My Boy Best Friend

Chapter Two

Liam

"Mom, I'm leaving", I called somewhere. I had no clue where my mom was, she's always running around the house in the morning doing chores. 

"Wait, honey!" He could hear her footsteps quickly approaching until she caught him on the way out. "Did you have breakfast or anything? Please say you did."

"Yeah, mom, don't worry", I shook my head. "See you later." 

I reached for the door, but my mom moved closer to me to stop me. "You should take Jordan to school sometime this week", she leaned against the door frame. "I'm sure she'd love for you to drive her instead of her having to drive alone."

I felt a pang in his chest at the sound of her name. "I- yeah, sure. Bye."

I stepped outside, striding toward my car. As I reached for the car door, I couldn't help but glance over at my neighbor's driveway, only to see an empty lot. She must've already left for school. Overachiever. She was always early for everything. God forbid she be late and ruin her perfect attendance.

My little sister came running outside, slightly turning as she ran to wave goodbye to mom. She rammed into my stomach because she hadn't stopped. "Hey, careful. Watch where you're running, Kassie."

"Sorry, I was waving to mom", she walked over to the other side of the car to get in. Kassie's in 7th grade, but she doesn't act like the typical middle schooler. She doesn't worry about being trendy or anything, and I take pride in having a great little sister like her.

After I dropped Kassie off at the middle school, I was greeted by my friends in the parking lot at the high school. They were always energetic and could be overbearing, but it was always fun with them. 

"Liam! Hey, I want you to meet my cousin, Trent." My buddy Brandon pulled forward a guy I've never met before, patting his back. "He just arrived this week and he's staying for the whole school year."

"Oh, hey, nice to meet you, Trent", I shook hands with him. "I'm Liam."

"I've heard great things about you", Trent nodded. "You and Brandon must be best friends."

"What great things?" My friend, Sam, laughed.

"Must be a different Liam", Owen half-whispered to Sam, smirking. 

"The jealousy", Brandon rolled his eyes. "Yes, we are best friends. But we should probably get our asses to class."

"Hey, we're seniors. Does it really matter anymore?" Sam questioned, leaning against a random car. 

"Yeah, we've already applied to schools and shit", Owen responded, biting into a candy bar. "Last year was the important year, senior year is just useless."

"Well, then, you guys can stay here and we'll go to class", I retorted, sweeping by the two boys. So, my best friend is Brandon. We've always been best friends. Sam and Owen on the other hand haven't been around as long, and I can only take them in bits and pieces. They're fun guys, but sometimes too fun. They always like to be out late which will keep me out late as well. They also love to cause trouble, like pranking people in stores and riding in carts all around the parking lot. So, they're not bad people at all, they can just be a lot to deal with. Brandon isn't like them. He's more calm and collected and hates stupid decisions, like the ones Sam and Owen make, and prefers to be staying in and watching movies rather than what they do. I just hope Trent takes after Brandon and not dumb and dumber.

Brandon and I reached room D9 right as the bell rang through our ears, forcing every student in the classroom to sit down. I did a quick sweep of the classroom, just to get an idea of who we'd be dealing with first thing in the morning. I didn't expect myself to be looking for her, but it felt like I was. Even still, Jordan and I did not have our first period class together. 

I hated having classes with her. She's the type that raises her hand so much to answer questions that the teacher just overlooks her and calls on someone random, like me. It's so aggravating how much effort she tries to put into school. The way I look at it is you should at least try to get good grades, but answering questions constantly in class does nothing but prove that you're a try-hard with nothing else going on in your life besides academics. 

I swear she hadn't always been like that. Sure she was smart and studied hard, but it seemed like recently she was just asking for attention basically by outsmarting everyone. 

"What are you looking at?" Brandon asked, leaning his head forward to grab my attention. 

"Just looking to see where we should sit", I shook away my thoughts, reverting back to the present.

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"You're just stupid", Owen shoved Sam. "Of course Brooke is the hottest chick in school, why is that even a question?"

"Can we stop rating women all the time?" I face-palmed. 

"We aren't rating them, I think it's just a fact that she's the hottest", Sam shrugged

"So, Trent, you're staying the whole year?" I asked, redirecting the conversation into one that doesn't make me lose brain cells.

"Yep, all of senior year", Trent smiled. 

"You liking it here so far? I know it's only 3rd period on your first day", I laughed, leading them into the doors of the library.

"It's definitely...interesting", Trent hesitated. "It's gonna be a lot to get used to."

"Hey, man, I get that. I can't imagine it being easy. Especially when your first friends are Owen and Sam", I hit them on their shoulders.

"What are we doing in the library anyway? We know I don't read", Owen glanced around. "Plus all the chicks that spend their free period in here are all boring and nerdy."

"Okay, well, that's not a shocker you don't read. You never feed that dying brain of yours", I rubbed his head. "And, we aren't in here to look at girls. I'm simply just showing Trent around during our free period since Brandon can't."

"You're probably wishing you didn't follow Liam around now, huh?" Sam clasped Trent's shoulder, trying to get his attention. Trent stared ahead, unable to peal his eyes away. "Um, Trent? You still with us?"

"Who is that?" Trent asked quietly, still staring.

I followed the direction of his eyes, only to find Jordan in his line of vision. She was sitting quietly with her friend, invested in work on her computer, laser-focused. She had her blue light glasses on and her hair was laid loosely cascading down her arm in perfect waves. 

"Um, where?" I asked, just to make sure.

"Her--t-the one sitting there with the blonde", Trent nodded his head toward Jordan, and a diminutive feeling sparked in the pit of my stomach. 

"Nobody", I responded flatly, swallowing what felt like a rock down my throat. "Absolutely no one."