"You'll get used to the attention." Jay leaned in to whisper in my ear. "Plus, it won't last long. Once people get over the newness of it, they move on to the next thing."
His words weren't all that comforting. I'd been in the school for less than a half hour and every pair of eyes had fallen on me at least once, whispers following it. I hadn't cared when I was with Liam; I knew they talked, but it wasn't like we were dating, it was because I was trying to help make him a better person. With Jay, we were actually a couple, so I was letting their words affect me.
Every bit of anxiety drained from me the moment my eyes fell on Liam and Bryan in front of my locker. No fighting. No arguing. No threats. They looked to be having a genuine conversation that had both of them in a really cheery mood this morning.
I squirmed out from under Jay's arm and approached with a dramatic gasp and hand over my heart. "Did hell freeze over?"
Both boys chuckled at the comment, but Liam was who answered, "How quickly you forget what the next play is, Reese."
I frowned, "Yeah, I know what it is. But of all the people in this school, why Bryan?"
To my surprise, it was my best friend that responded this time. "Because we couldn't stand each other. What a better way for him to ace this play than to make amends and befriend the someone he so strongly dislikes?"
*
Everyone tried so hard to ignore the tension at the table, but it sat in the air so harshly that I could have taken a knife a sliced through it. I wasn't sure who it was coming from, it could have been me even, but it was making me anxious. Shay and Bri had sat chattering about makeup and TV and had continuously tried to draw me into the conversation but I zoned right out. I knew it was wrong, I should try and attempt to make myself interested in what they were, but the uncomfortable air had be stirring so much I couldn't even think straight. Though it usually did radiate off my best friend, Bryan was deep in a convo about a new Jordan drop in like six months with Andy, and Jay had started to sneak his way into it. Liam was sitting opposite of me, halfway off the bench as if he were ready to stand and leave. He hadn't said a word to me but the one sentence during our run in this morning.
He must have felt me watching him because he tore his eyes from the Courtyard and looked to me. For a second the entire room around us dissipated into the background, as if it were one of Bryan's photos. They were all a blur behind us and Liam and I were the focus. Then Jay's fingers found mine under the table and he laced his own through them, pulling me back so I was in the cafeteria beside him again.
"We're totally making the playoffs this year." Jay broke the tense silence, then trained his eyes on me. "Liam's throwing a party Friday after the game. You coming?"
The thought made me sick, but when I looked to Bryan he was already looking at me, nodding. A silent reassurance that he'd be going too and I wouldn't be left alone again.
When I turned my head and looked back to Liam, Nicola had snuck up on us at some point in the last couple minutes and sat on his lap. They were flirting quietly, a playful smirk on his face. But it didn't meet his eyes. As I watched the two of them, I couldn't help but question;
Had it ever?
*
Just when I thought the day couldn't get any weirder, Andy caught me outside the school after our last period. "Hey, Reese, hold up."
I immediately stopped and whirled around, worried, "Is Bri okay?"
I had seen her in the hall before fourth period but not since. Andy waved off my question and relief washed over me.
"She's fine. I didn't want to talk to you about Bri. I wanted to talk to you about Jay."
I crossed one arm over my chest and made a gesture with the other for him to go on.
"He's a nice guy and all, a little arrogant, but still decent, don't get me wrong. But he's just trying to get under Liam's skin. They don't really like each other too much."
I could feel my eyebrows begin to draw in confusion. "I'm still not understanding."
Andy outstretched both hands and dropped them on to my shoulders and shook me like I was a rag doll. "I don't mean it in a rude way, because you're the chilliest, kindest, funniest person I've ever met, but don't you think it's odd that not only Liam took interest in you, but Jason too? I'm just trying to look out for you and protect you in any way I can, Reese. Bri told me a little bit about your disbelief in love and your parents situation. I just want you to be cautious. I don't want to see you get your heart broken."
"I get what you're trying to say, Andy. What I don't understand is why you think it'd get under Liam's skin? We've only just recently made that big jump from acquaintances to friends."
Andy looked over his shoulder to the football field, as if he were making sure none of his teammates were eavesdropping. "You're legit the only girl Liam talks about anymore. Honestly, you're the only one he's ever really talked about in general. He mentioned the day you blackmailed him that you were totally off limits. Which I mean, come on, that's serious guy talk for she's mine."
Before I could say anything a horn sounded from somewhere in the parking lot. Andy ruffled my hair with a sad smile. "That's my cue. Just be careful, okay?"
