Chapter 16: Fourteen

Ember skips into the cafeteria with Liam and Paige walking beside her. Liam's smile is small but it's better than the tired look he's usually wearing.

"I hope you guys had fun yesterday." Ember begins as they get in line for food. "I'm sorry I kinda ditched you guys for Izzy."

"It's okay." Paige waves her off while grabbing some grapes. "I had fun."

"That's good." Ember grins. "What about you, Liam? Was it fun?"

"Yeah." Liam nods and slowly a smile overtakes his face. "It was really fun."

"Ooh~." Ember hums. "We got a really fun? Does that mean you're warming up to the group and letting loose finally?"

Liam blinks at her. "What?"

Ember puts Monzerella sticks on her plate and then grabs another tray to put them on Liam's plate. "These are good and you need to eat more. Anyways, I asked if you're warming up to the group and letting loose?"

"What's that even mean?" Liam asks confused. Obviously, he knew what those words meant but he didn't understand how it applies to their situation.

"She means that when you first started hanging out with us you were still kinda awkward and quiet. You were shy and it never felt like you were actually having fun. So, now are you coming out of your shell some more and allowing yourself to have fun?" Paige clarifies and grabs an apple.

"Oh." Liam says dumbly. "Um- I mean, I guess so?"

Ember and Paige both smile wide. Ember types her student ID number at the end of the food line. "Good."

Liam types his number in next and then Paige does too. With that they all walk to an empty table a few feet away.

Ember and Liam have cheese sticks on their plate as their main meal while Paige has a chicken sandwich. Then Paige has grapes and an apple. Ember has fries and Liam has rice.

Liam's gotten used to barely eating anything at lunch. That stems from the fact that most of the time when he's not in school, he doesn't eat lunch. His mother will go out for lunch and tell the chef to just give him a snack or something.

"Babes, if you don't eat those cheese sticks I will shove them down your throat." Ember warns from her side of the table. She's sitting in front of Liam and Paige. "I mean it. They're really good and you never really eat."

Liam rolls his eyes. "Fine."

He makes a dramatic show of taking a bite from one of his cheese sticks. However once he tastes it his eyebrows raise. He takes another bite and Ember snickers.

"See? They're good."

Liam nods. "You're right."

"Well of course I am, I'm never wrong." Ember smiles smugly.

They fade into a familiar silence as they eat. By the time Liam finishes his cheese sticks Ember looks like she's had about all of the quiet she can take. She likes to talk so silence isn't her thing.

"Oh yeah." Ember perks up and looks at Liam. "We're going swimming Sunday. Chris told me to invite you."

"Huh?" Liam's eyes widen a little bit.

"You're invited too Paige." Ember says with a smile.

"Swimming at Javi's again?" Paige asks.

"No, the hidden lake." Ember grins.

"What hidden lake?" Liam looks between Paige and Ember in confusion.

"Oh right! So, y'know the trails we were on yesterday through the woods?" Ember asks and Liam nods. "Right well, like there's this hidden one that leads under a fence and into this big clearing with a lake in it. It's like a little valley, I guess, because there's like big walls of rock and dirt on either side and there's trees all over so it's hidden well. It's really cool."

"Oh." Liam slowly nods. "It sounds cool. I've never been swimming in a lake."

"It's just like swimming in a pool except the water is a bit more muddy." Paige says simply.

"Chris told you to invite me?" Liam looks at Ember again.

"Mhm." She hums. "They like you. The group, I mean."

"They do?" His eyebrows raise in disbelief.

"Yeah, Li, of course they do." Ember states like it's obvious. "You're a chill dude, they're chill people."

"Ian said yesterday that he kinda thought you'd just be a shy, kinda boring kid but you've turned out to be really cool." Paige adds.

"Well duh, he should've expected as much. If you guys were boring I wouldn't still be here." Ember declares. Paige gives Liam a look before rolling her eyes with a smile. "But yeah, they like you. Javi says you're chill and Lucas thinks you're a nice addition to the group."

"A nice addition to the group?" Liam's eyes widen again. He hadn't realized he was already part of their group.

"Yeah." Ember nods.

"When you got invited to hang out for the second time you became a member." Piage tells him. "You may just now be coming out of your shell but you were a member of the group before."

Liam stares at the two of them with a blank expression. "Oh."

Paige pops a grape into her mouth and Ember starts to eat her fries again. Slowly Liam feels himself smile again. He starts to eat his rice and Ember starts to chat about an English assignment she's never going to finish.

He feels okay.

The bell rings which pulls a groan out of Ember. "I wasn't done complaining. How rude."

Paige laughs under her breath. "Come on Ember."

They all stand up. They throw away their leftover food and set their trays on the stack on top of the trashcan. With that done the trio begins to exit the cafeteria.

"Oh, we should go shopping after school." Paige speaks as they start up the stairs to go to the second story. "I mean, if you're free."

Liam realizes she's talking to him and he nods. "Oh, yeah. I can go."

"Good." Paige smiles. "We need to get you clothes."

"Oh! Yes!" Ember exclaims excitedly. "I cannot wait to get you all dressed up."

