Chapter 19: Seventeen

Liam wakes up to Ian's alarm. He rolls his head over to stuff it in the pillow. He's too comfortable to move right now.

He can hear Ian shuffling around next to him but doesn't say anything. It's only when Ian speaks, whispers actually, that Liam finally opens his eyes and rolls over to look at Ian.

"You awake?"

"Yeah."

"Thanks again for letting me stay here last night." Ian looks slightly bashful about it but Liam just smiles back at him softly.

"Yeah, of course."

"I better be leaving now. Try to get some more sleep before your alarm goes off too, okay?" Ian's voice is incredibly soft and Liam doesn't need to be told twice. He nods and rolls over to stuff his head back in the pillow.

His window opens and he can hear Ian scrambling out. Liam tries to go back to sleep since he's got time. He does eventually, but it doesn't feel like long. Soon enough his own alarm is ringing.

With a groan Liam sits up in bed. He slides off bed and trudges over to his closet. The last thing he wants today is put that stupid uniform on and go back to school.

Today is the last day of the week. That thought gets him to not pull his hair out. He changes and slips his shoes on before going into the bathroom to brush his teeth.

He walks down the stairs and about halfway down he hears it. His parents are in the living room having a conversation he probably isn't meant to hear. He looks over to see his mother waving her hands around and his father looks frustrated.

"He's your son too! I just don't understand why I'm the one that has to punish him all the time!"

"Im not concerned about all of it as much as you are." His father shook his head. "I wish his grades are better and I've talked to him about that."

"But what about the rest?!" His mother says loudly. "He's befriending people he shouldn't, he's going out all the time, he probably doesn't study anymore, he's not trying in his law classes, he won't go to any of the meetings with you. He's a failure and you're not trying to help him at all!"

"Now, Sara, that's enough." Liam's father shakes his head. "His grades are dropping yes, and he could show more effort when it comes to his future in the law firm. I am disappointed in him for how he's handling those things but a failure, really?"

She sighs. "Maybe that's a tad over dramatic."

Liam walks across the foyer and out the front door. He decides that listening to that conversation much longer won't help. He knows his father thinks he can do better in school and is disappointed in his grades. He knows his parents want him to show more interest in a career as a lawyer. He even knows his mother doesn't approve of his friends.

All that doesn't change the way he feels hearing his parents say it though. He's a failure. His mother said so herself.

Even if she took it back that doesn't mean she didn't mean it. In her eyes, he's failed. There's nothing he can do about it.

He parks in his parking spot and looks up at the school. There's nothing he can do to change the way his parents see him. There's nothing he can do about the way he isn't interested in taking over the law firm. There's nothing he wants to do about having friends his mother doesn't approve of.

However, there is something he can do about his grades.

It won't do much but easing the disappointment in both of his parent's eyes will help him feel a little bit better. Even if barely at all, it'll still help.

He walks inside and up to his locker. Paige and Ember are already there. He must've sat in the car overthinking for longer than he thought.

He approaches them and when Ember looks up to smile at him he's suddenly reminded that her brother was at his house that night. He's not sure if either of them would know anything about that. He doesn't say anything just in case they don't.

"Hey Liam!" Ember grins.

"Hey." Liam smiles as well even if he doesn't feel fully up to it.

"You good?" Paige tilts her head.

Liam shrugs. "My parents have been on my ass about grades."

They both nod and their mouths form 'o' shapes. Paige's eyes shimmer with understanding. The pressure to get good grades wears her down too. She only has that pressure because of her academic scholarship, but at least she does have some sort of understanding.

Liam puts his bag up and grabs his stuff for first period. He's dreading going to class just as usual. He always dreads it.

The bell rings and their trio disperses. Liam walks to his first hour and takes a seat. He opens his notebook to a blank page and grabs his pencil.

He's going to pay attention this time. He really is. He's going to get his grades up. He has to.

