Falling in the Dark | ✓

36 | Night

Criss-crossed patterns of light shimmer and ripple across the water as I float on my back. I turn to the ceiling and shut my eyes, big gold spots forming behind my eyelids. I'm floating aimlessly down the length of the empty pool, the water warm against my bare legs.

I open my eyes slowly, raising my left hand to shield my eyes from the too-bright ceiling lights. The waterproof bandages wound around my palm limit the movement when I try to flex my fingers.

Except for the soothing flow of the water, there is absolute silence. It numbs my brain, making my chlorinated thoughts clearer. And at this moment, it finally dawns on me why I felt so removed, so distant when I fought with Vera today.

I've known it all these months. I've felt it in the periphery of everything else. Our friendship was bound to come to a bitter end one day. Ever since Vera found her new friends and Liam and I fell in this . . . thing that we have, my friendship with Vera has been reduced to a ticking time bomb.

As I'm reliving the instant when the snowglobe hit the floor and shattered, the double doors fall open with a sharp, reverberating sound. I don't need to look up to know that it's him standing by one of the long wooden benches.

"I figured you'd be here," Liam says, his voice echoing, full and deep.

"Were you looking for me?" I ask, wading towards the edge of the pool.

I raise my arms to the tiled floor and instantly, goosebumps erupt on my skin as the warm water drips off my arms, making me shiver. Resting my chin on my folded hands, I arch my eyebrows at Liam questioningly. He crouches down on one knee so his face is a little closer to mine, his cheeks flushed with the cold. 

"Yeah," he says in answer to my question. "I came by your dorm for a movie. The door was locked. Tried calling you and Vera. You didn't answer, and she yelled at me to leave her alone . . ."

A short pause. "Something wrong, Carmen?"

I stare at the small puddle around Liam's shoes, refusing to answer his question. "It's a nice night for a swim."

"I know, it's sweltering outside," he says wryly.

Managing a small smile, I move to push myself back into the water when Liam reaches out for my injured hand, his gaze zeroing in on the bandages. His honey eyes are wide as he holds my palm gingerly.

"How did this happen?"

"Vera," I say by way of explanation. When he stays silent, his hand still wrapped around mine, I add, "She's not coming home with me, she's staying here . . . with her friends. I didn't know until today."

My voice cracks at the end of the sentence, causing Liam's eyes to soften with sympathy. I clear my throat and turn my attention to the pool current pushing gently against me.

"So, we fought. She knocked my snowglobe off the desk, you know, the one she gave me? And then she left," I continue, trying and failing to sound deadpan and nonchalant. "I was cleaning up the glass when I got this cut. I went to fix it up and . . . came here sometime after that. I—I don't want to go back there. At least not tonight."

"And what?" Liam looks incredulous. "You were going to stay here?"

"It is kind of nice." I shrug half-jokingly, chewing my lip at the thought of where I will spend the rest of the night.

"Carmen, come stay with me," Liam suggests immediately as though he has read my mind. He tips his head to one side, the light hitting his face at an angle that makes his features sharper, all the more striking.

Blinking the drops of water that drip down my forehead to my lashes, I nod gratefully. I don't need to think twice to accept his offer.

"Good. We can go right now if you want to."