Chapter 3: One

Liam is a fourth generational student at Lavex Academy on his father's side and a third generational student on his mother's side. Both his parents attended the school, as well as his grandfathers on both sides. His great grandfather on his father's side did as well. Therefore, any other school was never an option.

Lavex Academy is a pretentious private school. All the students have to wear uniforms and the campus is huge. It offers more classes and the kids that attend are held to a higher standard than what's expected at other schools.

He hates it.

Lots of kids hate school but Liam's hatred for it burns with a passion unmatched. It's not learning or waking up early. It's not the classrooms or being bored all day. He hates the school.

He hates the uniforms everyone walks around in. He hates the white button up shirts everyone has to wear and the black slacks. He hates the dark blue sweater vests and the matching jackets with the school logo on the front. He hates the plaid skirts girls wear and the matching ties the boys wear.

He hates the building. He hates the old redish orange bricks and the way they blend with the white of the building. He hates the high ceilings, the spotless tile floors, and the gigantic windows. He hates the way everything screams rich.

He hates the people. He hates the students and all their connections to everything that get them by easy in life. He hates the teachers and the way they play favorites because they know some of the parents on a different level than the rest. He hates the principal and how he turns a blind eye to things as long as the parents keep donating more money.

He just hates it all. Yet he has to go. He doesn't have a choice.

Liam walks down the staircase of his house to go from the second story to the ground floor. He looks around the foyer, on the right is a big arch doorway that leads to the living room. The empty living room. On the left is another archway that leads to the dining room. The equally empty dining room.

With the emptiness of the house noted Liam let's out a sigh and continues to leave the house. He steps out the door and onto the short cement porch. He walks down the steps and onto the long pathway.

His car is sits at the end of the driveway on the side of the house. Liam walks the ways and climbs in the front seat. The leather seats chilled his body as he started the car and flicks on the heater.

The drive to school is too slow for his liking. Lately everything is too slow for his liking. It's like the world slowed down to a barely there spin and everything is taking longer than normal.

Or maybe he's just feeling like shit a lot more commonly lately.

The school building comes into view and the tense in his shoulders doesn't ease. He pulls into the student parking lot. It's as fancy as the rest of the school with its reserved parking spots that are closer to the school than the free ones. Liam hates the blue sign in front of his parking spot that has his name painted in wide letters.

Reserved for

WILLIAM CADDEL

He steps out of the car after shutting it off and is met with the light breeze. It blows his hair on top of his head and makes his face cool down. He starts the walk to the wide entrance of the building with dread sat deep in his chest.

The grass crunches under his feet because he doesn't care enough to walk on the path. Other students in matching uniforms spare him glances but no one says hi or good morning. Formal greetings blow right by Liam even if he does receive them. He's too tired to return the gesture.

He's almost always too tired in the morning to return the gesture. He just doesn't have it in him. So instead, he pretends he didn't see it and keeps going with his stone cold morning expression.

He steps up the concrete and starts towards the door. The greatly dramatic door with the huge arch above it. The doors are open during the morning and in the evening, a staff member comes and closes them when the first bell and no longer allows anyone in. Being late means not being there at all. Each morning Liam steps into the hall he wishes he was late.

The floors echo underneath your feet. The polished white tile radiates noise as you walk down it. Every student there walks with smiles and talks with classmates. Liam walks silently with a frown.

Blue lockers like the halls. Each room and area is color coordinated in the school. It makes it all the more ugly in Liam's eyes. The halls are blue, the classrooms green, and the cafeteria and library are red. It's pointless in Liam's eyes and that just adds to hatred for it.

He goes up the stairs to the next floor of polished, white tile and tall, blue lockers. He walks down that hall and straight to his locker. Spinning the lock, he clicks it open and swings the door to reveal the inside.

Liam drops his bag off his back and hangs it on the top hook. Back packs in the classrooms are strictly forbidden. He pulls his laptop out of the bag and grabs the text book for his first class, English IIII.

After that he has Philosophy, then Physics, Introduction to business, all before lunch. It makes him want to pull his hair out. After lunch there's pre calculus, business law, and finally World History.

He didn't pick any of his classes. His mother manages everything he does school related. He doesn't escape their control anywhere.

"Liam, good morning." Paige walks up with an easy smile. Liam doesn't think he's ever been so happy to see her. The weight dawning on his lessens ever so slightly.

"Morning Paige." He offers a small smile.

Paige is one of the few exceptions when it comes to hating everyone here. She isn't stuck up or snobby. She doesn't judge everything that moves. Out of everyone here there is only two people Liam considers actual friends and Paige would be the first. She's a scholarship student, so she's one of the only ones that earned her spot rather than using mommy and daddy's money.

"You alright?" She softens her expression.

Liam lets out a sigh. It feels to him like his whole body shakes with the breath. "Just tired."

He's always just tired. He and everyone he talks to knows it's more but it's all too much to explain. It's all things he doesn't know just how to explain.

Paige hums quietly. "I'm sorry."

Liam hates that she's sorry. She's not the one that should be sorry. "'S alright. How are you?"

"Surviving." She shrugs.

"Good morning friends." Ember joins them with a kind smile. Ember is the type of girl that's always smiling. Her blue eyes are always lit well with life. She's the second person that Liam considers a friend in this hell hole. "How are we all holding up?"

"We're holding." Paige smiles softly.

"Yeah, me too." Ember hums. They stand in a half circle, an understanding quiet settling over them. "Oh hey, my mom's getting pizza tonight because her and Dad are going out. She says we can invite friends over if we want. You guys want to come?"

