Close Your Eyes

Chapter Nineteen

We're picking up where we left off :)

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"When we were kids you went by William." I say. "Right?"

I remember. I remember every time he gave me half of his lunch when I forgot mine. I remember when the class hamster bit me in second grade and I was crying. He got the Band-Aids from the teacher. I remember scraping my knee at recess and he helped me get to the nurse.

I remember.

"Yes." He says finally.

I nod slowly.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why did you go by William? Is that your middle name?"

He sighs. "When I was a kid I hated my first name, so I went by William. When I got older, I learned to like Liam." He shrugs.

My eyebrows pull together.

"You, me and Aiden, we were all friends. What happened? Why do you guys hate each other so much?"

He looks down at his hands.

"Aiden and I both had a really huge crush on you back then." He says.

My eyebrows shoot up.

"No you didn't."

"Yes we did." He says. He's not smiling, and I have a gut feeling that he's telling me the truth. "Fifth grade we kind of argued about you behind your back. Who got to hang out with you at recess, who got to be your partner with the projects..." he trails off. "And I started to dislike him, and he felt the same way about me." He swallows. "Well in sixth grade, um, the day you uh-"

"The day I got kidnapped." I say.

He lets out a breath. "Yeah. The day you got kidnapped, we went to lunch and you forgot your lunchbox in your Mom's car, so I gave you half of my lunch, and Aiden got mad that I gave you my lunch and he didn't have a chance because he was late getting to our table."

I nod, urging him to continue.

"I don't know if you remember, but we had the same forth period, all three of us, and it was like science or something, and you and I got paired for a project and Aiden got some other kid. Aiden was really angry and started yelling at me after class to switch partners. I told him no." He sighs. "After lunch I realized my phone was missing, but I wasn't concerned because I called my Mom on the way to lunch to tell her you were going to walk to the park down the street from school and that we were going to bring you home after. My parents were waiting at the park. I went to the park, but you never showed up."

I bite my lip and look down.

"By three fifteen, my Mom was worried. The school was only a five minute walk, if that, but it had been thirty minutes since school got out. My Mom called your Mom, your Mom called your brother, your brother went outside to see if you were home or something, and your cell phone was on the sidewalk outside of your bus stop." Liam swallows, and I keep my head down as I pick at the hole in my jeans, using my hair as a curtain so he can't see my face. "I remember my Mom taking me to your house and there were a ton of cops. Your Mom was crying and they kept asking them questions. They went through your phone, and you got a text from me telling you not to go to the park because I switched partners because I didn't want to work with you." Liam is quiet for a few moments and I find my throat feels tight, and I realize I'm trying not to cry. "The cops, your parents, your brother, everyone was questioning me. Aiden came over with his parents and they were asking me why I said that, and I told them I lost my phone at lunch. The police went and traced my phone to Aiden's house."