Obliterated

Chapter 26

Liam

January 8th, 2017 | 9:00 am

"Please, Liam," Lexi begged.

"No way," he said, shaking his head.

"You're not busy," she pointed out. "Just come with me."

"Lexi, I am not going to a Jewish temple with you on the last day before we go back to school," he said.

Lexi pouted at him. They were currently on a run around the neighborhood, but after, Liam was supposed to drive Lexi to a Jewish temple. Liam hadn't told her yet that he had gotten rejected from Duke. He was planning on going to the library to work on a new essay, there were some colleges who were still accepting applications, Liam was hoping he could write something more sincere. Maybe it would push him over the top.

"Why do you even want to go?" he asked as they approached their house.

She shrugged. "I'm just looking for perspective," she said.

"Sounds like a solo mission," Liam argued.

"Fine, whatever, I'll ask Maeve," she said, giving up.

"Good luck with that, '' Liam said, rolling his eyes. "The girl wears a choker with satanic symbols on it, the last place she would go to with you is a temple."

Lexi became grumpy after Liam said that and later, he drove her in silence. Liam dropped Lexi off at the temple and left for the library. He found a place in the corner and pulled out his laptop, he read his last essay again and tried to see if there was something wrong with it. He sighed and after reading it about ten times he was about to give up when he felt someone's eyes on him. He looked up and saw that Rachel was staring at him from across the room. Her grey eyes stared deep into him and Liam looked away. As hard as it was to admit, he missed her.

He missed the way she would talk on and on about the latest fashion trends and styles. He missed the way she felt in his arms. He missed the way she would call him excitedly to tell him about her newest designs. He wanted nothing more than to talk to her again. It was so strange, Liam spent so long picking apart the people around him, he hadn't realized how much good there was in each person he had in his life.

Liam had told Rachel to find him when she was ready to be who he knew she really was. Rachel had told Liam to find her when he was ready to tell her how he really felt. So, Liam swallowed his pride and gathered his things. He went and sat down next to her. Rachel refused to look at him at first, she stared straight ahead at her laptop.

"I'm coming to you first," Liam said finally.

Still Rachel refused to look at him.

"You're right, I expect everyone around me to be perfect, I expect them to know how I feel when I never tell them how I feel because I am scared of what they will think. I'm sorry, it's something I am working on," he said quietly.

Rachel turned her head slightly, looking at Liam through the corners of her big grey eyes as if searching for whether or not he was telling the truth.

"What brought this on?" she asked finally.

Liam exhaled. "I got rejected from Duke."

Rachel looked over at him in shock. "You were above and beyond what they were looking for," she said, confused.

"Yeah, I don't know what happened," Liam mumbled.

Rachel offered him a small sympathetic smile.

"I know you don't owe me anything, but can I ask for a favor?" he asked.

Rachel nodded. "What is it?"