Ugh, Liam ...
I watch as he parks his car near the edge of the border and steps out. He walks over to the passenger side of the car, presumably to help Ashley step out, but she doesn’t.
She’s not even there.
Instead, Liam grabs his backpack and a notebook and heads down to the dock. He takes off his shoes — like we once did together, years ago, letting his feet hang over the ledge and touch the top of the lake’s water. Then he suddenly looks up at Kelsey and me.
He tilts his head to the side and I can tell that usual cocky smile is spreading across his face.
He waves and I throw him the middle finger.
Laughing, he looks down at his notebook and starts doing his work.
“You don’t think there’s ever a chance that the two of you could be friends again?” Kelsey asks.
“Depends,” I say. “Would you give him a chance, if you were in my shoes?”
She pauses for a while. “Hell no.”
“Exactly.” I look over at him. “It’s bad enough that I’ll have to be his critique partner for the next two semesters, but I don’t need or want to be his friend. Besides, he’s in love with Ashley Jordan. That alone automatically disqualifies everything we used to have in common.”
“Very true.” Kelsey laughs and stands from the bench. She steals a few more glances at Ryan Winston and pulls me to my feet. “Mark my words though, bestie. This year, you are going to finally date someone or get a boyfriend and we’re going to start working on that right after this shift is over.”
I nod and pretend to agree, but unless the guys in question are exactly like the gentlemen I’ve read about in my period novels, I want nothing to do with them.
I refuse to get my hopes up again ...
2
Liam
I used to think it was impossible to truly “hate” someone, used to always think that term was way too strong of a way to simply say, “dislike,” but I honestly hate Ashley Jordan.
Yes, she’s one of the hottest girls in school. Yes, almost every guy wants to trade places with me to get close to her. And yes, for whatever reason, girls at Blue Harbor think her life is a charmed one, but she’s a pain in my ass and I honestly regret the day we met.
I still have no idea what I was thinking when I agreed to be her boyfriend, but I’m getting out of this relationship by the end of this week because outside of being “Mr. and Miss Popular,” we really don’t have a goddamn thing in common. And I’m beyond tired of her bullshit.
She insists on asking me what I’m wearing every morning, so she can “color coordinate like a true couple.” She spends at least two hours a day filling me in on gossip I couldn’t care less about, and she’s far more obsessed with popularity than I’ll ever be. (Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the attention very much, but Ashley takes it to a completely different level.)
Not only that, but I don’t know why I continue to fall into her “It’ll just be me and you tonight and we can do whatever you want,” lies. Pulling in front of her house, I sigh as I put my car into park.
Surprise, surprise. She lied again ...
I shake my head and look through the windows at the shadows of people dancing, and at the line of people who are making their way up her driveway. I get out of my car before I can follow my first instinct and drive away. Tonight confirms it. I’m breaking up with her on Friday, at the latest.
“There you are, Liam!” She rushes up to my car and wraps her arms around my neck, kissing me. “Are you going to come inside the party or not?”
I look around at the newest line of cars that are parking across the street from her house. “You told me it was just going to be you and me tonight,” I say. “You promised it was just studying.”
“Oh, come on ...” She slides closer to me and runs her fingers through my hair. “Were you really serious about studying? You already make all A’s.”
“Yes, and I would prefer to keep making those, if you don’t mind.”
“I don’t mind at all. I just don’t understand why you worry so much about your grades when every college under the sun is salivating to give you a basketball scholarship, and no teacher in her right mind would ever fail you. None of those recruiters give a damn about your grades and you know it.”
I don’t bother with a response to that. I’ve attempted to explain my stance on this topic to her for weeks, and I’ve finally realized she’ll never get it.
“Wait ...” She looks up at me, batting her eyes. “Unless the reason you wanted to ‘study’ alone tonight was so we could finally have sex.” She rubs my arm. “Is that it?”
I stare at her. At one point, when we’d first hooked up, I’d looked forward to having sex with her, but once she started talking and I realized who she really was, I honestly doubt if I could get hard for her, even if I tried.
“Trust me, that definitely wasn’t it,” I say, tempted to just end this relationship right now instead of Friday. “We need to talk, though. ASAP.”
“Uh, huh ...” She grabs my hand. “Let’s go inside and we can talk as much as you want.” She leads me past the people who line the pathway to her house and through the front door.
Girls from our school blush and smile at me as we make our way through the packed living room. One of Ashley’s best friends, Taylor, winks at me and bites her lip when she sees me, and I make a mental note to add her annoying friends to the list of reasons we need to break up sooner rather than later.
We stop by the kitchen and grab red cups that are spiked with one too many shots of alcohol, and I toss mine back without a single wince. I watch as Ashley chugs two cups and then accidentally spills a third onto some random guy’s shirt.
“I think that’s enough.” I grab her hand before she can attempt to grab another drink. “Let’s go to your room.”
She blushes and bites her lip. “Absolutely.”
I say a quick hello to one of my teammates who’s too busy kissing some girl against the wall, and Ashley finally pulls me upstairs and into her bedroom.
