Loving you is a losing game (ONC 2024)

Chapter 6- Liam

Trigger warnings- Toxic parents, swearing and sex innuendos.

I can't believe what just happened. Imogen is gone. That's it. No more dates walking through the local village eating ice creams. No more trips on the bus to the beach. After eight months of the best days of my life, it's all gone. Over just like that.

Suddenly, my second phone rings. It's my dad. I answer it.

-Hey kid.

Hi dad.

-What's going on? Emily said you don't want to meet her after school?

I can't dad. I have stuff to do.

-Homework? Or hanging out with this girlfriend of yours?

Imogen and I.....we're not a thing anymore.

-Good. She deserves better. You can't even manage to do a few extra things for me outside your schoolwork.

I can't meet Emily today dad. I need some time to just think.

-Why? Your girlfriend's gone Liam. I told you that she'd wake up one day and realise what a mistake she made. Just be grateful she didn't do it years later when you're married for a few years.

Dad, I love her.

-And? So what? You can't always get what you want, kid.

Dad, please just, leave me alone for a while. I'm gonna go. I need to be alone for a while.

-Liam don't you dare hang up on me. Liam!

I end the call.

He calls me useless and has told me time and time again that Imogen deserves better. I keep trying to ignore him, but maybe he's right. She does deserve better.

I turn my phone off as my dad starts sending me a string of texts calling me a disappointment and a failure. I know I'm both of those things dad, I don't need you to remind me.

I hear a knock at my door.

"Go away!" I shout. No matter who it is, I don't want to talk to people right now.

"Liam Samuels, you open this door right now!"

Ugh. When someone uses your full name, it's hard to not do as they say.

I open the door and peer out. There's a girl standing there.

"Thank you for having the guts to show your face," she says. "At least you're better than my ex- boyfriend."

"Can I help you?" I ask, 'what do you want?' sounds a little rude.

"I'm Chloe, Imogen's best friend. I don't believe we've been introduced. Anyway, I'm here to help you."

"Help me?"

"Help you show Imogen you want to be with her, and you're sorry for cheating on her."

I take in a sharp breath. "I did not cheat on her."

Chloe takes a step back. "Wait, you didn't?"

"No," I sigh and step aside. "Come in and I'll show you what's really going on."

She hesitates. "If that's a pick up line to have sex with me, it's a terrible one."

I laugh. "I'm not going to have sex with you," I promise. "I still love Imogen, no matter what."

When we're inside, I close the door out a little, making sure to leave it wide enough so Chloe knows I'm not tempting her into my room to have sex.

Chloe turns to look at me, and any anxiety she has over being alone in a room with a boy is dispelled in a second as she speaks with enough confidence, even I feel intimidated. "Ok, here's the tea. Imogen is in my dorm room right now, in absolute bits because you two broke up. She's sure you're cheating on her with some girl, Emily, so first, I need proof that you're not cheating."

"How are you so confident when you're alone in a room with a boy?"

She gives me a strange look and bursts into laughter. "You actually thought I was scared you wanted to have sex with me? No!" She pauses to laugh some more. "I don't know how to tell you this, Liam, but I'm not straight. I have a girlfriend and trust me, even if I was into boys, you are not my type. But Imogen likes you a lot, and if she likes you, I do too. So, where's this evidence you've got to show me."

I reach for my laptop and log in, only to be met with a barrage of emails from my dad. He's still calling me names and insulting me. I delete all of them and block him for a moment. I want Chloe to know the truth about Emily, not my dad.

I show her mine and Emily's most recent emails and Chloe raises her eyebrows. "Shit, Imogen had it all wrong didn't she?"

I close my laptop and look at her, "I love Imogen more than anyone else in the world. But there's definitely something she isn't telling me. Wait, is she your girlfriend?"

"No!" She breaks off into another fit of laughter. "I don't go after girls who're already taken, Samuels. Second, Imogen is straight."

"Then what is she hiding from me?"

"It's not my place to say. I do know the reason, but I'm not saying. Imogen needs to tell you herself when she's ready. She's afraid you'll break up with her."

"Like I said to her, I would stay with her forever waiting for her to tell me. Every day I spend with her is a dream, and I would give anything to stay with her in that dream for the rest of my life."

"Sappy stuff, Samuels, but good enough I guess. Look, you know what always gets the girl?"

I look at her questioningly. "This isn't a proposal."

"It could be," she teases.

"No. I just want her to be my girlfriend again."

"Ok, well in those viral videos online, the guy always proposes to the girl in some public setting with hundreds of people watching. Then, the girl can't say no!"

"You think I should do that to Imogen. She hates crowds and people watching her."

"Trust me, no girl can hate being the centre of attention when someone proposes to them. Just give it a try."

I think about it for a moment. Sure Imogen hates crowds and being the centre of attention, but if I'm making an idiot of myself, everyone will be looking at me. She'll probably reject me anyway, but I don't see any harm in trying. "Ok," I reply, "let's do it."