winning side. Liam told Max to pay up, and unlike most guys, who would try to weasel out of it, he handed over the ten bucks with no argument. I didn’t think to tell Liam about the incident between Max and I. It wasn’t even a big deal, and it was all in good fun. At least, I think so. I wanted to golf next, but the boys were stuck on rock wall climbing. So, we made our way over to where the high wall stood. I wasn’t one for heights but I didn’t want to be singled out by them, or called a scary cat, so I pretended to be psyched. The three of us were getting our gear put on, and I couldn’t have been more freaked out. Up close, the wall seemed even higher than it was when we were standing in line, and I was contemplating whether I had it in me to do this. I felt a hand on my shoulder, and warm breath near my ear.
“Chill All’s, it’ll be fun.” Max whispered.
I guess I wasn’t the best at hiding my real emotions, even though I’d been giving it my all. But, I wasn’t going to cave now. He slowly made his way in front of me and, when our eyes met, I shot him a confused look.
“What do ya mean? I’m not scared.”
His eyes never left mine and even though mine wanted to leave his, they couldn’t.
“I never said you were, but I can see in your body language that you are.”
I lowered my head, in defeat, and didn’t say anything else, but we both knew he was right. When I looked back up, he was in front of the wall smiling back at me. Liam was already halfway to the top of the wall, and Max was going to join him. I jogged over to where he stood, and smiled back at him.
“It’ll be fun,” he said again, smile intact.
It amazed me how nice he could be. How he could go from obnoxious to sweet in like a second, was shocking. But intriguing.
“Thanks,” I replied, before we began to climb the wall.
Max wasn’t so bad. His bad boy image seemed to be just that, an image. It wasn’t really him, at least, I didn’t think so. By the minute, Max was growing on me. I could genuinely call him a friend. But something inside of me felt Max didn’t want to be just friends.


