Bullied Once, Loved Twice

Chapter 4 - Escape me not

The three boys sat down at the table, and all three had now a healthy meal set in their tray. Liam couldn't remember when he had gotten such a nice meal. He barely went by thanks to his job at a forge down 30-minute walk from the university.

"So... Devan. What is your business here in university?" Matheo asked with accusation in his tone. Devan rolled his eyes as he slurped on his udon noodle soup.

"He wants to be a... um... Neurologist?" Liam said as Devan nodded, causing Matheo to furrow his brows. He was surprised that someone like HIM would be interested in a subject like that.

"And you? Ma-the-o? What did you come to study here?" Devan asked in a mocking tone, a sigh leaving Liam's throat.

"I'm actually trying to become a lawyer. I study law and sociology as well as some economics." Matheo said as Devan's eyes lit up.

"I knew I saw you somewhere before. You were in my class this morning. Didn't you change your sociology for PE?" Devan said as Matheo rubbed the back of his neck. Liam turned and looked at Matheo with questions in his eyes.

"Well... I changed it to have it in the afternoon." He said calmly, his eyes watching Liam's reaction. He couldn't know he had changed classes to keep tabs on him. Not that it would be obvious anyway. People changed classes all the time.

"Ah! That means we have PE together all the time. That's cool, I didn't know you could change the hour of your classes!" Liam said enthusiastically.

"Not completely, you can change class hours if there is another class at the time you asked for." Matheo said, receiving a nod in understanding from Liam.

"Isn't that your ex?" Devan asked as Liam shivered, groaning as he turned around, his eyes making contact with Narcia that was climbing the stairs. When their eyes met, her heart stopped. She wasn't looking where she was going and nearly fell. The view caused anxiety to creep through Liam for a second. Sure, she had hurt him, but he never ever wanted her to be hurt in return.

"I thought you said that wasn't your ex?" Matheo said in a teasing tone, receiving an elbow in the stomach from Liam.

"She isn't my ex..." Liam said with what sounded like a hint of disappointment in his tone. Liam sighed and watched. She huffed towards the boys' direction and walked to the drink barista. He already knew what she was getting.

"Strawberry milshake with a hint of chocolate milk, coconut flakes on the whipped cream." He mimicked her, making both boys laugh. They weren't sure if he was just making a joke or if this boy would be dead accurate.

Narcia turned around and walked past the boys. Just as he had said, her order was exactly what he had mocked. He rolled his eyes as both boys burst into laughter, shaking their head and slapping their thighs. They didn't know if they could believe him about not being her ex. The history definitely seemed deeper than a simple bully.

"Come on mate, you can't know someone's favorite drink like that and not have some love history!" Devan laughed out, Liam couldn't respond back.

He remembered very clearly, as if it had happened yesterday. The little 5 year old angel that had come to be his friend. He had a puppy crush on her by the end of their first year. But he also remembered very clearly what happened as well when he met her parents. She had been so angry at him, all because of some pack thing. He never understood what she had meant.

The boys noticed the sadness in Liam's eyes, lowering their laugh to a small chuckle. They wondered why the two had such an awful relationship. Just like a savior, the bell rang, causing a few of the students to rush towards their next classes.