It was now mid-March, three weeks after Quinn's passing and I still hadn't healed and don't think I ever will. Her funeral was short and sweet but very emotional, too. These past few weeks have been really gloomy and uneventful until today. Asher and I were walking to class when we started talking about our pizza date that never got rescheduled. "Skye, I don't think we should go out," Asher said. My heart dropped. I mean, it's not like I liked him a lot, but why would he cancel our date? "I see the way you two look at each other and it's obvious you are meant to be together," he added. "Who?" I asked. "You and Liam," he answered.
"Liam and I do not look at each other in any certain way," I scoffed. "Yes, you do, whether you want to admit it or not. I like you, Skye, but that boy is clearly in love with you, and I don't want to get in the way of that." "He does not love me! He likes me, but it's nothing serious," I said trying to convince him and myself. "You're so much like Emma," Asher said to me. "Emma who?" I asked, confused by who he was talking about. "Emma in Jane Austen's book, the one who doesn't realize that her true love is right in front of her all along. You and Liam are meant to be, you just need to realize it before it's too late," Asher continued saying. His words actually sounded wise to me. Was I really like Emma and overlooking the guy for me was right in front of my eyes all along?
A few hours later, I saw everyone in my grade getting this invitation to a party. I soon found out it was Kendra's sweet sixteen party. Kendra and I were in the same friend group, why were strangers getting an invitation and I wasn't? I tried to not think about it too much but couldn't help but wonder. When I got home that night, I found the invitation in my mail box, so that was good. I asked Luna if she was going so we were going to go in the same car.
On Saturday night, at Kendra's party, it was this huge room with loud music blaring and neon lights everywhere. It looked like a nightclub and I could see there was clearly alcohol here. Maybe coming to this party was a bad idea. Luna caught up with some other friends and I was left standing alone in a crowd full of people. However, through all the people dancing, I could see a blonde-headed guy sitting down at this table. His back was faced toward me but I could tell it was Liam. What would Liam be doing at a party like this? I started to walk up to him but soon stopped in my tracks. I don't know why but I was nervous. So, I ended up walking away before he could see me and formed myself into a conversation with Luna and some of our other friends.
After about thirty minutes, I decided that I should probably leave because I wasn't having any fun and I was really tired. So, I sneaked out one of the back doors after calling my brother to pick me up. When I was getting into his car, he asked me, "Was it really that bad?" "No, it was fun, I'm just tired and I wasn't having a good time," I answered him. A few minutes later, after we were about half way home, I got a text from Liam.
Liam: Did you leave?
Skye: I wasn't having any fun and didn't have anyone to talk to
Liam: I would've made sure you had fun
Skye: You were a little busy dancing with your friends
Liam: I would've sat down and talked to you the entire time if that's what you wanted
I was reading those words he just texted me and I was so thankful to have someone like Liam. What did I do to deserve this guy? I wanted to go back to the party at this point but decided not to since it was almost midnight. The cops ended up breaking the party up and caught them with the alcohol so some of the students were under suspension. Thankfully, Luna and Liam got out of there in time to not get caught.
"Are you going to the baseball game today?" Luna asked me at school on Monday. "Yeah, I was planning on it, are you?" I asked her. "I don't think so, I have to work." "Oh, that's fine," I respectfully responded. "But you should have Liam go with you," she added. "Why?" I asked her. "I don't know, it'll give you two the chance to hang out," she said. So, I asked Liam if he was going to go, I mean why wouldn't he? His brother is on the team. "Are you going because of my brother?" he asked. "What? No, I haven't liked your brother since freshman year, I was just gonna go to support the team," I answered him. "Okay, I guess I'll go," he responded.
At the baseball game that night, I was sitting in the bleachers next to Kendra and Kayla, waiting to see if Liam would show up. He finally showed up within a few minutes and sat next to me. "What did I miss?" he asked with a smile. "Nothing has really happened yet," I answered him. Within the next few minutes, it started raining. And I don't mean just raining, it started heavily pouring. The baseball guys ran back into the dugout and ended up cancelling the game for today. Everyone was out of the ballpark except for me and Liam. I looked up and saw the raindrops fall, feeling like it was a scene in a movie. "Do you have anywhere to go?" Liam asked me. "No, my brother is supposed to pick me up after the game," I said. He didn't have anywhere to go either, and the ballpark was now empty since the parents and fans had gone home. "Well, then, let's go," he continued. "Go where?" I asked as he was taking me onto the field. He started running through the rain, with me following after him. We ran on the field and played in the rain for probably twenty minutes before my ride picked me up. It was so magical and I knew that he was the one for me. I didn't care about getting hurt anymore. I needed to take a chance on this guy because I'm 100% sure Liam Turner is the guy for me.
I decided that I was going to tell him how I felt the next day.
The next day was Friday and was the last Friday of school. I need to tell him how I feel. It's the right time. I am prepared to open my heart up to him. I've already opened myself up to him but now I'm prepared to admit my feelings to myself and to him. As I walked into Computer Science, I asked Liam if I could talk to him after school. "Sure," he said with a smile. After class, I stopped him outside of the school and attempted to tell him how I felt. Before I could say anything, he stopped me. "Look, I have to go, sorry." Knowing this was the last day of school, I wouldn't see him over the summer unless I asked him to. I was confused as to why he didn't want to hear what I had to say, but he probably had somewhere to be.
So, that night I texted him asking him if he wanted to go do something the next week.
Skye: Will you be in town next week?
Liam: Yeah, probably
Skye: Do you want to go to the park?
Liam: Actually, I forgot, I'll be out of town
Skye: Oh, well I hope you have fun, where are you going?
He didn't respond to my text which made me think he was just making it up. Why would he lie about going somewhere and why would he do it to get out of hanging out with me? He was acting really weird today but I guess he's just in a bad mood. He'll be back to normal soon.
After a few days, I let him have some time to get to normal so I could tell him what I was trying to on Friday.
Skye: Can we meet somewhere so I can talk to you about what I was going to say on Friday?
Liam: You can't talk on here?
Okay, that was kind of rude, but I'm going to let it go, I thought to myself. Just tell him, Skye, don't think about it too much.
Skye: Okay, I like you. I was scared before but I've now finally realized how much you mean to me. It's always been you, Liam, no one else. I know it took me a while to realize it but I'm here now and I'm not going anywhere. You're the guy for me Liam Turner.
Liam: That's nice, is that supposed to mean something?
Skye: Wait, what?
Liam: Save it, I really don't care
I couldn't believe what I was reading. We had been fine just five days ago and now he was acting like a totally different person. Is it something I said? Something I did? What was going on with this guy? He's never had an attitude for this long. I decided to move on what happened and continue to be friendly to him. I also continued to invite him to places. I invited him to play golf with my friends, but he said it wasn't his thing. I also invited him to go bowling, but he never answered. I texted him again about bowling because I wanted him to answer me and not just ignore me like a coward.
Skye: Are you coming?
Liam: What do you think?
Skye: I'm guessing not
Liam: Good job, you got something right for once
He was being such a jerk and it had been two months since school had ended for the summer. What was this guy's problem and why can't he just let me know what's wrong? He got like this a little bit freshman year, but it never lasted more than two weeks.
That night, I found the paper where he first gave me his number. I started to cry because I didn't know what was happening or if we would ever get back to normal. How can our friendship go upside down just overnight?