Chapter 20: Eighteen

Saturday morning Liam woke up early. Partly because he always does and partly because Ian had an alarm set for seven. Liam blinks his eyes open and then groans.

"Sorry." Ian mumbles while turning it off. "My mom usually wakes up at eight so I gotta go."

"It's okay." Liam's voice is muffled because half his face is buried in the pillow. "Am I gonna be seeing you later?"

Ian raised his eyebrows. "I'll be back here tonight, yeah, if it's okay. Is that what you're asking?"

"Oh. Ember invited Paige and I to the movies. I didn't know who all is going."

"Oh." Ian nods a little. "I haven't heard about it so it's probably just you three. Well, Izzy might be going too."

Liam hums and nods. "Okay. I was just wondering."

"Okay. Well, I better get going. I'll see you tonight?"

Liam nods. "Bye."

Ian climbes out the window again. Liam's surprised at how easily he does it. The thought doesn't stay for long though. He wants breakfast, but he has to wait for it.

While he waits he ends up finishing the movie from last night. He has nothing better to do. At eight twenty nine he walks down the stairs for breakfast.

His mother frowns when he joins her at the table. "Good morning, William."

"Good morning." Liam nods.

They eat in silence. He doesn't miss the occasional looks of disappointment she shoots him. It hurts but he's used to it. He doesn't think she's ever looked at him lovingly before.

After he's finishing eating breakfast Liam stands up from the table. He starts to leave when his mother stops him by talking. He turns to face her while she's still seated at the table.

"There's an event tonight."

"I am aware. You've been planning for it." He's heard her talk it up for about two weeks now. She's very excited.

"Yes I have." She nods in agreement. "Will you be here?"

Liam's eyebrows raise. "I had not realized I had a choice."

"You don't." Her glare returns. "You should be here. I was just making sure you knew that."

Liam nods. He remembers that he's going to the movies today but he's not sure on the time yet. He can still be at the party for awhile.

"I'll socialize a bit here and there. I can't promise I'll be here all night though."

"Why not?" Her eyebrows furrow and her cold gaze doesn't change.

"I have plans." Liam then turns and walks away. She doesn't say anything to stop him. He walks up the stairs and returns to his bedroom.

He texts Ember and figures out they're seeing the movie at six. That leaves an hour before for him to float around the party and if it's still going on at eight he'll have some more time. His mother can't get too mad then. Well, hopefully.

He watches movies and lays around his bedroom for awhile. He isn't needed anywhere at any time until five, so he does nothing. He even skips lunch at twelve thirty because he just doesn't want to converse with his mother at the moment.

Although, nothing good can last forever. Not when it comes to William Caddel, his life never goes the way he wants. There's a knock at his door and then it slowly creaks open. The maid stands there.

"Your mother says to get ready and be downstairs soon." She says timidly. Liam nods.

She shuts the door when she leaves his room. He sighs and stands up to change. He has to dress in a white button up and dress pants. He doesn't bother to put on a jacket or a tie though. He's sure he'll get scolded but he doesn't care right now.

He checks the time. It's four forty two. With another sigh he leaves the safety of the room and starts down to the first floor.

"William, go put on a tie at least." His mother glares as soon as he's in eyesight. Just as he predicted.

"I'm dressed, Mother." Part of him wanted to comment about how he could've come down here in his pajama pants. He bit that comment back though. His mother wouldn't have appreciated that very much.

She opens her mouth but is interrupted by his father. The taller man walks in at that moment, tying his tie. "Sara, can you go make sure the chef is making those dishes I asked for?"

"Yes." She walks off then without another word.

Liam sits on the sofa and awkwardly links his hands together. His father takes a seat in his chair. The living room is silent and awkward until his mother comes back.

"That man does not know how to cook fish. I swear. Sometimes I think we need a new cook."

"Now Sara, that's a bit too much. Leon has always worked well."

The woman rolls her eyes. "Fine. Only because interviews for a new chef would be too much work." She sits on her chair and cross her arms. "Now, William. How is school?"

Liam raises his eyebrows. They talked about school just yesterday. Well, actually, his parents scolded him for his grades while he just sat there.

"Fine." Liam answers plainly. His mother's eyebrows raise. "I have a test in World History coming up. I'll pass it easily though."

"You better. Your grades have never looked worse."

Liam feels like deflating but doesn't. He's okay. He has to remind himself of that every few seconds.

"Sara, speaking of school when is Mandy returning home for a visit?" His father directed the conversation away. Liam's mother's eyebrows raised and her face lightened. It was only a little bit but it was noticeable.

"Next month I believe." She smiles. "I can't wait to bring her along for tea with the girls. Theresa is constantly bringing her daughter and it's unfair."

His father hums. "I am also excited. I've missed having her tag along in my meetings."

The words are harmless yet they shoot through Liam painfully. The joy in his parents' eyes and the soft smiles are all he can focus on. They never look like that when talking about him. They've never shown such pride.

Well, unless of course his father is drinking and around people. Usually then the man seems a bit more proud to call Liam his son. That's really the only exception though.

Liam loves his sister but he is a bit envious of her. She's happy with her life and has their parents' approval. He wishes he could have both of those things as well.

Conversation stays between his parents while they wait. Soon enough it was over though. Once people began filling up the first story of their house Liam's parents went to play host to all their guests.

