by Jasmine Rose
What if I pretended that I was really sick? Liam's really kind, he wouldn't mind.
"LENA ROSE WINTER, GET DOWN HERE, LIAM HAS ARRIVED," shouted my mom loud enough for the whole neighborhood to hear.
Damn it.
I blew Tori a kiss as she whispered "Good luck."
My heels made a "click" noise on the stairs. My legs were shaking, my palms were sweating and I felt slightly dizzy. As the staircase was on the side of the door, I'd probably see Liam right away. My eyes were glued down on the stairs as I made my way down. I was afraid I'd fall.
As I stepped on the landing, I finally looked up.
Oh, how I wished I hadn't.
His hair was messy, yet perfectly falling in his eyes. The blue gems danced and twinkled in amusement, happiness and shock. He was dressed in a black tuxedo and a white shirt perfectly tucked into his pants. His hands held a bouquet of a dozen roses.
I felt woozy, just looking at him. His mouth fell when he saw me and he gaped for about 10 seconds. When I was done checking him out, my eyes met his. Liam cleared his throat and smiled at me. It was contagious.
"Utterly beautiful," he mouthed to himself, I think. I bit my lip and felt a blush rise on my cheeks. I'd momentarily forgotten my mom was still standing here. She eyed us with joy and mischievousness.
"Liam, bring her back by 11. Have fun kids," winked Mom and left us alone.
I looked at Liam through my eyelashes and saw him intently staring at me. He took the notepad and pen he always kept in his left pocket, then scribbled something down and showed it to me.
"I always believed that angels didn't exist on Earth, but you proved me wrong. You look quite perfect, as always."
Maybe it was how cheesy that line seemed, or how nervous I was, but I started uncontrollably laughing and giggling.
Liam looked at me as if I were a Martian.
"Don't look at me like that! You know why I was laughing, this line is just so cheesy!" I exclaimed, still laughing my butt off.
Surprisingly, his shoulders slumped and his expression fell. His eyes read, "I really meant that." Guilt washed over me and I immediately put my arms around him.
"I'm so so so sorry, Liam! I didn't think, I-just-" I blabbered, to be cut off by Liam's hands lifting my chin up. His expression softened and his eyes took my breath away. I could feel his hot breath.
"It's okay," moved his full, red lips.
I nodded, speechless. The way he was looking at me made me melt like ice cream exposed to 500-degree weather. If it wasn't for his hand firmly, but softly, holding my waist, I was pretty sure my wobbly legs would abandon me.
Liam released his grip and opened the door. He slightly bowed down and offered his arm to me.
He asked, lips tracing the words, "Shall we?"
I felt a surge of adrenaline pulse through my veins. I shot him a small smile and nodded.
"We shall," I replied, taking his arm.
There was a fine layer of snow outside. And with fine, I meant huge. Little snowflakes fell, twinkling in the moonlight. Sure, it was only 6, but the sun went down early in winter, here.
We headed for his black Mercedes. He opened the passenger door in a gentlemanly way.
My cheeks already hurt so much from smiling.
♥♥♥♥♥
Liam and I stepped into the gym, which had gotten a very successful makeover. There were huge snowflakes "floating" in the air. The floor had been covered by fake snow and the air just twinkled.
Apparently, we'd been the last to arrive, because everyone turned to look at us. Gasps could be heard. Girls shot Liam and me a jealous glare and boys groaned. I was still clutching the bouquet with my right hand and on Liam's arm with the other.
Tired of their stares, I yelled, "Nothing to look at here! Back to your onions." They did exactly as demanded. I was almost certain that everyone had heard about my little fights with Jonah.
Liam smirked. We headed for a spot where there were two chairs. We sat down and I could still feel Liam looking at me with that smirk of his.
"Oh, would you stop it! It's really annoying," I said, blankly staring at the dance floor. He shook his head, chuckling. His laugh, made me laugh too.
Why was I thinking this way about Liam?
Simple.
Stupid mind, please shut up.
Oh, okay. But just so you know, I know exactly why you feel like this.
Tell me why, then.
You'll figure it out on your own.
I mentally groaned. Why was everyone speaking in puzzles today?
Liam turned to me, confusion written all over his features.
"Oh, you don't want to know."
"I do," moved his lips.
I felt myself panic. I couldn't just tell him that I was feeling strange things towards him! I had to make up an excuse. If I wasn’t sure of what I was feeling for him, I was certain that telling him would be the worst option.
"Excuse me, I have to go to the little ladies' room," I mumbled, standing up.
Little ladies' room? Really, me? Really?
I went to the bathroom and locked myself in a stall. I had to regain my coolness. Oh, who was I kidding! I had no coolness to regain.
Hahaha, you're an idiot.
Shut it, you. It's all your fault. If you didn't act so dumb, I wouldn't be here; fake-peeing.