"Andy!" I grabbed his arm just as he was preparing himself to dart across the lot. He threw a look at me over his shoulder. "Thank you."
He only response was a nod before he was across the parking lot and out of sight entirely.
**
As soon as I stepped into my house I considered turning around and calling Bryan or even Liam despite his passiveness toward me all day. Anything beat having to spend the night in a warzone.
That thought was wiped clear from my mind when I spotted the stack of boxes against the kitchen wall, my father stalking down the hall with a new box to add to them in hand. My mom was in the hall a few seconds later, her arms crossed tightly over her red sweater as she watched my father.
"What's going on?" I whispered, but I already had a pretty good idea.
My dad paused in front of the boxes, his back to me. "I'm moving out."
"Your father and I have decided it's best for all parties involved that we get a divorce."
The words hit me like a freight train and lifted a thousand pounds of my shoulders all at once. I had expected this for years, it would finally put an end to all the arguing, my mother was finally taking a stand and ending everything.
"I'm sorry?" it came out as a question, and my mother shook her head with a warning look.
My father finally turned toward me so his blue eyes burned into my own, then they fluttered shut and his shoulders fell forward. "I don't even know where to begin and try and apologize to you, Reese. I'm so sorry for everything."
"It's fine." I mumbled, averting my eyes. "If it's anything I think you guys are making the right decision."
"I've spent so much time wallowing in self-hatred, in lashing out on you and your mother I've missed out on your life." My father closed the distance between us and hugged me. "You're already so grown up. You have a boyfriend, and Prom, and your life after high school mapped out."
Not really, I thought. But said, "It's okay, Dad, really."
"I promise I'll be home every weekend to take you out and we can catch up, okay?" He assured, pulling back and gripped my shoulder.
I forced a smile. That was all he needed to start carrying the boxes out to his Porsche in the driveway. It took him a little over fifteen minutes to get everything packed into the car and he left with a kiss on my forehead and a promise that he'd be back to pick up more stuff and to take me out for dinner. I waited until his car was out of the driveway and I was staring at my mother's Subaru parked along the curb to shut the door. When I let out a shaky breath of relief my mother lifted her head from where she was hunched over in the hallway, tears staining her cheeks. I felt my lips part and I headed for her before she could fall apart beside the stair case. As soon as I hugged her she started crying, incoherent sobs of apology coming out every few seconds. My own heart was starting to break as I held the woman who had always been so strong, so perfectly poise and professional, who never shed a tear outside of the Scotts death. What I realized as I reassured my mother that she was going to be okay was that no matter how strong we try to remain, every single person had a weakness.
And as much as I refused to admit it aloud, Liam Scott was becoming mine.
**
"Andy said something really weird after school this afternoon." I blurted, then thought about what I said and brought my hands to my face and groaned.
Liam, in the midst of chewing an Airhead, raised an eyebrow. "What'd he say? Do I need to kick his ass?"
"The first thing he said was to be careful with Jay. He thinks it's weird that he's taken interest in me all of a sudden."
That was one of the things I hated about being around Liam, he made me want to tell him everything and then some.
Not getting a response this time, I dropped a Skittle into my mouth and looked at him. He'd finished chewing, but was flexing his jaw, avoiding my eyes.
"What?" I deflated. "Do you know something? Is Andy right?"
He did the most Liam thing possible and tried to redirect the subject. "What else did he say?"
Warmth crept up on me like a bad cold and I answered softly into the night, "He said the day we started the Playbook that you told the team that I was off limits. He insinuated that meant that you liked me or something."
Liam's silence was killing me, but when I looked at him again, he had dropped his head into his hands.
"What do you know, Liam?"
"I know that Jay initially started talking to you because Nicola's evil ass was pissed I was blowing her off." I slumped back against the toolbox behind me. "But I see the way he looks at you now, Reese, and I do think he genuinely likes you. It's hard not to. You're so naturally sweet, so kindhearted, just a good person in general. There aren't a lot of people in this cruel ass world that are like you, Reese."
The words escaped me before my brain could process what I was asking. "And what about you, Liam? How do you feel? Is Andy right?"
He sat there, still, gazing into thecity lights below us for a long time. Then, so quietly I had to lean into himto hear, he said, "I don't know how I feel, Reese. What I do know is that I'll killanyone that hurts you, Jason included."