Chapter 24
Alexis' locker remained wide open as she collected her books for her first class. My head rested against the locker next to hers as I waited for her to finish. The hallway was filled with chatter as other students were grabbing their materials for their first class as well. Glancing over at Alexis, I noticed that she had one too many books in her hand.
"Why are you carrying all of those books?", I asked her as she struggled to shut her locker with the huge pile she was carrying.
"These are my books for my first, second, and third class", she informed me as if I should have already known.
"And the reason you are carrying them all right now is?"
"I don't think I can make it to my locker between classes, so I bring all my books with me just in case, and then I grab my afternoon books after lunch."
"You're crazy", I laughed as she rolled her eyes at me.
"It's better to be safe than sorry", she spoke as if she was full of wisdom.
"You know who you sound a lot like right now?"
"Liam", she answered for me.
"I was going to say Mia, but I guess so...", I tried to say but was cutoff by Alexis.
"No. Liam. He's standing with Millie right over there", she told me as I followed her stare.
Liam was leaning against the wall as he spoke to Millie. His stance seemed uncomfortable as he stood with his hands in his pockets and his shoulders hunched over. Her eyes were locked on his, but he kept his attention focused at the ground. Suddenly, his eyes flickered over this way. He tried to study my expression, which I'm sure was a mixture of confusion and disappointment, and he almost looked... apologetic.
But that quickly changed. Confidence overpowered him as he stood up straight, removed his hands from his pockets, and combed his fingers through his hair. He touched Millie's arm with his hand and began to laugh as if Millie had actually said something funny. His eyes kept darting back over to where I stood to make sure I was still watching.
"Come on Alexis. I don't want to stand here all day", I stated abruptly as I began to walk in the opposite direction from where Liam was.
"Sophia..", she began to say as we walked.
"I don't want to talk about it", I might have said a little too aggressively.
She nodded her head in agreement but didn't say another word. She simply followed me down the hall, and we walked the short distance to my first class in silence. I mumbled a goodbye to her once I stepped into my Literature class, and she then took off to go find her class.
Not long after I took my seat, Liam walked in with Millie. The smile he wore was obviously fake, but he still continued his petty charade. Sighing in frustration, I crossed my arms on the desk and rested my head on top. The class hadn't even started yet, and I was already wishing for it to be over. I found myself doing that a lot, wishing for time to go by faster.
Just then, the school bell rang, and the rest of the class scurried into their seats. "Everyone turn to Chapter 2 and start to read the chapter", Mrs. Robertson instructed us. Reluctantly, I opened my textbook to Chapter 2.
This was going to be a long day.
A long day turned into a long week, and by the time Thursday rolled around, I was about ready to pull my hair out.
Every single time I saw Liam with Millie, it created a knot in my stomach, and I had this urge to just... punch the girl. Of course I would never do that, but I felt so... envious every time she touched Liam. They seemed to grow closer over the course of four days, and they were practically inseparable.
Liam couldn't have possibly fallen for her; this has to be some sick way of trying to get back at me for agreeing to go to the dance with Chase. I knew that I shouldn't have said yes, but I was so infuriated with Liam, and I never meant to hurt him. That's what different here. Liam only agreed to go with Millie out of spite. For him, this was just another way to get revenge.
For once, as I sat in the lunchroom, Liam sat without Millie by his side. Before I could tell myself that this was a bad idea, my instincts had walked my feet over to where Liam was seated. His eyes trailed slowly up to meet mine, and the look on his face was expressionless. Setting his sandwich down, he asked, "Can I help you?".
Rolling my eyes, I shifted my stance so that I was resting on my right foot, and I folded my arms across my chest. "I know what you're doing", I coolly replied.
"And what's that, love?", he asked as he folded his hands and leaned both of his elbows on the table. He was really pushing my patience here.
"You know what I'm talking about."
"I'm not a mind-reader, Sophia", was his snarky comeback.
"It's good to know you still remember my name", was mine. Taking a seat directly across from Liam, I folded my hands on the table, mirroring him, and I crossed one leg over the other.
"Well, you sure made yourself comfortable."
"I just thought that if I was going to have a civilized conversation with you, I better get on your level."
