“I don’t plan on going, but thank you. I’ll call you tomorrow ... Goodnight.”
“Goodnight. Oh, wait. Are you still there?”
“Yeah. What’s up?”
“Something hit me today while I was working at the shop ...” She sounds slightly more alert. “You remember that night you came over and um, it was our first—”
“Yes.”
“Okay, me, too. I remember it, too.”
I hold back a laugh. Direct conversations are still not her strong suit.
“What about it, Mariah?”
“You said that you never loved any of your other girlfriends. You pretty much said that you loved me.”
“I did say that.” I pause. “And I mean that. Is that a problem for you now?”
“No, not at all ... It’s just that I never said it back so ...” She pauses for awhile. “I love you back ...
Okay, goodbye.” She immediately ends the call and I laugh.
Me: You’ve said ‘I love you’ to me in your sleep before, but I’ll take it this way, too. :-)
I hit my lights and climb into bed, hoping the much needed sleep will hit me immediately, but there’s a sudden, loud knock on the door.
“Help! Help! Help!” It’s a female’s voice.
I rush over and open the door, finding myself face to face with Ashley. Again. Rolling my eyes, I start to shut the door in her face, but she wedges her foot between the frame before I can do it.
“You have to come help us right now.” She looks as if she just saw a ghost. “Please ... It’s Zach.”
26
Mariah
My mom stands over Zach a day later and looks like she’s torn between slapping some sense into him and holding him close. He’s lying in bed, looking absolutely pathetic, fresh off too much spiked juice at a party that he claimed never happened. And alcohol he swore he never drank.
“You can totally ask Coach ...” he says, moaning and holding his stomach. “This is food poisoning.”
“I’m not asking your coach anything else.” She presses a bag of ice against his forehead. “He’s too busy playing King of Denial with every parent who calls him. He tried to convince me that it was his identical twin standing in for him at the game this past weekend.”
“Coach has an identical twin?”
“No!” She raises a pillow as if she’s going to hit him in the face with it, but sympathy takes over before she can commit.
“I’ll hit him for you, mom,” I say, volunteering to take the pillow from her hands. “As the oldest sibling, he’s setting a terrible example for me. I mean, first he gets alcohol poisoning at a secret party, and then what? Are drugs next?”
Zach struggles to throw the middle finger at me, and my mom turns around and slaps me with the pillow instead.
“Go to school, Mariah.” She smiles at me.
“Is he going to be punished?” I feel like an eight-year-old all over again right now. I’ve never seen Zach in trouble, and I suddenly feel like right now is the perfect time for that to happen. Plus, it would serve him right for being such a dumbass over the weekend.
“I’ll find something creative for him to do.” My mom points to the door. “Go to school, Ryah.”
“Okay, well ...” I start walking out. “If you can’t think of anything, just let me know. Or you could just think of how you would punish me and give that punishment to him.” I rush out of the doorway as she grabs another pillow to throw in my direction.
If Zach gets more than a slap on the wrist and a “Promise me you’ll never do it again,” I’ll be surprised. And as fast as the rumor mill at Blue Harbor is, I’m shocked the juicy gossip of him and five other players having to have their stomachs pumped wasn’t all over social media yesterday.
Then again, their coach is crazy ... He probably didn’t let it get out ...
I’m just happy Liam was nowhere near that party and that he’s not too sick to go to school for the next few days.
Walking into the kitchen, I take two chocolate truffles from the refrigerator and wrap them in plastic for Liam before tucking them into my purse. I make sure I have a couple for myself, and then I wait on my porch for Kelsey to pick me up for school. (Liam decided to be a good best friend and spend his morning getting more medicine and crackers for Zach, so he’ll definitely get to class late today.)
Kelsey pulls her car into my driveway and I’m grateful she didn’t hit our mailbox this time.
As I slide inside and buckle my seatbelt, she looks over at me, as if she’s just seen a zombie.
