Rejected 22 Times

Chapter 24

Liam couldn't have possibly fallen for her; this has to be some sick way of trying to get back at me for agreeing to go to the dance with Chase. I knew that I shouldn't have said yes, but I was so infuriated with Liam, and I never meant to hurt him. That's what different here. Liam only agreed to go with Millie out of spite. For him, this was just another way to get revenge.  

For once, as I sat in the lunchroom, Liam sat without Millie by his side. Before I could tell myself that this was a bad idea, my instincts had walked my feet over to where Liam was seated. His eyes trailed slowly up to meet mine, and the look on his face was expressionless. Setting his sandwich down, he asked, "Can I help you?".  

Rolling my eyes, I shifted my stance so that I was resting on my right foot, and I folded my arms across my chest. "I know what you're doing", I coolly replied.  

"And what's that, love?", he asked as he folded his hands and leaned both of his elbows on the table.   He was really pushing my patience here.

"You know what I'm talking about."  

"I'm not a mind-reader, Sophia", was his snarky comeback.  

"It's good to know you still remember my name", was mine. Taking a seat directly across from Liam, I folded my hands on the table, mirroring him, and I crossed one leg over the other.  

"Well, you sure made yourself comfortable."  

"I just thought that if I was going to have a civilized conversation with you, I better get on your level."  

His eyes rolled and his eyebrows raised as he looked over to the side. Going along with the sarcasm, he replied, "So now that you're on my level, what's there to talk about?"  

"Can we just stop this pointless back-and-forth arguing? I honestly came here to talk to you."  

"Like I just asked: What's there to talk about?"  

Glancing right and left to make sure certain people weren't around, I then proceeded to ask him, "Why are you pretending to be interested in Millie?"  

His voice was low as he answered with a question, "How do you know I'm pretending?"  

What? Of course he's pretending. I mean, it's Millie we're talking about here. Someone like Liam doesn't fall for someone like Millie. There's no way Liam was being honest here.  

"I don't know. I could even be falling in love with her", Liam proclaimed taking advantage of my silence.

Now I knew that wasn't true. "Yeah right. You're just using Millie to make me jealous, and we both know that."  

"Oh, and you're not doing the same with Chase?"  

"I didn't agree to go to the dance with Chase out of spite."  

"So you don't like Chase?" His eyes lit up with what looked like a glimmer of hope.   

I don't know. Did I? I liked him last year, but that was before Liam was around. "I don't know", I huffed as I buried my head in my arms. My head rested against the table as I squeezed my eyes shut as if that would block everything out. "I don't know", I mumbled. "I don't know anything anymore."  

"What you mean 'I don't know'?", Liam questioned.   

Lifting my head up to look him in the eyes, I replied, "I don't know how I feel. This is all so confusing to me, and it's all because of you."  

"Because of me?", he scoffed.  

"Yes. Because of you, I am losing my mind. You fog my vision. It's like every time I see you, I lose all sense of judgement and clarity. I can't think straight, and it's just all too much." I threw my head down in-between my arms once again so he wouldn't see the tear that had escaped from my eye. "And now my head hurts", I choked out.  

It caught me by surprise when I felt a hand begin to rub my back soothingly. "It's okay", I heard Liam's calm voice whisper in my ear. I peered my head up to see that Liam had sat down next to me on my side of the table, and now he was trying to comfort me by rubbing circles on my back. "It's okay", he continued to reassure me as I leaned myself in closer to him. My head now rested on his chest, and we just sat there as he continued to hold me.   

"I'm sorry", I whispered almost inaudibly, but I'm pretty sure Liam heard.  

I was positive he had heard when he whispered, "Me too".  

For a moment, I thought that everything was okay again. For a moment, it seemed like there weren't any problems anymore. For a moment, we were at peace.  

But that sense of tranquility quickly dispersed when the irritating voice of Millie snapped us out of our blissful state. "What's going on here?"  

Her knuckles were white as her fingers gripped the edge of the tray she was carrying. Thoughts of flipping that tray over and spilling the food that it contained all over her crossed through my mind, but I refrained myself from proceeding with such actions.  

Knowing that Liam wasn't going to say anything because he tends to choke under this kind of pressure, I decided to answer her. "Liam was just trying to comfort me. I was, uh, sad, and he was just trying to make me feel better", I explained as I detached myself from Liam and stood up.  

That answer didn't seem to completely satisfy her, but she didn't push the topic any further.   

"I should go now", I stated to both of them, but more directly towards Liam. Millie took my seat at the table, and I took this as my opportunity to walk away.   

Before I could walk five feet, Liam had tugged on my arm, forcing me to face him once again. "You never told me the real reason why you are going to the dance with Chase", he whispered as he leaned his head in closer so that Millie wouldn't hear.  

"I don't know Liam. Maybe I'm just trying to move on." Maybe subconsciously, I was trying to prepare myself for what it would be like after Liam left. The look on Liam's face as the words I had just spoken processed through his brain was unsettling.  

Before answering, he looked at me for a moment. "Maybe I'm just trying to do the same." His reply wasn't spiteful or malicious; it was sincere, almost even a little empathetic.  

Liam then proceeded to sit back down next to Millie as he plastered yet another fake smile across his face. Walking out of the lunchroom, I didn't dare to look back.   

Maybe Liam was right. Maybe it would be okay.  

Maybe it was better for the both us to just move on.  

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Next chapter will probably be the dance. I'm curious to know what you all think is going to happen at the dance and what you want to happen. Please feel free to comment your ideas and opinions.