Learning to Swim

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

I immediately pull away from Liam, a blush already covering my pale skin. I open my mouth to say something, but nothing comes out. I cannot believe I seriously almost let Liam kiss me! I’m so confused about what I want anymore, but it isn’t fair to Liam to let him think he actually has a chance. I don’t want to be the kind of person that gives someone mixed signals when they have no intention of actually being in a relationship. It doesn’t matter that Liam is one of the best people I know, being with him would only hurt him in the end. If I decided to give in and try it, I know that I would never have the time to really spend with him and he deserves more than that. It would be selfish to let him kiss me and give him a reason to believe he has a chance. No matter how much I wanted him to.

I probably should not even continue being friends with him. He has made it obvious that his goal is to make me fall for him. If I keep being with him that might actually happen and that would definitely not be good. I will just have to tell him I don’t want to see him any longer and hope that he listens. If this is the right thing for me to do, why does it feel so wrong?

“So, I see my son has finally gotten a girlfriend,” Mr. Chase says condescendingly as he steps into the room. I decided it would be too weird to call him David like he asked, so I am just going to go with Mr. Chase.

“I’ve had girlfriends before, not like you would know,” Liam snaps back. I decide to keep quiet during this exchange because whatever this is going on between them, I do not want to get involved.

“Watch it. You continue on with this attitude of yours and I might have to reconsider that internship I got you,” Mr. Chase threatens and I feel Liam tense up beside me.

“Go ahead. I don’t need you to do anything for me, I can do it on my own!”

“Really, Liam? Because I’m pretty sure I’m doing something for you right now. It’s funny how you say you want nothing to do with me until the moment you need something,” Liam’s father says coldly.

One look at Liam’s expression of outrage and I know he is about to say something he will regret. So, naturally I do the only thing I can think of and slip my hand into his.

“Liam, I just realized that I’m starving! Would you mind getting me something from a vending machine?” I ask while giving his hand a reassuring squeeze.

For a moment he struggles to keep his composure and not say anything, but once I get him to look at me he seems to relax a little. He gives me a terse nod before starting towards the door. I notice his hands are clenched by his sides as he walks by his father.

Once he is gone, Mr. Chase turns to me with a conspiratorial look. It is the kind of look that says he thinks we are in on something together. That we both see how Liam is overreacting and behaving childishly. I do not return this look because I do not agree. Mr. Chase is kind of an ass and that is coming for someone who never curses.

“Now that that is out of the way, how about we get your foot fixed up!” he says cheerily, like nothing just happened.

I nod and try to listen to him explaining exactly what he is going to do, but my mind is still stuck on Liam. When I joked around with him earlier saying he is perfect and has the perfect life, I seriously thought he did. For some reason I pictured his parents to be this sweet couple that would do anything for their son. I imagined his family as one of the ones that actually all sit down at the table and eat dinner together, joking around and sharing stories about their day. It is strange finding out his family is as dysfunctional as any other.

Realizing this makes me wonder what else there is about Liam I don’t know. I mean, I know a few simple things, but in reality I hardly know anything about him at all. I want to, though. I want to know all of the things that interest him and all of the things that don’t. I want to know what makes him do the things he does and overall I just want to know who Liam Chase really is. The fact that I really care scares me more than anything.