Superficial Introductions

Chapter 7

Liv hurried out of the auditorium and ran to her locker, avoiding both JJ and Eric. She had to regain her composure- she knew there was no way that she could carry through with her plan if she carried on like she was, but she also knew that Eric might be a useful pawn in her game. But why was she so worried about him? And why couldn't she seem to get his lips on hers off of her mind?

She put her combination in and shook her head, she was not letting herself get distracted by these superficial things. She knew that she had to rise above everything that had ruined her life in the past.

Liv dashed to her next class and carried on like that for the rest of the day, carefully avoiding the two people she knew she wanted to see the most. But, as fate always works, she knew she couldn't avoid JJ or Eric forever, especially after she remembered that she had made plans to celebrate with JJ that very night.

But all of these thoughts were forgotten when she saw that her mom had texted her a few times throughout the day. Weird, she thought, her mom never bothered her at school.

Liv decided to call her back and make sure everything was okay, even if they hadn't been getting along as well as they used to. She knew that she had to be the bigger person because her mom couldn't do it, especially when it came to the things that mattered most.

"Uh hey mom is everything okay?" Liv asked as she heard her mom pick up on the other line.

But she didn't get a response, all she could hear was breathing in the background. She held the phone closer to her ear, trying to see if she could decipher anything out of the nonsense that she was getting back. Then she realized what she was hearing.

Heavy breathing.

Breathing that vaguely reminded her of that steamy scene in her favorite movie that she had always fast forwarded through when she was younger. The idea of the couple making out so hot and heavy too much for her younger brain to comprehend.

But she knew in that moment that it was exactly what she was hearing. The only problem? Her dad was all the way across the country on a business trip, and she knew that it wasn't who her mom was with.

She could feel the heat rising to her face and the anger coursing through her veins as she quickly hung up, but she couldn't let herself assume the worst. She thought through every possible scenario that could've resulted in the phone call she had gotten.

Perhaps she was working out and had her phone on her arm, she had gotten a few accidental calls like that in the past. Or maybe she was watching to and fell asleep with her phone in her hand and she just so happened to be at a steamy part in a show. She knew that her mom wouldn't do this, but she couldn't help but wonder if maybe she would.

Liv thought about the hushed conversations between her parents and the bad moods she'd been forced to deal with for the past few weeks. But she'd just assumed that it was nothing, just a tiff here or there. She didn't actually think that anything was wrong.

Before she could dwell on the idea too much longer a pair of hands covered her eyes and coyly demanded that she guess who. But after her long day, she had no desire to play games with whoever was standing behind her.

She quickly maneuvered herself from out of their grasp and turned just in time to see JJ's frown before he covertly covered it back up.

"What's up?" He asked nonchalantly.

She sighed and looked up at the ceiling, wondering how she was going to explain this one. "How do you feel about going to Glenn's right after school today? I think I will be avoiding home for tonight."

"Sounds like a plan," he answered as he draped an arm around her shoulders to lead her to his car, "wanna talk about it?"

Liv shook her head then rested it against JJ's chest, appreciating the familiarity of the movement. She didn't feel anxious around him, she only felt like herself and that was exactly what she needed at that point in time.