I get into school and start looking for Aria. She hasn't responded to any of my texts, and it's starting to make me mad. I understand she was disappointed. So was I. She's the most popular girl in school. She is HOT. Captain of the cheerleading squad and on the dance team. I wanted last night to happen more than her, probably. But for her to ignore me is childish.
I get to my first class, and sit in my spot. She's there, but wont even look at me. I decide that I'm not gonna beg her. She wants to act like I don't exist? Fine. Two can play that game. Just sitting here for three seconds, I already see four girls staring at me. Not that I will act on it out of spite, but I know I have other options.
"Dude," Dax whispers as he leans towards me in his chair. "The party tonight at the beach is gonna be insane. PLEASE tell me you can make it."
"I'll be there," I say with a smug smile. I can tell Aria is listening. I was right. As soon as I say that, she whips around in her seat and glares at me.
"So you can sneak out for a party, but not for your girlfriend? Real nice Liam."
"I'm at my dad's tonight. I've already told you this, Ar, I can only sneak out when I'm at my dad's." I say, getting annoyed again. I can feel the entire class listening to our conversation. Unfortunately for me, when two popular kids are fighting, it gains the attention from everybody.
"Mr. Clark, Miss Hale, class has started. Unless you would like to finish your discussion up in detention, I suggest you quit talking," Mrs. Greiner warns.
"Yes Ma'am," I say, acting like I feel bad.
The rest of the class goes by slowly. Greiner is dull, and she spits when she talks. I kinda feel bad for the kids that got assigned to the front of the class. I'm sure they're getting drenched.
The bell rings and I rush out; I don't feel like rehashing my reasons for canceling on Aria again. I don't see her again until lunch.
I'm fully expecting her to sit with her group of friends, instead of coming over to where I am. To my surprise, though, she does. "I'm sorry," she says as she sits down and stares at me, looking deep into my soul.
I sigh and take her hand in mine. "I'm sorry too. I wanted to be there," I say, leaning over to give her a kiss.
"I just don't get it. Your mom's nice. Why're you so scared to sneak out of her house?"
I understand why she's confused. I'm still refusing to tell her that my mom would spank me for that. There's just some things that are too embarrassing to tell your girlfriend.
"Yeah, my mom's nice, but I'd be grounded for forever. My dad wouldn't care if he found out I snuck out. My mom would."
"Ok, so you get grounded. Just sneak out again. What's the worst that could happen?" She asks. Clearly she's never been spanked before.
"Look, my mom's nice, until she gets mad. Then she's scary. I just don't feel like dealing with it, ok? If you can't just accept the fact that I don't wanna sneak out of my mom's house, then just invite some other guy over to your house next time," I snap.
She's not normally so pushy. I don't like being pressured into doing something I don't wanna do. Even though she's hot, she's making me mad.
"Ok. Fine. Will I see you tonight at the beach, at least?"
"Yes ma'am," I say with my very best crooked smile. Normally that smile gets me the girls. Or gets them to forgive me—It works like a charm. I can hear her breath hitch as she leans over to give me a small kiss.
~*~
The rest of the day goes pretty quickly, and before I know it, dad's picking me up.
"What's up champ?" Dad asks as I get in.
"Hey dad"
"How was your night with mom?"
"Fine. I just did homework all night."
"How was she? Did she seem nervous?"
My parents don't have your typical "Ex" relationship. They still really love each other. They're not "in love," but they genuinely love each other.
"She seemed fine last night, but I could tell she was pretty nervous this morning," I say, remembering how spastic she was.
"She'll be fine. I haven't met a person yet who was immune to her charm."
"Have any homework?" He asks after a minute.
"Yeah, quite a bit, actually," I say annoyed. It's Friday. Don't teachers have anything better to do than to make our lives miserable?
"I didn't get math done, so I've got detention on Monday."
I was at dad's for three nights this week, and only at mom's yesterday. I'm so behind on homework, I wasn't able to get my math done last night.