Chapter Twelve

We had such a blast at FunFest. Hanging out with Liam and Max was amazingly fun. After doing everything, and I mean everything, at FunFest we left there to go to Max’s house. When we pulled up in front of this huge, castle-like, home I was speechless. No way this was Max’s house! No way. Liam was overly enthusiastic.
“Bro, no way! This house is insanity!”
Max chuckled as he got out of his car, and started towards the giant front doors of…apparently his home.
“Yeah, she’s all mine!” Max exclaimed, as he pulled a key out of his pocket and unlocked the door.
“All yours? Yeah right! Forgot your dad lives here?”
Liam’s smirk was contagious, and I found myself wearing it as well. I figured Max was trying to impress us, but what he should’ve known was the house itself was enough to impress anyone, especially us.
“I didn’t forget, because he really doesn’t live here,” Max replied darkly.
I hung my head, pretending to be uninterested as to why Max’s father didn’t live at home. But, Liam wasn’t so uninterested.
“How cum?” He asked, blankly.
“Well, his company is based in California and he works 24/7, so he thought it only fitting to get a condo out there. It saves him a pretty long flight from here to there whenever he gets a business call.”
Max shrugged, and Liam did too.
“Your lucky, bro! You’ve got this entire place to yourself. No parental supervision, no rules, it’s any guys dream!”
Liam rushed off into the many different rooms, shouting tons of whoa and wows. Max stayed behind, with me, and I tried to contain my amazement. The entrance was breathtaking. A grand staircase gradually rose, from both sides of the room, towards the never ending, vaulted ceiling. A chandelier hung in perfect distance from the front door, catching all of the sunlight that shone from the huge window above the entrance. Even though I hadn’t seen anything but the entry way, I would kill to live in this place! I was sure the rest of the home would only get better, and I was right. The kitchen was so spacious, you would literally have to run from the stove to the oven if you happened to be cooking something in those appliances simultaneously. The kitchen definitely suited Max, because black was the color scheme. Black granite, black appliances, pretty much black everything, with the exception of the white, subway style backsplash.
“You like black.” I replied, sarcastically.
Max grinned, “Who doesn’t?”
“Lame people.”
“I agree.”
After walking through majority of the house, it was far too large to cover all in one day, we stumbled upon Liam who was in the game room. Looking like a big kid.
“Dude, you have THE best games!” Liam exclaimed, as he played Pac man.
“Thanks.” Max replied, not able to resist the fun Liam was having.
He joined in, and I watched them turn into 5 year olds before my eyes. I was all gamed out from FunFest, and I got kinda bored watching them yell terrible nothings at each other, about how they were going to kick each others butt in whatever game they were playing at the moment. I decided to explore the house a little more. I started down a hallway I hadn’t been, admiring the beautiful art hanging on the walls, when I found myself at a dead end. I turned to go back, but I noticed the dead end was actually a large door, and it was slightly ajar. I told myself not to be nosey and turn around, but my hand slightly pushed open the door. The room was even larger than the kitchen, and very dark. Not because there was no light, but because of the color in the room. Black. I assumed this was Max’s room and, for some reason, that excited me.
I walked into the room a little more, fighting the little voice inside my head that told me to scram. I wasn’t sure why I was so interested to see his room. Mere curiosity of the unknown, I guess. From first glances, the room looked empty. Aside from the king sized bed, gorgeous dresser and sitting couch, of course. After taking a few more steps, I noticed there was some personality in the room. Pictures lined the dresser. Pictures of a lady smiling into the eyes of a baby boy, a picture of an older gentlemen and older woman, and the most touching picture was that of a family. A little boy, a handsome man and a beautiful woman. I couldn’t help but pick the picture up, and stare at it. The woman and man were people I didn’t recognize, but the young boy was unmistakable. His dark hair, some what hiding his face, but through it I knew the eyes. Max. His eyes in this picture weren’t as sad as they seem now. In fact, he couldn’t have looked happier in this picture. His happiness somehow transferred into me, and I was full of joy to see his joy. “What are you doing?”
“Oh!” I exclaimed, as Max’s voice stroke fear into me.
I struggled to set his photo down before turning to him. I couldn’t bear to look him in the eyes. I felt so guilty for rifling through his personal things, and for even being in his room. I deserved whatever disturbed look he was giving me right now. While still looking down, I managed to find my voice and attempt to apologize.
“Max, I’m so sorry. I really don’t know what I was thinking. The door was cracked, and I was…”
I searched for the word to complete my sentence, but I couldn’t find it anywhere. I hadn’t heard him walk over to me, but he was inches away from me some how. He picked up the picture I was looking at, smiled, and set it back in it’s place on the dresser, then turned his focus onto me.
“Snooping.” He replied.
“What?” I asked, in confusion.
“I believe the word you were at a loss for was, snooping. You were snooping.”
I finally caught on, and the embarrassment flushed to my cheeks. He finished my sentence, and I was indeed snooping. Although I wouldn’t have used his choice of word, he was spot on. Had his tone not been so cold, I would’ve laughed, but he appeared agitated. Out of habit, I attempted to ease the tension.
“Right. I was totally snooping, and I apologize for that.”
I grinned a sheepish smile, but it didn’t translate to him as I’d hoped.
“So,” he crossed his arms before continuing, and I prepared for the worst, “you’re a snooper.”
