Liam and Me

Chapter 2

 "He's breathing!" I remarked aloud, overjoyed. There were loud sighs of relief from the crowd. I wanted to bounce off the walls, however, we were outside and there were no walls to bounce off of.

"The paramedics are here!" I heard Coach Green yell in the distance. More chatter from the crowd.

Slowly, Liam started to open his eyes. He sat up, a bit confused, then caught sight of me.

"Rhonda?"

My heart skipped a beat. I instinctively leapt out and hugged him, not thinking. I heard "awww"s from the crowd, which I was too happy to be abashed about. Liam gave a very painful "oof!", which told me to let go.

"Oh! I'm so sorry! I completely forgot that I cracked one of your ribs, I shouldn't have done that. Sorry." I quickly apologized.

"Huh?!" He looked absolutely flabbergasted. His face looked absolutely adorable, so puzzled and confused, processing what he just heard.

I didn't have the chance to explain, because the paramedics interrupted us, taking Liam away from me, into the ambulance. He was incredibly confused.

~~~

Liam was in the hospital for a couple days after that, not at the locker next to me where he should be. I got an embarrassing amount of attention during that week. And I hated it all. Constant compliments and staring, along with whispers. I tried to ignore it all, but it was hard to. Today was Monday. On Tuesday, Liam will come back from the hospital. I was a bit nervous at the thought of it.

"Rhombus, what's wrong?" my friend Taylor asked, concerned. We were on our way to math class, my first period. Taylor is the only friend I have in my math class, although I do have other acquaintances there. Some of the boys are fun to talk to, most of the girls in math with me are a bit on the toxic side, so talking to them is mostly full of fake smiles and laughs.

Taylor Best lives up to her last name. She's one of the smartest kids in our school and excels especially in math. Taylor has been called a nerd on multiple occasions, but it doesn't bother her anymore. In her defense, she does look like your average nerd. She's got curly brown hair that's always put up in a bun and tortoiseshell, square-frame glasses that always rest on her pointy nose. Taylor doesn't like wearing makeup, and neither do I. It's itchy and both Taylor and I look completely fine without it.

I sat down next to my usual spot next to Taylor and we started our math lesson. I didn't pay much attention to the lesson, which I never do, like usual, but I'm always able to understand the homework miraculously. I was too focused on Mr. Liam Driscol. What I've heard from multiple stories of others saving each other's lives is that they usually end up having a great bond with one another. What does that mean for Liam and I? Are we going to become like the bestest of friends, then soon more than friends, then soon more than more than friends?! Oh please, I'm kidding myself.

Liam is probably scared of me more than anything, or just weirded out. In kindergarten, I stole his lunch box and wouldn't give it back until he agreed to be my kindergarten boyfriend. We ended up "breaking up" after he told me I couldn't play tag with him. (It was a boys only game.) During primary school, I would constantly step on his foot while learning about the gospel. I mean, they would be teaching us about kindness and charity and prophets, and I would be jamming my purple high heels into his foot.

I've grown up though, well as much as I can. Sometimes I still step on his foot during church just to mess with him. The question is, what's going to happen with me and Liam?

"Rhonda." Taylor nudged my shoulder. I zoned back into the real world.

"Yeah, what?"

"Mrs. Drew is collecting homework."