Chapter 21
My eyes darted nervously around the room. It was eerily quiet since everybody was probably visiting Mom. That probably was a positive thing since nobody could interrupt or wonder why I'm telling Liam these things or spy on us or anything.
"You can take a seat on the couch, I guess... Yeah," I mumbled and pointed.
"Alright, but you'll be sitting on my lap either way."
That made me crack a smile. It would be so much easier to say everything if he was holding me, believe it or not. I would feel more comforted. Besides, cuddling was comfy. He plopped down on the couch and I followed suit. After he wrapped his arms around me and stretched out his legs I started explaining.
"I'm not sure how to start explaining everything but I'll just start somewhere. Feel free to ask questions if you're lost. So uh, my mom was diagnosed with cancer about seven months ago and today she was admitted into the hospital." He gave my hand an assuring squeeze and I started tearing up again but I kept talking anyway.
"So, that's been really hard," I continued. "She's always been there for me. I love her so much. Everybody is visiting her right now so that's why the house is empty. Otherwise, Peter and Dad would be here and Josh would have been too but he left..."
"Left?" he asked.
"Right, Josh is Peter's roommate, he stayed here for a while because his parents kicked him out. He's gay and went through some horrible bullying and stuff and did some things and yeah... sorry I'm not really good at explaining things."
"It's okay, just let it all out," he answered, softly.
"I think I connected with him so much because we both went through the same thing. I was bullied most of high school and he was too. My bullies hadn't gone as far as to cut me like they did to Josh, but it got really bad."
"How bad?" he asked.
"Well when everybody started talking about how I had epilepsy they all started calling me spazz and would even drop to the floor and start shaking to make fun of me. Sometimes they'd hit me or shove me into lockers really hard. I came home crying almost every day and Peter helped me through it all the time. When he moved to go to college though, it got even worse. They didn't have to sneak around and bully me anymore, they could do it whenever they please because if Peter saw them he'd get so mad and I don't really want to go there. They started physically hurting me more and calling me worse names. Ugly, fat and spazz were nothing anymore, they were just the beginning. They made me so scared of them I broke down so bad one day and told my parents... and then we moved, so that's why i'm here now.
"Junior year was the worst year of my life because Peter got addicted to alcohol and had to go to rehab. He hardly got to contact us and I missed him so much. He was my rock, the glue that kept me together. I was a complete mess that year especially when we found out about my mom. I just never thought I'd get out of this dark hole that just kept getting worse. When I found out about you and how nobody knew what had happened to you that summer or how your sister disappeared I guess I just kind of wanted to know more about you because then I would have something else to focus on. So sorry if I was really annoying."
"It's okay," he answered. "To be honest with you, you weren't annoying at all, I was just mad at the world for everything that happened that summer. Junior year kind of sucked for us both," he said darkly. I was kind of hoping he would tell me some things that happened but I didn't get my hopes too high.
"Yeah. Hey, Liam, can I ask you some questions now?" I asked carefully.
"No promises that I'll answer them."
YOU ARE READING
Surf's Up
Novela Juvenil"I couldn't breath. I tried to climb to the surface of the water but it was all coming down at me so fast. I saw someone dive down to try and save me. They were shouting at me to stay alive. That they couldn't do this again."...
