Not mine
Liam's first day back at school after The Incident sucks ass. Especially because he's been in the hospital for a week. Plus, he's still learning how to get along with his shiny new crutches – because he's just short enough that the perfect height for them is exactly in-between two of the pins, of course – and he can't time his trips around the school properly, so he's been consistently late everywhere he goes all day. His friends are acting strangely and treating him like he's broken as well. Mason mothers him like he's had a limb chopped off instead of just snapping a bone, and Garrett and Violet have been distant and distracted all day, noses always buried in their phones and conversations all held in hushed whispers. Liam gets a brief moment of peace when Mason stays back after history to discuss some extra credit project he wants to do with Mr Yukimura, and Liam hops his way down to his locker in relative silence as people rush to class around him.
The warning bell rings for the next period, and Liam curses, rummaging around in his black hole of a locker for his maths notes. He already knows he's going to be late – the maths room is on the other side of the school – but he doesn't want to make it worse than it's already going to be. "Shit, shit," he mutters, fingers scrabbling as the notebook slips through his fingers and falls to the ground, loose papers scattering everywhere. Luckily, the throng of people that had been milling around has dispersed, and Liam gently levers himself to his knees to start gathering papers up, broken leg protesting painfully at the movement.
He's reaching out to grab his calculus notes when his sleeve pulls back and he sees his other injury from his trip to the hospital – the unexplained bite mark that he doesn't remember getting. Liam frowns at it, tugging his sleeve back down. He suddenly realises that someone is talking to him.
"-kay? Hey, are you okay?"
Liam looks up. There's an unfamiliar girl standing over him, messenger bag slung over her shoulder. She's got one hand fisted in the hem of her purple dress, her leggings and black leather boots looking out of place for early summer. Her face looks vaguely familiar, like Liam's seen a photo of her somewhere. "I'm sorry," Liam says breathlessly. He's kind of in lots of pain. "What did you say?"
The shocked expression that crosses her angled face is not the reaction Liam was expecting. Nor is the barely audible, "You can see me?" she asks him reverently.
"Well of course I can see you," Liam barks, now slightly irritated. "I'm crippled, not blind!" He feels bad for snapping at her almost as soon as he's done it. Damn IED. "Sorry, I didn't mean that. What were you saying?"
The girl shakes her head, still looking a little shell-shocked. "I was asking if you're okay? Do you want some help?" Her face is kind and earnest, and Liam nods without thinking about it. He's never seen this girl before – maybe she's a new student? "Here, I'll grab the ones that slid down the corridor, okay?"
"Thanks," Liam whispers. He's been at Beacon Hills now for a month, and he's only managed to make two friends – Mason doesn't count because they've been friends since elementary school – so he's not used to people, particularly upperclassmen because this girl looks like she's at least in Junior year, talking to him.
A few minutes go by as Liam sets about putting all his notes back in order, and then the girl is holding the rest of them out for him. "Here you go," she says cheerfully. "Do you need help up?"
Liam gives his crutches an appraising look where they're leaning against the lockers. "Um, I don't think so. But, could you hold these for a sec?" He holds his notes up hopefully. Once the girl takes them, Liam carefully climbs up onto one foot and wedges his crutches under his arms, pulling a face when they dig into his ribs. "I hate these things," he grumps. "Could you just stuff that in my bag, please?" He turns, and feels his bag jiggling as she pulls the zip and carefully tucks his notebook in behind his lunch and drink bottle. "Seriously, thank you so much," Liam says earnestly. "I'd have been stuck crawling around for ages if it weren't for you-" he realises he doesn't know her name, so he turns to ask her.
"Woah, what the hell?"
