✧ prequel to The Search for Lily Myers → read that one first! ✧
7:04 p.m.
Wednesday, September 2nd.
No one knows it, but at this moment, three things are certain:
Lily Myers is about to disappear,
Liam Duke is about to have his heart broken,
and...
Liam knew he was all in from the moment he saw her.
He also never knew it could be so hard to pick out a freaking outfit. He stared at his reflection, unsure of how he felt about it, and with his insides knotted up into a bundle of nerves about going to this party.
After succumbing to a wardrobe of sweatshirts and sweatpants for most of the winter, he was expending way too much effort deciding what to wear tonight. It didn't help that he had no clue what kind of crowd he was walking into - if they were loud or quiet or preppy or emo or a mix of anything and everything. It was hard to get a read on Bennett's personality from the little talking they had done and if there was one thing Liam did know, it was that people didn't behave the same way at school as they did outside of it.
This was getting ridiculous. He threw on a plain shirt, jeans, and one of his nicer jackets and hoped that it was okay. It couldn't possibly matter that much. Even if he made a great impression tonight, it wasn't like he could keep up a perfect image forever.
When he walked downstairs, he found Jo at the kitchen sink filling up a watering can. She perked up slightly when she turned towards him and saw him dressed in something that didn't scream I've been hibernating for three months.
"You going out somewhere?" she asked curiously.
"Just a thing with some people from school."
She appeared to be pleased that he wasn't being a total hermit and the lines around her eyes crinkled when she smiled. "Have fun. And text me if you need anything."
He nodded and glanced at time as he grabbed his keys off the hanger by the door, which he only actually remembered to use about half the time. "What about you? It's getting late. You've already been here for what? Ten hours?"
Jo shrugged, a guilty grin on her face as she turned the sink faucet off. "Time flies when you're having fun."
"I know." Liam's fingers absentmindedly fiddled with the ring of keys in his hand. "But there are these things normal people do called rest and sleep. You should try them sometime."
"I'm about to go," she promised. "I was just going to water this little guy."
She was referring to a small succulent sitting in the windowsill over the sink. Liam came over to look at the tiny plant (which he had honestly forgotten was there) as she drizzled some water into the soil.
"Huh, he got bigger," he observed. For some reason, it made him happy that the little plant was thriving. "He was looking kind of rough the last time I noticed."
"Sometimes they sneak up on you like that," Jo agreed, setting the watering can down on the countertop. "They start to thrive when you don't think they can. I like that about them, though. You never know what's right around the corner."
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