by Alyssa Kress
~~~
Chem exam first thing tomorrow, but that wasn't what was on Liam's mind as he sat at his bedroom desk, shooting rubber bands at a poster of Xenomorph, the horrific killer creature from Aliens. He already knew the chemistry material. Once he read it, it was in the gray cells. So his mind wandered far afield from the open textbook in front of him.
Erica. She'd been acting weird ever since she'd picked him up from Nelson's house this morning. It was obvious something was bothering her, but she just as obviously didn't intend to tell Liam what it was.
Liam drew back a rubber band and—splat—nailed ol' Xeno. His mind went to the most obvious problem Erica might keep from him: the guardianship. He knew they had the home visit scheduled for Wednesday next week. Maybe she was freaking over that. He shot another rubber band and only nicked Xenomorph's tail. Or maybe Erica was stressing about restarting her physical training business here in Palmwood.
Liam winced as he picked up another rubber band. Unfortunately, both of those were issues he'd pretty much foisted on her.
Restless now, he got up from his chair and wandered toward the window. He peered down. No car in the driveway next door. Brennan was probably working today. Sunday was a big day at the store. Although, hadn't he started to delegate most weekends...?
Liam's eyes widened. Brain blast. Was it possible Erica's mysterious problem involved Brennan? Oh, yeah, she claimed she didn't want to have anything to do with a former alcoholic, but as far as Liam could tell, she was still into their neighbor.
Last night, Liam hadn't been home. While he'd been gone, could the two of them have...?
His blooming enthusiasm faded. No. Erica would be acting much weirder than she was if they'd gone and done that.
Liam's lips tightened, and he rubbed the edge of the window frame as another thought occurred. Maybe what had Erica bothered had something to do with their older brother, Alex. Could she have found out something about him?
Could she have discovered that Liam knew more than he'd admitted to anyone?
Guilt surged up his throat. Breathing steadily, Liam struggled to reassure himself. Erica didn't know anything about Alex. And if she guessed Liam knew something, she would not have been shy about confronting him with it.
But his guilt did not recede. Liam closed his eyes and set his forehead against the window frame. The truth was, he didn't feel guilty toward Erica. It was his father he was letting down. Dad had trusted Liam, and Liam was betraying that trust.
He had no call to get mad at Erica for not allowing him to grieve for Dad. Liam didn't deserve to grieve for him.
