The Whisper Seekers

Crush

The next day, I spend almost the entire day in bed avoiding my phone. I wasn't in the mood to speak to anyone so I ate leftover dessert from my mom's event and watched reruns of my favorite shows until my mom forced me to leave the house. She dragged me to get our nails done and I left my phone on silent at home. My mom immediately noticed my somber mood and poked around for details.

"Mom I'm just annoyed with everyone okay! I'm taking a mental break from my social life," I whine as we drive back from the nail salon. "Harper is obsessed with the new kid Liam and Derek is all of a sudden threatened by him. He just came in and took over my life! I can't seem to get away from him since he is the talk of the school!" My mom nods while listening to me complain.

"Why do you want to get away from him? I thought you two were friends?" She asks in a melodic tone, like she knows about my weird crush on him. I can't tell her it's because he thinks I am a phony cheater.

"We are, but Harper wants me to stay away from him so she can have him to herself, which also isn't fair if Liam and I are just friends. But Liam at the same time just drives me crazy." When we slow to a stop at a red light she turns to me.

"So you like him? You want to stay away from him because he threatens your relationship with Derek and Harper." I bury my face in my hands and take a deep breath.

"No mom, he just annoys me." When we finally arrive home, we pull into the garage as my mom says, "I think you're just annoyed at the situation. You're in high school Ellie, you don't have to marry Derek. Harper and you are going separate ways next year, so it won't be the end of the world if you end up liking Liam." I stare at her in shock.

"I thought you wanted me to marry Derek and be a power couple that has everything?" She starts laughing as she gets out of the car.

"Derek is wonderful and has a great head on his shoulders but if he's not what you want, then it doesn't matter what I want," she says before stopping in front of the garage door and turning to me. "You're very young to be thinking about being with one guy for the rest of your life. High school is such a short time in the grand scheme of things. Just be happy and enjoy high school. Go out with Liam if you want to or avoid him to pacify Harper. It's your call, but whatever you do needs to be because it's what's best for you. It's okay to be a little selfish sometimes." I can tell she's speaking from experience. My dad runs her whole life and the only things she has are me and her charities. She is just completely unaware of how selfish I have been.

I trot upstairs and find my phone just where I left it. I pluck up the courage to check my texts. Harper and Lily have been trying to get a hold of me all day because Liam canceled their date last night and Harper is distraught over it. Liam texted me to tell me he bailed on hanging out because he figured it was best with all that happened. And lastly, Derek called angry with me because he thought we had a group date and I never called him last night to tell him it was canceled. I roll my eyes as I listen to his angry voice blast through my speaker.

When did I become in charge of everyone's weekend plans? And why am I just now noticing how childish Derek can be? Normally I would call Derek back immediately to make sure he wasn't mad at me. Today, I just don't care. I toss my phone onto my bed, not wanting to think that I created this mess. I invited Liam to come to lunch with us. I am the one that pushed Liam into hanging with Harper. I am the one that kept Liam in the group to keep him close to me. I'm realizing that I have been obsessed with Liam since I saw him in Mr. Andserson's office. I thought my relationship with Derek was so solid that I wouldn't even glance in another guy's direction. I've been wrong about so many things.

I'm about to slide off my shoes when I hear the doorbell ring. I turn towards my door to hear if my mom answered it. I then hear her muffled voice along with a deep voice that clearly belongs to a male. I catch murmurs and then hear my name being yelled. Great. I really am not in the mood to be grilled by Derek right now. I slowly make my way down the stairs and when I round the corner, I see my mom standing by the front door with Liam. He has an anxious expression, but my mom is all smiles.

"Look who's here!" She says excitedly while being oblivious to my surprised reaction. I was not expecting him to just show up here. While creeping away, she glances between us. "Well, I'll let you two be." She gives me an awkward wink and saunters back to the living room. I lean against the banister as I cross my arms. He sticks his hands in his dark jeans and rocks back on his feet.

"Your mom seemed excited to see me," he tells me but I glare at him and snap, "Do not break into her head." He holds his hands up.

"Whoa now, I never said anything about her thoughts." I catch a twinkle in his eye and I pray to Jesus that my mother did not think of my crush on him while she was standing around him. He adds, "I tried to call you last night." I just stare at him expressionless so he continues, "I canceled on Harper."

I nod, "Yeah, I saw the five hundred phone calls and texts from her." He smiles but the awkwardness hasn't lifted.

"Are you busy? Can we maybe go somewhere and talk? Like dinner maybe?" I hesitate, knowing it's not a good idea to go out together, but his somber eyes force me to give in. I drop my arms and reply, "Let me go grab my stuff. Be right back." I head upstairs to grab my phone and my purse. I check my reflection and notice I need to fluff up my hair a bit and reapply my makeup a little. If I'm going out, I might as well not look a mess.

A few minutes later I accomplish the "not trying too hard look" and I spritz on perfume before I decide I'm ready. He's standing right where I left him and I shout to my mom that I'm leaving as he holds the door open for me. He then opens my car door and I slide into the familiar leather.

"Where do you want to go?" He asks and I shrug, "Doesn't matter." It's silent the whole drive and I struggle with not thinking about anything. I even try singing a song in my head, but I can't tell if he's listening. He pulls up to my favorite Mexican restaurant and I glare at him. He must have been listening in after all.

The young hostess seats us in a booth at the back of the restaurant and she flirts with Liam while we cross the restaurant. She giggles after he thanks her and continuously looks back at him all the way to her hostess stand.

"Don't be annoyed, I see how guys eye you. And as far as I know, I am single," he jokes. I am finally starting to feel comfortable with him again. I am about to joke back when our waitress comes over and I immediately recognize her from school.

"Hey, Ellie!" She excitedly says and does a double-take when she sees Liam, "Oh and Liam! I'm Molly, it's nice to finally meet you. I think we are in Spanish together." Maybe he'll talk to me in Spanish on Monday. Her eyes flick over to me Big surprise he's already friends with that group. He offers his hand up to shake hers and she holds on a little too long. We quickly order drinks and I'm relieved when she walks away.

"You know this will be all over school tomorrow," I tell him and instantly think of what Harper and Derek will think.

"Who cares," he replies as he looks over the menu.

"I care, remember. That's what you had such a problem with the last time I talked to you." He slaps his menu down and looks angry.

"That's not it at all. It's just that you care what everyone thinks when you already know." His tone softens as he says, "I thought that's what made you so tough. You already know what everyone thinks about you, so you don't spend your time worrying about it like Lily and Harper. You push them aside to get cheerleading captain, but worry they'll stop being your friend if you're seen with me."

"I don't need it to make sense to you, Liam," I tell him but he cuts me off and says, "Fine, justify it how you need to. I'm just wondering what's real with you? What's real and what are your manipulations? I know reading minds isn't the only thing you're capable of." He's somehow figured out more than what I have told him. In the past few years, I noticed I might have another talent to add to my list. I've found that I can manipulate what people see. It's almost like I am creating an illusion, but it only works with things that are written down or physically there. I stare at him as I ponder revealing my special skill to him. I seem to be spilling all of my secrets to him whether I want to or not.