Life After Life

•C h a p t e r S e v e n t e e n•

I'd met Liam's cousin briefly at the hospital before he fell asleep just minutes later. He was a cute kid, only about ten years old and he looked much like Liam with his dark eyes and dark hair. He was sassy and had a big attitude like Liam.

Just as Liam said, his cousin's family was nowhere to be seen. It was just Liam and Sam.

It felt a lot like when I broke my arm, except I didn't even have a cousin there. My dad came once in the afternoon and that was it. I just stayed overnight alone until my dad's chauffeur picked me up the next morning.

His cousin was so lucky that he had Liam, and I respected Liam for being there for him.

Now, the weekend had come and gone. Avery and I stalked down the halls before classes began. We'd gone on Avery's usual morning coffee run at the food court before we began making our way to our classes.

"University is a joke," Avery huffed, taking a large gulp of her coffee. "I didn't even have time to study for my quiz today, too busy writing my stupid ten page essay."

"And when did you start this essay?" I raised an eyebrow, not bothering to hide my smile.

"Like yesterday night," she sighed. "I get it, I'm not  my good at this time management thing. I don't know how you do it."

"Start early, that's literally all there is to it," I told her. Time management was an important skill to have, and it was irritating that school had never taught us anything about it. Of course, it didn't take a genius to figure out that Liam had great time management skills.

"Yeah but when I have like a week to do something, it feels like a lot of time. I scroll through Tinder and Instagram, go to the mall then all of a sudden, I only have one day left," she explained with a sigh and I muffled my laughter. "Anyways, I'll be at the fundraiser your parents are holding. Just me though, my parents can't make it."

"That's fine," I shrugged. As long as Avery was there, I wouldn't have to be so bored. "I'll see you after classes," I told her, still smiling as we stopped in front of my class.

"Wish me luck on my quiz," Avery frowned before she walked on without me.

I walked into my class and immediately, the smile on my face dissipated when I saw Liam sitting on my seat. It wasn't my assigned seat, but it was the seat I'd sat on since the first day.

The class was still relatively empty since it was still a few minutes before the class started.

My lips curled down as I approached him. I stopped in front of him, gritting my teeth as I watched him take out his pen and textbook from his bag.

Liam glanced up at me, a smirk evident on his face, "Can I help you?"

Sam met my eyes from over Liam's shoulder. This time, he sat one seat away from Liam rather than next to him. He greeted me with a small smile and turned back to his textbook.

"No," I growled, taking the seat next to Liam. Now, I was sandwiched between Liam and Sam. I turned to Sam, plastering a bright smile on my face. "Hey, wanna switch spots with me?"

I didn't miss the way Liam's head snapped in mine and Sam's direction. Sam glanced behind me at Liam, his mouth opening and then closing.

"Um... no thanks?" Sam finally said and I let out a small groan.

"Looks like you're stuck with me Ophelia," Liam whispered from next to me. The crooked smile had returned on his face.

"You took my seat," I shot him a glare as I began getting my own supplies out.