Liam: Do you want to go to a party with me this weekend?
“You look like you saw a ghost,” Gabby said.
Gabby invited me over after my shift today. She lived off-campus in a nice neighborhood. Her apartment was large and newly updated; she assured me it was paid for by a sum of money left by her grandparents, but her BMW was all on her dad. I was amazed by her. She was so quiet and humble, but she had everything a college girl could dream of.
“Oh, I just got a text about that party,” I said nonchalantly. Her brow furrowed as her eyes darted around behind her large rims. Her eyes were as dark as night, but warm and inviting.
“From whom? I swear you’ve been here one week, and you’re Miss Popularity,” she said, smiling.
“Liam. He’s probably trying to sucker me into tutoring him in another class…or write a paper for him.” I laughed once and stopped.
“That boy is oddly into you.”
“Gee, thanks,” I said, pretending not to be hurt by that.
She slapped my shoulder playfully, then sat on her oversized white sectional. She brought her knees to her chest. I took a place next to her.
“I mean…” She stared off into the distance. “He’s so hard to explain. It’s not you by any means. It’s him. He’s the odd one.”
“He was an athlete, he’s hot, I told him no. He’s shattered. That’s the whole story.”
“Oh my God, you just said he’s hot. You are so into him,” she said.
“I said he’s hot, Gabby. I have eyes. I also have a brain,” I said, rolling my eyes. She made a sound with her mouth, blowing me off. “Can we talk about anything other than Liam Shafer?” I groaned.
“One last thing?” she asked, eyeing me.
“Sure.”
“Give him a chance. He’s really not that bad…anymore,” she said, shrugging her shoulders.
“I’m literally quoting you right now: ‘He became a man whore after he got hurt’,” I said in my best Gabby impersonation. She smiled but smacked me with a sparkly throw pillow. It left glitter on me. My clothes looked like they survived an eight-year-old’s party.
“Don’t get me wrong, he was, but something changed. He doesn’t really drink anymore or spend his nights with different girls. He seems focused now…a little broken, too.”
“Aren’t we all,” I said. It was always the wrong thing to say to people; people always asked questions. Gabby’s face lit up although the expression stayed the same.
“Is that why you moved?”
I nodded. “Everyone hated me there anyway. I didn’t have any friends. I didn’t have anyone left,” I said.
“And your family?”
“Most of them are dead. The rest of them are shitty.”
“I’m so sorry, Autumn. I didn’t know,” she said, and she genuinely was.
“My brother and mom died in a wreck last year. My brother lost control and ran off a bridge. I’m not close to my dad. I don’t really talk about them.”
Even as I said it, I didn’t believe it. I saw the note. I saw the clues. It never occurred to me that it would ever actually happen. There are some things I would take to the grave. I would always keep his secret. I might never know why or how it happened that way. Gabby sensed my souring mood, and she perked up beside me.
“So, how’s rooming with Josie going? And your new job?” she asked, clearly happy about changing the conversation.
“Josie…hmm.” I had to think about that one. “I’ve decided that you have to accept people for who they are. Josie is who she is, and I must deal with her for a while, so I’m making the best of it. Her BFF gets on my damns nerves, though.”
Gabby scrunched her nose. “Is she still hanging out with Sara?”
“That’s the one,” I said, grumbling. Just thinking about her gave me a bad taste in my mouth.
“Be careful with them. They were awful in high school. I feel like Josie isn’t that bad, but Sara is Satan himself. She kind of drags Josie in her shit. The two of them together, though. They’ve ruined a few lives,” she said, clenching her teeth.
“Get this, I’m pretty sure Sara threatened me,” I said, thinking back to our last conversation about Liam.
“Wait, what?” she asked, eyes wide.
“Yeah, she questioned me about Liam. When I said I was just tutoring him she said good, because she wouldn’t want me getting hurt.”
“I don’t have a good feeling about this,” Gabby said. She grabbed a bottle of water from the table in front of us, taking a sip. She looked concerned, which did nothing for my anxiety. The last thing I needed was a couple of mean girls trying to take me down. I thought I’d left high school. Man, was I wrong?
“Why?” I asked nervously. I wanted to know everything. I needed to be prepared.
“They have this odd claim over the hot guys. It started in high school. They are the type that don’t want them, but don’t want anyone else to have them. They like guys to fawn over them. And now the unattainable one is fawning over you,” she said, pointedly
“He is not, Gabby!”
“I’m not the one you have to convince,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. She might have been on to something. I grabbed my phone and pulled up Liam’s number.
Me: Sorry, I have plans with Gabby
Liam: All weekend?
Me: yes
He was silent after that, but I dreaded going to class tomorrow. I knew he would bring it up. He did his dirty work in person when I was caught off guard. I was more of a keyboard warrior, and Liam Shafer was not.
“I wasn’t sure if you’d show.”
His voice was always the first thing that got your attention. It was confident,
