Marie had to stop herself from wincing when Liam's loud laughter boomed after hearing one of Hayden's jokes. To keep herself from seeming rude, Marie plastered a closed-mouth smile and let out a silent, breathy laugh that was obviously fake, but nobody seemed to notice. She had barely even touched the sandwich and bag of chips in front of her, yet her appetite was lost somewhere in the duration of when Hayden joined the pack at the lunch table.
It wasn't that Marie didn't like Hayden; they sat by each other in English and would always make funny comments about the teacher or the lesson together. Marie would consider Hayden a friend. But around Liam, the title of 'friend' totally slipped away and morphed into 'girl that Liam's gonna leave me for'.
Every time she looked up from her lunch, her eyes would regretfully go straight to Hayden. Her hair is so pretty. Her skin is so clear. Her smile is so perfect. She's so skinny. She's so... perfect.
Marie glanced at the time on her phone, and, although there were still 15 minutes left before lunch ended, her insecurity begged her to leave the scene.
"Hey, I uh," Marie cleared her throat, "I forgot, I gotta go, uh, do something for Mr. Yukimura before class starts. I'll see you later." She mumbled the last of her sentence, all the while getting up from her chair and gathering her trash. Liam's laughter-filled face softened, and his eyes were filled with concern.
"Are you sure? You want me to come with you?" He asked, bracing his arms on the table to lift himself up so he could follow behind you.
"No, no, I'm okay. I'm good." She rushed out, standing next to the end of the table and giving her boyfriend a small smile. "Um, see you later."
Liam watched with his mouth open slightly as his girlfriend hurriedly left the cafeteria. Lydia pouted and looked to Liam.
"Is she alright?" Lydia asked.
"I, I don't know, I thought so." Liam said, unsure himself. He sat back in his seat and his mood was pretty much shot after that, and all he could think of was what could be wrong?
Marie went straight to the restroom. Fortunately for her, nobody else was in there with her as she leaned on her hands, staring at herself in the mirror. Her eyes scanned her appearance and paid special attention to her flaws. She felt as if her diffidence and looks and personality were completely contradictory to everything Liam wanted in a girl. Taking a breath, she went back to her locker, and barely contributed to conversation for the rest of the day as her own self-hatred swirled within her.
Liam stood at Marie's front door with his hands in his pockets, waiting for a response to the knocking. Moments later, his girlfriend, wearing plaid pajama pants and a plain shirt, opened the door with a questioning look on her face. Her expression softened when she saw Liam.
"Oh, hey, Li." She coughed. "What's up?"
Liam looked to the ground and back up to her several times. "Can I come in?" She nodded and opened the door wider.
Following Marie to her room, Liam spoke up. "I just wanted to check on you. You seemed kinda, I don't know, upset during lunch today. Did I do something wrong?"
Marie tried to mask her emotion with a frown. "No, nothing's wrong. Just, had to do that thing."
"Really? Because Kira asked her dad and, you didn't stop by and he wasn't even expecting you." Liam called her out on her lie. Marie internally cursed. Liam's voice lightened. "Baby, what's going on?"
Marie stayed silent as her eyed kept glued to her socks. She gave a light shrug.
"Was it something today at lunch?" He asked hesitantly. Marie's eyes flickered and she pursed her lips, giving Liam a sign that he was right. Wheels turned in his head until he finally realized what the issue was. His heart dropped.
"Baby, is it Hayden?"
Marie sniffled. "She's so much better for you than I am." She said, her voice faltering, chin quivering and tears beginning to pool in her eyes. She tried to wipe them away before he could notice that she was crying, but to no avail.
"Oh, babe," Liam's heart broke, "why would you think that? Be honest with me."
"She's just," Marie let out a breath, "she's so beautiful. Her teeth are perfect and her hair always looks nice and she's so skinny, and pretty, and nice, and smart, and funny, and athletic, and I-I, I'm none of those things. She's like a model, she-she's perfect! You deserve someone like Hayden." She cried, her words becoming barely audible as her tears turned to sobs. Liam almost started crying himself.
"You really think that?" He whispered. Marie shyly nodded. "Baby, you have no idea how wrong you are."
Marie looked up to him in confusion, but before she could argue, Liam started to speak again.
"Sure, Hayden's nice. She's pretty. Whatever. But you? You're amazing. Your smile and your hair and your whole being is absolutely perfect. You're beautiful in so many ways, okay? Nobody will ever compare to you. You're all I need, you-you're all I've dreamed of!" Liam exclaimed wholeheartedly. "Hayden is good, but she's no you. She's not Marie. Hayden could never in a million years make me feel the way I do when I'm with you, she means nothing to me. You're more than perfect, okay? I want, no, I need you to know that. I love you."
Marie stared at her boyfriend, warm tears leaving tracks down her face. "Really?"
Liam smiled warmly. "Really."
Marie let out a relieved laugh as she wrapped her arms tightly around Liam, crying into his shoulder as he soothed her. "It's okay, it's okay." He hushed.
"I love you, Li." She whispered. Liam smiled, leaning his head on top of hers and rocking her back and forth.
"I love you, too, baby."
[lol hope u like this marie :))]