"I'm suddenly very scared." Liam mumbles. Ember cackles in reaction while Paige smiles fondly.

They split ways to go to class. It wasn't that bad today. Liam had shopping to look forward to and that made classes go by quicker than usual.

Last hour came about swiftly. He sinks into his seat next to Ember and she smiles at him.

"Do you think people in Japan know how to use magic?"

"Ember," Liam sighs. "What is wrong with you?"

"It's a genuine question!"

"It's a stupid question." Liam deadpans.

Ember rolls her eyes. She gives him a small little glare while speaking. "If you're not gonna answer just admit it's a fabulous question and we'll move on."

"I'm not gonna say that and we're gonna move on anyway."

The bell rings, efficiently shutting Ember up. The teacher gets in there and it's lecture day so Liam takes notes while Ember plays on her phone underneath her desk. When class is over Ember springs out of her seat, clearly ready to leave.

Liam gathers his stuff and they walk out together. They split up in the halls though to go to their own lockers.

As Liam's stuffing his laptop in his bag, Paige walks up. She smiles and leans against the locker next to his while waiting. Ember shows up a little bit later as well, just as Liam shuts his locker.

"Are you ready?" Ember grins.

"Not for you to be picking out my clothes." Liam deadpans. "But whatever, let's go."

The girls grin and follow Liam out of the school building. They walk to Liam's car and he unlocks it. Paige gets in the passenger seat and Ember scowls at her while sliding into the back.

They listen to pop punk, Ember's music, during the drive. It's mostly quiet but it's nice.

Liam parks in front of the mall. Ember and Paige climb out with big smiles. Liam gets out and locks the car before following them.

The first clothing store they go in is small. Paige picks out a couple different pairs of jeans, they're all mostly light blue. Ember comes back with some other types of pants. There's a black pair and a tan pair, as well as a gray pair of cargo pants.

They leave after purchasing those. Liam pays in cash, he got some from an ATM so that his mother won't be able to track his purchases. The last thing he needs is Ember and Paige putting all this effort in just for that woman to come and return all the clothing items.

They go to the next store and it's bigger. Much bigger. There's mannequins around with full outfits on and rows upon rows of clothes. Ember seems excited about this one.

"So, he's got like the soft boy aesthetic to him right?" Ember asks. Liam looks between the two girls confusedly while Paige nods.

"Definitely."

The girls separate to scan the clothing racks without another word to Liam. He decides to hopelessly follow Paige since he has no idea what else to do. He looks through some of the racks while he's in there.

"Oh my." Paige mumbles to herself. She pulls a hanger off the rack and shows it to Liam. "This would look adorable on you."

It was a white sweater with light blue stripes running across it. "You think?"

"It's perfect. Don't question me." She hands him the sweater and Liam accepts it. He puts it over his arm.

Ember and Paige end up buying him a lot of T-shirts and sweaters. By the time they're leaving the mall he's got a whole new wardrobe.

Paige got a lot of the sweaters while Ember got most of the T-shirts. He really didn't have any complaints about any of the items they got. The T-shirts all had images or words on them which was a great contrast to his clothes before.

Liam smiles while driving to take Ember and Paige home. Paige gets out at Ember's house. Apparently Ian has people over most days of the week so there's nothing abnormal about Paige going home with Ember.

Part of Liam wishes he was joining them. He sighs while backing out of the driveway. One step at a time, maybe one day.

He drives back home in silence. As he gets closer and closer to his house the more he wishes he was further away. The dread has set in completely by the time he parks his car in the driveway.

Liam glances in the backseat at all the bags he has to carry in and sighs. He leaves then there and gets out with his backpack first.

He steps inside and surveys the rooms around him. He doesn't hear or see anything that would show his mother is home. With that knowledge he runs back to his car, grabs all the bags, and hurries back inside.

He gets in the foyer again and looks around once more. When there's still nothing he all but races up the stairs.

He gets to his room safely and lets the bags fall to the ground. He puts his backpack on his bed to remind himself he has homework and then ignores it to turn to the shopping bags.

Liam picks them all up and carries them into his walk in closet. He needs to wash them, but not now. He'll do that the second he knows for sure his mother is gone.

He could always ask the maid to wash them but she has enough to worry about. She already has to wash their clothes regularly, among many other chores his mother assigns to her, she doesn't need Liam adding to the work load. Of course, that may be her job, but Liam doesn't mind washing his own clothes.

He changes and then leaves the bags in the closet and shuts the door behind him. With that, he sits on his bed and unzips his bag. Time for homework.

He does everything he can, a dull ache forming in his temples as he does so. Eventually he gets it all done though. He glances at the clock and swears when he sees the time.

6:58

Liam rushes down the stairs and sees his parents in the living room. His mother is frowning at him while his father seems just as indifferent as usual.

Just as it turns seven the maid comes out to tell them dinner is ready. They all move into the dining room and Liam tries his hardest to ignore the sick feeling that's coming over him again.

It doesn't work. By the time the main coarse is served he's just ready to go up to his room and sleep. All he wants to do is sleep.

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This chapter was harder to write than it should've been, I just got so bored.

Love you ♡

- Z