One Chance (7 page)

“Yeah, that’s why I’m under blankets,” I say holding the blankets up for him to see.

“You’ve been out here a really long time, you should probably come in.”

“I’m good, but thanks,” I say before turning to look back up into the sky.

“What is it with you and the damn stars anyway?” he asks as he lies down on the blanket and covers up, looking up in the sky.

“I like the stars.”

“We need to talk
Hails,” he says in a serious tone.

“Then talk,” I say as I continue to stare into the sky.

“Why did you not want me to know you were going to Michigan?”

“I already told you why.”

“No, I don’t buy that.”

“I’m not selling you anything.  Liam
, you have been a jerk to me for years, you were nice for a little while when Brody and Kenzie started dating, but then you went back to being a jerk.  Why would I want you to know?  I don’t need you to be mean.  I wanted a fresh start.”

“What’s that mean?”
he asks looking frustrated.

“What’s what mean?”
I say playing dumb.

“A fresh start?”

I can feel his eyes on me, but I will myself to keep staring into the sky. “It’s the reason I didn’t go to school with Kenzie and Brody, I don’t want to be her shadow.  I want to do what I want, be friends with whom I want, act how I want, dress how I want without any ignorant comments.  I want to be me for once,” I say feeling relieved.

“You should always be who you want
Hails.”

“Yeah
, because it’s always been so easy when your sister is Kenzie.  She always had to be the center of attention, the spotlight of everything.  Heaven forbid I do something that was better than her,” I say frustrated because that’s how it is when Kenzie’s in the room.

“But you did all the
time.  Your grades were better and your friends were nicer,” he says sincerely.

“But who cares about that
, if you aren’t the popular kids.”

“You were popular though.”

“Because I was Kenzie’s shadow, so I was there because she wanted me there.  Don’t get me wrong, Kenzie and I had our differences, but nothing stopped until I put an end to it, which was the same day I told her I wasn’t going to college with her.”

“You put a stop to what?”
he asks looking confused.

“Her snide
comments.  Her always telling me she was better than me, prettier than me, more outgoing, you name it, she did it, until one day I called her out on it.”

“How’d that make you feel?”

“Honestly, it made me feel good.  Like for once I’m showing who I am,” I say proudly.

“And who are you Haley Lawrence?”
he asks with a sexy smirk.

“I’m a great friend, a trustworthy person, a girl everyone should wish they could get to know, because I’m that awesome of a person,” I say, sounding a little cocky
, causing Liam to laugh a full out belly laugh. “Save it, I don’t need to hear any nasty comments from you,” I say as I start to sit up.

“Stop,” he says quickly, “I’m not laughing at you Haley.  I think what you said was great and you have every right to feel the
way you do.  I am sorry I was mean to you, you didn’t deserve it.”

“You’re damn right I didn’t,” I say harshly, causing Liam to laugh again.

“Damn, you went to college to become a sassy little shit,” he says still laughing.

“No I didn’t.  I’m just not dealing with the shit that I’ve dealt with before.”

“Good for you Haley, good for you,” he says looking at me then turns to look at the stars.  “How have I not run into you?” he asks out of nowhere.

“Luck I guess.”

“No, it’s not luck.  I just don’t get it, where do you usually hang out?”

“The sorority house or we go to the parties either at a few frat houses or other sorority houses.”

“So you don’t go to other parties that are off campus or anywhere?” he asks as he pierces me with those beautiful blue eyes.

“No, we just make
our rounds at the local houses,” I say, staring back at him.

“Have you seen me at a party
and bailed because I was there?

“Honestly, no I haven’t.  I haven’t seen you at any parties,” I say lying through my teeth.  I’ve seen him at one party.

“Huh,” he states before looking back up at the stars.

“What?”

“That’s crazy.”

“Do you hang out at the sorority house much?”
I ask, because I never see him there.

“The one you’re in?”

“Yeah?”

“So
metimes, not very often though,” he admits.

“Why is that?”

“Why’s what?  Why I’m not at Meg’s house often?”

“Yeah.  I mean you guys seem pretty serious if you’re
going to live together.  You would think that you would want to spend lots of time together,” I say, hoping he gives me some type of answers.

“She usually comes over to
my house.”

“Really?” I ask surprised.

“Why?” he says sounding slightly annoyed.

“Cause every
time I go over to the sorority house she’s there.”

“Yeah
, she doesn’t come over too often,” he states.

“But then
, when do you guys see each other?” I ask feeling confused.

“Here and there,
” he says as he pierces me with his sexy blue eyes again.

“Seriously?” I ask shocked.

“We’re both busy,” he says sounding slightly agitated.

“Y
ou with football and her with sorority stuff?”

“Yeah.”

“Sure, I hear you,” I say ignorantly.

“You hear w
hat?  Say what you gotta say, Hails.”

“Nothing, you two do what you
want; it’s your lives, no one else’s.”

“You’re right it is, so just drop it,” he snaps back.  I decide not to say anything else and just stare at the sky, watching the stars.  I can feel my eyes start to get heavy, but I’m not ready to go inside yet.

A little while later, or a few minutes, I have no idea, I hear Liam, “Haley, let’s go inside, you’re falling asleep.”

I snuggle into his side, “No, just a few more minutes please?” I ask before falling back to sleep.

I wake up a little because I’m lifted into the air, “What’s going on?” I ask through sleepy eyes.

“We fell asleep outside, it
s freezing and I’m bringing us inside,” Liam says kindly.

“Okay,” I say before falling asleep in his arms.  He lays me down on the spare bed that’s in the game room, “Can you stay for a few minutes, please?” I ask as I settle myself under the blankets.

“Yeah, what’s up?” he asks.

“
Nothing just lay with me,” I ask finding courage to ask things I would never ask.  He looks at me with a weird look, but complies, lying beside me on the bed.  It doesn’t take long for me to fall back into a peaceful slumber.

I’m not sure what time I wake up, but it’s still dark out and I see Liam passed out beside me, with his arms holding me tight against his chest.  I could get used to this.

When I wake up a few hours later, it’s now morning and Liam is no longer beside me.  I hop up, fold the blankets, and put them away, along with the coats, before walking out the bottom door and heading home.  No sense in making things weird or awkward for myself.  I head inside and decide to grab a shower before making myself breakfast.

After my shower
, I throw on yoga pants and a hooded sweatshirt, throwing my hair up into a ponytail before heading downstairs to grab something to eat.  I decide on egg whites.  I make myself a sandwich before seeing Kenzie walk in the door looking pissed.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s too damn early to be up,” she says as she flops into the chair across from me.

“Then why are you up?” I ask confused.

“Because apparently Liam did something wrong and Meg was bitching at him,” she says looking annoyed.

“Did something wrong?”

“I don’t know, something about him falling asleep in the game room and her waking up and him not there, some shit like that.  It was enough for me to wake up, get my shit and walk across the street.”

“Oh that’s weird, well hopefully everything will be great in the world again soon,” I say as I take a bite of my sandwich.

“Who knows, she leaves today anyway, so at least there’s that.”

“Leaves today?” I ask confused again.

“She only came for a few days to visit the Masters and hang out with Liam.  She’s heading home today.”

“Well
, won’t he go with her?”

“I guess not.  He look
ed relieved to know she’s leaving today.  I guess that’s why she was really pissed that he fell asleep downstairs last night.”

“That makes sense.”

“Wait, when was Liam downstairs?  He wasn’t there when we went to bed,” she asks me with a curious look.

“Oh
, he came down a little while after you guys went to bed. I guess I was outside longer than I realized.”

“So what happened?” she asks being her nosey self.

“We watched the stars and I fell asleep.”

“You feel asleep?  How do you fall asleep with Liam beside you?”

“I was tired, it was late.”

“Then what?  I feel like you’re not telling me something,” she says with a look.

“Nothing, he woke me up, we came inside, I fell asleep, and he laid on the bed and went to sleep. I got up this morning and headed home,” I say leaving out the fact that he laid beside me on the bed. She doesn’t need to know that.

“You should have tried to make a move,” she says out of nowhere.

“Says the girl who told me I would never get him, she would get him first,” I say with a snarky look.

“
You know he would be hot as hell in bed,” she says with stars in her eyes.

“Would you stop,” I say as I smack her arm.

“I’m serious.  We’ve had crushes on him since forever.  Don’t tell me you don’t think he’s hot anymore.”

“Oh no
, he’s definitely hot.”

“Then what is it?  How he treated you?”

“Yeah, I mean things are better now.  I just hope they stay that way.”

“So make a move,” she says urging me on.

“Absolutely not, he’s committed to the President of my sorority.  That’s wrong on so many levels.

“Please, do they look in love to you?”

“I don’t know, yesterday was the first day I saw them together.”

“Don’t get me wrong I like Meg, she seems nice, but she also seems very clingy,” Kenzie says looking anything but impressed.

“I don’t see her date, so I honestly have no idea how she is.”

“Yeah
, I don’t get that.  They’ve been together for two years yet you didn’t know that, I think that’s weird all in itself.”

“I mean
, I don’t always hang out at the sorority house. I do my own thing usually with Quinn, so it could just be bad timing.”

“Sure.”

“What?”

“You never see Liam at college, that’s not just bad timing.  That’s either you avoiding him or him avoiding you.”

“Well I was avoiding him, I told you that.  But I didn’t really go out of my way to do it.  The campus is a pretty big place; it’s not hard not to see someone.”

“True, you have a good point there.”

“Even now that he knows I go to school there, I still doubt I’ll see him.”

“Oh
, I disagree on that,” she says with a sneaky look.

“What?”

“How long have you been in love with Liam?”

“WHAT?” I shriek.

“You heard me.”

“I’m not,” I retort.

“The hell you aren’t.  You wouldn’t have run out of the room like you did, when you found out he was planning to live with Meg.”

“I didn’t run out of the room.  I just needed to use the
bathroom.”

“And he just had to go and
make a call at the same time you had to use the restroom,” she says with an “
I’m not buying it look.”

“
I don’t know, maybe,” I say flustered.

“Are you two in a relationship?”

“Oh my gosh Kenzie, no.  Where are you getting this from?”

“It makes sense.”

“What makes sense?” I ask confused as hell.

“You and Liam,” she says matter of fact.

“Kenz, there’s nothing going on between me and Liam.”

“Then explain why he came rushing out after you last night?”

“He didn’t. You even said it yourself, he needed to make a call.”