Don't Touch Me, Hold My Hand

3

"On your left, Hops!"

Startled, I turned around on my way into class to see who was yelling in the hallway.

Mistake.

My shoulder smacked right into Liam's backpack as he backed into me, hard. Dazed, I stumbled backwards, tripping over my feet and falling down completely, my legs and back painfully sprawled on the floor.

I looked up at Liam who was standing over me by now, tossing a football easily between his hands. I just stared. What had I done to possibly warrant this kind of embarrassment?

"I even gave you a heads up, Laura." Liam said, his eyebrows creased, his head tilted.

I scoffed and straightened my shirt and hair.

"Some warning! All I heard was yelling and running! I only turned around to see what was going on!"

Liam offered his hand to help me up, but I waved it away and stood up on my own. No use leading myself on with my over-excited feelings, and holding his hand, however briefly, would definitely resurrect over-excited feelings.

"I called your name out, I thought you'd at least catch that."

I narrowed my eyes at him.

"You yelled 'hops' or something, I thought you were calling Max."

Liam blanched.

"I called you-" he blinked, multiple times. "You heard me say..." he ran a hand through his hair and muttered something to himself. And then he shrugged.

I looked up at him and adjusted my backpack straps. I shrugged back, confused with a smile. 

"Okay, well...next time try my actual name? It tends to be much more effective in getting my attention." I told him and walked into class. 

Dr. Lakyns was positioned by my desk talking to Amy, and I didn't want to interrupt them, so I hung back for a minute.

Liam, ever the observant one, smacked into me, not having expected me to halt in the middle of the classroom.

"Geez, Hops, it's like you want to run into me." He smirked, and I rolled my eyes, a habit I realized was forming specifically in his presence. 

"Whatever Liam, go sit down."

He widened his eyes and waggled his eyebrows at me before grinning and heading off to his seat. That boy. It must be difficult to have to live with utter chaos for a brain.

"All right guys, today we're kicking things off with another questionnaire." Dr. Lakyns clapped her hands together and addressed the class as I made my way to my seat. The desk I usually shared with Amy was empty now, and I wondered what I'd missed while talking to Liam. None of Amy's stuff was by the chair, either, she must have gone home. I hoped she was okay.

"This set of questions is online, it's a quiz, but not one for points. I need everyone to go visit 5lovelanguages.com, or, if you think it would be easier, just google "love language test" and click the first option that pops up." I focused on Dr. Lakyns' black long sleeve top that swooped at the neck and was tucked into a snazzy pair of plaid pants that ended in smart black heels. 

None of my other teachers had ever had this kind of style, and I appreciated Dr. Lakyns proving women could be dressy without being boring. My mom certainly took the safe route when it came to her pencil skirts and blazers and pantsuits. Her closet felt suffocating, like she never let herself relax.

I tuned back in to Dr. Lakyns' voice. She was writing on the board now, using a different color for each phrase. 

Physical Touch           Quality Time           Words of Affirmation           Acts of Service           Gifts