The Lies We Breathe

Chapter 6 - Tue, Aug 1: Childhood Crush

Somehow I managed to survive the day without any other major incidents. The school ended. I considered going back to the library. Yesterday, I didn't get to borrow the books I wanted, but in the end, I preferred to just hurry back to my car, which I found with all four tires flat.

"Dammit!"

I loved that car and it pained me to see that it was now also paying the price for my foolishness.

I looked around. There was no sight of Blake and his goonies. That was a relief.

I pulled out my phone thinking about whom I could call. Jackie crossed my mind. She would come if she wasn't in a hospital bed right now fighting for her life. I couldn't call my father nor Jorah. That would make matters only worse. They's want to know what had happened and if they knew, they would drag me all the way to my old school. But not before making a bigger mess out of things.

Jake, my ex? If he is seen here, that would not end well either.

Other kids were beginning to spill out of the school, it was just a matter of time until Blake and others found me here. I thought of running away crossed my mind. They wouldn't dare doing anything to me in front of all the others, would they?

I heard a car engine and turned to look, expecting the worst. It was a white convertible and Liam was at the wheel. Again, my heart skipped a beat at the sight of him.

His car came to a screeching halt right beside me.

"Need a ride?" he asked simply. He wore dark sunglasses and he was smiling at me in a way that made me feel hot flashes all over my body.

"I don't need one from you," I said and continued scrolling through my phone thinking who else I could call, all too aware that Liam was still looking at me.

"I know for a fact that Blake and the others will be here in about three minutes. Are you sure you don't need a ride?"

I looked up again.

"Why would you wanna help me?"

"Let's just say, I like it when Blake doesn't get things his way," he admitted sheepishly. Nothing in his smile indicated any hint that this could be a trap.

"I thought you two are friends."

"We are. Are you getting in or what?"

I looked at the flat tires of my car and then at the school. What choice did I have? There wasn't anyone I knew who could materialise right here in the next three minutes. Besides, hadn't I dreamed of talking to Liam for years? And now, I'd even get to sit next to him. My palms were getting sweaty just from thinking about that. I opened the car door and got in. In the next moment, we were already driving away from the school's parking lot with a screeching sound.

"So tell me, what is the police officer's daughter doing at Highridge?"

"Does it matter?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. The real question I wanted to ask was whether he remembered who I am. Something in me wanted so much for him to recognize me.

"Some find it worrying..." He gave me a side glance that could have meant anything.

"I'm not my father," I said watching his long fingers hold the wheel. I know he played piano as a kid and I wondered if he still did.

"Your father had to pull a few strings to get you in," he said matter-of-factly, peeking sideways at me again.

"Thought that information was confidential..."

"Nothing is too confidential at this school. So why are you here?" Suddenly this conversation was feeling more like an interrogation. And I wondered if he had been put up to this.