Forever & Always

Chapter 11

I woke up a little late the next morning, so I rushed my way through my morning routine and hastily grabbed an apple for breakfast on the way out the door. It was moments like these that I was thankful for walking to school. Even though I was in a rush, it was nice that I could have these moments of solitude in the morning, just me and my thoughts. With that being said, it was all but strange to hear someone calling out my name from behind me as I took a bite of my apple. I turned around and saw Liam from the beach running to catch up to me. 

"Hey," he said, making it to me, a little out of breath. "Thanks for waiting".

I looked at him sideways. "You're welcome?" I said, confused. 

I had talked to this guy once and could not quite for the life of me figure out 1. why he was talking to me in general and 2. where the hell he came from that he spotted me walking. 

"I didn't know you walk to school," he said, walking alongside me. I shrugged. 

"Yeah, I mean, we've only spoken once before, so there's a lot you don't know about me," I said with a small chuckle. 

I realized after I said it that it sounded a little harsh. I had to remember that I wasn't talking to Shane and that we were on good terms now. No need to constantly be sarcastic. 

"Well, I DO know that you and Shane are dating now," he said with a smirk. 

I was a little surprised by this statement, but then I remembered that Liam also texted Shane during our date the other night. 

"And you know this because...?" I asked. 

"Shane told me," he explained. "He and I have been friends since third grade. He moved here from Pennsylvania, I think, and I was kind of like his first new friend." 

Almost immediately, I felt the need to thank him, if that was really the case. It was nice to know that Shane was able to make some decent friends when he moved down here. And Liam seemed like a nice guy. It was all interesting though to find out about your boyfriend's best friend this way. 

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Liam. It's better actually getting to talk to you this way, instead from the receiving end of a frisbee." 

He laughed. "I am really sorry about that. I had no idea that Greg couldn't throw for shit." He sighed and we walked in silence for a couple of minutes. Then, Liam piped up again. "Hey, I just want to say that I think you are a really good match for Shane." 

Wow. I was a little taken aback, since that kind of came out of left field. 

"Really?" I managed to get out. 

He nodded. "Yeah, he told me all about you and your date the other night, and just seeing how happy he is with you, it makes me happy. Especially since it's with someone besides Annie." 

I gasped dramatically. "She's not your favorite person either?" 

He chuckled and shook his head. "Is she anybody's? She thinks the only way to exist is to make the people around her miserable. She gets a sick sense of pleasure out of it. And she made Shane miserable constantly. At one point, it just seemed like he was skating by, taking it for no reason. She had him wrapped around her finger. That is, until you came along." 

Uh oh, Politico, it's getting serious over here. I sighed. "What do you mean by that?" 

He smiled at me. "As soon as you caught his eye, it was all he could think about. He started to fight her back every time she gave him shit for something. It was that switch in him that made her think she was losing him. She's like a wild animal: as soon as she feels threatened, she does what she thinks is best for survival. They broke up and she's focused on making your life miserable. She's got her sights set on you."