“So, where do you want me?” She winks at me and falls onto her pink bed. “I’ve worn black lingerie for the past couple weeks, hoping for this moment.”
“I’m not having sex with you, Ashley.”
“Why not?” She takes off her shirt, exposing a perfect rack and a sexy as hell black bra. “Am I not attractive to you anymore?”
“You’re very attractive ...” I watch as she slips out of her blue jean shorts, as she reveals a pair of black lace panties.
“Then, why haven’t we had sex yet?” She tosses her shorts at me and I don’t make a move to catch them. “I mean, I saved my virginity just for you. Don’t you want it?”
You lost your virginity in tenth grade to Stephen Jones ... “Ashley ... Put your clothes back on.”
“You’re the only guy I’ve dated that hasn’t made a move to get to second base after the first week.”
“You should take that as a compliment.” I pick up her jean shorts and toss them back to her. “Let’s go outside where there’s not a chance of people listening by your door.”
She ignores me and slowly saunters over to me, batting her eyes every few seconds. The second she gets right in front of me, she runs her fingers through my hair.
“I’m not sure what you’re looking for in a girlfriend, Liam.” She almost sounds sympathetic, wistful. “Like, I’ve tried so hard to get on the same page with you over the summer, but I don’t know ... I think if we had sex, it would fix everything.” She pauses, sliding her hand down against the front of my sweats. “Plus, I’ve heard things about how good you are.... As your girlfriend, I should’ve experienced those ‘things’ long ago, don’t you think? I give great blow jobs. Let me give you one, finally ...”
Before I can say a word, she begins singing the alphabet for some reason — slurring every other letter and smiling.
I grab her waist as she wavers back and forth. “How many drinks did you have before I got here
?”
“One or two.”
“Bullshit.” I notice her eyes are red. “How many?”
“Three?” She shrugs. “Or was it five or six? Or —” She suddenly stops talking and gives me an “Oh, shit” look before falling forward and vomiting all over my shirt.
Ugh ...
I hold her still until she stops, until she goes limp in my arms.
Annoyed, I carry her over to the bed and position her on her back. I immediately take off my shirt and toss it into her trash can.
I open her bedroom door, coming face to face with three of her friends who were clearly attempting to eavesdrop. “May I help you with something?”
All three of them glance at my chest and smile. “Finally.” “Wow ... So, they finally had sex.” “I was beginning to think ...”
I roll my eyes and move past them, heading into a bathroom. I wet a few face towels and return to her bedroom, placing them against her forehead and her exposed stomach.
Rushing downstairs, I grab a few bottles of water and ignore the curious stares that follow me from the kitchen.
When I return to Ashley’s room, she’s attempting to stand up, so I gently push her back onto the bed.
“Don’t,” I say. “Stay back against the pillows.”
She groans, but obliges. “Can I ask you something personal, Liam?”
“I think you just need to focus on getting sober right now. Water?”
“Have you ever had feelings for Maria?”
“Who the hell is Maria?” I open one of the water bottles and hold it against her mouth, feeding her slow sips. “And when are your parents getting back?”
“Sunday.” She coughs. “You’re going to stay the night and help clean up, right?”
Reason number fifty why I’ll be dumping your ass this week ... “Sure.”
“Maria is Zach’s little sister,” she says several seconds later. “Have you ever had feelings for her?”
“Her name is Mariah, and no. Why are you asking me that?”
“No reason.” She gulps down more water. “I know it’s silly. It’s just ... Yesterday when I was talking shit about her to Courtney in your car, you were like, “Stop talking shit about Ryah.” Like, you didn’t even call her by her real name. You gave her a special nickname.” She actually looks upset about this. “You and I don’t even have nicknames for each other.”
“That’s what Zach has always called her. It rubbed off on me.”
“Yeah, well. That still doesn’t explain the fact that you always take up for her.”
“You’re exaggerating.”
“I wish I was.” She crossed her arms. “I mean, even earlier this week, I heard you two were sitting together and sharing secrets in Lit class.”
“She’s my assigned critique partner. We don’t talk outside of class unless Zach is around. You know this.” Everyone knows this ...
“Okay ...” She sits silently for a while and then she nods. “I was just checking because like, between you and me, she’s lame as hell. Like, one of the lamest people at our school and she’s not that pretty. Especially not when compared to me, you know? Like, I overheard some guy actually have the audacity to say that —”
She doesn’t get a chance to finish that sentence. Instead, she leans over the edge of the bed and vomits. Again.
“I’ll go get some more towels ...” I leave the room again, but I take my time getting the towels.
Ashley has always picked on Mariah, for whatever reason, and until just now, I never realized that I take up for her that often. I certainly don’t try to — it has to be an old habit.
Regardless of the fact that we simply tolerate each other these days, I often think about the times when that wasn’t the case. And as much as I want to ignore what Ashley said about Mariah’s looks, I know it’s far from the truth. Mariah really is “that pretty,” and if it weren’t for the fact that Zach beat up every guy who even ‘looked’ like he was attracted to Mariah, she would be voted the hottest and most popular girl at Blue Harbor.