Liam aimlessly walks around for awhile. He hates how many conversations he gets dragged into but ends up chatting politely with the people anyway. It's all pointless small talk about school, his classes, and what he thinks of the party.

By the time five thirty rolls around he's sick of it all. Luckily that's the time he gets a text from Paige saying that they're in front of his house.

He glances around for his parents before making a bee line for the door. He escapes without anyone stopping him. Ember is driving her mom's car and Paige is in the passenger seat.

Liam quickly hops in the back seat and as soon as he's in the car, both girls are smiling at him. Paige speaks first. "Are you ready?"

"Yes. I need to get out of here."

They turn around and Ember starts driving. "What was going on there anyway?"

"Some party or event thing my mom's throwing." Liam grumbles. "Just a bunch of stuck up people I don't wanna talk to."

"Okay." Paige nods. "Well, movie theater here we come?"

"Yes." Ember grins.

"Is it just us going?" Liam asks out of curiosity. He knows Ian isn't going but he doesn't know about anyone else.

"Yeah. Ian's at his mom's so we can't do anything as a big group this weekend and I'm a broke bitch so Izzy can't come either." Ember shrugs from behind the wheel.

"I told you I'd pay." Liam comments. He doesn't have any problem with spending money.

"I don't want to have you pay for her." Ember grumbles. "That would be embarrassing for me."

Paige rolls her eyes. "You could pay for her yourself if you got a job."

"As lovely as that sounds, I'm not quite ready for that."

"You're gonna have to work eventually. You can't live with your parents forever." Paige says.

"I know, I know." Ember waves her off. "I probably will once I'm a legal adult. Right now though? I'm still a minor and it's still their responsibility to take care of me. I'm taking advantage of that."

Paige and Liam both roll their eyes at this. Ember has it in her to work, she just doesn't want to. She doesn't have to either. Her parents buy her all the necessities and some extra stuff, so she's satisfied just living like that.

"Plus even if I got a job, I'd still be a broke bitch." Ember claims. "I'd waste it all on clothes. Clothes are fucking expensive."

Paige laughs. "I am aware."

The rest of the drive they don't talk. There's nothing really to talk about. Pop punk plays through the car speakers and on occasion Ember will hum along to a song.

It didn't take long before they were parking in front of the big theater that sat in the middle of town. Ember was radiating excitement as they got out to walk up.

Liam opened the door for the two of them and held it while they walked in. The three walked up to the counter and Ember talked to the guy behind it. They got their tickets and Liam paid while Paige and Ember were picking out candy.

The girls got a box of candy each so Liam got a large popcorn for them all to split. Ember got an energy drink while Paige and him settled for soda. Once again Liam paid and after getting their drinks he followed Ember back to the hallway.

Liam's never been in a movie theater before. That sounded lame but his mother always said it was stupid to go. They could just buy the movie and watch it at home when it came out.

He's never felt like he was missing out on an experience because he had never gone before. He didn't know what it was like. Now though, as he sat in the leather seats and Paige showed him which button to press to recline it, he was beginning to realize that this was fun.

The lights all went out so darkness spread over them all. The popcorn bag was being moved between the three of them, sitting on Paige's lap since she was in the middle. Their drinks sat in the cup holders with little droplets of water slowly falling down the sides of them. It was nice.

The movie started not too long after. Liam's eyes felt trapped to the screen. That wasn't difficult considering how gigantic it was.

They spent an hour and a half in those seats watching that movie. By the end of it, Liam was completely relaxed. He had fun. This is fun.

"That was such a good movie." Ember grins wide.

"It was well thought out." Paige hums.

"That makes it sound like you didn't enjoy it as much as I did." Ember frowns. "Did you not like the movie?"

"No I liked it." Paige smiles softly. "It's just hard to match your enthusiasm."

"Oh." Ember grins again. "Well I thought it was really, really good. I'm definitely rewatching it once it comes out."

Ember continued to talk about the movie as they walk. They all climbed in the car and that's when Liam realizes he has to go back home now. He has to go back to the party. He isn't quite ready for that.

He sucks it up though. Ember drops him off at his house and he waves to his friends. He walks up to the front door while taking deep breaths to calm himself down.

"Will!" He's only been inside for a few seconds and already somebody's calling out to him. "I thought you ran off to your room."

He laughs softly, fake, as the woman continues talking to him. He doesn't care much about what she's saying. After he finally manages to get away from her he walks around for awhile after.

He has to wander or else he'll get in trouble for not being there. More guests talk to him while he's there. He acts a good part but he doesn't care about the conversations he has at all.

He makes eye contact with his mother at one point. Her eyebrows raise but she doesn't approach him. He doesn't approach her either.

It's nine before people finally start leaving. As the rooms get less crowded Liam goes upstairs. He doesn't want to be down there any longer than he has to be.

His room welcomes him back. He collapses on the bed and closes his eyes for a few seconds. All he wants is to go to sleep.

Before he can do that though, he has to change out of these stupid clothes. Collecting all of his strength, Liam pulls himself out of bed. He walks over to the closet and dogs around for his favorite pair of joggers.

Once in something more comfortable he walks back over to the bed and lays down. He keeps his eyes open though. Ian is supposed to be coming over so he has to stay awake.

He clicks on the TV and starts a show. He's seen this one before. It's an older one that he used to watch as a kid with Mandy. He rewatches it when he's stressed out or can't sleep.

He relaxes into the bed and pulls a blanket over him. Time to wait.

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Love you ♡

- Z