I slipped on the dress Becky had chosen and Liam had technically bought. It fit pretty smoothly and was quite comfortable- for a dress.
Becky held the curling iron and wrapped locks of my hair around it.
“Hold still” she reminded me.
I sighed.
“How much longer? We’re gonna be late” I nagged quietly.
Becky gave me one of her looks.
“Relax, just two more seconds” she told me.
I sighed again and fidgeted with a bracelet on my wrist.
I tried not to think about those green-grey marbles. Those dimples. Those dark curls.
Harry wasn’t here. And he wasn’t going to come, so I don’t know why I thought thinking about him would magically make him appear.
“Maybe he’ll come later” Becky spoke quietly.
I looked down into my lap and shook my head slightly, making sure not to ruin the waves she had so carefully been crafting.
Becky let the subject drop and continued to work.
Another minute passed and I just kept looking into my hands, intertwining them the way I would with Harry’s sturdy, beautiful hands.
“Ok. All done!” Becky almost squealed and woke me up from my insanely desperate reverie.
I stood up quickly. Too quickly.
Then I turned and looked at my reflection.
I tilted my head slightly to the side and squinted, trying to decide whether I liked the dress better on the rack or if it did really looked good on me.
“Wow, Angela, you look… amazing” a deeper voice commented.
I turned around quickly as my heart leaped into my throat.
But it wasn’t him.
Liam stood by the door quietly.
“Oh, I didn’t mean to interrupt” he mumbled slightly as he realized that neither me nor Becky had heard him by the door.
“She does, doesn’t she?” Becky whispered loudly to Liam, as if I couldn’t hear them.
I looked at her and she winked.
“And you look great, too, Becky” Liam added with his shy smile.
Becky moved a stray lock of her from her shoulder.
“I know” she laughed. “And that’s the dress that you bought for her” Becky added.
Liam looked down at my dress again, carefully like he was trying to determine how much he liked his own gift.
“Thanks for the dress” I smiled.
Liam glanced at the floor and stuck his hands in his pockets slightly uneasily.
“I’m glad I was able to give you something you wanted” he told me quietly. He sounded like he meant something more, but my heart was still beating rapidly out of my chest, making it hard to hear anything but a “lub-dub.”
Becky intertwined her fingers with his and leaned her head against Liam’s shoulder.
Liam wrapped his arm around Becky, holding her gently to him. They looked so good together. They looked at ease- well, Becky was always at ease. And Liam never was, so they evened each other out.
They both just stood there and looked at me.
“What?” I asked after about two long awkwardly silent seconds.
Liam smiled shyly.
Becky tugged at Liam’s arm and took my hand until we stood close in a sort of triangle.
“We haven’t changed a bit” Becky laughed, breaking the awkward silence.
Liam looked at me, then back down at his shoes.
“No. I guess not” he agreed sheepishly.
Becky laughed and she wrapped an arm around me and Liam, pulling the three of us closer together.
“That’s a good thing” I spoke up.
Becky and Liam smiled warmly at me.
“I don’t want us to ever change” I told them.
And the three of us stood there a moment in our group hug. Liam wrapped his arm around Becky’s waist and had his other arm around my shoulders. He rubbed my shoulders slightly, reassuringly.
“Mean either, but we’ll have to” he solemnly agreed to disagree.
I looked into his eyes a moment. There was an unmistakable fear in those brown pools of warmth.
“Liam, what’s wrong?” I asked him quietly. He slowly lowered his arm from my shoulders and looked away from me.
There was a knock at the door.
We all turned to see Zayn holding a joint between his two fore fingers.
He batted those long lashes and puffed a circle of smoke.
I coughed in protest. He knows my rules against smoking. Especially the illegal goodies he always seemed to have on him.
“Ready for the first day of the rest of your lives?” he asked rhetorically in his deep, sing-song voice.
“Oh, yeah, for sure” Becky laughed in complete amusement.
“Zayn-” I began in a slow, steady voice.
“I know, I know. Just. One. Last” he nodded quickly and took his final drag.
A cloud of smoke circled around his eyes and up his jet black quiff, literally giving him that smoky eye look that took Becky so long to do on me. (Which is because I refused to let her make me look like a Kardashian and half because it actually takes some time).
Then he stomped the cigarette out and picked up the ashes with a napkin.
“Danny needs help with the…flowers or something. I don’t know I forgot man” he laughed and shook his head at his drug-induced forgetfulness.
“I’ll help him” Becky offered and she made her way downstairs.
Zayn laughed again before following Becky down.
Liam took a deep breath and began pacing the room.
“Liam, are you ok?” I asked again and took a cautious step closer.
He shook his head quickly and took quick breaths.
“Liam, your hands are shaking” I commented quietly, which only seemed to make him more nervous.
I reached for his hand and held it in mine.
He was really shaking. I placed my other hand over his, holding his like a sandwich between both of mine. I felt his hand start to calm down.
He took a deep breath and looked into my eyes quickly, then darted his glance away.
“I’m fine” he lied and he continued to pace my room.
“Liam” I spoke steadily and rested my hand on his shoulder, hoping to get him to tell me what was wrong.
He stopped pacing and looked at me a moment. He opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it again.
“Angie” he began slowly as he took deep, more even breaths.
“Liam, what’s wrong?” I asked again.
“I can’t” he told me as he shook his head. “I can’t do this speech” he admitted between deep breaths.
“Oh,” I breathed a sigh of relief. He was just nervous about his speech. I thought it was something horrible like a death or an illness.
I almost wanted to smile because he looked so much like a lost puppy the way he was trembling and darting glances at me and the floor. And I wanted to comfort him in his moment of uncertainty.
“Yes, you can, Liam. Your speeches are always amazing” I reassured him and rubbed his shoulder slowly. And I wasn’t lying in the least. Liam could speak to a crowd. But what’s more, he could make them listen. Really listen to his words.
“You’ll be great” I smiled, but that only made it worse.
“No. I can’t. The little classroom speeches are fine, but not this. There’s-there’s like a thousand people in this crowd” he stuttered.
I took his hand and made him sit down.
“Liam, look at me” I told him steadily. I don’t know where I suddenly got my confidence from, but wherever it was, it was helping Liam.
He glanced up into my eyes carefully, like I might curse him if he looked too long.
“Liam, you know how to command a stage with your words. You know how to make people look at you and listen. You can do this” I told him in a more commanding voice. I wanted him to know how good he was. How strong he is.
Liam looked down at his hands and nodded slowly.
“You’re valedictorian. You’ve worked so hard to get this. And you deserve it” I told him honestly. He really did deserve every clap of applause and rose petal that he will get from his family and friends today.
He nodded and glanced at me.
“Just look at one person in the crowd. The only person you want to see” I advised him kindly.
He looked up into my eyes quickly and didn’t dare blink; it was like he was slightly afraid of looking away.
“I will” he nodded slowly, letting his confidence and charisma sink back into those soft brown eyes of his.
“Good” I smiled.
Then he wrapped his arms around me and hugged me.
“Thank you, Angie” he nodded close to my neck.
“You’re welcome, Liam” I smiled and patted his back.
Liam kept his arms around me for a moment longer, like he could use my body’s energy to strengthen himself.
Loud, heavy steps sounded from the doorway.
“Angela” a low, raspy voice called from the hall.
I turned to look at the tall, lean figure that stood by the door now.
Liam loosened his grip around me and let his hands rest on the bed.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing!?” Harry growled as he glared at Liam.