His eyes rolled and his eyebrows raised as he looked over to the side. Going along with the sarcasm, he replied, "So now that you're on my level, what's there to talk about?"
"Can we just stop this pointless back-and-forth arguing? I honestly came here to talk to you."
"Like I just asked: What's there to talk about?"
Glancing right and left to make sure certain people weren't around, I then proceeded to ask him, "Why are you pretending to be interested in Millie?"
His voice was low as he answered with a question, "How do you know I'm pretending?"
What? Of course he's pretending. I mean, it's Millie we're talking about here. Someone like Liam doesn't fall for someone like Millie. There's no way Liam was being honest here.
"I don't know. I could even be falling in love with her", Liam proclaimed taking advantage of my silence.
Now I knew that wasn't true. "Yeah right. You're just using Millie to make me jealous, and we both know that."
"Oh, and you're not doing the same with Chase?"
"I didn't agree to go to the dance with Chase out of spite."
"So you don't like Chase?" His eyes lit up with what looked like a glimmer of hope.
I don't know. Did I? I liked him last year, but that was before Liam was around. "I don't know", I huffed as I buried my head in my arms. My head rested against the table as I squeezed my eyes shut as if that would block everything out. "I don't know", I mumbled. "I don't know anything anymore."
"What you mean 'I don't know'?", Liam questioned.
Lifting my head up to look him in the eyes, I replied, "I don't know how I feel. This is all so confusing to me, and it's all because of you."
"Because of me?", he scoffed.
"Yes. Because of you, I am losing my mind. You fog my vision. It's like every time I see you, I lose all sense of judgement and clarity. I can't think straight, and it's just all too much." I threw my head down in-between my arms once again so he wouldn't see the tear that had escaped from my eye. "And now my head hurts", I choked out.
It caught me by surprise when I felt a hand begin to rub my back soothingly. "It's okay", I heard Liam's calm voice whisper in my ear. I peered my head up to see that Liam had sat down next to me on my side of the table, and now he was trying to comfort me by rubbing circles on my back. "It's okay", he continued to reassure me as I leaned myself in closer to him. My head now rested on his chest, and we just sat there as he continued to hold me.
"I'm sorry", I whispered almost inaudibly, but I'm pretty sure Liam heard.
I was positive he had heard when he whispered, "Me too".
For a moment, I thought that everything was okay again. For a moment, it seemed like there weren't any problems anymore. For a moment, we were at peace.
But that sense of tranquility quickly dispersed when the irritating voice of Millie snapped us out of our blissful state. "What's going on here?"
Her knuckles were white as her fingers gripped the edge of the tray she was carrying. Thoughts of flipping that tray over and spilling the food that it contained all over her crossed through my mind, but I refrained myself from proceeding with such actions.
Knowing that Liam wasn't going to say anything because he tends to choke under this kind of pressure, I decided to answer her. "Liam was just trying to comfort me. I was, uh, sad, and he was just trying to make me feel better", I explained as I detached myself from Liam and stood up.
That answer didn't seem to completely satisfy her, but she didn't push the topic any further.
"I should go now", I stated to both of them, but more directly towards Liam. Millie took my seat at the table, and I took this as my opportunity to walk away.
Before I could walk five feet, Liam had tugged on my arm, forcing me to face him once again. "You never told me the real reason why you are going to the dance with Chase", he whispered as he leaned his head in closer so that Millie wouldn't hear.
"I don't know Liam. Maybe I'm just trying to move on." Maybe subconsciously, I was trying to prepare myself for what it would be like after Liam left. The look on Liam's face as the words I had just spoken processed through his brain was unsettling.
Before answering, he looked at me for a moment. "Maybe I'm just trying to do the same." His reply wasn't spiteful or malicious; it was sincere, almost even a little empathetic.
Liam then proceeded to sit back down next to Millie as he plastered yet another fake smile across his face. Walking out of the lunchroom, I didn't dare to look back.
Maybe Liam was right. Maybe it would be okay.
Maybe it was better for the both us to just move on.
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Next chapter will probably be the dance. I'm curious to know what you all think is going to happen at the dance and what you want to happen. Please feel free to comment your ideas and opinions.