His Sweet Lies

Chapter 4: Unspoken Truths

Liam woke up and got ready for school before walking down the steps before pausing.

I should wake up Emma.

He turned around and knocked on her door. "Emma?"

He paused when there was no response. He cleared his through, knocking again. "Emma?" he repeated.

Nothing.

"I'm uh-- I'm coming in" he said before slowly opening the door.

Liam hesitantly walked in and glanced around the room. "Emma?"

She was nowhere in the room.

He frowned, spinning around on his heel and flinching when he saw a figure standing right in front of him.

"Liam?" Emma said with a small laugh. "Are you doing okay?"

She had changed into her clothes from yesterday after Mary washed them and ate some cereal while she waited for Liam to wake up. She didn't expect him to be looking around in her room. Well... the guest room that she happened to be staying in for the night.

He looked at her with wide eyes. "Where the hell were you?"

"Eating breakfast" she blinked. "Which, by the way, you should do too. Come on" she said, already grabbing his hand and pulling him behind her down the stairs to the kitchen.

Liam's brows rose when he saw the bowl of cereal Emma had already prepared for him. "You didn't have to--"

"It was nothing" Emma interrupted, waving her hand. "Just eat and I'm gonna go get my backpack."

Before he had the chance to reply, Emma was walking up the stairs two at a time. They had ten minutes to get there, and it was a fifteen-minute drive. She ran her fingers through her hair, not liking the idea of being late to school.

Liam's almost always late for school. How does that not bother him?

Emma shook her head at the irrelevant thought before grabbing her backpack and practically jumping down the stairs. Not surprisingly, she tripped and started to fall forward before a strong pair of hands caught her.

Her heart was in her throat when she slowly lifted her head to see Liam's handsome face just a few inches away from hers. His hands were on her shoulders, holding her steady as he looked at her with soft eyes. "You good?"

Emma's face turned a bright shade of red as she forced herself to nod and regain her balance.

Liam gave her a concerned glance before walking up the stairs to grab his things.

She sat down on the stairs and rested her elbows on her knees.

He was so close to me!

With a sigh, she got up and strode towards the door and then the thought came rushing back to her again.

We're gonna be late for school!

She hurried out the door and headed for Liam's car, standing next to it and anxiously waiting for him.

In a matter of seconds, he was out the door, rushing over to the car and unlocking it. They both got in and quickly shut the doors as Liam started the car, slamming his foot on the gas petal as soon as he was on the road.

"Jesus Christ, you're gonna kill us!" Emma hissed, holding on tightly to anything she could grab.

"Relax, I've done this a million times" Liam said, looking over and giving her a reassuring smile.

"Liam!" Emma snapped, putting her hands on the wheel to avoid running into another car. "Holy shit" she sighed, trying to control her unsteady breaths.

"Thanks" Liam murmured.

Emma leaned back into her seat and put a hand on her chest, feeling her heartbeat slowly start to return to normal. "You sure your driver's license is real?" she asked, looking at him sidelong.

Liam chuckled as he took a sharp right turn. "Pretty sure."

When they pulled into the school parking lot and Liam parked in his usual spot, he watched as Emma started to unbuckle and open the door before he even touched his seatbelt.

He looked at his phone and they were two minutes early. Surprisingly.

His gaze shifted to Emma. "You can take a second to breathe, you know?"

"No, no" she responded, barely giving him the chance to finish his question. "We may be early, but I doubt you wanna be seen with me more than you have to, right?"

Her words struck him. "What?"

Finally, she met his stare. "The popular guy hanging out with the weird girl who no one can even look in the eyes? What a pair" she said with a nervous laugh. "It's fine. I get it. No one wants to be seen with me" she said casually.

Liam's eyes hardened. "I'm sure people have said shit like that, but when have I ever--"

"It's fine, Liam" Emma repeated. "I don't want your friends or fangirls giving you shit about it."

He pursed his lips. She had a point. If his friends saw the two of them just talking outside of class, he'd never hear the end of it. His "fangirls" would probably start bothering Emma for all the wrong reasons. It wouldn't go well if the two of them were seen together even though they were partners for a school project.

Before he could say anything else, Emma had left. He was alone again. And he hated it.

Emma walked through the halls, weaving through crowds of students like always, when the bell rang for the start of class. When she sat down, she finally had the time to think about all that had happened within the span of less than a day.

She had spent the night at Liam Hanson's house. She had gone out shopping with him. She'd had a food fight with him, shared many laughs and smiles with him, had full on conversations with him...

Emma smiled to herself at the thought of them just being together. As friends. Or just as classmates who interacted with each other. Her smile soon faded.

That's all we'll ever be.