Her eyes dance between Paige and Liam with hope. She invites them over at least once every other week. Liam has never gone because he's strictly forbidden from going to people's houses if his parents don't know them and they don't know Ember. Paige goes occasionally when she can.

"Can't tonight. I've got work." The blonde girl says from next to Liam. "Sorry Em."

"It's okay." Her eyes shift over to Liam. This is normally the part he apologizes without offering up an excuse as to why he can't go and her face shows that she understands. "Liam?"

He opens his mouth to say sorry. He starts to say it when he stops. He thinks back to his mental promise the night before. He remembers the aching feeling of being at the end of his rope and how he's not sure how much longer he can deal with that feeling. He needs change. He needs something different.

Here it is. The opportunity offering itself up right in front of him. It's making itself an appearance in an offer thag isn't out of the ordinary but is still new. This is something different. This is a chance to take and maybe it'll turn out alright.

"Okay." He says with a small smile. Ember and Paige's faces show surprise before shifting into smiles. Ember's is bright with excitement while Paige's is small and her eyes hold pride.

"This is gonna be awesome, I promise you!" Ember cheers happily.

Liam chuckles quietly. "Okay."

The bell rings and their trio disbands. Liam walks to his class and listens to the way the floor clicks with every step every person here takes. He hears student chatter and the liveliness of the kids of the rich flooding around him.

His heart thuds against his chest. His ribs squeeze with each breath. He took the first step away but the feeling isn't gone yet. His shoulders still hurt with still the weight of the world and his muscles still ache as he moves.

He took the first step so now he'll have to wait to complete the short walk. He'll have to wait until after school when he actually goes to Ember's. Maybe then it'll leave. He'll have to wait to see.

He really hopes it goes away when he does. He's not sure what he'll do if it doesn't.

First hour goes by antagonizing slow. The teacher went on and on about the book they were supposed to be reading as an assignment for the past two weeks. The book Liam didn't read.

She just couldn't shut up about symbolism and hidden meanings in simple sentences. Metaphors weren't the top thing on Liam's priorities list and he couldn't have given less of a shit. She assigned an essay over their favorite part of the book before the bell rang and ended the torture.

Liam cursed the world silently as he walked out. He'd have to pick a random chapter and read some of it tonight so he could bullshit his way through this essay. He walked to his locker and opens up the door.

Paige appears at his side just as he's closing the metal door. She smiles softly at him, her chromebook that was provided by the school tucked under her arm next to the blue sweater vest of the school uniform. Liam turns to her and offers a small smile back. He can't manage a very big one but it suffices.

"Ready for Philosophy?"

"When have I ever been ready for Philosophy?" He raises his eyebrows and she laughs quietly.

They fall into step towards class. They ducked into the doorway and head straight for their seats at the back. The last two in the row, as far away from the teacher as they can manage.

This is the only class he has with Paige and therefore it goes by the fastest. They whisper and hold conversation the whole time while simultaneously doing their work. Paige smiles at everything he says and he tries his best to share the expression.

When the class is over time slows down once again. He doesn't share classes with anyone else he actually likes until last hour. Then, he has Ember to sit by.

Classes are all boring and sitting through them makes him feel like his mind is slowly melting away. It's even worse when some kid whose parents knows his parents decides to sit by him since they have connections to each other. He has to smile and keep up conversation best he can while slowly dying inside. God knows if he comes off as rude, his mother will somehow find out and be very unhappy.

Lunch is okay. The food they serve is actually good but Liam can never eat it all because being surrounded by all those people makes him start to feel sick. Paige and Ember sit by him and talk softly. When he can't manage to join in on the conversation they never seem to mind and just hold it up between themselves.

Then there's more classes. More headaches and assigned homework. More Painfully slow going lectures from people he doesn't want to listen to.

When the final bell rings he feels like sighing but doesn't. He looks over and smiles at Ember as they both stand up. "Should I drive us to yours?"

She grins. "Yes please. I'm so sick of taking the bus."

Ember lives on the other side of town than where the school is. She has to take a twenty minute bus ride every morning and evening. It sounded better than Liam's five minute drive that felt like hours but to her it was hell.

They walk out together and towards the student parking lot. "Hey Will!" A senior boy smiles at him as they pass. He doesn't know him but his last name is Quill which sounds familiar. Their parents are probably friends. Liam smiles back at him the best he can.

The reach his car and he sticks his hand in his pockets to grab the keys to unlock it. Ember quickly ducks into the passenger seat and pulls the seatbelt down until it clicks. Liam gets in after her with a heavy sigh, ready to be leaving this place.

"You always look like hell after school." Ember says. "It's not a good look for you."

Liam rolls his eyes. "Rude."

"I'm just being honest." She shrugs with a small smile. "Do I get free reign over the radio?"

"Help yourself."

She grins and clicks it on. As she messes with the stations he backs out of his parking space. He doesn't care much about what music is playing in the background, he'll listen to whatever.

"Where am I going?" Liam asks as Ember settles back into her seat. She looks ahead at the up coming intersection and hums quietly to herself.

"Just keep going straight until I tell you to turn."

And so it went. Liam would drive with pop rock playing in the background while Ember directed him where to go. The entire way there Liam was hoping silently to himself things would be okay.

He needed things to be okay. He needed this to be the chance he was looking for. If he left here and didn't feel even a little more lighter than before this would all be for nothing. He didn't want this all to be for nothing. He needed it to work.

Please, please, please let this work.

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Chapter one is down. What are we thinking of my anxious baby Liam?

Love you ♡

- Z