Perfectly Unseen

13: clumsy football player

C l u m s y
                football player
                ~+~+~+~

THE rest of the day went by in a blur. Gossip was spreading around the school like wild fire and without Emma there to keep me company, I spent most of my time in my spot in the back of the library with a hot coffee to calm my nerves. Ashton went back to being the glowering guy I knew him to be by the time it was Debate class and as I slumped in my seat feeling completely warn out, only one thought could lift my spirits.

Aurora was coming home today. And dad would be gone for awhile. Maybe it wasn't such an awful day after all.

"Hey," Liam sat down beside me just as the bell rang, his hair and clothes damp as if he had decided to take a dip in the koi pond.

My eyes widened, taking in the way his soaked thin shirt accentuated his muscles as it stuck to his skin. His abs were perfectly outlined as I attempted to sneak a glance. I could feel my face heat up instantly as my eyes seemed to become stuck on the ridges and bumps that proved his strength. He was so attractive.

"Decide to go for a swim?" I replied instead, tearing my eyes off of his beautiful muscular chest and abdomen as I fixed my glasses.

He blushed, "Couldn't pass up the offer to swim with the Koi fish." He read my mind before turning even redder. "I fell." He admitted, scratching the back of his head awkwardly while I blurted out laughing.

I could feel everyone's eyes land on me as I created a scene --obsidian coloured ones glued to me as the owner tilted his head to the side wondering what was so funny. But none of that seemed to matter when I was with Liam. He made everything else just...disappear.

My hands quickly covered my mouth, failing to hold back the giggles. Liam was just so adorable. "Sorry," I said between chuckles as he smiled and shook his head embarrassedly. "How did you manage to do that?" I boldly reached out and tugged on his wet silver hair.

I was suddenly aware of how we were subconsciously leaning towards each other as he fell back into his chair with a loud exhale. "I was studying for calculus in my free period and lost track of time. My debate books were in my truck so I had to run out there and get them and on the way back I tripped over a freaking rock and fell." His lips curled up as his golden eyes captured mine. "I'm hopeless, you know."

I shook my head, "How do you play football?" I teased lightheartedly, giggling again.

"By not focusing on the girl walking back from the library." He mumbled, glancing up at me through his thick lashes as a pink sprinkled along his cheeks and nose.

Did he mean me? He fell because he saw me? But why...

"Hey." A deep masculine voice interrupted my pounding heart as I tried to decipher what his words meant.

Liam's brown warm eyes flickered away from my wide ones hesitantly, "Hey," he frowned uncertainly, looking up into obsidian eyes.

My own eyes seemed to jump from Liam to Ashton, needing to tip my head up slightly to take in his powerful stance of six foot four --or something gigantic like that. When I finally reached his eyes, I found them already on me, holding mine captive for a few seconds as I held my breath.

He looked back at Liam, "You coming to dinner tonight with your family? My mom just texted me to ask you." He explained with the annoyed roll of his sharp eyes as he pushed back his hair.

"Nah, man." Liam shook his head, "Football practice --you now how it is." He sighed as if it was this nuisance instead of a fun sport. I guess even the teams best players got tired of the game sometimes.

Ashton nodded, seeming to have already known what his answer was going to be. "Yeah, I figured as much." He muttered, walking away without another word just as Ms Franklin skipped in the door, humming happily.

Liam's eyes flickered between Ashton and I as his brows furrowed. "I see." He mumbled as I watched him confusedly. He smiled at me crookedly, "Would you happen to want to hang out with a clumsy football player on the day of Thurs, Ms Dawn?"

"H-hangout?" I stuttered, feeling completely baffled as I looked at the adorably handsome boy in front of me. He wanted to hang out... with me?

He chuckled, taking hold of the frames of my glasses as he adjusted them, "You sure you're not deaf instead of blind?" His voice teased me as his eyes appeared to look nervous.

Ms Franklin was talking in the background but all I could seem to focus on was the golden specks sprinkled into his eyes like some sort of magical fairy dust. Why would he want to hang out with me?

"So?" He wiggled his brows, waiting for an answer. "What about it? Do wanna get to know a guy like me somewhere outside of the school setting we've been forced into?"

My lips pressed together tightly as my cheeks flooded with heat. I nodded my reply, "If you really want to hang out with such a dork, who am I to stop you?" I squeaked out, trying to sound nonchalant but my voice gave away my scattered mess of a brain. I wasn't even sure what to think. But surely, hanging out with Liam wouldn't be bad at all.

He grinned happily as he leaned towards me, "It just so happens that I like this certain dork. She seems pretty cool to me." Repeating my actions earlier with the tug of my hair, he winked and fell back to his chair. He would have been so smooth... If not for the fact his cheeks were flushed and all pink.

Blushing myself, I turned to face the front, but not before I noticed dark eyes glaring at me from across the room.