The rest of the afternoon Liam and I spent cooped up in my room, sketching out our comic strip, and then transferring our final draft onto a final white piece of paper. Our scenario was of the court system; the police have the power to arrest, the district attorney can prosecute, and the court system can judge and punish. Our comic strip was just of someone getting arrested, and then being tried in a herring.
After coloring and finishing it up we got to work on the essay paper, the both of us huddled around my computer desk, writing a rough draft on Word Document. We were just about finished with the rough draft when there was a soft tap from the other side of my door.
I turned around and saw my mom standing in the doorway, looking fondly at the two of us sitting side by side. "How's the project coming along?" she asked and I nodded my head.
"Good, we got our visual aid done, and now we're just working on the essay portion of it." I said and she nodded.
"Well, its five o'clock right now, and your father should be home soon. I think it's only polite if we invite Liam for dinner." She said to the both of us, her hand lingering on the door knob. She smiled kindly at Liam, but didn't notice how he stiffened by my side.
"It's five already?" Liam gawked, turning his eyes to the computer screen and staring pointedly at the time that was showing at the bottom right corner of the screen.
"Yeah, time flies when you're having fun, didn't you know that?" I chuckled, and he rolled his eyes. "So how bout it Liam? Are you up for some dinner?" I asked, elbowing him in the ribs. He shrunk away from me and narrowed his eyes grumpily.
"I shouldn't impose." he hinted to me, obviously not interested in the idea.
"Oh no, you wouldn't be imposing at all! I insist you eat with us." My mother pressed, and Liam looked pleadingly at me, although I couldn't help but grin.
"Yeah Liam, she insists." I smirked, and he shot me a murderous glare.
"Okay." He said through gritted teeth, although my mother didn't notice his tone.
"Great! I'm just making come pork chops and mashed potatoes, does that sound alright?" she asked the both of us, though I knew her question was mostly directed towards Liam. He nodded silently and she bobbed her head up and down before backing out of the doorway. "Okay, I'll call the two of you down when it's ready." And with that she shut the door, leaving me at the mercy of Liam, who looked like he was about to bust his top.
"Dinner?!" he growled, jumping up from his seat and running his fingers through his hair angrily.
I looked innocently up at him and pouted like I didn't know why he was so mad. "What's wrong with dinner?" I asked, and he shook his head with irritation.
"Damn it Aubrey, you are making this so hard!" he growled, turning away from me and grabbing his hair again, his eyes squeezed shut.
This time I really didn't know what he meant, and slowly got to my feet. "What am I making hard? Look if this is too awkward for you I can take you home-" however at that he wheeled around, his face contracted with what looked like anguish.
"You think this is awkward for me? Aubrey, I haven't enjoyed myself this much in years." His voice faltered, and I froze, my hand hovering over my heart with apprehension. "You are making it so hard for me to be unattached!" he explained further, running his fingers through his hair only causing it to stand on end more than usual.
My face softened and turned pink. "Liam, I'm not trying to make it hard on you. I'm not forcing you to be my friend, I mean this is just a project we're working on, and my mom only wants to have you for dinner. It's not like I'm making you sign a friendship agreement in blood..." I spoke softly, fidgeting around with my feet uncomfortably.
I spared him a glance and it looked like he had calmed down a bit, his face a little less pinched. "I know it's just... this is all new to me. I am really good at distancing myself from people, and usually they don't try to do anything about it. But it's like you won't give up..." he said tiredly, stuffing his hands into his pockets.
I shrugged my shoulders and crossed my arms over my stomach. "It's just dinner Liam." I said finally, watching his body relax. After a moment of the two of us just looking at each other, his shoulders fell and he walked back to the chair beside me, sitting down with a huff.
"Alright, let's just finish this and work up an appetite." He grumbled, taking over the computer mouse. A small smile found my lips and I sat back down in my chair, gluing my eyes back to the computer screen.
It was around 5:45 when my dad got home, and by that time we had finished our final draft, proof read it two or three times, and printed it out. I arranged the comic strip and essay evenly on my computer desk, ignoring Liam's sneer, and went down to the kitchen with Liam when my mother called for us.