“Is something wrong, Kels?” I ask.
“Yes ...” She looks worried. “Have you logged onto Facebook or Snapchat this morning?”
“No, should I?”
“No!” She grabs my phone from my hands and locks it away in her purse. “Not until ... Not until we can talk about it in private.”
I look around. “We’re in private right now.”
“Yeah, well ...” She looks over at Liam’s house and I can swear her eyes twitch — a telltale sign of anger for her. “We’ll talk about it when we’re not near enemy lines.”
Enemy lines? I shake my head and lean back in my seat. I have no idea what she’s talking about and I don’t think I want to know.
She changes the subject as we drive out of my subdivision, prodding me for information on Zach’s condition and of course, the same question that I want answered, “What the hell was he thinking?”
When we make it to school, it seems like any other boring day at BH, and to my surprise, no one is huddled around talking about the team’s extracurricular drinking party this weekend. So, I’m officially convinced, only a few select people know.
Then again, the second me and Kelsey turn down the senior hallway, I feel like everyone is staring at me and smiling. And not the good kind of smiling. The uncomfortable, gossip-y kind.
“Kels?” I say, whispering. “Is it me, or is every person we walk past looking at me funny?”
She doesn’t even answer. She just looks at me with sympathetic eyes.
What the hell is going on?
We make it to the library, and Kelsey pulls me into a private study room. Two senior girls walk past the windows, laughing and pointing at me before moving on.
“Kels?” My voice is barely audible. “Kels, tell me what’s going on. Please ...”
She finally takes my phone out of her bag and types in my password. Then she logs into Facebook and slides the phone to me.
All I can see is the typical lame newsfeed from all my Facebook “friends.” It’s mostly statuses like, “Ugh. Another day at BH,” or “Yay! A new week at BH!” It’s not until I’m halfway down the newsfeed that my blood immediately runs cold and I can literally feel my heart stop.
There are pictures of Liam at the party he supposedly “didn’t go to” over the weekend. He’s shirtless and sleeping on the couch, shirtless and sleeping between cheerleaders, shirtless and sitting with Zach.
And of course, more than I can count with Ashley Jordan.
But those are minor compared to the short videos. The videos of me and Liam ... Private videos of us kissing in his room, in his car, and even in my room. And there are pictures of me in my limited collection of pretty panties and bras, pictures I sent directly to Liam and no one else, but now they’re all over Facebook for everyone to see.
I feel tears welling in my eyes with every second that I continue to scroll, and my heart grows heavier with every personal picture I see. Not only that, but the comments between the photos are even worse.
“So, THIS is why Liam broke up with Ashley? For some soph slut? #overrated”
“Isn’t that Zach Dawson’s little sister? Who knew she had a bod like that ...”
“Oh godddd! This is so humiliating! Pass the popcorn LOL”
“Best Blue Harbor scandal ever. LOLOL”
I start to log off, but I see the one person’s status that I want to see the least. Ashley’s.
; “So, you all know I’m not one to air personal drama or whatever, but since all the pictures and photos have leaked out and it’s clearly affected me deeply over the past few months (#deepdepression), let me just say that yes, Liam was cheating on me (#sosad) and that’s why we broke up. I was devastated and completely heartbroken, but I became a stronger person and learned a lot about myself and about other girls who will steal BFs away like it’s some type of hobby. ANYWAYZ, me and Liam talked everything out this weekend, and we’re back together! :-) (#totallyreunited) I’m looking forward to cheering him at the state championship tournament next month and I’m hoping no one will judge us for the temporary difficult time we had in the past. Those days are long OVER and we are moving on!
Her profile picture speaks volumes as well ... It’s she and Liam on the team bus over the weekend.
I burst into a full blown cry and Kelsey takes my phone away from me.
“I’m sorry, Mariah.” She pulls me close and rubs her hand against my back. “I am so sorry ...”
