Missed Me, Missed Me, Now You Gotta Kiss Me

Just Spill

The day after the bonfire I was so sick on smores that I had an excuse not to see Liam. The day that I said I wanted to chill with my parents. After that there was some excuse about my mom and the soon-to-be twins. I lost count of my lame excuses not to see him after about a week.

  Why was I avoiding him, you might ask? Because Liam knew me better than I knew myself. The closer it got to July, the more transparent I was becoming. Liam would completely be able to see right through me and I just wasn’t ready to voice my own concerns just yet; not even to my best friend.

  I was freaking out. I was freaked about Sooki being pregnant, and I was freaked that I might see David in Arizona, and I was freaked that once I was in Arizona….I wouldn’t wanna leave. Isn’t that what I had wanted since before we ever moved back here? What would my life have been like if we had stayed put? I would still be going to the university, that’s for sure. What was stopping me now, once I was already there?

  I loved Tennessee, and I loved Liam even more. I didn’t see myself as some weakling whose knees would just cave at the very sight of Arizona. But what if Arizona cast some kind of spell on me? What if, hypothetically, I fell in love with it again?

  Ugh. I was being stupid. I didn’t need anyone telling me how stupid I was. I knew I needed to talk to Liam. He was probably the only one who could talk sense into me.

  Unfortunately, he wouldn’t just let me come to him. On the day he decided to bring me out of my shell, it was hot and I was extremely moody to begin with. I was just laying on my bed, watching 10 Things I Hate About You—the movie, not the dumbass show—when all of a sudden he barges in my room. Well, “barge” is a strong word. He was completely calm and even joking.

  He lied next to me on my bed. “Well, I haven’t seen you in forever,” he teased. “What’s up? Or is your agenda packed today, too?”

  I kept my eyes on the screen. It wasn’t necessarily that he was bugging me; I just was not in the mood to spill my guts today. “Nothing,” I sighed. “Sorry. I’ve just had stuff to do.”

  “Yeah, me too,” he said, mimicking my heavy sigh.

  We didn’t say anything for a while.

  “Piper,” he said at last, the joking tone gone now. “What’s really up?”

  I wanted to keep my mouth shut, I really did. But it just kinda slipped out as soon as my mouth was open. I sat up, looking down at him. All the stress just kind of poured out of me and I unfairly took it out on him. “You wanna know what’s up, Liam? My friend is pregnant—you know, the one who fucked my ex boyfriend?—and now she wants me to go to Arizona to help her. And I wanna be mad at her, I really do! But I freaking hafta feel sorry for her and feel obligated to go! And guess what? I am going. I can’t not go. She’s been my friend for years! She made a dumbass mistake. Is it fair of me to hold it against her her whole life? I mean, it wasn’t as if I was even in love with David, it’s just…” I ran my hand through my loose hair in frustration.

  Liam watched me curiously for a minute or two before speaking. “So….you’re going to Arizona.”

  I nodded, biting my lip. “I don’t know how long, though,” I said before he could ask.

  He nodded thoughtfully. “Well, she’s your friend.”

  “You think it’s a bad idea.” I could see it in his face.

  He sighed. “I just think you should be careful.”

  “She’s not even with David. It was a one night stand…or whatever,” I said. “I know it’s stupid. But she asked for my help. I couldn’t say no.”