After Dark

Twenty-two

"Liam!" Ember ran over to Liam in the halls. The bell had just rang for lunch a second ago.

"Uh, yeah?" Liam opens his locker and puts his stuff up.

"My dad wants to take our boat out today. He says it's been getting warmer and he misses it so we're going out on the lake. Ian and I are both allowed to invite a friend. Paige is gonna be there too because she's basically family at this point and I double checked to make sure it was okay you come too and they said yeah. So, if you're not busy do you want to come over after school and go out on the lake with us?"

Liam blinks at her in surprise. He knows in the summer Ember's family spends a lot of time on their boat and Paige goes with them. She used to invite Liam before fully realizing he wasn't able to get away. Now however, it was okay.

"Sure." Liam smiles and Ember grins back.

"Yay!"

"What are we cheering about?" Paige walks up just as Liam shuts his locker.

"Liam is coming with us on the boat today."

"We're going out on the boat today?" Paige asks.

"Oh right. I forgot to tell you. Yeah, Dad wants to."

"Oh, okay." Paige nods. Liam smiles at her and she smiles back. "Let's go to lunch."

Just like that Liam feels relaxed again. He was nervous because last night and this morning he was back to that old feeling. The sickness had returned to his stomach. Now, he's okay again.

Maybe he really is getting better.

Ember doesn't even have to put food on his tray anymore. He's gotten so used to eating lunch now that he just grabs something without having to be told to.

Lunch passes by with simple conversation. Liam has been talking more at lunch too. He used to just quietly sit and listen, but lately he's been talking more.

"Hey Paige." Zander comes stalking up to the table with a wide grin. "I got a B on my Algebra II test."

"That's great Zander!" Paige smiles widely too.

Liam and Ember exchange smirks. The bell rings and they all stand, Paige standing next to Zander.

"I'll throw away your tray." Liam says and takes Paige tray. Ember and him don't give her time to respond before walking away. Zander and her end up walking together out of the cafeteria. "He likes her."

Ember looks over at Liam and raises her eyebrows. "Really? How would you know?"

"He told me." Liam shrugs. "At a dinner event my parents had set up, we ran into each other and talked about her."

"He just straight up told you he likes her? Without any hesitation?" Ember's jaw drops. "So he's bold then."

"I guess. Or he just knew I can keep my mouth shut." Liam says as the two of them begin to make their way out.

"Are you suggesting I can't keep my mouth shut?"

"Well, I wasn't but now that you've said it that's exactly what I was suggesting." Liam smiles as Ember scoffs.

"Whatever. Have fun in AP bio."

Liam scoffs too then. They both knew he would not be having fun in AP Biology. He wasn't the biggest fan of Biology.

As he walks he suddenly remembers that he has something to look forward to this afternoon. He smiles. That excitement makes classes go by faster.

Even last hour with Ember, which already went by faster than normal classes, went by quicker than normal. That was probably because they both had something to look forward to.