Here's an update (finally) I love you I'm so sorry! Also I actually haven't finished my "brief editing" on the rest of the story lol but I doubt it's anything major.
6. Puzzle
Around the time lunch rolled around I was searching for Ari and Liam to hang for a bit, but when I found Liam he shrugged. "Ariana's at home. She wasn't feeling too well today," he said.
I frowned. "Oh. Well, hopefully for her she gets better.
Liam laughed. "Hopefully. You wanna play some football?" he asked me holding up what Americans refer to as a "soccer ball."
I shrugged. "Sure." We went out onto the field, making it a small game since after all it was just the two of us. I scrutinized Liam closely. "You know, you actually look a lot older than you are," I stated.
He glanced at me. "Yeah, well I just choose to not really shave too much just because... well, I like it more," he shrugged.
I laughed. "You look old enough to be somebody's father," I joked.
He snickered. "Maybe," he shrugged, laughing with me before giving the ball a good kick.
Once I'd caught the ball and kicked it back to him I asked, "Ariana doesn't feel well very often huh?"
He was silent at first, just looking off with the ball beneath his foot. He sighed. "She doesn't," he confirmed solemnly.
I looked down. "Why?" I didn't want to seem nosy, but I was just concerned, you know?
He pressed his lips together, going back to the game. "I... I don't know," he shrugged. "I mean she's got a lot of pressure placed on to her at the moment for one. Plus she... she's very sad," he told me.
"Sad?" I repeated. "Like depressed?"
He shook his head. "No. I wouldn't say she's that upset she's just sort of struggling at the moment. She sometimes feels like nobody likes her anymore, I think. As if the world hates her or something."
I frowned. I almost asked him why, but I bit my tongue and stayed silent. "Oh," was all I said. I thought about how close him and Ariana were and asked, "How did you and Ariana meet?"
Liam smiled a bit. "We were both about fourteen, but it was on the first day of school here," Liam stated. "We were the freshmen and all and Ariana and I made a bit of a pact." Liam shrugged.
"A pact?" I smiled.
He nodded. "This may sound hard to believe but we both were bullied at our previous schools so I guess we were happy to make friends," he chuckled.
I stared at him. "You were bullied?" I demanded. "Mr. Payne, or should I say Mr. Bicep?" I joked.
He laughed. "I wasn't always strong. I didn't take up boxing until later freshman year."
"You're doing something right," I complemented. "What about Ari? Why would anyone bully her?" I pondered.
Liam made a face. "It's not something she likes to talk about because it embarrasses her. But she might tell you one of these days," he joked.
I nodded. So many "she might tell you"s and secrets she has. I couldn't help but wonder about everything a girl like Ariana could've been through. I kept hearing bits and pieces about her and no matter what I couldn't fit together a puzzle. It were as though I only had five fragments of the full image and there were a hundred to collect.
"Could I ask you another question?" I pondered aloud.
He chuckled and shrugged. "Sure, I guess."