Second period rolls around and as much as he hates Philosophy he sits through it. Paige notices him paying more attention than usual and doesn't talk. They're both silent while the lesson is going on.

Afterwards she walks with him into the hallway. "If you want you can borrow my Philosophy notes from the past few weeks."

Liam smiles a little. "If you could send me pictures that'd be great, I'll just copy them down later when I get home."

"Will do." Paige nods. "Well, I'll see you at lunch."

They separate so they can go to their individual lockers. Liam hates always having to go to his locker in between classes. Especially since their school is so big.

Classes go by even longer than usual today. It's probably because he's actually paying attention again and taking notes. He always did that but now he's not letting himself get distracted by anything. His notes today are turning out very detailed.

"Liam!" Ember's voice breaks his focus away from the metal door of his locker. He turns to look at her. "You're zoning. Are you ready for lunch?"

"Oh." Liam closes his locker and nods. His head still feels fuzzy from zoning out. "Yeah, let's go."

Ember leads the way, rambling the whole time. It's okay though because it keeps Liam grounded. If he's listening to Ember talk he feels okay and his head doesn't get all fuzzy. Paige talks too and neither of them seem very offended when Liam doesn't talk back much.

They go through line and get their food. Ember puts a little bowl of spaghetti onto Liam's plate. He never would've picked it up if she didn't make him.

"You're going to eat today." Ember says simply and they keep walking. Liam doesn't argue. In truth, he could use some solid food.

Paige and Ember grab their side dishes before the three leave. They walk up to their usual table and all sit down. Liam starts picking at his food while Ember talks about some film she watched a couple nights before.

"Oh and speaking of the movies, I wanna go. They're showing this one movie I'd really like to see, so you guys gotta come with me." She grins brightly. "If you guys can make it this weekend they have showings on both Saturday and Sunday."

"I can do Saturday afternoon. I work until three though." Paige says with a shrug.

"I can make it." Liam nods. "I'll pay."

Ember gasps, slightly over dramatically. "No, it's expensive as hell just for one person."

"Exactly why I'm paying. I need to spend some random money." Liam hums. "Just shut up and take the offer."

Ember sighs and her shoulders sag. "Fine." A second later she's sitting up straight and grinning wide. "Thank you!"

Paige smiles softly at him as well. "Yeah, thank you."

Liam just nods in return. "No problem."

Ember goes on to rant about this movie she wants to see. She's seen the advertisements for it everywhere and edits have been showing up on her social media. She shares some theories with them that all mean nothing because Liam has never heard of this movie until now. She doesn't mind though.

The bell ringing cuts off her little tangent. "Well shit. I guess I'll tell you guys more later."

She stands up and grabs her tray. Liam knows that she won't tell them later. She typically forgets or just finds better things to talk about.

Classes went on and even if he hates them, Liam forces himself to pay attention. He takes notes and does the work as thoroughly as he can. Business law, his sixth hour, is on the third story and it particularly makes him want to pull his hair out.

He takes the notes but he still doesn't quite understand. He tells himself it will be okay as long as he writes the notes down. It will all be okay as long as he can look back on it later. It has to be okay.

Last period makes him feel a little more sane again. Ember is sitting next to him and even though they can't talk in there, her presence is enough to ground him. Her constantly spinning her pencil or bouncing her leg is movement he catches out of the corner of his eye. It for some reason helps take the edge off of doing work in that class.

When the final bell rings and Liam splits up with Ember he goes to his locker. He ends up piling three of his notebook in his bag, which is more than usual.

Before he stuffs it in the bag too, Liam pauses with his hands on a green college ruled spiral notebook. He looks at it and then reads the writing in permanent marker at the bottom. He scribbled the class names on all his notebooks. Intro to Law is scribbled on this one. He grabs the Business Law book as well.

He flips the Business Law notebook open first. He hates that class but he understands at least some things. As he glances over his notes he makes out what its saying. He doesn't feel totally hopeless while reading it. Still hopeless, but not completely. He can do some simple Google searches and be okay.

