Under the Bridge

chapter twenty seven- "daggers for feet"

"I HOPE LIAM DIDN'T KEEP YOU UP TO LATE." My mother comments, looking me up and down carefully. Her voice is laced with sarcasm, but to be honest, she doesn't sound angry. "You can bring him down here, I saw his car in the drive." 

"Mom, we didn't do anything." I say, with sincerity. She believes me, since she doesn't expect me to do anything bad. "We just hung out and ended up falling asleep." 

She raises an eyebrow. "You know, at first I didn't like that boy. He seemed like some suck-up student council kid. Then I heard what he said to Milo, and to you, and I realized that he's nothing like that. The boy's got grit." 

I'm surprised. She fell for the charismatic facade and she didn't like it. 

"If you do start doing things..." She draws on, voice getting serious. "Be safe, and especially don't let it get in the way of Harvard and your grades. I had to pull a lot of strings to get you off of that damn waiting list." 

"I know, mom. I've very grateful." I lie. 

"Go bring that boy down here. You two should eat something." She instructs, taking a long sip of her coffee. "I'll be gone in fifteen minutes, anyways." 

I obey her orders and climb back up the stairs. 

Liam is still asleep in my bed, under my blanket in the very spot he was when he held me last night. I set a hand on his bare arm to wake him up brushing my hand over the air force tattoo. "Wake up." I whisper. 

His eyes flutter open,' and he groans. "What time is it?" He whines, voice heavy and low. 

"I don't know, but my mom knows you're here." I say. 

His eyes widen immediately. "Fuck." He swears, I could feel the worry radiating off of him. 

I explained my conversation with my mother, and he calmed down. It also helps that I'm waiting for her to leave before getting breakfast with him to avoid some kind of interaction. 

* * * 

I'm alone in my house. I'm not sure what this emotion is. Liam left a little while ago, and while every moment I spent with him, my heart beat out of my chest, I also felt like it was temporary. 

I remember him telling me about his hookups with Andrea, and how he wasn't a relationship guy. Everyone was surprised when there were rumors that he was dating someone, and not only because the rumors were about me, but because Liam Walker doesn't settle down. 

I want Liam to be my boyfriend, but I don't want to lose him. 

He's become one of my best friends, and I don't want to see that go away. If I tell him that I want to date him, he's either going to comply, or it's going to shatter whatever we have into a thousand tiny pieces. The odds of him dating me are slim. 

I'm ugly, a loser, and the exact opposite of any girl he's ever expressed interest in. He's more likely to have made out with me because it was a spur of the moment thing, not because he actually has feelings for a girl like me. 

When did math become so complicated? 

There's a knock at my door. "It's me!" I hear Hope's loud voice resonate through the wall, which startles me a bit. 

They're not your best friend if they don't break into your house regularly. 

She bursts through and jumps on my bed beside me, interrupting my skimming of Fahrenheit 451.  My mind was elsewhere, anyways. Hope looks happy and awake in her bright yellow dress. Her makeup is done, her nails are colorful, and she smells like strawberries.