First And Forever (under reconstruction) (Wattys2018)

Chapter 13: Cloud 9 (edited)

My eyes widen, hope budding to life in my chest, "I, uh, did he say where?" The kid shrugs, "No clue. Good luck. Tell him I say suck it up, and that I also say hi." I huff in annoyance, shaking out my long blonde hair in an attempt to make it look even remotely presentable. Greyson walks past me, a large red hand-print prominent on his cheek.

Taking a deep breath, I comb my fingers through my hair to untangle some of the knots. I walk diagonally towards the parking lot, heading towards the front of the school. As I walk, I braid and unbraid segments of my hair anxiously in an effort to calm my raging heartbeat. I reach the front of the school where crowds of my classmates are still gathered, and take a deep breath. I dig in my bag for the lollipop I stashed in there earlier, and unwrap it with trembling fingers. Deep breath and repress. Emotions under control. I plop onto one of the benches, sticking the unwrapped lollipop between my teeth. The sharp taste of the grape hits my taste buds and soothes my racing heart, my teeth clenching onto the side of the stick to keep it in place. My body relaxes as my favourite candy flavour coats the inside of my mouth, floating me into a river of calm. I lean back against my backpack, pulling both of my feet onto the bench in front of me to stretch out my cramped muscles. I shift the lollipop nervously to the other side, trying my best not to fidget. Goddammit, do not let the emotions escape from you. Deep breath and repress. Repeat. Pulling out my phone and tapping away nervously at the screen to pass the time, I can do nothing but toss it in the air with a yelp as it suddenly buzzes in my hand. Scrambling and managing to catch it, I look at the screen.

"Stop being a pussy and just fucking do it. You will regret it for the rest of your life if you don't."

....What the hell? Was that even meant for me?

My heart is pounding in both hope and fear, but the fear is slowly starting to win. What if I'm the one who will have to be asking Liam out, my anxiety would kill me before I can even get the words out! Or...is he going to speak words that will forever crush my heart and soul. Something has obviously shifted between us since the incident with Joel earlier today, but the question is, what direction did the change go? Did the change go in the direction of us becoming a couple, or us never speaking again after this?  

Nervously, I bite down on the candy jammed into my mouth. I put my phone down and grab the lollipop stick, rotating it with my fingers. Unable to sit still, I grab my phone once again to at least have an illusion of doing something. I look up ever so often from pretending to play my game to make sure I don't miss him. I'm even more nervous now, chewing on my lollipop as I kick my feet and play my game. I'm unable to hold myself still, no matter how hard I try. FOCUS. Deep breath and repress. Repeat. I manage to pull my emotions back into check, relaxing into the bench when the hurricane of emotions crashing in my chest finally calms. When I look up and still don't see him, I start to get a little discouraged. But when I look up the fourth time, I'm immediately filled with chest crushing relief. Liam is walking towards me with Daniel and his friend Matt in tow, not yet realizing that I'm there in the vicinity. All three are holding sodas, Daniel's lips moving as if he's giving a pep talk. Wonder if that's about what I hope it's about.... When I look up again, Liam is looking right at me. In reaction to unexpectedly seeing me here, his relaxed and playful expression shifts to scared shitless in the matter of a second. Ok........wow, this is the first time I've ever seen him scared...it's kinda cute..

This will be interesting, wonder what he wants with me that has him so scared?

He bites his lip, smiling nervously, "H-hey, Clair." I smile at him, "Hey Liam, your friend said you need to ask me something?" At once, Daniel and Matt start dispersing away from us. It's obvious what they're doing, but I wait for Liam to reclaim his tongue and speak his mind.

"So I- Uh, wanted to ask you something."

I cock my head to the side like a confused dog, watching as Liam brushes his blonde hair out of his face, and shifts his soda can to the other hand. "Do," he audibly gulps, unable to look at my face, "Do you wan-. " He trains his eyes on my feet, audibly gulping again as he squirms uncomfortably. He shifts his weight from one foot to the other, squirming a bit more as he smacks his forehead in annoyance.

He's visibly nervous, and it's absolutely adorable. I smile internally, liking what I see as I keep a neutral face so I won't embarrass this normally cool and collected country boy who's stuttering like a fool right in front of me.

"Do you want to go out with me?"

He finally manages to spit his question out from between his clenched teeth, a deep rose staining the entirity of his cheeks as he looks at me and waits for my response.

Oh my god, this is really happening! I better not fucking be dreaming! I open my mouth, prepared to speak the words that I didn't know would change my life forever.

LIAM DID IT! Looks like he got over his cold feet :) now the question stands on whether or not Clair says Yes. :D

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