A World of Differences [1DFF]

Chapter 51

I looked uneasily at my phone that was buzzing in my hand. The picture of Liam flashed before my eyes and instantly the sick feeling was back.

"ANSWER IT!" Maddie screamed again. "We were leaving anyway," she grabbed Ryan's wrist and yanked him off the sofa.

"What? No we weren't! The game isn't even half way over!" he pouted, pointing to the soccer math that was on TV.

"Then we'll go watch it in my room," Maddie exaggerated through her clamped teeth. "Now come on!"

Ryan shrugged at me smiling.

My phone was still ringing in my hand. I had forty-five seconds to answer it before it would cut to voicemail.

"Want me to leave too?" Charlie looked up from his text book.

"Erm, you don't have to," I winced. The majority of his good friends had gone on a school trip for the week. He was unable to go because he lacked his parents' financial support. If I kicked him out, he would have to go sit with Maddie and Ryan by himself. Third wheeling is never fun.

He sighed, "It's okay Char. You work it out with, Payne. I don't like seeing you so unhappy. It annihilates my good mood." He winked. His words and facial expressed caused me to laugh.

"That's the smile I want back," he gently tapped my nose. "So answer your phone."

He gathered his book from the floor and shut the door quietly behind him.

I took a deep breath and answered the phone. There was no point in avoiding him.

Liam's POV

"Hi Liam," her voice was low with a hint of disappointment.

"Hey," I croaked. "How are you?"

"Well, I've been better." Her voice held no emotion.

"Yeah I bet. Look I just wanted to say I'm sorry, and I was wondering if you'd let me explain?"

She took a deep breath, the air she let out causing the sound it caused the speaker to fuzz. "It's only fair that I listen," still no emotion to her voice.

So I started into the story that I had run through my head various times in the past twenty fours. "I didn't lie about being broken after Danielle cheated. I was crushed. It was like a paralyzing pain that never left. But I didn't want to have to deal with that pain. I wasn't strong enough to put up with it, so I knew that there was one way out, and that was to find someone who could fill the position that Danielle had left behind. That's obviously where Lauren comes in."

"About a week passed and I just couldn't take it anymore. I had actually escaped from a rehearsal early and gone out back to cry. Lauren was the one that came to find me."

About Five Months Earlier

The hot sun beat down on my tear streaked face. I put my hands over my ears blocking out the sound of my pathetic sobs.

It shouldn't hurt this much. Suck it up you will be fine. Get over it Liam, she wasn't worth it.

But no matter what I told myself, the tears kept coming. The wracking sobs shook my abdominal as I collapsed against the wall. The pain was unbearable. Every manly instinct I had told me to suck it up and put on a brave face, but the pain, the pain told me otherwise.