Accused (Hunted book 2)

Chapter 12

Liam turned on his heel and stormed off, back towards the entrance to the gym.

"Liam! It meant nothing, I swear! I'm sorry!" Why was I apologising to him? He had no right to be upset. I was allowed to kiss whoever I wanted.

He stopped abruptly and waited for me to catch up with him. He looked really upset. "You don't have to apologise for anything. Who was I kidding?"

"Who were you kidding about what?"

He shook his head roughly. If I hadn't known better, I would have thought he was holding back tears.

I frowned. "Are you okay, Liam?"

He turned away from me. "I'm fine. I think I'm gonna go home now." He started off towards the parking lot.

"What? But the dance isn't over yet!"

"I can't stay."

I stared after Liam until he got in his car and drove away. I hadn't even kissed Hayden and I had somehow managed to upset my date—I mean, my friend Liam. When I got back to the circle, everyone was looking at me.

"Everything okay?" Sasha asked.

"Yeah. Liam left."

Everyone rushed to comfort me.

"I'm sorry."

"That sucks."

"I didn't like him much anyway."

I sat down in my spot. They moved on to Heather who was on my other side. She landed on Garrett, kissed him, and the game went on.

Riley nudged me. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." I tilted my head at her. "Do I not seem fine?"

"You just seem sort of...numb."

What was that supposed to mean? "Okay. I really am okay, though."

Riley nodded slowly. "If you say so." She turned back to the bottle. "Oh God no. Why, cruel world?"

The bottle was pointing at Riley and Hayden had just spun it.

"Come on. It's nothing you haven't done before." Hayden grinned, waggling his eyebrows.

Riley rolled her eyes and leaned forward. They kissed for about the same amount of time as before, but this time Riley seemed to hate it less. She didn't pull away first this time either; it was mutual.

I grinned and nudged her.

"What?" She gave me an annoyed look.

"Nothing," I teased. "You got a boyfriend?"

Riley gaped at me. "No!"

I looked meaningfully at Hayden. "If you say so."

"I feel nothing," she insisted. "He is a good kisser, though."

"Yeah?" Hayden smiled smugly. "No take backs."

~

Everyone had to go home at 10:30 pm. That was the cut-off. The prom committee stayed for another half-hour to pack up. Claire's parents dropped me home on their way.

I changed into my pyjamas and flopped onto my bed. I felt bad about how things had ended with Liam. He didn't really have any reason to be upset—I hadn't even kissed Hayden—and it wasn't like we were together or anything, but I still felt like I should apologise. I dialled his number and listened to my phone ring. It kept ringing until I got his voicemail.

"This is Liam. Sorry I can't come to the phone right now. Please leave a message. Beeeep."

It took a second for me to realise I was supposed to be talking. "Hi Liam. It's Charlie, uh, Charlotte. I just wanted you to know that I didn't kiss Hayden. I'm not entirely sure why you're so upset, because we're not dating or anything. But I am really sorry. Please call me."