Obvious Truth, Oblivious Mind {ZIAM}

Ch. 10: The "Ex" Couple

Back to the story.

We were sitting under the big Sycamore tree in the park. Dani was doing really well in all subjects except for advanced chemistry.

"Uh, I'll never get this in time!"

"You'll do alright, just work on the sig figs."

Her phone buzzed in her backpack, she pulled it out and smiled before tapping away on her phone.

"Sorry," She said, looking at me like she forgot I was here for a second. "Liam says he's feeling better. Maybe he'll be at school tomorrow."
I smiled before closing up her chemistry textbook and passing it over to her.

"How long have you and Liam known each other?" She asked unexpectantly.
"Forever, pretty much," I said, easily recalling that day in class when he complimented my drawing. "He was the only person who was nice to me in grade two. We used to draw together all the time and look at comic books. And his family is amazing too, they've always been very accepting of me."

"I'm not surprised, that sounds very Liam."

"Yeah," I said, enjoying the topic of conversation. "And did you know that when I answered a question wrong in class in grade five and everyone laughed at me, he said that my answer was right when he knew it wasn't, and all the kids stopped because they believed him."
"Wow, you remember that?" She asked, pushing a stray piece of hair behind her ears.

"The best was when Liam made this kid who was awful to me carry my books for the day or else they couldn't be friends anymore. Liam has always been like that," I said, the words escaping my mouth before I could edit them. "He loves everyone so everyone loves him. And he liked me because I was different instead of hating me for it."

"You really love him, don't you?" She asked quietly.

"More than anything," I said without hesitation. I wanted to take the words back immediately after I said them, because she could tell how much I meant it.

"I think I should go," She said, grabbing her backpack and throwing it over her shoulder.

"No, wait. I-I didn't mean it like that."

"Like what? You know I always had a suspicion but I didn't want to believe it was true."

"But it's really not like that?"

"You said that already," She looked really upset, and I didn't understand. Why should she care what I think about him? He doesn't think about me like that. In my eyes he couldn't be more in love with her.

"I need to go home, thanks for helping me study. You're really very smart," And with that she left. The wind tossed her hair in every direction as she pressed the button on her keys that unlocked the door.

And then I went to the gym. Marshall tried to push me as hard as he could but my mind kept going back to the conversation in the park. Is she disgusted with me? Is she uncomfortable? Will she tell everybody? Will she tell Liam?
Oh God, will she tell Liam?

I was working on the speed bag when Marshall stopped me.

"Okay, what is going on man? You almost missed the bag more than you hit it?"

"Sorry, coach," I said, regaining my breath.

"Is it a girl?"

Well, in this case yes. So I answered-

"Sure."

"Remember, women weaken legs. Now hit the showers, I'll see you tomorrow," He clapped me on the back and now even when I was exhausted I was strong enough to take it without stumbling forward.

When I saw myself in the gym showers, I wasn't as scrawny and thin as I used to be. I definitely wasn't Liam, but I didn't look at myself with disgust anymore. I was going to pull out my phone to see if Liam had texted me, but Marshall walked in.

"Hey, kid. You ready to go? I gotta lock up."
"Yeah, be right there."

Despite my drivers license, I took the bus to and from school and Marshall's every day. My parents took their cars to work and I didn't really mind the trains and buses. I saw a lot of different people on those journeys and I liked to create stories for them sometimes.

There is this old woman who I see every day carrying the biggest purse you've ever seen with her. I call her Martha in my head, but I give my seat to her if there are none left. She gives me a warm, jack-o-lantern smile and I smile back. I think we could be friends.

There's another man, tall and middle-aged with graying hair and a lintless suit. He looks like a Harvey to me, and he usually just keeps his eyes on his newspaper.

Today I saw these two kids, probably siblings. The boy had Danielle's curly hair and the girl had Liam's brown eye. They were fighting for their mother's attention who was trying to shush them and continue reading her book. The boy looked sad, and I remembered how upset Danielle was earlier. So I sent you a text, the text said "read" immediately but you didn't write anything, almost like you were just about to text me. I told myself to not be ridiculous, because I never saw those three dots showing you were typing. It had been two weeks since Danielle had found out about my feelings for him, and I was terrified that he knew somehow. I stared at the screen, trying to telepathically communicate with him. But he must not have heard. I guess the line was busy. It was the night that Danielle drove to his house and ended things formally. I guess it was really hard for both of them. And while I hated to see him so miserable, I know this was my chance to fix things with Liam. To finally get back to how we were before.