Dad sighs quietly. "Well, I was hoping to hang out tonight. Will you be able to get it all done this weekend?"
Mom isn't gonna be happy about this—But I'm not gonna turn him down. "Yeah, no problem," I say with a smile.
"Great!"
The rest of the night we spent at the movies, dinner, and arcade. By the time I "went to bed" I was actually tired enough I could've fallen asleep.
Thankfully dad turned in when I did, and after about 15 minutes, I could hear him snoring. Once he's snoring, he's gone. I can sneak out easily and he won't have a clue. I leave and head for the beach.
~*~
The night was amazing. Aria was there, along with most of my friends. The drinks went down smoothly, and before I know it, it's almost 4 am and I need to get home. I get a senior to drive me home, and I jump in the shower to try and get the alcohol smell off of me. Dad might not notice, but mom will. She'll be here at 9 to pick me up.
I crawl into bed to try and get a couple hours of sleep before mom gets here.
Before I know it, my alarm is going off and my head is pounding. I've got such a bad hangover. Hopefully I can hide this from mom.
I can hear her and dad talking in the kitchen, and she sounds like she's in a good mood.
"Hey mom!" I say as I come out of my bedroom and go to give her a hug.
"Hey bud," she says, her eyes lighting up when she sees me, hugging me back
"You ready to go?"
"Yeah," I say as I get my book bag from dad and give him a hug goodbye. As much as I hate to admit it, I'm kinda looking forward to being at mom's for the next few nights. I'm tired—My head hurts and I'm running on just a few hours of sleep. Sleeping all night for the next few nights will feel nice.
We chat some on the way home. I tell her about my history test and she tells me about her first day. I think she had a good day. She said that the people were all nice and that she thinks her partner is gonna be a good friend one of these days. I secretly hope so. I think she's really lonely.
We get home and start walking down the hallway, almost to our door, when suddenly I hear someone chuckling.
I turn around and see a tall and intimidatingly muscular man smiling intently at my mom.
"So you're the new neighbor," he says, crossing his arms as he continues to stare at her.
Mom's body language stiffens immediately.
"So you're the neighbor who plays his music too loud," she says, pretty rudely. My mom's not rude. She's ALWAYS nice. She must be really sick of this guy's music for her to talk like that.
"You must be Liam, it's nice to meet you," he says, finally breaking his gaze away from her and staring at me. How the heck does he know who I am?
"Liam, this in Lieutenant Taylor Preston," Mom says, introducing him. "He works at the firehouse."
I smile at him, but I don't really understand the hostility. She told me everyone was nice at the station.
"Looks like we're gonna be seeing a lot of each other," Lieutenant Preston smirks. He likes her. He really likes her.
I don't like to think about my mom like that, but I know that she attracts most men. She always has men staring at her, so it isn't a surprise to me that this guy likes her. Hell, most of my friends have told me how hot they think she is.
What surprises me is that I think she might like him back. The way she seems agitated...And angry. I actually think my mom likes this guy.
"Looks like it," she says as she lightly grabs my arm and pushes me into the apartment. She follows behind me and shuts the door.
"What was that about?" I ask, going to the fridge to grab some juice.
"What was what about?" She asks, playing innocent
"Why were you so rude to him? I thought you said that everyone was nice at the house."
"Everyone was nice. I just don't like him," she says simply as she heads to the fridge to grab a soda.
"Why? He seemed nice."
"He IS nice—But he's cocky. Please tell me you won't be like that when you get older."
I just stare at her for a minute, trying to decide what she's talking about.
"Just because you're good looking, doesn't mean you need to act like you're better than everyone," she says as she sits down and takes a sip of her drink.
"So you think he's good looking," I say with a smirk.
She stutters for a moment before she takes a breath and starts over.
"I'm not having this conversation with you. I don't like him, I think he's arrogant. End of story."
I know enough to leave it alone. I don't need to get a lecture while dealing with a massive headache.
I go to my room and lay down for a bit. Last night was sure fun, but I'm paying the price now.