Some strings attached

4.

He saved me. Liam saved me. He pulls me up and my head hits his chest as he stabilizes me. The only gap between us is him holding my wrist. His woody cologne fills my nostrils and i close my eyes. " Thanks. For saving me " i whisper. I open my eyes to see him looking at my wrist. Shit. The foundation i applied on the cuts has worn off. My cuts are clearly visible. I immediately jerk my hand away from him. He studies me for a while before a playful grin appears on his face. " oh please! I couldn't have you ruining this wonderful party. I haven't even gotten to the food yet. " I narrow my eyes as he continues " Besides, I can't let my only competition die. What fun would that be " I scoff. Of course he didn't save me cuz he cares. Asshole. " Did anyone ever tell you how big of an asshole you are? " I glare at him.
" Big yes. Asshole no. " My eyes widen at the bold statement. I stumble with words " I- Uhm well I'm uh glad to be your first then." He smirks and leans forward whispering in my ear, " Well, i can repay the favour by being your first. In certain things. " My face heats up at the comment and at the proximity. He's trying to get me worked up. Two can play this game. I turn my head sideways and whisper in his ear, " what makes you think you'll be my... first? " This gets him tongue tied and he moves away straightening his back. I proudly smirk and walk away. I can feel his eyes on me. What the fuck just happened. What was i thinking! Obviously I'm a virgin I mean I don't have a life other than books. " Siya, are you okay? " I pull myself out of my thoughts to see Mikayla Cooper standing in front of me. " Oh uh yeah! I'm okay " i say quickly. Her eyes soften, " Hey look, I don't mean to pry, but my father was quite similar to yours. " I meet her eyes and I can see visible pain in them. I stay quiet waiting for her to continue. " He always saw me as a disappointment, never loved me or cared about me. But at least I had my mom. She was always there for me. " she pauses noticing the change in my expression. " I'm so sorry, i noticed that your mom isn't uh, too concerned...either. " I smile weakly, " yeah. I just have my sister and Mrs Lou, the housekeeper. " she smiles and pulls me into a hug. I'm hesitant at first but it feels comforting so I let myself relax. " Wrong. Now you have me too. Let's hang out soon. " she says after the hug. We exchange numbers and head back to where everybody is. I see my parents standing with the Carters and Sam and Seerat talking to some friends. I spot Liam, with a girl. I feel suffocated, I'm not sure why. He looks like he's flirting with her. Ugh. Has he got nothing better to do than to flirt with random girls all night. " you wish that was you huh " I'm startled as Seerat appears behind me. " What- No of course not. I don't wish to be anywhere near him. He's a dick " i retort. "Mhm if you say so" she says as she walks away.
Soon everybody is called to the dance floor. When most of the people are there, the lights suddenly go out and a man begins speaking. " Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls. I'm sure you're all wondering what is going on. Well this is a tradition. Its called the Blind Chemistry! The blindfolds you were given at the entry will be put to use now. You're supposed to pick any partner in the dark, by intuition or course. And then put on the blindfolds before the light comes back on. The couples without a partner or without a blindfold will be escorted off the dance floor. 5 best looking pairs will be left to dance. So get set Go! " I put my blindfold on and stand still not sure how to grab a partner. Suddenly someone grabs my waist and pulls me close. My first instinct tells me to push the person away at the bold move but a little voice in my head tells me otherwise. I reach up to his face to check for a blindfold and fortunately, I feel one on his eyes. I'm filled with a familiar scent. Oh my god. Is this Liam? No of course not! The chances of that happening are like zero. And the way this man grabbed me almost seems like he knew exactly who he wanted to grab. Can't be Liam " the lights come back on. We can hear shuffling and murmurs all around us. Soon it stops. " Congratulations! There are now 5 pairs on the dance floor. The pair with the perfect chemistry will be left to dance until the very end of the song. All the best! " the man announces. A song begins to play. Its the violin version of ' middle of the night ' Its one of my favourites! I'm snapped out of my thoughts when the guy tightens his grip around me pulling me impossibly close. I can feel his hot breath on my neck. He takes my hand in his and we begin dancing. We start slow and pick up the pace. He spins me around and my back rests against his chest as his hands travel down to my sides. Something makes me wanna loose all control. I feel myself drifting away into a whole new world as i slide my fingers up into his hair. So fucking soft. His lips brush against my ear and my breath quickens. We don't realise when the song stops. He quickly releases his grip on me. I'm disappointed at the loss of touch. The crowd bursts into a huge round of applause. I take my blindfold off to find no one in front of me. I look around to try to figure out who it was but I fail. I look down in my hand to see a locket. I open it hoping to find a clue. There is a picture of 2 little children. I'm highly disappointed but brush it off and collect my award before heading back to my family. I nudge my sister " Hey! Who was it? The guy? " she looks at me apologetically " I can't tell you. He knew I was your sister so he made me swear on your life that i won't tell you. " i groan. She continues, " that locket though... maybe that can tell you. " she says. I study the locket trying to figure out who those children are. Soon it's time to head back. We say our goodbyes and leave.