Hands down.
Impossible not to notice, Mariah has almond shaped and honey-colored eyes that match her long and wavy brown hair. (For some strange reason, she insists on adding blond highlights to it every summer to “fit in” but they only make her stand out more.) Her puffy pink lips are absolute perfection, and she’s one of few girls I know who looks ten times better without make-up.
“Liammmm!” Ashley whines from her bedroom. “Liam, what’s taking you so long? I need you to come back and take care of me! If you do a good job, we can have sex!”
I groan and make my return to her side.
This Friday can’t get here soon enough.
***
By the time I get done playing doctor with Ashley, it’s six o’clock in the morning. And by the time I’ve put everyone out of her house and helped her friends clean everything up, it’s eight o’clock in the morning.
I check on Ashley one last time before leaving, hoping she’s not going to vomit again, and then I head home.
As I pull into my driveway, I notice that Zach is pulling into his family’s driveway as well.
Waving, he gets out of his car and walks over to me. “You know, I still don’t understand why your parents literally bought the house right next door to ours.” He crosses his arms. “They do realize that they’re paying more to live down the street from their old house, right?”
“It’s too early in the morning to be an asshole. Even for you.” I glance down the street at where my family used to live. “By the way, where the hell have you been?”
“With Layla.”
“All night?”
“Well, Layla for the first part of the night. Jennifer for the other half.” He looked at his phone. “And I have about five hours of sleep before practice, and then I’ll be with Hannah tonight.”
“If only your mom knew how terrible you really are.”
“You should talk. You look like shit right now. Where have you been?”
“Thanks. Ashley threw another party, since her parents are gone.”
“Good.” He leaned against my car. “Did you finally sleep with her?”
“Not at all. I’m actually breaking up with her this weekend.”
“So, is that free rein for me to sleep with her?”
I give him a blank stare and he laughs.
“I’m kidding,” he says. “I have more than enough girls on my plate. See you around noon at practice.”
“See you at practice.” I head up the steps of my porch, trying not to make too much noise. I make it inside and hear my mom’s familiar snoring and let out a sigh of relief.
Heading up the stairs, I stop as the light in the kitchen suddenly comes on.
Shit ...
“Son?” My Dad calls out.
“Yeah?”
“Kind of late to be coming home, don’t you think?” He walks to the front door and peers out of the blinds. “Was that Zach you were just talking to out there?”
“It was.”
“You boys are really hell-bent on breaking curfew every chance you get, huh?”
I wait for him to turn around and look at me, knowing that his slight annoyance will disappear the second I say the magic words.
“We were out practicing at the lake court,” I say. “Went to Paula’s Diner after, and lost track of time.”
“I figured.” He shrugs, beaming with a twisted sense of pride. “You never opened the letters from Duke and UNC that I left on the table for you yesterday.”
I’m aware ...
I don’t say anything aloud, I just look at him.
“I figured you were too focused on your season opener and getting in the mindset for another state championship run, so I opened them for you.” He steps closer and pats me on the shoulder. “They both want to treat you to dinner next month and talk up their programs. You don’t care that I already set the dates, do you?”
“No.” I lie for the second time th
is morning. “No, I don’t care at all.”
“Good! Well, rest up! If you need me to drive you to practice later today, just let me know.”
I give him a fake smile and continue heading upstairs for the bathroom. Annoyed at my wasted night, I step into my shower and stand under the hot streams until I can’t take any more.
Wrapping a towel around my waist, I walk into my bedroom and see a wide-awake Mariah from my window. She usually keeps her blinds closed — as do I, but for whatever reason, today they’re wide open and she’s hanging up an array of dresses in her closet.
I watch her for a while, completely confused. I’ve never seen her wear a dress before, so I’m shocked she owns more than one. I’m even more shocked that she’s practically naked right now — wearing a bright blue bra and lace panties.
And why is she smiling like that?
She suddenly turns around and holds up a red dress to the light, letting it fall to the floor once her eyes meet mine.
Her jaw drops and her face reddens in that familiar “I hate you, Liam Carter” way it has for years, and she starts yelling, as if I can actually hear what she’s saying. Although I’m sure “Oh, my god!” “What the hell are you doing?” and “How long have you been right there?” are littered between all of her f-bombs.
Still red-faced and yelling, she rushes over to the blinds, but before she can get the satisfaction of pulling a dramatic move, I close my blinds first.
I’m not sure why I find her anti-Liam personality appealing lately, or why I actually look forward to seeing her in class more than I used to, but I need to put an end to it. ASAP.
I finally hit the lights and collapse onto my bed, making a mental note to ask Zach about Mariah later. Not because I care, though. Because I definitely don’t.
Is she dating someone I don’t know about?
For the first time in a long time, I actually wish we were as close as we used to be, because if that were the case, I could simply walk over and just ask ...
FIRST SUMMER CAMP
Mr. Popular: A Falling For My Brother's Best Friend Romance Page 2
