Just Me - [S. Barber]

Liam's Loaded Lasagna

"Hey, Stan. What's up?" Lia asks as she approaches the boy. "I may have ruined any chances I had with Sydney." He sighs. "So, you're waiting outside the girls' bathroom?" She inquires.

"What? Oh! She just went in there and didn't wanna talk to me." He responds. "Oh. Well, I've gotta get to class, alright? I'll see you later, Stan." She places a hand on his shoulder, before making her way off.

As she walks the halls, she doesn't even take notice of the whispers going around, which were anything but nice. She only takes notice once a tall boy comes up to her.

"Damn. Didn't know you had it in ya, Lia." He holds up his hand for a high five, which she doesn't return. "I'm sorry?" She asks in confusion.

"You know, you, Caleb..." he trails off, sticking his index finger into his O shaped palm. She stares at him for a moment, before glancing at Caleb who stood with his friends across.

"Just a moment." She rolls her eyes, shoving past the boy and walking up to Caleb. "Caleb, I need to talk to you. Now." She says angrily.

He turns around with a smirk, an act around his friends. "Oh, and before you make up some lame excuse.." She trails off, turning to look at all the boys surrounding him.

"It's not true. We didn't fuck, and he's such a loser that he had to lie about it. Now, Caleb. A word." She finally manages to pull
Him aside into a separate hallway.

"You know, I thought you were a nice guy." She whisper-shouts, not wanting to draw any attention. "I am!" He argues.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah!"

"And you're absolutely sure."

"Mhm."

"Bullshit! You know that you're a fucking asshole because you had the fantastic idea to lie about what happened that night. Nothing happened! Get that into your head!" She shouts, now, causing all eyes in the hallway to look at them.

"Jeez, I don't get why you're so freaked out. I mean, a lot of girls would've loved this." He once again puts a smirk on. He's always different in front of crowds, that's what Lia hates most about him.

"I can't believe you." She shakes her head, beginning to walk away. Instead of letting her through, Caleb grabs her arm firmly.

"Let me go." She says. When he doesn't let her go, she begins to feel stress boil up inside of her once more. "I said, let me go!" She shouts. All of a sudden, his arm latches off of her and he flies halfway across the hallway. He lets out a cry as he hits the ground.

Everyone around gasps, including Lia. "Alright, everyone. Shows over." She looks down, avoiding eye contact as she shoves through the crowd of people.

"Lia!" A familiar voice calls out. She decides to ignore it, quickening her speed to class. "Hey! Wait up!" He runs up beside her.

"Hey, Stan." She sighs, looking up at him. "Hey, So... Do you..." He trails off, glancing back at the crowd still forming around Caleb, who apparently broke his leg.

"Yeah." She nods. "So, you're like Syd?" He asks. "Pretty much."

"Wow, you're a lot more calm than I expected you to be." He adds. "Look, we can talk about this later, alright? I'm not in the mood." She says, pausing for a moment.

"Yeah, sure. I'll see you later, Lee." He waves her off.

"Hey, guys?" Liam asks the two girls doing their homework at the kitchen table as he makes dinner. "Yeah?" Lia looks up.

"I was thinkin'. What if you two and Mom.... talked?" He asks, uncapping some pepper salt and spilling it into the pot. "But without being mean?"

He picks up the pot, bringing it to their table and setting it down carefully. Sydney sighs, along with Lia, the both of them remaining silent. "All day at school and stuff, I try not to say anything bad to anyone." Liam begins.

"And most of the time, no one says anything bad back to me." He fills three bowls with whatever food he created, that the girls were already unsure what it could be.

"But it's like you and Mom try to find reasons to get mad at each other." He sets down their bowls in front of them. Liam takes a seat at the opposite side from Sydney, just next to Lia.

"We're sorry you had to listen. I hated when Sydney and mom fought but... here I am joining in now." Lia sighs, glancing down at her food.

"What is this?" Sydney questions. "Well, it's macaroni, cheese, maple syrup, A1, ham, corn, margarine, cinnamon, fish sticks..." He trails off.

"What an.. interesting combination, bud." Lia chuckles, hesitantly stabbing her fork into the macaroni.

"Soy sauce, grape jelly, crushed graham crackers,"

"Oh, he's not done? Okay?" Lia sighs, leaning back in her chair. "And something in a jar in the fridge, but I'm not sure what." He concludes.

Sydney and Lia share a look of disgust. "The thing is, we actually just ate—"

"Try it before it gets cold!" He cuts in with a smile. "Ham, right?" Lia asks. "Yeah, there's ham." The boy nods.

"Yeah, So I decided I wanted to become vegetarian." She quickly says, causing Liam to send her a confused look. "Since when?"

"Since, like, right now?" She says in a questioning tone, watching in worry as Sydney takes a bite. "This is actually good." She admits.

"Like, crazy good."

"I call it 'Liam's Loaded Lasagna.'" He says confidently. "I know it's not lasagna But I just need and L-word."

"Lia, you should try it. I'm serious." Sydney looks to her sister. "Sure..if you insist." She chuckles nervously, slowly bringing the fork up to her mouth.

She slowly takes a bite, then nods. "Yeah, you're right. I guess it's not that bad." She smiles. "I've never even seen you cook before, bud." She points out.

"I know. I was too afraid." He responds. "Of cooking?" Sydney joins in. "Yeah. But, you know, then I just figured..." he trails off.

"That if you just tried it, you wouldn't be afraid anymore?" Sydney cuts in.

"How'd you know?"