Mentally fighting with me was really annoying.
I got out, then went to the spot Liam was supposed to be in. He wasn't there.
What if he ditched me? Was I too clumsy and dumb for him?
Stop being paranoid.
Someone tapped on my shoulder. I turned to face Liam, holding two cups of punch. I sighed in relief. Of course. He was too nice to actually do any of the horrible things that popped into my imagination. I smiled and took the drink from his hand. We each took small sips.
Liam's face scrunched up. I mirrored his action. The punch was absolutely horrible.
"Come on, let's dance," I exclaimed, suddenly feeling hyper. I placed our drinks on a nearby table and took his hand. Just as we arrived on the dance floor, Don't Stop the Party by Pitbull stopped. A slow song came on. I gasped.
"It's Kiss Me!" I jumped excitedly. Liam looked at me with a cute, crooked smile.
Wait. He had to ask me to dance. But considering that he couldn’t exactly talk, I had to be the one to ask.
"May I have this dance, my handsome peanut?"
He grinned and swiftly took my waist, holding me extremely close. My breath caught in my throat.
"I thought you'd never ask," His mouth traced the words just as a small, adorable smile formed on his face.
I placed my hand on his shoulder and we swayed to the music. I constantly looked at my feet, hoping I wouldn't step on him. I was a horrid dancer.
"I'm really sorry, I'm just a really terrible dancer and I could step on your feet. I don't want to embarrass myself," I blabbered, still looking at my feet.
This felt very awkward, though. The snow increased my fear, it spread everywhere. Liam's feet reflected mine, his chuckles making me feel extremely self-conscious.
Liam lifted my head up, his eyes reading through me. I instantly relaxed but tensed at the same time. The smile wiped off his face, and he was intensely looking at me.
Was there something on my face?
I itched to touch my face, but I was unable to look away ever since Liam's eyes met mine. It felt as if Liam and I were in another world, where we were the only ones on the dance floor.
I admired his boyish features. He was just—unique. In every way possible. He was certainly the most beautiful guy I'd ever met. The most perfect one. His eyebrows furrowed and his gaze went from my eyes to something lower on my face.
My nose? Why would he be looking at my nose?
Liam was leaning closer and closer to my face. He gave a small, quirky smile, the one he knew that I had loved for a long time ago; it gave me the feeling as if he knew something that I didn't. Caressing my cheek, he lifte
d my chin; our noses almost touching. I could feel the warmth of his breath brushing the top of my lip.
Oh. He was definitely not staring at my nose. My heart's pace quickened.
Just as the last piece of the jigsaw was about to complete the puzzle of my feelings for him, I felt a cold, sticky liquid poured down my back. I gasped. The space between Liam and I was now bigger than I would’ve wanted it to be. Tears formed in my eyes, as the coldness gave me goose bumps.
"Oops?" exclaimed a squeaky female voice I instantly recognized. I turned, only to see the girl I despised most in the world, holding a now-empty cup of punch.
15
He is All I Need
“Remember to let her into your heart,
then you can start to make it better.”
~The Beatles~
Lena Rose Winter
My first friend in this school. The screechy mouse who was dating an asshole with a huge ego, but not as humongous as hers. I took in her appearance, with a disgusted smirk on my face. She was wearing a glittering, long, sparkly red dress that reached the floor.
Her hair was pulled to the side, falling on her right shoulder in cascading waves. With about a ton of make up on her face, she resembled the ugliest creature I'd ever seen in my whole life.
I was not a hypocrite. I didn't see the gorgeous girl everyone saw, I saw a frail wannabe seeking attention.
She looked like the last horcrux in Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows, weak but feeding on others to gain strength. I saw through that prideful smirk. I knew Jonah was a bad influence on her. But Stacy didn’t.
Stacy Hennings.
She crossed the line. It was now or never.
I heard gasps in the gym, every eye was once again glued on my enemy and me. Anger bubbled in me, my nostrils were flaring and my face got hot. I clenched my fist and looked at her.
"Oops? That's all you can find to say? Why did you do that, Hennings?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. My fury was not going to get out of control this time.
My eyes flickered to her hands, still holding the empty glass, clutching it for life. They were slightly shaking. This ought to be easy.
"Well? Cat got your tongue?" I smirked, crossing my arms together.
"You're a bitch," she stated, shrugging her shoulders. I felt my eyebrows go higher on my forehead.
Suddenly, a staggering Jonah appeared and slid his arm around her shoulder. He was positively drunk because his eyes were half closed and his hand held a bottle of beer.
"Heeeeey, caatfiight! Gooooo prettyyyy..." slurred Jonah, barely comprehensible. My eyes met Liam's, whose face was covered with shock, anger and anxiousness.
"I got this," I mouthed, in hopes of reassuring him. Well, I failed. He had a reason to be worried, though. Last time I talked to Jonah, my fist connected with his face.