I looked up at him to plead, but his smirk took me aback. He was screwing with me the entire time, and instead of being upset with him for it, I was relieved.
“I am, and you’re a jerk,” I giggled, as I punched him in the arm.
“Hey, you deserved it. You kinda brought it on yourself.”
“I know, I know.”
“Why?” He asked, blankly.
I answered, “Why what?” just as blank.
“Why’d you snoop?”
This was the exact question I’d asked myself, and the answer was just as fuzzy now as it was when I’d asked it. Although I didn’t know the answer, my body reacted as though it did. I suddenly became nervous, and flustered without even understanding why. Max’s arm slipped around me, and his hand pressed against my lower back as he eased me closer to him. The act bothered me, but his body against mine made me feel like never before. His face leaned closer towards mine, and my eyes were glued to his lips. I couldn’t think of anything else but his lips, and I bit down on mine in desperation to end my thoughts.
“I know why.” He whispered, as he answered his own question.
I hung onto his every word, eyes still glued to his moist lips. I figured I should respond, but he didn’t give me a chance to.
“Cuz, you like me.” He replied, and smiled an amazing smile that revealed almost every tooth.
I thought about what he said, and even though every inch of my body said he was right, my mind snapped into gear and refused to agree. I dragged my body away from his, but his smile remained.
“I’m gonna…go find Liam.” I told him, as I raced out of his room.
But, Liam was the last person I wanted to see right now. I needed to get away, so I found my escape in a hallway restroom. My blood rushed through my veins and I felt extremely hot. After splashing cold water onto my face, the heat finally subsided. I wished I could stay in the restroom. So, I wouldn’t have to see Max or Liam. I knew looking at Max would trigger a physical sensation I wasn’t ready for, and looking at Liam would trigger the guilt I felt for feeling those sensations for Max. It was a lose-lose situation either way, and I didn’t know what I could do to fix it. My stomach rumbled with hunger, so I decided to suck it up and leave the restroom to find some grub. When I found my way to the living room, Max was on his phone and Liam was playing a game on the Xbox. I slumped onto the couch, and watched how into the game Liam was. He shouted into the ear piece on his head, and it startled me because I hadn’t noticed it before. Just like I hadn’t noticed Max in the doorway to the kitchen watching us. He laughed at me and slapped Liam on the head.
“You scared All’s ya jerk,” Max replied, as he shot a smirk my way, “and the pizza’s on its way.”
Boy was I relieved they ordered pizza, my stomach had began to eat itself! I feared Max would sit next to me, but he didn’t, and I was grateful. Instead, he grabbed a chair from the kitchen and placed it next to Liam to participate in the game. After about ten minutes, the door rang and the pizza arrived. The guys grabbed countless slices and devoured them in between the deaths of their soldiers, while I woofed down as many slices as I could before my stomach felt like it was going to burst. My eyelids grew heavier and heavier, until they finally sealed themselves shut over my eyes. I wasn’t sure how long I was asleep, an hour or so maybe, but when I woke up I was in a panic. What time is it? I asked myself, as I noticed the sun was no longer shining but settled instead. I looked around the living room for a clock, and it didn’t take long to spot a giant one above the fireplace, that read 6:02pm. My panic only intensified, as I realized how much trouble I would be in if I didn’t get home before 7pm. I jumped to my feet, and searched the living room for Liam. I heard him before I saw him, and what I heard didn’t comfort me. I followed the noise until I came across Liam, passed out asleep and snoring extremely loud on the floor behind the sofa.
My heart sank into my chest when I couldn’t find the strength to wake him up, and even though he was snoring super loud, he looked pretty darn cute. But now was not the time, and my panic returned even harder this time. I could hardly breathe, and I needed some fresh air or I was going to pass out! I walked out the front door and inhaled a deep breath. By closing my eyes, I blocked everything out and just focused on breathing. In and out. In and out. Until I didn’t smell fresh air anymore. It smelled like, cigarette smoke? My eyes opened and I peeked around me for where the smell was coming from. Against my better judgment, I walked to the side of the house and found the smell, and more importantly who was creating it.
“Hey, All’s.” Max said, as I turned the corner.
He dropped his cigarette on the ground and stomped it out. I looked at him out of the corner of my eyes, and he chuckled.
“So, you’re a smoker.” I mocked him, with the best serious voice I could muster.
He caught on and played along.
“I’m so sorry All’s, I don’t know what I was doing!”
We both laughed. What had been an awkward situation earlier, was now something we could joke about. Even though the incident after that situation was even more awkward, I didn’t want to bring it up.
“Where’s Liam?” He asked.
“Knocked out asleep on the living room floor.” I replied, in an annoyed tone.
Max turned towards me, and assessed my tone.
“You okay?”
“Yeah,” I answered quickly, “I’m just waiting for him to wake up.”
“Oh. If you need to go somewhere you can just take my car.” He stated, nonchalantly.
My mouth dropped. Was he serious? Would he really just let me borrow his car? Just like that? I heard about southern hospitality, but gosh! He noticed my mouth was wide open, and used his index finger to lift my chin up and shut my mouth.
“Close ya mouth, All’s. What’s wrong?”
I did as he said and closed my mouth, but the shock was still there.
“You would really let me take your car?”
He looked confused, and it confused me as to why he would be confused.
“Yeah, why not?”