Dinner wasn't too bad. Being the bottomless pit that Liam was, he had three helpings of pork and potatoes, flattering my mother's cooking ego much in the process. My father, usually pretty quiet during dinners, asked Liam a few questions about school, thankfully not getting too personal with his questions. When all the food was gone and our stomachs were full, my mother set Liam and me to work on the dishes, the job I usually got landed with every night.
Liam and I stood in front of the sink, full with dirty dishes, water, and dish soap, and yellow, rubber gloves covering our hands. I gave Liam the job of drying while I scrubbed the food off since he seemed so strange about it all. Apparently, he had never successful washed a dish in his life because Clifford, his butler, always refused to let Liam help with anything.
"Geeze, you really are some kind of royalty." I chuckled as I finished washing the last plate, running a scratchy sponge over a white porcelain plate to get it clean.
Liam groaned and took the clean plate out of my hand, running a dish towel over it to get it dry. "No, I'm just spoiled. I try to help, but it's impossible with Clifford around. He babies me too much." he scoffed, still rubbing the plate to get all the water off.
I chuckled and swooped my hand through the bubbles that had rising out of the soap water, puckering my lips and then blowing the suds at Liam. The bubbles flew into Liam's face, popping on his hair and cheek. He jumped and turned towards me, eyes flashing dangerously at me.
"I bet Cliff would be absolutely furious if he found out itty baby Liam had to wash dishes, and got all soapy because of it." I teased, swiping up some more bubbles. But before I could blow that at him he reached forward and knocked my hand up so that the bubbles were forced into my face.
I squealed and hopped backwards, feeling the suds dripping from the tip of my nose. I took off my rubber gloves and threw them to the ground, wiping my face clear of the bubbles and then glaring devilishly at Liam, who looked like he was having trouble holding in laughter. "Yeah, yup it up Your Majesty!" I scoffed, quickly grabbing a hand full of suds and blowing them at him.
He laughed and lunged forward, taking my wrists in his hands and running me backwards and away from the sink, his laughing face just inches from mine as I felt my back hit against the counter. He just stood there in front of me, the both of us beaming breathlessly at each other, until a loud jingle irrupting into the kitchen.
Liam let go of my wrists and quickly took off his rubber gloves, sending one hand into his pocket and bringing out a small, silver cell phone. He opened it up and pressed it to his ear, walking the gloves up to the sink were he set them aside. "Yes?" he said into the phone, leaning up against the counter.
"Yeah, I finished the project and just got done having dinner." Liam answered the person on the other line. He scratched the back of his head and nodded. "Yes they invited me." he paused to allow the other person to speak. "No, I won't be needing dinner when I get home." He answered once again, starting to look a little irritated.
He rolled his eyes. "Cliff, if I eat another bite of food I swear I'll burst. Save your energy." He groaned, and at this I giggled.
Of course, it was Clifford.
Liam listened to cliff for a second before his eyes found mine. "What's your address?" he asked me and I straightened up where I stood.
"57893 w. Terrance street. The neighborhood is called Cotton Wood." I answered him automatically, and Liam repeated it to Clifford.
With a nod Liam pushed himself off from the counter. "Alright, I'll see you soon. Bye." With that he flipped the phone shut and looked at me with a shrug. "Cliff is going to come pick me up." He answered my questioning look and at this I frowned.
"Awe, I could have taken you home you know." I said, and though I almost went on to tell him I knew exactly where he lived, I figured that would have raised a few unnecessary questions.
Liam shrugged and I walked forward, reaching into the sink and pulling up the plug to let the water drain from the basin. "Cliff said it would be rude since you guys already fed me." he said simply but at this I chuckled.
"He makes it sound like we slaved over making your meal." I giggled and he shook his head.
"That's Cliff for you. Can't find a more courteous guy in the world..." he trailed off as I rinsed my hands under some cool water from the faucet. I turned the water off and dried my hands on a paper towel before turning to look at Liam.
"Well, we can wait outside for him to get here if you'd like." I sighed simply and he nodded.
"Alright." He agreed and together we walked out of the kitchen and made it to the front door.