UNEDITED VERSION
To break free of the stereotypical box that high school placed her in, Charlie must team up with Liam, the new soccer player on the team her dad coaches.
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Girls fall at Liam's feet - except Charlie. She...
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Truculent (adjective)
- brutally harsh; vitriolic; scathing.
~*~
It was another tiring Wednesday morning and I groaned deeply as the landscape passed by. Christian drove smoothly, his hands lightly clutching the steering wheel. Caleb sat buckled in the passenger seat, his head leaning against the window.
The only thing that excited me about today was the fact that I'd get to see Liam. Ever since that night in the kitchen, I felt like something shifted between the two of us, like there was a mutual understanding that he had his own difficulties to deal with. I knew Liam discerned that night that I comprehended he was behind a wall, one that he was using to protect himself.
Liam reminded me of a tortoise, in some ways. He put out his head, arms and legs, only permitting others to perceive what he wanted them to perceive. I marked that whenever I asked him questions about himself - he'd go back into his shell. This shell was like a piece of sentimental baggage he bore from his past.
But the thing was, I wanted to get to know Liam. However, I didn't want to force him to open up and I understood that he needed to do it on his own time. The shell of a tortoise was an indispensable component of it. Its ribcage and vertebrae were welded to it. Blood vessels and venations used the shell to run. You can't have a tortoise without its shell.
When I witnessed Liam's aunt walk-in at 2:00 am and drunk off her ass, there was a flicker of vulnerability in his eyes. When Aunt Judy threw her beer bottle to the ground, I shrieked and Liam glimpsed at me.
At that moment, I'd mistaken the look in his eyes as concern for me. But during the past two days, the more I reminisced about it, I apprehended that it wasn't concern - it was fear. He was worried that I'd leave upon seeing the mess that his home life was, having to deal with a drunken woman every single night.
But I wouldn't leave. I didn't want to break through his walls anymore either. I didn't want to fracture his shell. What I wanted, was for him to let me in. And I had a tactic on how to do it. I loved Greek Mythology and a story I'd never get tired of hearing was one of The Trojan War.
The Greeks built an enormous wooden horse and used it as a ploy. The Trojans thought that it was a way of the Greeks yielding so they brought it past their walls to celebrate. But at night, the Greeks emerged from where they were lurking in the horse and opened the gates.
I needed to do that, be invited inside by Liam. I needed to show him that he wasn't at risk. And judging by the fact that he at least gave me some details about his tattoo - I needed to be prepared to be invited for tea real soon.
