Suddenly, a flash of gold was beside them. Liam stiffened as Sera pulled away. "I need to talk to you," Michelle said to Sera.
"I don't want to talk to you," Sera replied.
"Go away, Michelle," Liam informed her coldly.
"No, I think your girlfriend needs to know the truth." She spoke softly to not draw any attention to herself. She tossed back her thick red hair and smiled coldly at Sera. "Look, you need to know why I was so upset about the two of you."
"Michelle—" A tendril of unease squirmed through him.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Sera frowned in confusion; her face reflected her innocence.
"Let's go," Liam said, grabbing her arm. He had to get her out of there before Michelle could say anything else.
"Wait!" Michelle cried. "I think you owe it to me to listen. For old time's sake Sera, please."
"I don't owe you anything," Sera replied coldly.
Michelle pitifully hung her head. "You're right; you don't owe me anything. I'm sorry to tell you this—"
"That's enough," Liam interrupted brusquely.
"But Liam and I slept together at the beginning of the school year. That's why I've been so upset. He just stopped speaking to me. He started completely ignoring me, for you."
Sera's eyes went back and forth between them. Her breath was frozen in her lungs as her heart began to hammer. Liam glared hatefully at Michelle.
"Is that true?" Sera demanded.
Liam knew he could lie, that she would believe him, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. She had bared her soul to him in complete trust; he couldn't betray her trust any more than he already had. "Yes," he grated through his teeth.
Sorrow burst through her eyes as her jaw clenched. She ripped her arm away from him and cast Michelle a scathing look before she turned and walked away. "I'm sorry!" Michelle called after her, a huge grin on her face.
"You bitch!" Liam hissed. "You goddamn bitch!"
Michelle turned to him, a sly smile on her face. "It's about time she knew. Were you ever planning on telling her? Because someone had to. I was just being a friend."
Liam stepped closer to her, forcing her to tilt her head back to look at him. "I will get you for this. Do you understand me?"
Alarm flickered through her eyes, but she covered it with a haughty expression. "No, Liam, I think I got you."
As much as he wanted to make her pay for what she had just done, he wanted to get to Sera more. He turned and hurried after Sera but was effectively cut off by Danielle and Kathleen. "What happened?" Kathleen demanded, her cute face scrunched and her hands planted firmly on her hips.
"Where did she go?" he demanded.
Kathleen tilted her chin defiantly. "I don't know. What did Michelle say to her?"
"Where did she go, Danielle?"
Danielle lifted her head and angrily met his eyes. "You should have told her," she whispered, cutting deeper into his heart.
"Told her what? What did you do?" Kathleen insisted. Then, her mouth dropped open, and her eyes flew back to Michelle. "You bastard! How could you? And with her? You cheated on her!"
It took all he had not to shake the girl. He didn't need this now. "I did not cheat on her," he growled. "Now, where is she?"
Kathleen glowered at him, her arms folded over her chest, and her mouth compressed in a severe line. "What's going on?" Mike asked as he appeared beside Kathleen.
"Your friend's a lying bastard!" Kathleen snapped.
Mike's mouth dropped as he looked at Liam. Liam was fighting every impulse he had to grab hold of Kathleen and shake the answer out of her. Instead, he fisted his hands and took a deep breath to control the growing fury inside of him.
"Where is she?" Liam ground out.
"Who?" Mike asked.
"Sera."
"She just went out the door."
"Thank you."
Kathleen moved to block him. "Leave her alone!"
Liam glared at her, but she refused to back down. "Kathleen, get out of my way."
"No, you've upset her enough, now leave her be."
"What is going on?" Mike demanded.
"He," Kathleen said, thrusting an outraged finger at Liam, "slept with Michelle."
Mike winced as he cast Liam an apologetic glance. "How'd she find out?" he asked.
"You knew?" Kathleen cried, whirling on him.
Liam moved swiftly past her while she was distracted. He hurried through the mess of labyrinths built for the haunted house, becoming increasingly agitated with every step he took. He would like nothing more than to rip Michelle's throat out. But he was angrier at himself than he was with her. He should have told Sera. He never should have let her find out like this, but his concern over losing her kept him from telling her.
He made his way to the first floor and stopped. Sera hadn't gone outside. The eerie music that played when the door opened hadn't gone off. He froze to listen, but he heard no footsteps or sounds of movement. He headed back up the stairs, knowing if she had made her way down, she would have left. He went a different way through the maze, and back up to the second floor. He rounded a corner, stepping into one of the scenes set up between two bedrooms.
All that was left was a large table and two dining room chairs. Sera was sitting in one of the chairs, her head resting in her hands. "Sera—"
"Go away, please."
"Sera—"
She dropped her hands to look at him, her eyes were wet with tears, but her jaw was set. "Go away, Liam, now."
"I have to talk to you."
"No. You could have talked to me before, and you didn't. Now, I don't want to speak to you."
"Sera just let me explain."
"You've had your chance to explain," she replied icily. "You chose not to. You opted to have me think one of my best friends suddenly hated me for no reason. You could have told me. You made your choice, now I've made mine. Go away."
Liam made his way cautiously into
