After Dark

Twenty-seven

Liam chuckles softly as he walks out of the school building with Ember and Paige. The Friday afternoon's weather is nice, just warm enough to not need an overshirt but cool enough to not sweat if you do choose to wear one. He's excited for the weekend, even though as of right now he doesn't have plans. He needs a break from all the studying, note-taking, and doing book work.

Ember's questioning her sanity once again. She loudly exclaims and throws her hands around. "I'm just saying! It doesn't make sense!"

"Em, you're talking about the logic of a kid's show's character, you realize that right?" Paige looks at her, feigning being concerned but actually very entertained by this.

"But I'm right! Have you ever seen Barbie work?!" Ember looks at her with a challenging expression. She doesn't even give her time to answer. "No! Exactly! No one has! Where is she getting all her damn money?"

"Ember. You concern me." Liam pats her shoulder. "You really, really concern me."

"Liam, don't even start. I'm right and you both know it."

Liam and Paige exchange a look before laughing softly. Liam waves to them when he breaks off to walk to his car. They both wave as well, Ember continuing her rant as the two head to the bus stop.

Liam gets in his car and twists the keys in the ignition. The engine roars to life. Liam adjusts his rear view mirror before backing out of the parking lot and starting the drive home.

As always, the drive is short. He pulls up to his house far too soon for his liking. He parks at the end of the house, where he always does.

Liam pushes his front door open, pausing when he hears his parents' voices.

"Sara, no." His father is saying sternly. He steps in and the door pushes shut behind him. Both of his parents look over at him from where they're standing in the living room.

"William!" His mother screeches almost immediately.

"Mom." Liam steps over so he's standing in the middle of the foyer and turns to look at her. Her blonde hair is up in a neat bun, as always, and her blue eyes are sparkling with anger. She's pissed. Liam glances over to his father who seems frustrated. "What's going on?"

"Nothing Will." His father says dismissively, eyeing his wife.

"No. Something is definitely going on." The woman declares, narrowing her eyes at her son. "I got a call today."

Immediately Liam's mind races, thinking of all the possibilities. What would get her this pissed? Why did it involve him? He momentarily thought it might be because he skipped school but that wouldn't make sense. Why would they wait two days to call her?

"From Laura Martin. She was talking about how you and her son appear to be friends and she thought we could all go out for tea some time."

A picture of Ian sitting next to Laura at tea appears into Liam's head. His shoulders relax just a bit.

"Um, yeah I guess. We talked while you and the others were looking at Clara's garden."

"How long have you known this boy? Is this one of your new friends? Is this why you've been doing all these out of character things? Is it because you've fallen in with the wrong crowd? Is that it?" The woman looks like she's fuming.

Liam's mouth goes dry. He doesn't know what to say. He can't just deflect this question, but he doesn't want to fight with his parents. He can't lie either, he doesn't know how much she knows.

"Well?" She stands with her arms crossed, clearly impatiently awaiting his answer.

"I'm friends with him, yeah." Liam finally answers, raising his shoulders in a shrug. "His sister goes to my school. That's how we met."