Perfect For Me

CHAPTER 11 (Ryan Lander)

I really wasn't looking forward to the afternoon. I had no idea what came over me yesterday and made me tell Liam my whole life story! Something just made it impossible for me to stop, once I had started. Not even Jeremy or Andy knew how I really felt about the situation. It's not like I always felt like I was an utter disappointment. But sometimes I couldn't shake this thought off. And somehow, I sometimes felt like Liam knew that feeling too...

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"Wait what?!" "No! That's totally unfair!" "Why are they allowed but we're not?" all soccer players from both teams shouted over each other. Mr. James had just revealed that Liam and I would be allowed to work from home. Why? No idea. In exchange we had to coordinate all tasks of our teammates and take care of all sponsors and everything that had to do with the theme of the ball. I'd rather work in school then we wouldn't have to do half as much!

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"Hey, I'm sorry. Now we have to do more things that the others, but I have to watch over my little brother as long as my parents are on a business trip. Speaking of which, we have to get him from kindergarten..." Liam trailed of. Wow, the great Liam Williams apologising? I must be dreaming. 

Just kidding. He seemed really sorry but I just waved him of. Even though I may not like him very much, it really wasn't his fault. I would give everything if I had a brother like Liam. Micah wasn't a bad person but sometime when we grew up the bond between us got lost. Not like we hated each other, we just didn't really know each other. I could swear he didn't even know which grade I was in. Not that I knew what he was studying but.....

Reaching the parking space, I began looking for Liam's car. I came to school by foot because my car was damaged due to a little accident of mine. My parents refused to pay the repair, so I had to save my money. Liam however seemed to not use a car as well. He went to the nearest bus station and looked at me expectantly. "Are you coming or what? I don't own a car! Not everyone is a rich spoiled brat like you!" Wow, there I was thinking we would get closer and he destroyed my little bubble with one sentence. I just sighed, rolled my eyes and went up to him.

After three stations we hopped of the bus and walked to a small house with a big garden and a shield on the front which read "sunshine-kindergarten". Many little kids were outside, playing, laughing and shouting. Well, and one was crying. But my focus soon shifted to another little boy who loudly screamed "Lili" and ran up to us. Hm, Lili? Good to know. 

Liam laughed and opened his arms to pick the boy up and turned themselves around once. "Ethan! How's your day been?" Ethan. Hm. Apart from their almost black curls they looked almost nothing alike. But maybe they would when Ethan would be grown up. It was kinda hard to compare a four-five-year-old to an adult.

The little boy impatiently tucked at his brother's hand. "Lili! Lili, come on! I have to show you Timmy!", he whined. Liam tried to protest but soon gave up. He gave me an apologetic look and let himself be dragged towards the middle of the garden. Ethan ran away and quickly came back, now holding the hand of another boy his age. Liam squatted down and held out his hand for the boy -probably Timmy- to shake. Who then did that reluctantly.  Liam said something which made the boys smile. Soon another bunch of kids joined them, obviously to admire the teenager. Who, by the way seemed to totally have forgotten about me. Normally I would be furious about this, I mean it only made the whole homecoming ball thing last longer but.... somehow Liam seemed so....happy.

Even though I stood too far away to hear what he was saying, I still could tell the children loved him. And he loved them.

In a way I envied him. He seemed so passionate about talking to/ showing things to the kids, maybe even more passionate than with soccer. I rarely found something I truly enjoyed. Sure, I loved soccer, but I couldn't imagine doing it as a job-"Hey, sorry again. I just couldn't say no to them. Erm...let's go?" I just nodded. I hadn't even noticed when Liam had come back to me.

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To say I was surprised when Liam opened the door was an understatement. Him being the "golden boy" had me guessing he lived like one too. A big house with a giant living room, a kitchen like you would imagine in a restaurant and so on. But the reality definitely was something different. Behind the door was a short hallway with a door on it's right wall which I guessed would lead to the bathroom. After Ethan went in there to "take a wee" as he said, my thoughts were confirmed.

The hallway ended with the living room which held a black couch, hardly long enough for Liam to lay on. In front of it stood an old TV on a wall that led into the small kitchen. Somewhere along the opposite wall were two doors. On had E T H A N in big letters written on it and the other was probably the one that belonged to Liam's room. Their parents had to sleep in Ethan's room I thought.

After Liam had positioned his little brother in front of the TV and made him promise to NOT eat the dinner just yet, we finally went into his room. Apart from his wardrobe and a desk with a chair, his bed was the only furniture where I could sit. As soon as he had taken place in his chair, he took all the papers we had gotten from Mr. James out of his backpack. "Let's get started", I said with a sigh.