Life After Life

•C h a p t e r T h i r t e e n•

My mom beamed as we walked through the last doors of the museum to the exhibitions. She gripped the brochure in her hand, rambling on about all the exhibits she had wanted to see before it closed.

It was about a week later, irritatingly early on a Saturday morning, and my mom had forced us to go to a museum with her. She had managed to drag Jackson, my dad and I.

The assignment Liam and I had been working on had been completed the same day we met up. Liam found two other angles we could defend the case with. To compensate, I typed up the essay.

Now, it was the grand opening of a random museum my mom saw online, that showcased the different eras of human history. I didn't know what was so appealing about that but my mom was completely taken by it.

The museum was set up in chronological order, from the earliest eras to the latest. The walls were painted a glowing shade of white, with random exhibits on the sides, and in the centre of the rooms.

We walked through the Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age quickly since, for some reason my mom had no interest in it.

Jackson let out a loud yawn and I gave him a sharp look. One of my pet peeves must be when people vocalized their yawns, and it was also rude. He only gave me a sheepish smile in return.

I couldn't blame him though, this museum was boring. Interesting, but boring if you weren't in the mood.

My mom snapped pictures of the exhibits, shoving her phone up my dad's face like an excited child.

We shoved my mom along to the Ancient Greece and Rome exhibits, and other ancient Empires. Those ones were cooler, and the museum had replicated some daily objects as artifacts.

It took us hours, and many granola bars down Jackson's stomach before we reached the modern eras.

I had my attention focused on a black and white portrait of a workshop during the Industrial Revolution when I heard my dad's voice pipe up from behind.

"Robert? What a coincidence!" he said, incredulously.

Shit. My eyes widened and I spun around to see both Liam and his parents standing with my own. Jackson was off, sitting on a bench leaning against the wall on his phone.

I swallowed hard, turning back around to face the photo on the wall. I could just pretend like I didn't see them.

"Over here Thalia," my mom called from behind. I let out a heavy sigh, and turned around, slapping a smile on my face. "It's the Riveras."

"Hi Mr. and Mrs. Rivera," I greeted. Susan and Robert beamed as I forced my legs to walk towards them. My eyes met Liam's, surprised to see that he was watching me with a small smile. I shook away all the butterflies within my stomach from the sight of him and instead, I gave him a flat look. "And Liam."

Liam's parents and my parents proceeded to talk and gossip about their businesses or co-workers.

"It's nice to see you too, Ophelia," Liam said teasingly, turning his attention to me. He stuffed his hands into his pockets, taking a step away from his parents and closer to me.

"I can't say the same for myself," I shrugged.

"Ouch. You really don't hold back," he feigned a hurt expression. "I'm looking forward to the Victorian Era, personally."

"I'm not," my nose crinkled. I didn't need to be reminded of life back then. I was lucky enough to have been wealthy, if I wasn't, it would have been worse. Liam and I stood in silence our parents talked. I glanced up at him. "I'm gonna go."