Liam
September 29th, 2016 | 7:55 am
Liam was going to be late. He hated being late to class. If only his friends would hurry up. They were both busy talking to some girls. Liam should've just left on his own but they were his friends, he couldn't just ditch them. When the bell finally rang, the girls walked into their classroom and Liam looked to his friends.
"Was talking to them really worth it?" he asked as the three of them walked to their first class of the day.
"Come on, Liam," Josh said, putting his arm around him. "I was gone all summer, the girls in Florida were not as fun as the ones here."
"Besides, I got one of the girls' phone number," Ryan added.
Liam rolled his eyes. Of course, his friend's biggest concerns were girls.
"How are you and Rachel?" Josh asked.
"Fine," Liam said.
"Fine?" Ryan asked. "What does fine mean?"
"It means he didn't sleep with her," Josh said, rolling his eyes.
"So what if I didn't ?" Liam asked.
"Dude you had all summer with a super hot chick and you still didn't try even once?"
"Oh she tried all right," Liam mumbled.
"So what's the problem?" Ryan asked.
"Nothing," Liam said defensively.
Thankfully they had reached the classroom and Ryan and Josh stopped asking questions. They walked in but before they could sit down the teacher stopped them.
"Where are your tardy slips?" he asked.
The boys all looked at one another.
"Do we need those?" Ryan asked.
"New principal, new policy, go get one from the office."
Liam rolled his eyes. What a dumb rule. Weren't they just going to miss more of the class going all the way to the office and then back? Unfortunately, it also gave Josh and Ryan more time to question him about Rachel.
"I don't get it, dude," Ryan said, shaking his head. "Do you not like her?"
"Are you going to break up with her?" Josh asked.
"Oh now I get it," Ryan said smiling. "There's someone else isn't there? You had an epic summer romance that you kept secret from everyone right?"
"No," Liam said, shoving Ryan while trying to hide his red cheeks. "The only epic thing I did was volunteer at the hospital."
"Then what is it?" Ryan said unfazed.
"I just don't think we're there yet," Liam said looking down.
"Oh please, you have been dating her for almost a year. I've dated girls for less than a week and still slept with them," Josh said.
"Oh please, girls as in plural? Stop lying," Ryan said, shoving Josh.
"You think I'm lying?" Ryan said, playfully shoving Josh back.
As the boys continued their squabble, Liam thought about his reasons for not sleeping with Rachel. He could make excuses all he wanted but he knew deep down that it was because Liam wasn't sure she was the one. When he was younger, relationships seemed like an easy concept. You date the person you love who loves you back, but now Liam wasn't so sure that was the case.
His mother had once told him that people learn to love each other and find their soulmate in someone they never thought would be the one. She had said soulmates find each other and never let go. Yet, he could think of dozens of examples of soulmates breaking up. Austin and Lexi had broken up for instance.
Everyone thought they were perfect for each other. The Harley Queen and Joker of the town. No one in a million years could have imagined they would've broken up. So Liam didn't get it, what did it mean to have a soulmate? The people he thought were soulmates ended up breaking up. He was conflicted, what if Rachel was his soulmate? How was he supposed to know? Josh and Ryan would never understand all of this though so he tried to keep quiet about it.
As they entered the office, Liam glanced over to see none other than Lexi herself walking towards them. She stood near them as they all waited for late slips. Liam glanced over at her as he waited.
Lexi was eye-catching, but it wasn't because she wore a lot of makeup or revealing clothes. It was more in the way she held herself. She wore what was comfortable for her, she did her long dark hair the way she wanted, she said and did what she pleased. There was a confident aura that radiated off of Lexi Cross. She had always intimated Liam though. She had this look on her face that told you to leave her alone. Liam had to give her props though, the whole town was talking about her and even if she did mind, she wasn't letting it show.
"Dude, since when did Lexi come back?" Ryan whispered.
"I wonder if Austin knows," Josh said quietly while staring at her.
"I wonder if she knows he has been sleeping with people all summer," Ryan said a little too loudly.
"I wonder if you two know how stupid you sound," Lexi said looking over in their direction angrily.
She snatched the slip from the receptionist and stormed away. Both boys looked unsurprised by her reaction.
"Does she know he moved on?" Ryan asked, staring at the door she exited from.
"Well she wasn't here all summer, what do you expect?" Liam asked.
