How?

Nine

I get home and do my homework on my bed. I once read an article about why it's bad to do anything but sleep in your bed, as it makes it harder for your brain to comprehend that when you're in bed you need to sleep. But I don't care at the moment, I don't feel like doing my homework anywhere else.
Around seven the doorbell rings. A few moments later I hear the door open. I hear my mom's voice and someone else's. I open the door to my room and stand in the doorway, listening. The other person is Liam.
     "How are you today?" I hear my mom ask.
     "I'm doing fine, how are you?" Liam replies politely.
     "I'm well, thanks for asking." I can practically hear my mom smiling. I guess kids don't ask adults how they're doing these days.
     "I was actually wanting to speak to Rory. Um," I hear them both shift, as if Liam was showing my mom something.
      My mom gasps. "Oh Liam, you didn't have to!"
     "It's my pleasure. Plus, it's kind of a selfish gift." he chuckled.
     "Okay, I'll go get her." my mom said.
     She shut the door and started making her way to my room. I shut the door and pretended to be doing my homework. I didn't want her to know I was listening.
     She opened my door moments later and I looked over at her.
     "Someone's at the door for you." she said with a smug look on her face.
     "Who?" I asked, even though I knew the answer.
     "Just go look!"
     I groaned but got up. As I walked to the door I started to get nervous. Why was I nervous? It was just Liam, I've talked to him plenty of times. I open the door and see him standing there. He immediately greets me with a smile.
"Hi." he said.
"Hi." I replied hesitantly.
"Oh, um, you told me you didn't have a bike. So, I got you one." he told me, stepping to the side to show me the blue bike.
"What," I was in shock, I had no idea what to say. "Why?" I asked with a small chuckle.
"So you can have one." he replied. "And, selfishly, so you can come bike riding."
I nodded. "So.."
"Do you want to go bike riding?" he asked confidently.
I looked back to see if my mom was close by. She was. I saw her nod and give me a thumbs up.
I turned back to Liam. "Sure." I said.
I stepped out of my house and closed the door. Liam offered me my bike and I took it in my hands, walking it over to Liam's driveway. He straddled his bike and I mine.
"Ready?" he asked.
"Is your brother not coming?" I asked.
Liam shook his head and I nodded mine.
"Lead the way." I said.
He smiled and took off, me right on his tail. We rode through the neighborhood until we got to a trail. Once we got to the trail we slowed our pace.
"Can I ask you something?" I said after a bit.
"Shoot." he replied, glancing over at me, now riding beside him.
"Why'd you want me to come bike riding so bad? Or why do you want to hang out with me?" I asked. I was nervous, I could feel my heartbeat in my head.
"Because I like you." Liam explained.
I looked at him again. "What?"
"I thought you knew!" he laughed. "You can't be that oblivious."
I laughed also. "I don't- Why would you-" I couldn't form full sentences.
"Let's just not talk about it." he laughed.
     "Good idea." I chuckled.
It was now awkward, and I hated it.
"Do you go biking often?" I asked him. "Like, on this trail?"
He nodded. "Yeah, I've been coming through here since I had training wheels."
I smiled, thinking about little Liam riding his tiny bike.
"What?" he asked, letting out a chuckle.
"Nothing." I replied. "Just, you seem like you had a really great childhood."
"I mean, everyone has their problems." he shrugged.
"Yeah. I mean, my childhood wasn't terrible or anything, just, yours seems nice."
"Maybe we should turn back now." Liam suggested.
I nodded. We turned around and rode back to our houses.
"Race you!" Liam exclaimed once we got to our street. He took off towards my house.
"Hey, you got a head start!" I called, peddling hard to catch up.
I could hear Liam laughing as he peddled, glancing back at me every so often. He looked so happy, so content. He got to my driveway and skidded to a halt. I was not ready for this, and my bike slammed into his. Luckily, Liam hopped off his bike just before I hit it, so he was not hurt. I flew forward, falling onto the ground. I did a forward roll, landing on my butt. Liam rushed to my side.
"Are you okay?" he asked, panicked.
I couldn't say anything, I just started laughing and nodding. I think this helped Liam be less worried.
"Oh, okay." he said, laughing along. "Sorry I stopped so quickly, I should've moved out of the way."
I recovered from my laughter. "It's fine, I'm fine."
"Okay, good." He held out a hand to help me stand up, and I took it and stood up.
I picked up my bike and Liam picked his up.
"I'll see you tomorrow?" he asked, facing his bike towards his house.
     "Yeah. Um," I don't know why I felt so nervous all the sudden. "Today was really fun."
     Liam smiled his toothy grin. "Yeah, it was."
     "Well, bye." I said, waving my hand.
     "Bye." He replied, waving his hand too.
     I turned and put my bike on my porch, putting the kick stand down. I walked inside to find my mom sitting on the couch.
     "Hi! How was it?" she asked.
     I smiled. "It was great."
     "I'm glad."
     I went to my room and laid on my bed, staring at my ceiling and thinking about my night. Did all of that really happen? Or did I just imagine it? Does Liam Stewart really like me?
     I couldn't believe it. Out of every girl in school, he liked me. Why? Did I like him? I started getting frustrated with my feelings, not being able to figure anything out. I groaned into my pillow and got up to brush my teeth. I liked how I felt, how anything could happen. There wasn't this same routine, and I wasn't just going through the motions. Every day brought something new. And I was so excited for what tomorrow would bring.
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Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't updated a lot, and that my updates are always pretty short. I hope you guys enjoy and as always let me know if you find and typos! -Hannah 💛⚡️