With that in mind he puts the red notebook back in his locker and looks at the green one instead. He flips it open and looks through the sentences he wrote today. He didn't get the chance to properly process them in class. That's why he couldn't understand.

Although, reading over his notes again didn't help either. Liam let out a sigh and flips the notebook shut. When he shuts his locker he sees Paige and Ember walking up.

When they stop, Paige's face drops. "Are you okay?"

"I've gotta stay behind and talk to a teacher. I'll see you guys tomorrow at the movies." He says, sounding defeated.

They both nod and Liam walks off. He finds the stairwell easily and walks up it quickly. Once on the third floor he locates the class he's looking for and walks in.

The teacher is sitting at the desk, grading probably. He walks up and sits the notebook down gently in front of the man. Mr. Granger pauses and looks up. He raises both his eyebrows in surprise when he sees who it is.

"I need help." Liam mumbles. "Serious help."

Mr. Granger flips open the book and scans through it without a word. He reads through all the notes and at some point even nods to himself. "You take very good notes. They're detailed."

"That'd be great if I could understand at least half of what they say."

"You don't understand?" The older man looks up and raises his eyebrows again.

"No." Liam shakes his head. "I zone out half the time I'm in here. Whenever I read this stuff I feel like my brain turns to mush. I can't process it correctly. If you could just help me understand some of the basic stuff, enough I can pass with at least a 90 I'll be happy."

Mr. Granger closes the notebook and slides it back to the other side of the desk where Liam stands. The man sits back in his chair and looks up. "I can help you. Hoeever, Will, I do have a question for you."

"Yes?" Liam asks with genuine curiosity.

"All year, you sit in that back desk. You look like you're falling asleep half the time. There's a dead look in your eyes while I lecture. You do not talk and engage with the lessons like the rest of the class. You turn in half assed essays and assignments. Why?" The man pauses, lickimg his lips. "Why do you take a class you do not show any interest in? It's optional, why choose it if you're not invested?"

Liam swallows thickly. He hates this class. He wants to answer that question honestly and tell his teacher just how much he hates his class. He can't do that though. His mother would kill him.

"My dad wants me to take this class. He took it and was very engaged. He wants me to follow in his footsteps and I want to make him proud. I didn't realize how much it didn't interest me until too late." Half truth.

Mr. Granger nods solemly. "Well I suppose there is only a few more months until the end of the year. No more law classes for you next year, not if you really aren't interested in it. I do not want to hear about you being in any more. I understand wanting your parents to be proud but this is just setting yourself up for failure. You've got one year left, save it for things you'll like at least a little bit."

Liam nods. "Thank you for the advice."

They spend the next half hour going through some simple lessons. Mr. Granger gives Liam a few notes he writes down himself in the back of the book. It's just some basic stuff but dumbed down so Liam can understand.

When he leaves the classroom, Liam feels lighter. He usually leaves school with a heavy heart and unbearable weight on his shoulders. He's still got a pit in his stomach and a lump in his throat but the weight on his shoulders isn't as bad.

He'll take whatever he can get.

The drive home is a bit more relaxing. When he arrives he feels okay-ish. It's quiet when he walks in and a small smile plays on his lips.

Later that night at ten thirty he finds himself smiling once again while opening the window for Ian to crawl through. Ian smiles too.

"Sorry, is it okay if I stay here again?"

"Of course it is." Liam smiles kindly and Ian returns it.

"I really need to get your number so I can tell you beforehand if I'm coming over." Ian mumbles before pulling out his phone. He unlocks it and hands it over to Liam. "Enter in your contact info."

Liam does as told and saves it in Ian's phone. He hands the device back and Ian grins. Liam smiles too.

"Are you tired or do you want to watch a movie?"

Ian blinks on surprise for a second before smiling wider than before. "I could watch a movie."

They watch two and a half movies. Ian falls asleep halfway through the third so Liam turns it off. He lays down and falls asleep too.

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Love you ♡

- Z