"I wasn't here all summer and I still kept up with what was going on," Josh said, taking his slip as well. "I heard Austin dumped her and she left town."
"Wait, how did you know she was gone all summer?" Ryan questioned Liam. "I thought you didn't keep up with gossip."
"I just heard she was in rehab," Liam said quickly as they all walked to their class. "That's good, isn't it? It means she's clean and healthy now."
"Oh Liam," Josh said, rolling his eyes.
"What?"
"She and Austin were notorious for a reason. She may be clean now, but when she and Austin get back together she'll be back to her old ways."
"You think they are going to get back together?" Ryan asked.
"Come on, it's Austin and Lexi," he said, shrugging. "Five bucks says they'll be back together by the end of the month."
"You're on," Ryan said, shaking his hand.
Liam was glad the conversation had shifted from his awkward connection to Lexi, as they walked to class he thought about what they said, maybe soulmates do end up together.
He made a personal bet that day, if Austin and Lexi got back together, then he and Rachel would work. It seemed fair, if those two were soulmates and they could find their way back to each other then he and Rachel could easily be soulmates too. When Liam got back to class, he noticed Rachel waving him over so he sat down next to her. When class ended Rachel asked to see Liam's schedule. He handed it to her as he quickly took a picture of what the teacher had written on the board.
"We have like two classes together," she said, pouting.
Liam looked over at her and glanced at the two schedules. "It's not my fault you aren't taking math or science."
"Why would I? I only needed an English and history class, the rest of my classes are electives, along with the new fashion design class."
Liam shrugged. "The math and science classes could be interesting."
Rachel smiled at him. "You're cute," she said, taking his hand. "But why do you even care? We all know you're getting a basketball scholarship."
Liam frowned but didn't say anything. Ryan and Josh had said the same thing before. Why was he working so hard in school if he was already going to get into a college for basketball? Liam didn't really know why, but it felt wrong not to try at school when he enjoyed learning. Rachel went off to her next class and Liam went to his. Before lunch, the senior class was called to an assembly, and Ryan and Josh came over to him grumbling about it.
"Seriously? They cut our lunch so the new principal could talk to us?"
"Lame," Josh said.
"Definitely lame," Liam added half-heartedly, his mind elsewhere.
The three of them sat down on the bleachers as the rest of the senior class came in. Most people sat with their friends, by senior year everyone had found their place among their classmates. Liam could section out his class in groups if he wanted to, it was how they all sat. He and his friends were sitting with the rest of the basketball team. He saw the football team on the other side of the bleachers. The drama kids, the nerds, the stoners, as much as everyone tried to avoid the stereotypes, they were intertwined in their class. Of course, there were a few exceptions, Liam could think of a handful of his classmates who he couldn't quite place in a box.
Lexi was now one of them. He watched as her expression twisted with pain when she saw Austin sitting with his friends, his arm around some girl. Now that she and Austin had broken up, she didn't sit with the stoners and grunge kids anymore. Liam wondered what that made her. Was she officially out of all the stereotypes he could pin on everyone else? Liam envied that.
"Good morning everyone," The principal said, quieting down all of their conversations. "I'm Principal Wheeler and I'm very excited to be your new head of school."
Liam wasn't impressed by the woman's perky attitude. He tuned her out as she went on and on about all the exciting things that she would be implementing to the school.
"No way," Josh said.
"What?" Liam said, looking over at him.
"She's making us all take a philosophy class," Ryan said, crossing his arms angrily.
"She can't do that," Josh said, shaking his head. "It's replacing the senior free period."
"It won't be that bad," Liam said quietly.
If Josh and Ryan heard him they chose to ignore what he said. At this point, everyone was grumbling about something. The principal tried to get everyone's attention again but it was no use. Change wasn't good, no one liked change, especially in the last year of high school.
After the assembly and a quick lunch, Rachel found Liam at his locker. She kissed him on the cheek and smiled. "Do you want to ditch?"
"Uh, won't we get caught?" Liam asked, grabbing a book for his next class.
She rolled her eyes. "Weren't you listening? We get mental health days now."
"Do you need a mental health day on the first day of school?"
"Oh Liam," she said laughing. "How will they know?"
"That sounds like abusing the system," Liam pointed out.
"Come on Liam, lighten up."
Liam gave in. "Where are we going?"
She immediately perked up. "I knew you'd come."
She took his hand and led him to the other kids that had decided to ditch as well. "Come on, let's go be normal teenagers."