Up In Smoke → Liam Dunbar [1]

Chapter Eight

"Adster! Addy!" Addy groaned as her brother shook her awake. She didn't get much sleep last night. After dropping Liam off at his house and grabbing her phone, she went back home. Brayden was shocked when she showed up. He thought she was staying at Kira's again for the night.

She was quick to make up a lie, saying she just missed her bed. Brayden didn't really ask about it. He knew not to bug her when it was her time of the month, even though it really wasn't. Of course, he made an exception this morning. Luke was coming over and he wanted to know if Addy wanted to hang out with them.

"Leave me alone," she muttered while pulling the comforter over her head. He pulled open the blinds and tried pulling off her blankets.

"Luke's coming over."

"Don't you have a SAT today?" Scott and the others had to take their PSAT's today, so she assumed he had to take his tests too. Liam and Addy didn't have to worry about those yet, and she was really glad. There was no way she could have written some test after the night before.

"No, those aren't still for a little while yet." Brayden chuckled. He jumped on top of his little sister. Addy groaned as all his weight was on her. "Come on. Luke wants to hang out."

"I don't wanna," Addy wheezed. She wasn't in the mood to get out of bed, even if it was around noon.

"Addy, if you don't get out of bed in the next two minutes, I'm not giving you a ride to school for the rest of the year," Brayden threatened as he walked out of her room.

There was no way she was taking the bus. Addy reluctantly got out of bed.

The warm water coming from the shower felt good on her bare skin. Her hair was braided as she threw on leggings and her lacrosse hoodie. Except it wasn't hers; it was Liam's. She must have grabbed the wrong one last night when Scott dropped them off.

Addy shrugged as she walked down the stairs. A lie was already forming at the back of her mind about how she borrowed it at school and forgot to give it back, and how it was the first one she saw when getting dressed. It wasn't like there was anything going on between them, but her brother would jump to conclusions before she could explain.

The door opened right as she sat town at the table. A plate with a buttered bagel and a glass of orange juice sat in front of her. Luke walked in, stealing a quarter of her bagel as he went straight to the fridge. He pulled out a carton of apple juice and started chugging it right from the container.

"Luke, that's disgusting. I drink from that," Addy scolded. She made a silent promise never to drink an already opened apple juice. He laughed and tossed the now empty container in the recycling. Addy was scrolling on her phone, and Luke rested his chin on her shoulder.

"So who's, uh, Dunbar?" Luke snickered, tugging on Addy's hood. She glared at him. Before she could answer, Brayden shouted from the living room.

"He's her boyfriend!"

"He's not my boyfriend!" Addy shouted back. They didn't have to yell, but it made it more fun. Liam wasn't her boyfriend, but everyone seemed to be thinking that lately. They didn't realize how they acted, and how much it really did look like they were a couple. The short amount of time they knew each other did nothing for the closeness they shared.

"Oh, don't think I don't know about you skipping yesterday to hang out with him yesterday." Brayden walked into the kitchen, an empty bowl of cereal in hand. Addy gulped. She may as well just go along with the lie. It was a lot better than the one Scott told.

"Yeah, he wasn't feeling up to go to school. We just played video games all day." Addy kept her eyes down at her phone as she lied. "I'm sorry I should have told you."