Almost Lovers

Chapter 10 - Crush

Weeks passed.

To Kassielle's delight, there weren't any more murders or girls missing in Calgary, which made her friends stop talking about the issue. She would rather that they not bring it up because it messed with her thoughts like crazy.

They were all focused on school. The class content had become heavier and they've already had a couple of quizzes done and more coming. Kassielle also needed to finish an art project, and she hadn't even thought of what to paint yet. The Alberta Biology Olympiad was also an upcoming event that their school was preparing for, and this year, Mrs. Morris had chosen Kassielle, Piper, Stella, Liam, and Steve for the team competition, where each of them would participate in individual exams to which their scores would be added together. Killian was chosen for the debate category. The event would still be held in Banff, which Kassielle thought made sense because it was the most top-rated attraction in the province of Alberta. This made her excited more than anything else.

Students talked in hushed voices at the lab as Mr. Jackson circled the  room, spitting comments and instructions once in a while. They were doing an activity in Chemistry, and Kassielle was bent over the table wearing protective goggles, her long hair tied in a messy bun, and her white lab coat a little too long for her height. She was doing calculations and balancing chemical equations as she muttered instructions to a focused Leah Marie, and Hannah—who was nodding but whose mind seemed detached from their work. Liam went to get the beaker, hot plate, aluminum foil, and other solutions. Kassielle and the girls didn't trust themselves to get the equipment; they feared that they would just likely break them, and Liam was the only one who was graceful enough to be trusted with the job.

Leah Marie craned her neck to see if Liam was out of earshot and turned to Kassielle.

"Hey," she whispered excitedly as she bent forward, staring at the sheet Kassielle was scribbling at.

Kassielle looked at her. She and Leah Marie had become friends these past few weeks, although they were not that close. The girl was kind, shy, and funny, and Kassielle had started to like her.

"I've heard something," she said in a quiet voice. "You know, someone told me something about Liam. That the girl he likes-" she looked up again to see if anyone was listening, "-the girl has nine letters in her first name."

"Nine letters?" Kassielle's mind automatically counted the letters in her own name. There were nine. Her heart began to beat faster. Liam likes her? Finally, after all this time?

Her lip quivered as she tried hard to suppress a smile. "Are you sure? Who told you that?" she whispered back.

"Amy. You know, the quiet girl who almost never talks. But she became my friend and she told me everything that Liam—"

Leah Marie paused and looked up at Liam approaching their table, carrying the equipment. She drew back from Kassielle and stood straight, smiling. Suddenly Kassielle seemed to forget about her calculations. Her mind was savouring the moment she knew that Liam actually liked her.

Kassielle immediately started filling in details to Lili about what Leah Marie said to her earlier. She couldn't hide the thrill in her voice while Lili gasped in all the right moments.

"Finally," Lili said rolling her eyes, "he's not blind anymore! Although I knew deep inside that he liked you all along, even though he never answered my questions. There's no need for him to tell. It was obvious—"

"Shh, they might hear you," Kassielle looked around the people in the bus nervously and back to Lili. "But... I just don't get why sometimes he tries to shoo me away—"