The Butterfly Effect

Chapter 36

Monday

Strolling around downtown San Diego by himself, Liam was actually running an errand for his Pops. Since Christmas Eve, he had been spending time at his Pops' until this week. His family had had a merriment time celebrating Christmas and New Year together and Pops had been very grateful for their visit because he lived only with caretaker, housekeeper and maid now since Grams had passed away a few years back. Wanting to keep his Pops company a little longer, Liam decided to stay a few more days there while his family had flown back to Los Angeles yesterday.

Three weeks had rolled by since Liam and Kirsten broke up. The days without talking to her were painfully arduous to deal with. He wasn't sure if he could go through another day, week, month or even year in the absence of her. But, the thing between her and Kyle had completely broken his heart and getting over it wasn't as easy as ABC.

The feeling tugged Liam back to the memory from over three years ago when the first time he had met Kirsten. She hadn't been as much a social butterfly in the past as she was now. Her parents' divorce and her relationship with Kyle really took a toll on her. The day she unintentionally eavesdropped Kyle and his friends' conversation was the same day she heard the news about the final judgement of her parents' divorce. The poor, innocent fourteen-year-old Kirsten just couldn't handle it.

Then, after having moved from Boston to Los Angeles, depression had led Kirsten to a dark, chaotic new life. Even rumors had it that she was dating an alcoholic guy ten years older than her and spent most of her weekends going to the nightclubs with a fake ID. Students in their high school always whispered rude things behind her back and nobody wanted to be friends with her.

Seven months hadn't been an easy road to eventually get Kirsten to cave in and let Liam be the guy she trusted to rely on. It was still crystal clear on his mind the moment when he had first hugged her, he knew that all of the bad things she had done were a cry for help. A month into him being close with her, he discovered the cuts under her long-sleeve clothes. It made his heart cry to see her hurt herself like that.

For the time being, the best Liam could do to help Kirsten had been simply to be there for her and accompany her to a therapist. He wanted to be her number one support system whenever she felt like the world was against her. He wanted to save her before she determined to just give up with her life. He wanted her to need him and share her burdens with him for she had been struggling enough by herself.

The moment Liam had been patiently waiting for had come in November more than two years ago when he ultimately brought the best version of Kirsten back and they had also started officially dating. The whole school gawked when they watched the two of them walking into the hallway hand-in-hand. His friends once asked him what he saw in her, but he just smiled and said nothing because he didn't want them to fall in love with her, too.

But now, Kirsten wasn't his girlfriend anymore. It felt like she had knifed his heart out very severely with what she had done to him. However, he couldn't lie to himself that every day her face became clearer and clearer in his head instead and a part of him always wanted her back. That was the ironic thing about forgetting someone you loved; the more you tried to forget, the more you thought about them.

In the need of something to steer his mind clear of Kirsten and also to warm himself in January weather, Liam stepped into Starbucks and ordered a cup of hot decaf Americano to go. After the cashier took his order, he walked around the counter to wait for his coffee and his brown eyes landed instantly on a redheaded girl already waiting there while busy with her phone.

***

Scarlett's eyes were busy scrolling through her phone while waiting for her takeaway hot White Chocolate Mocha at Starbucks counter. When she looked up as the barista called out her name, the corner of her eye captured a familiar guy's figure standing by the edge of the counter. He looked as surprised as she was.