I can’t even respond. I’m not sure what I should be more hurt about: The fact that he lied to me, the fact that he shared my photos with other people after promising no one would ever see them, the fact that everyone thinks I broke him and Ashley up, the fact that they’re back together?
It’s too much to handle all at once, and I immediately call my mom. Through barely coherent sobs, I ask if she can come get me from school ASAP.
Even though she has no idea what’s wrong, she says she’s on her way and tells me to meet her outside the cafeteria.
Kelsey says she’s sorry again and again as I continue to cry, even though she knows that this is not her fault. That this won’t make me feel any better.
She helps me up and walks with me to the cafeteria, and the second we step outside, Liam drops his backpack to the ground and rushes over to us.
“Stay away from me,” I say. “Stay the hell away from me.”
“Mariah, I can explain. It’s not what it seems.” He has the nerve to look hurt, but it can’t be any more hurt than me. “This is what happened. I —”
“She said stay the hell away from her.” Kelsey cuts him off. “Get the fuck back.”
He looks taken aback by the tone of her words, and he looks to me for a reprieve, but I don’t give it to him.
“I knew I should’ve never, ever trusted you again,” I say, looking him right into his eyes. “I knew you were bound to hurt me all over again, knew you would take advantage of our friendship and treat me like shit at the quickest opportunity available. Just like you burned me that last summer.”
“Mariah ...” He looks at me. “I need you to believe me. None of the shit you’ve seen online is what it seems, and if you would just let me explain ...” He continues saying words, but I honestly can’t hear any of them.
I spot my mom’s car pulling into the parking lot and start to walk toward it, looking over my shoulder at Liam. “Please don’t ever talk to me again. We’re over.”
Those words seem to instantly crush him, and I wish they made me feel better, but they crush me, too.
FIFTH SUMMER CAMP PART 2
MARIAH
Three hours have passed and Liam still hasn’t returned from the peer counselor meeting. The sun is starting to set, and I’m wondering if there really was an emergency.
Packing up my back and the beach towel, I head back toward my bunk and text Liam.
Me: Where are you? Is the meeting still going on?
His response is immediate.
Liam: Yeah, unfortunately. We’re in the activities hall. Where are you?
Me: In my bunk. Stop by when your meeting’s over?
Liam: Of course :-)
I smile and pull out my notebook, drafting my usual weekly letter to my mom. I debate whether I should tell her about Liam or not, but I decide against it at the last minute. I decide to pen a letter to my best friend in Blue Harbor, Kelsey.
I tell her about how I think I might be in love with him like the movies. How he’s nothing like the other guys who go from girl to girl and kiss everyone. And I even tell her how it really seems like he likes me, for me. The only thing that sucks is the fact that he’s best friends with Zach and Zach is a psycho.
Did I tell you how last week he beat up one of his own teammates because the guy said he thought I was really pretty? How crazy is that? Remind me to never tell Zach anything....I don’t understand why he feels like he has to beat all the guys who like me up, and I’m mad that I’m just now seeing it. THAT’S why none of the guys would talk to me here. (Sidenote: Do you think he’d ever beat Liam up if he found out about us? LOL I don’t want to find out.)
By the time I finish writing Kelsey’s letter, it’s about five pages long, front to back. I fold it and seal it into an envelope, and then I take both her and my mom’s letters to the mail building.
I make it halfway across the camp when the sound of laughter makes me look over to my right where the deck of hot tubs is. I squint my eyes and see Ms. Jacobs and all of the counselors talking and laughing around fruit trays.
I start walking again, but a familiar laugh stops me in my tracks.
Liam?
I turn around and look at the deck again, slowly moving my gaze until I spot him sitting on the edge of the hot tub. With Madison in his lap. And not only that, but other girls are walking by him and going out of their way to touch him each time they walk by.
I shake my head, convinced that what I’m seeing can’t be real, but when I take a step closer, I notice that it totally is. It is one hundred percent real.