At home-
I quickly change into my pyjamas thanking God that my dad didn't say anything about that, not so appropriate dance. I grab my phone and text Violet.
" You up? " she calls me within 2 minutes.
"Heyy S! "
"Heyy girly! Dude today was so freaking crazy!! "
" Oh my god wait lemme grab a soda " she says. I fill her up on everything that happened. My dad insulting me, Liam saving me, Mikayla and the Blind Chemistry. " I wanna find him Vi! The passion and chemistry was undeniable. I'm not one to get all worked up about a guy but this one has me going bonkers! " she stays quiet for a while before speaking slowly, " hey why don't you get someone to dig up something on the picture in the locket? " I sigh, " Can't. They're under strict orders to not help me with this in any way. Idek why the secrecy " she thinks for a moment and then speaks up, " give it to me then. Maybe I can do something" i thank her, we talk some more about her and Leslie and then i go to sleep.

Next morning -
I have to show the project idea to Mr Jane today. With Liam. Ughhh. I get ready and head to school. As I'm walking through the hallway a voice stops me, " You think you can have anything you want? " i turn around to see Kristen Humphrey, one of my biggest haters. " Well yes, but what are you talking about? " i ask her. " Stay the fuck away from Liam. Don't try to seduce him cuz it won't work. He won't fall for you. He's mine. " i scoff at the remark. " I'm going to give you 3 very important lessons. 1. I'm not interested in Liam. 2. You don't own him. And 3. If I wanted to I could have seduced him on the very first day. But you know, i don't chase guys for attention. Unlike some people here. " i eye her up and down. She begins to say something when principal Jane appears, " Ms. Humphrey, please get to class right now. " Kristen whines and walks away. " Ms Kaur, meet me in my office with your idea, Mr Carter has already been sent there " i nod and quickly grab my journal and head to Mr Jane's cabin. Liam is already there. He meets my gaze for a second and smirks at me. I roll my eyes as we begin explaining our idea to the principal. He approves of it instantly. " Good job! Now start working on it. I need it finished by 20th of October which is about a month from now. The fair is in November so we need to keep ample time to make any changes if necessary. Don't let the school down. Now go " we both nod and walk out. " That was quite the lesson you gave Kristen Humphrey. However I do have one question, you think you can seduce me ? " Liam asks coolly. I decide to maintain my composure and speak in the most seductive way I can, " You know what I think Liam? I think I already have, without even trying " i wink and get away from him as naturally as possible. Oh my god Siya. What were you thinking? What if i just embarrassed myself. Shit. But maybe I didn't. Maybe it had an impact on him. Who am I kidding? It obviously didn't.

A.N - How was this chapter? Also is this length okay or should I make it longer or shorter? Lemme know :)