“Who does that? Who let’s just anyone take their car?”
“I do. But you’re not just anyone, All’s.”
His soft voice caught me off guard, and I rushed to change the subject.
“Well, I’m not gonna take your car. I’ll just wait for Liam.”
“Why wait for him, when I can take you where you need to go right now.”
He pulled his keys out of his pocket, and pressed a button that made the car start. His smirk annoyed me because of how quickly he went from sweet to annoying. Typical bad boy syndrome.
“Very tempting, but I don’t think so.”
Even though I needed to get home, I wasn’t that desperate. I also didn’t trust him enough to ride with him for half an hour. Or was it, I didn’t trust myself with him?
“Seriously All’s, let me drive you.”
His smirk was gone, and his some what sweet voice replaced it. I would be insane to pass up the opportunity to make it home on time, and he noticed me contemplating.
“I know you gotta get home, so just let me take you. I’ll be good…” He teased.
“You better be,” I joked back, “but how do you know I’ve gotta get home?”
He looked at me with a face that said ’be serious’ and I couldn’t help but laugh.
“You’re sixteen, and female. So, I know you gotta get home at an appropriate time.”
“You are amazing.” I muttered, under my breath, as I walked toward his car.
After buckling up, and driving off, I realized we hadn’t told Liam we left.
“What about Liam?” I asked.
“What about him? He wont be waking up any time soon.”
Max smiled, slid a cd into the cd player and turned the volume up. His taste in music wasn’t bad, a little too heavy metal for my liking, but I dealt.
“You wouldn’t happen to have any songs on this disc that don’t involve the band screaming at the top of their lungs, do you?” I asked, sternly.
He tried to hide his smile, but failed, as did I.
“I’ll remember to make you a cd that has nothing on it but soft rock, for the next time you ride with me.”
Like clockwork, his smirk appeared. He was so obnoxious, it had a scent. I could smell his smirk a mile away, but ya gotta hand it to the guy, he was confident. His over-confidence intrigued me, seemed almost everything about Max intrigued me. Why was he so mysterious? Why did he feel he needed a bad boy image? I never wanted to ask someone so many questions in my life. I’ve also never wanted to get to know anyone so badly. When I looked out my window, I noticed everything was flying past quite quickly.
“Do you have a need for speed or something? Slow down.”
I was sort of joking, but not really. Max didn’t know that. He increased speed, and we were moving much faster than before. I grasped onto my seat, but I wasn’t afraid and I wasn’t sure why not. I peeked at Max, and he peeked at me. Our grins coincided with each other, and my heart rate increased. Guess this was how an adrenaline rush felt, I liked it. As we got closer to town, Max slowed the car to normal speed.
“You’re cool, All’s.” He replied.
I smiled, and my face grew hot from blushing.
“What make’s me cool?” I asked, flirtatiously.
“Well, aside from your smoldering hot looks, you’re cool ‘cuz you’re real. You’re genuine, sweet, witty, and you’re your own person. I like that.”
I didn’t know what to say, so I didn’t say anything. I just sat quietly, and directed him to my house. When we pulled in front of it, I was relieved to see nothing. No truck, no lights on inside, no sign of anyone being home. I was safe. I turned to thank Max, but instead what I got was his lips on mine. His lips were soft, and warm. The kiss was kind of rough, and I didn’t want to kiss him but I couldn’t bring myself to stop him. His lips seemed to coerce mine into moving, and before long I was kissing him back. The sensation I’d felt earlier returned, and my entire body became blazing hot. My body yearned to be closer to his but, considering the limited space, I settled for my hand in his tousled hair. His hands moved to either side of my face, and intensified the kiss. I wasn’t aware that two people could kiss as long as we did. Our kiss ended mostly because our lips were tired, at least I knew mine were.
“Wow.” He exclaimed, as he struggled to catch his breath.
I was also out of breath, but I quickly remembered that I needed to get inside before I was toast.
“I gotta go!” I replied, as I grabbed the door handle to leave.
Max grabbed my hand and slipped something into it, before kissing me goodbye. I looked at what he had given me, and shook my head as I attempted to give it back.
“Take it,” he whispered, “so you can call me or text me whenever ya want.”
“Max, I’m not gonna take your phone.” I exclaimed, still shaking my head.
“Yes you are, and it’s not my phone anymore. It’s yours.”
I wasn’t sure how he got me to agree, but he had. After he left, I couldn’t stop thinking about him. Until, I started to think about Liam. How could I do that to Liam? Why did I do that? Why didn’t I stop him? All of these questions ran through my head, and the guilt was overwhelming. Why? Why do I suddenly have TWO guys that are into me, when throughout my entire life I never even had ONE. This situation was so unfair, talk about random. Two random knights are on either side of me, and I brought it on myself. I could’ve easily told Max to shove off, but I didn’t, and look what happened. I guess the only solution, was to choose. Max or Liam, Liam or Max? I decided to make a pro and con list on both of them.

Liam
Pro’s: Sweet
Kind
Funny
Handsome
Good kisser
Smart

Con’s: Childish

I didn’t really have many con’s, but oh well.

MAX
Pro’s: Wicked Hot
Humorous
Intelligent
GREAT KISSER
Mysterious (not sure if it’s a pro or a con, but I like it)
Confident

Con’s: Super Obnoxious

Great, that didn’t help at all! They both have the same amount of pros as they do cons. So, maybe making a list doesn’t work for every situation. Sometimes, ya just gotta go with your gut. I felt a vibration, and realized it was the phone Max had given me. I picked it up, and it read, ’1 new text message from Max.’
“Hey, beautiful ” was all it said.
I went with my gut.

Impressum

Tag der Veröffentlichung: 10.08.2011

Alle Rechte vorbehalten