His hands are on Madison's hips, just like they were on my hips earlier, and she seems to be as happy as I was about it. I stand in the dark watching, waiting for him to move her off his lap because there has to be some type of explanation, but as more time passes, I see that there isn’t one.
Hurt, I pull out my phone and text him.
Mariah: You’re. A. LIAR.
Liam: What are you talking about, Ryah?
Mariah: Don’t call me ‘Ryah’. Only my friends call my Ryah. You’re nothing to me now.
I watch as he looks down at his phone, confused. He finally moves Madison from his lap and she tries to pull him back, but he starts to walk toward my bunk.
Liam: Are you still in your bunk?
Mariah: No, I’m about to go hang out with Taylor Hall.
Liam: Taylor Hall? Why?
Mariah: Because I like the way he kisses me.
His name immediately crosses my phone’s screen, but I don’t answer it and I don’t text him for the rest of the night. I drop my mail off at the mail box and wait an hour before heading back to my bunk.
I try to ignore Liam for an entire week, but that plan fails within hours because the very next morning at breakfast, he sits next to me.
“Mariah, what’s going on?” he asks. “Why are you upset with me?”
“You let Madison sit in your lap last night. I saw you.”
“It’s not what you think.”
“It actually is what I think. There’s not too many ways to spin that.”
Before he can say a single word, the devil reincarnate herself, Madison sits next to us. “Thanks for helping me last night, Liam,” she says. “I’m so grateful you were there to carry me back to my room.”
My heart drops and I glare at Liam.
“And I’m so sorry that I kissed you when you helped me into bed,” Madison says, not sounding sympathetic at all. “I guess that spiked punch really took a lot out of me. Then again, by the way you kissed me back, maybe not?”
Liam looks completely unfazed by her, but I’m not. I’m livid.
“Can you go away now, Madison.” His voice is tight. “Before I tell Ms. Jacobs you brought the spiked punch. It’s automatic expulsion last time I checked.”
“Fine.” She picks up her tray and moves away, and I continue glaring at him.
“You said you’d never kiss another girl at this camp...” I say.
“Did you really kiss her?”
“I didn’t really kiss her back.”
“But you let her kiss you?”
“She got drunk on purpose hoping one of the guys would take care of her.”
“Why did it have to be you?”
“Because I don’t think any of the other guys had good intentions.” He leans forward, whispering. “Have you really been kissing Taylor behind my back?”
“No, not behind your back,” I say, suddenly getting up and walking right over to Taylor—kissing him just as hard as I’ve kissed Liam before. Catching him completely off guard.
“Um. Wow...” He raises his eyebrow confused, when I pull away. “What was that for?”
“Payback.” I look at a seething Liam and leave the mess hall, heading straight to my room. I call my mom and ask if she can let me leave camp weeks early. And I tell her this is the last summer I want to spend at Camp Briar.
I’m old enough to know that I can’t keep repeating this same mistake with Liam and I’m old enough to help out at Dawson’s every day now.
27
Mariah
I rush up to my room the second my mom parks the car, and to my surprise, she doesn’t follow me. I flop face down onto my bed, letting my pillow soak up my never-ending tears.
I can feel my chest heaving uncontrollably, and I feel completely hopeless and alone. And completely stupid.
My phone is buzzing against my pocket every few seconds and I have every desire to grab it and throw it against the wall. I fumble around for it and reluctantly bring it up to my face to see the messages.
They’re all from Liam.
Liam: Mariah, I understand how things look, but I promise it’s not what it seems.
Liam: I would never hurt you in that way, and I never want to hurt you at all.
Liam: Can you call me whenever you see these or let me come over tonight so I can explain?
Liam: Mariah, please say something ... Anything.
I start typing a message to him, but I can’t bring myself to hit send. I turn my phone off instead and toss it into my laundry bin.
Mr. Popular: A Falling For My Brother's Best Friend Romance Page 17