Help On the Line (ON HOLD UNTIL SEPTEMBER)

CHAPTER THREE- End of Us (Liam)

Liam.

   Eighth grade was a mess. I consider it the worst year of my life, no contest.

   It wasn't supposed to be, obviously. Last year of the glorious funzone called Lincoln Grove Middle School. The most fun I'd ever had were in grades six and seven. Shae and I miraculously were in the same class each year, which was really surprising because Lincoln Grove was a big school- 1000 kids. Well, big for a middle school, anyway.

   Field trips, instrumental music class, talent shows, science fairs. We did it all, and had a kick ass time. With her, I felt I could do anything fearlessly, because she felt fearless all the time. Or so I thought.

   Things generally went smoothly over the summer- sleepovers, clarinet-violin duos, making fun of Mindy, chasing the neighbours' dogs, camping trips with our parents. The upcoming year, we would be on the top of the food chain, finally. So many hours were spent planning that year; what we wanted to do, and what we'd do differently from the years before. The other kids never thought of Shae without Liam, or of Liam without Shae, or else it just didn't feel quite right. We loved it, and wanted to keep it that way.

   Or so I thought.

* * *

   "Class, grab a partner to share a locker with. No fighting," instructed the stiff-looking teacher. She was young, and I'd never seen her around before. New teacher? "My name is Ms. Coleson, by the way." Yup. New teacher.

   I was already walking up to Ms. Coleson to receive our lock before any kid had even confirmed their partner. "Ms. Coleson? I have my partner," I said politely. She raised her eyebrows.

   "Oh?" she said. Her lips were pursed, and her gaze floated around the room. "What's his name?"

   I smiled a little. "She's a girl. Shae Clear." I turned to point to where Shae was undoubtedly sitting, but she wasn't there. I searched the room and my eyes almost popped out of my head when I saw what she was doing. It's what Ms. Coleson was looking at for a bit, I realized belatedly.

   Shae was talking to Maddison, a cronie of our arch nemesis. Maddison, with her highlighted brown hair and caked makeup, was a close friend of Cecilia. Shae and Maddison weren't even wearing scowls on their faces- they were actually raising their eyebrows, a thing girls do to make their face look more open and kind. My dad told me that fact- he had a major in this body language thing in university.

   It wasn't even just that. Shae was smling.

   I had some personal grudges against Maddison. First, she used to be really nice, but let herself get brainwashed by Cecilia's popularity. For such a nice person, she sure was weak against material things. Second, she tormented me when we were in the same class in sixth grade and somehow managed to convince the teacher I was a bad student. She thought it was, like, the funniest thing that had actually happened to her! Like ever!

   It made me sad to see such great potential of a person being pegged down by such useless things. It made me suspicious when I saw Shae talking to her, because she always went out of her way not to fraternise with popular girls.

   "Shae!" I waved her over. Shae said something, and Maddison actually smiled a bit. She trotted over.

   "Yeah?" Shae asked brightly.

   "Uh, locker assignment," I said gesturing to the bin of old locks.

   She stared at it for a second too long. "Right. We're locker partners, of course," Shae chuckled. "Duh!"