"Nice boyfriend you got here, Hennings." Stacy shot me a death glare, before turning to Jonah.
"For your information, my man is a hundred times better than the Silent Freak here," she declared, placing a sloppy kiss on Jonah's cheek. I didn't have time to think about the fact that she'd insulted Liam, because, to everyone's surprise, Jonah shook her off, then wiped her kiss.
"Ew! I got uglyyyy cooties," he exclaimed, still wiping his cheek. My mouth fell open. So did Stacy's.
"Jonah, what do you mean by ugly?" gasped Stacy, eyeing her boyfriend. He pointed at her and grimaced.
"Youuu're ugly, dumdum."
I bit my lip from laughing. He was acting like a little kid.
This was priceless, but not as much as Stacy's expression. She recomposed from her bewilderment by wrapping her arms around his waist.
By now, the entire gym had gone wild. Everyone was hooting for Jonah.
"GUYS, GUYS. He's just drunk, he-he doesn't know what he's saying," stuttered ‘Ugly.’ Jonah shook her off for a second time. He took a deep breath, looking quite like a little kid confessing something.
"Yes, I'm drunk. And you're ugly. But yesterday and tomorrow I was and will be sober. And you'll still be ugly. If there's anyone pretty here, it's Elena. She's really pretty," said Jonah.
Pure awe was written on each student's face. Including mine. Even though he'd said my name wrong, the finger pointing in my direction confirmed his statement. Although I added a little smirk.
I took Liam's hand and advanced towards her frozen expression. She looked like a fish, her mouth forming a perfect O.
I patted her back, feeling pity. "I'll repeat again, just for you, Stacy. Nice boyfriend you've got here." She whimpered, sounding like a lost puppy.
All of a sudden, I remembered why I was here.
The sticky substance on my back.
I let go of Liam's extremely soft, warm hand and eyed the room for the item I needed.
Liam handed me exactly what I was looking for, with a knowing smile.
I approached Stacy, who was still frozen. Jonah had left her to hang out with random people. I tapped her shoulder, making her face me.
"What do you want from me, you monster!" she screeched.
I smiled a little, then poured the liquid I had in my hands on her hair. I was pretty sure Stacy's scream could be heard from China. I shrugged nonchalantly.
"Oops?" This time, the word came out of my mouth. I walked away.
"You're nothing but a little bitch. By the way, the Silent Freak is ugly, fat and disgusting. I know what you two have in common."
I stopped in my tracks. My eyes met Liam's, he was pleading me: Don't do anything stupid.
The pain that flickered in his sad eyes made me even madder. In a flash, I was in front of her again.
Her lips pulled up, evilly, knowing she'd won. "Excuse you, what did you just say?" I asked, my level of patience reaching its end.
"I said, you, Lena Winter, are a bitch. And the Silent Freak is the ugliest, most repulsive human I'd ever seen. That explains you getting along with him so well."
That was when my palm collided with her face.
"Listen right here, Stacy Hennings. If anyone's a bitch here, it's you. Liam Christopher Black is my best friend and the most amazing guy in the entire world. Insult him again, you'll have to cross me," I said calmly, while she was still clutching her now red cheek.
For the last time, and without turning back, I took Liam's hand and walked out the gym.
♥♥♥♥♥
Liam had been giving me looks ever since the incident at the gym. He was eyeing me with a judging look in his eyes, then shook his head. We were walking through the halls, heading for my locker. I hoped I'd find anything to wear. Frankly, the sticky substance on my back made my mood horrible.
"Liam! Stop looking at me like that!" I exclaimed, having had enough. He raised an eyebrow, then continued to stare at the cold, hard floor.
Fine, be like that.
I opened my locker, rummaging through it, wishing I'd be lucky enough to find an old shirt and sweatpants or something. Liam leaned against the locker beside me, observing me. I didn't take my eyes off the mess I call my locker.
"I mean, honestly, she ruined my dress and insulted me—" I half-yelled, talking to myself.
"—and she insulted you. She could've done anything else but that! You're my best friend, and a person I really care about, a-as a friend of course. No one gets away with—"
I was cut off by a peck on my cheek. I stopped, then turned to face him.
"Thank you," he mouthed, smiling at me. For a moment, I was so mesmerized by the way he'd smiled, that I just wanted to stay like this forever.
I shook my head to get a reality check.
"Liaaam, what am I going to wear now?" I whined, sounding like a little baby. He grinned, then typed something on his phone.
"Stay like this, you still look beautiful."
I blushed, and looked at him through my eyelashes.
"Really?" I asked, biting my lip. He nodded, still smiling at me. I took my coat out and wrapped it around myself, my skin suddenly feeling a lot colder.
<
br /> "What shall we do now, peanut?" I asked.
A twinkle appeared in his eye. Before I could even process what was happening, Liam was running and carrying me at the same time.