Ruby and Liam AU

Chapter 8

A/N - hi! Thx for the reads and comments!
Enjoy!

Ruby's POV

I'm in science, and my headache's back, lucky me, so I just rest my head on the desk, and start to drift off. I really need the sleep, plus I'm early, so a few minutes of rest can't hurt, right?

A few minutes later

My whole body is being shook.
Earthquake?!
But earthquakes don't usually say your name or grab your arm...
My head bolts up, and I'm staring into crystal blue eyes, again.
This seems to happen a lot
I rub my eyes to clear my thoughts. "Hey" I say, mid-yawn.
"Hey, are you alright?" Liam says, concerned. "You seem really tired."
"Yeah I am" I say before I can lie. "But I'm fine" I add in quickly.
"Are you sure? Chubs can do the presentation instead, and you can go home."
At the word "presentation", I finally perk up.
"Presentation?"
"Yeah, to, you know, go in front of everyone and read our group's paper."
"And I was assigned to do that? When?" I say, unintentional panic already rising in my voice.
I'm not a good public speaker.
I'm just not.
"When we got the project, you offered, remember?"
I don't
"It was like 2 days ago" Liam finishes.
I don't remember a thing about agreeing to this.
I must have been really out of it on my first day.
"Okaaaayyy" I say. "What if I'm really nervous?"
"Don't be" he says comfortingly. "You just have to read what's on the paper, and speak in a semi-loud voice. After writing majority of the paper without falling asleep, this will be a piece of cake." He's smiling like a doofus and its infectious.
Cate's calling the class to attention and is calling people up to present.
It doesn't seem sooo bad. No one died on "stage" yet, so that's a good sign. I tell Liam that, and he's cracking up, his laughter muffled by my hand over his mouth. I can't help but smile. It's hard to be in a bad mood around Liam.
Then my name's called up.
I walk up to the front, and Chubs whispers "don't mess up" as I pass by.
I see Liam punch him in the shoulder in the corner of my eye.
I start reading, and it's not bad. But I also do realize a drastic change in vocabulary between Chubs's writing and my own. Something I'll probably be hearing about when I go back to my seat.
When it's over, everyone claps like their supposed to, and I'm able to retire to the back of the room, the way I like it.
"See, not so bad huh Ruby Tuesday" whispers Liam.
I shrug.
"But we better take our smart pills next time. You'll be able to hear chubs gloating from your house."
Then I'm laughing, and he's attempting to cover my mouth, but I keep swatting him away. We end up both laughing so hard that the whole class is staring back at us, and we stop abruptly, red in the face. Cate seems mad, but doesn't assign detention or anything.
At the end of class, Liam is out the door before me, so I don't get to apologize about the night before. That means I'll just have to find his locker at the end of the day, and talk to him.
Easier said than done
I circled the first floor twice, pushing past the crowd like a madwoman, searching for his familiar golden hair. Just my luck, he's actually on the third floor (wasn't lying, it's a big school) and unless he's the slowest packer in the world, he's probably on his way home right now.
I turn another corner, running, and hear someone rummaging through a bag. I press my back against the wall and pray to... Literally anyone right now, hoping its him, and make a right turn.
I'm so shocked that my prayers were answered, that I gasp loud and clear in this echo-friendly hallway.
Liam turns my way and smiles. "What are you doing here?"
"What are you doing here?" I counter, walking towards him.
"This is my locker darlin', you do know that" he says, with his hands crossed over his chest, and his back leaning against the locker near his. I notice that he's a good head taller than me, and though he's thin, his muscles are slightly visible through his shirt.
"No, I mean it's late. I didn't think I'd catch you."
"Yeah, I don't leave too early. It's not safe to ride my bike when there are too many people around. What's going on?"
That whole "bike" thing doesn't make any sense, but I don't care right now. I have to get this apology over with.
"Look, I'm really sorry about running out on you so quickly yesterday" I say, looking at the floor, wringing my fingers together. "I hope I didn't get you in trouble with your brother, or anything worse. I wasn't thinking, I.. I, yeah I'm sorry." I finally look up into his eyes. I want him to know I really do mean it. That I'm not some selfish brat that he can't invite over.
"Don't worry about it" Liam says, his ears tinged with pink. "Cole was actually..uh.. Really cool about everything."
I can tell he's surprised, and so am I.
He's not mad? At all!?
"Sooo, are we cool then?" I ask hopefully.
"Yeah, we always were darlin' " he says, playing with my hair.
"Ok, then my job here is done" I chuckle softly. "Bye."
"Wait, do you want a ride home?"
"What, do you have a tandem bicycle or something?"
"It's not really your ordinary bike..." He says, and I follow him outside.

.................

He's right, it's a motorcycle.
A death ride is what my father would say.
"Meet, Lovely Rita" Liam says, pride brimming his voice.
"Like the Beatles song?"
"Yup, fits right?"
"I guess", I say, chuckling softly.
"Ok, so hop on" Liam says leaning on the bike. It seems he only has one helmet, and offers it to me.
"Um... I'm not sure" I say. Then, I start to ramble a bit "I mean, I don't want to take your only helmet, and I've never been on a motorcycle before, and some say it's really dangerous to have two people on one bike, and I don't want to get in trouble for not having a license or even a permit and-"
Then, I'm being lifted into the air, and plopped on the bike before I can argue any more. I start to protest, but Liam just buckles the helmet on my head, then starts the engine.
It's too late to back out now.
He starts riding, and soon we are on the open road, in our gated community.  
"You know, some people would call this KIDNAPPING" I say loudly, with my arms wrapped around Liam, holding on for dear life.
"And some people would call this a gentleman leading a young lady back to her home before someone else could kidnap her".
I huffed loudly, and was able to feel Liam laughing between my arms.
I gave him directions to my house, and soon enough, we were there.
"Thanks for not killing me" I say as I hand him back my helmet.
"Thanks for giving me your address" he says with a sly grin. But still, I can see how nervous he is even when he's trying to act cool.
"Well, just promise not to be all Romeo-like and throw pebbles at the windows 'cause I sleep in the basement" I say jokingly.
He tilts his head back laughing, then stares into my eyes.
They are a fiery blue.
They are hypnotizing, and I can't pull away. It's just eye contact, but it's addicting. To be able to just see his eyes everyday would be heaven for me.
We are on the sidewalk, and then my front door opens.
I break the connection, and see Grams waiting in the doorway.
"Um, thanks for the ride. See you at school." I say not really meeting his eyes.
"Anytime darlin'."
I shoulder my bag and walk to the door, hearing Liam's motorbike's engine in the background.
"Hey grams" I say, and pull her into a hug.
"Hello dear, who was that?"
"Uh... Just a friend from school. You won't tell dad will you? About the motorcycle?" I ask.
"No, of course not. But that boy is very handsome" she says, smiling.
I blush a little.
"I.. I don't pay attention to that kind of stuff." I say, lying through my teeth. "I'm just gonna finish up my homework downstairs", and I bolt away.

A/N - Comment? Vote? Follow? Or no?
Tell me what you think. My next chapter will probably be one outta school, so yay!!
Thx for reading
Panda out