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Rosie
"Please, please, please pick up." I can hear ringing, and then, it goes to voice mail. No! What will I do now? I need help. If I don't get help getting ready for this date, I'm going to lose it and cancel. I should know that Riley is busy; she'll be training and have her phone in her locker at the gym. Who else can help me? I fleetingly think of Harper. Could I phone Harper? I did hang with her and Riley last weekend. She came shopping with us, and yes, she is very into makeup, clothes, selfies, Instagram, and Tik Tok, but isn't that exactly what I need right now? Advice on hair and clothes? I could ask her to help; she doesn’t need to know about my crush on Liam.
I dial her number, and she answers on the first ring.
"Rosie! How's it going? What are you up to?"
"I'm getting ready for Connor's party tonight. I'm kind of hoping that you might not be busy and can help me out."
She's silent for a moment. "You're going to Connor's party?"
"Yeah . . . Why?"
"No reason; I just didn't think it would be your kind of thing, but it’s great you're going. I'm going, too. We can go together . . . Wait, you wouldn't go on your own. Who are you going with?"
"Um . . . Maybe Liam?"
"Is that a question or an answer?"
I give a nervous laugh. "An answer, I guess."
"You-you're going to Connor's party with Liam?" she asks.
My heart sinks. Her reaction is what everyone's reaction will be. Why did I think that one high school would be any different from another? People are just mean. End of story.
"Yeah, I helped him with some work, so he said he would pay me back by taking me to Connor’s party. I’m hanging out with him just to see what the party scene is like; it's not like it’s a date or anything. I know Liam wouldn't go out with me."
"Why would he not?"
"Well, you know . . . How I look?"
"What are you talking about?"
I don't want to explain how I feel about my appearance. "Nothing . . . Never mind. But the thing is, Harper, I'm getting so close to cancelling. I am stressing about what to wear. I can go and buy something, but I don't have long. And, honestly . . . I'm terrified about going.”
"You live on Richmond Drive, right?"
I nod, even though she can't see me. "Yeah, number seven."
“My dad is in; I'll ask him to drop me at yours, and we can get the V-line into Manchester. We will get you kitted out."
I sag with relief. "Thank you so much, Harper. I owe you one."
"You're kidding, right? Shopping is, like, my favourite pass-time, and I get to be your personal shopper. I'm excited!"
"I'm glad one of us is," I say, laughing.
We hang up, and I go to get ready straight away.
*****
OKAY. I WILL not look out of the window again. I will not look out of the window again. It's ten to eight; he isn’t even due yet, for goodness sake. He is going to call at my house on the way to Connor's house. Connor, as it happens, only lives around the corner.
My heart sinks as my mum walks into the room. "You look lovely, sweetheart. I see all that healthy eating is paying off."
Shut up, Mum. It’s comments like that that make me feel the way I do about myself. She is obsessed about losing weight, about dieting . . . She thinks that I should be the same. She is projecting all her issues onto me as if I don’t have enough. The trouble is that the worse I feel about myself, about my weight, the more I seem to eat; it’s a vicious cycle. Having a crush on Liam is having a positive effect on my weight, though; my appetite has diminished a little since my stomach keeps flipping every time I see him.
He. Is. Coming. To. My. House.
I can't believe that in 10 minutes, he will be walking down my path.
Fear suddenly grips me. What if it was a joke? Surely, he wouldn't be that mean. What if it was some sort of bet? It wouldn't be the first time a guy has been cruel to me. Right. Rosie, pull yourself together. It's not like that. You're not there; you're here. They’re different people.
"Yeah. Thanks, