“I know you can hear me,” he said.
I tossed my pillow on top of my finished bed and turned to face him. My mouth parted slightly but I immediately closed it, hoping he didn’t notice. I didn’t imagine his ego could handle my reaction. His light brown hair was messy but parted slightly to the side. Blue-gray eyes sat below thick, expressive eyebrows. His scruffy face was centered around subtle lips. He had a baby face, not an intense, masculine face; what good-looking is expected to look like. But despite all odds he was beautiful, and I liked looking at him.
“I was busy,” I said.
He fell onto Josie’s bed across from me. His black athletic shorts lifted a little, revealing more of his toned legs. He looked like a runner. Reality crashed into me like a bus. My unruly red hair was piled on top of my head. My face was free of makeup, and I had secondhand yoga pants and a t-shirt on. Luckily, I was one of the rare redheads who had color in my brows and lashes and my body wasn’t covered in freckles, just the sweep across my nose and cheeks. I didn’t look awful without makeup; I just looked like a twelve-year-old. I don’t know what could be worse.
“I, uh, I guess I just wanted to tell you I don’t usually hang out at bus stops. I just happened to see you and thought you might want a ride,” he said, laughing sheepishly. He smiled and a dimple appeared on his right side.
“So, you’re not a creep?”
“I’m not,” he said, letting out another laugh.
“Then explain why the boy who tried to pick me up at a bus stop is now in my dorm room, uninvited,” I said, grinning. It has been far too long since I’d had a conversation with someone who was nice to me.
“My house doesn’t have water. Should be back on tomorrow,” he says, nodding his head to the side. I followed his direction, finding a sleeping bag on Josie’s table. “You stole my bed.”
“Oh,” I said, looking around the room.
“Josie was the only one who had somewhere for me to crash,” he said.
“Sorry…maybe a hotel?” I suggested.
He grinned, that damn dimple appearing again. “Why would I leave when things just got interesting?”
My brows shot up. “You aren’t sleeping in my bed!”
“Relax, Autumn. I’ll take the floor. The water at the house will be back on tomorrow,” he said. He unrolled his sleeping bag in the middle of the floor and my heart pounded in my chest.
“You have a house?” I asked, shocked. Of course, the college boy with the expensive car would have a house.
“Frat house,” he said. I let that idea roll around my head, thinking of every bad cliché I had heard about fraternities. He didn’t seem as bad as I’d originally thought. When he was satisfied with his sleeping bag, he lay on top of it, propped up on his elbow.
“Do you and Josie have a thing going on?” I asked curiously. It just slipped from my mouth without thought.
“No, I’m single…if that’s what you’re asking.” He winked at me, and my face scrunched up in disgust. He’d been sleeping in the same room as a girl and now he was hitting on me.
“Not interested,” I said as I turned off the light. I climbed into bed, pulling the covers up to my chin, staring straight ahead. I counted the water spots in the ceiling, putting my mind off the fact that there was a boy lying too close to me to be comfortable with.
“That’s what they all say at first, Autumn,” he said. His voice was as rich as silk.
“Do you have a name, creeper?” I asked, smiling through the darkness. I heard him chuckle.
“Liam…Liam Shafer.”
“Well goodnight, Liam,” I said, letting his name roll across my tongue. I liked the way it felt to say his name. Perfect name, perfect voice, perfect life, perfect face. Gross.
“Goodnight, Autumn,” he said.
I closed my eyes. Sleep usually came fast, but tonight was different. I thought about the boy next to me. It was eight o’clock and he was inside, on the floor, having a conversation with me instead of being with his friends. Maybe he was different. Maybe he was like me. I repelled people. When they did talk to me it was to insult me…or worse. I shook my head. That was my old life. Everything was different now. I’d made a friend.
Three
From the time I was five years old to twelve, there was a boy who lived across the park from us. He was my only friend. My brother Kaleb and I rode our secondhand bikes to his house every day. We went on adventures, we built forts, and we did whatever we could together to forget what was waiting for us when we got home. He called me ‘leaf’ because I had once explained my name to him while Kaleb was sick, and we spent the day alone. I still remember the day I pedaled my bike up to his house, only to find out he had been taken away by Child Protective Services. His family moved away shortly after. The new family that moved in yelled a lot, had a big, mean dog, and the cops were always at their house.
Liam reminded me of that boy. I chalked that up to the fact that he was the only boy who had ever been nice to me. I held the note in my hand, wondering if he was nice or a terrible person.
You snore. It kept me up half the night.
Liam
I laughed out loud again. He was now weird, rich boy. As promised, it was his last night here. The sleeping bag had vanished. All that was left was Josie and a heaping pile of blonde hair sticking out from under her covers.
It was seven o’clock,
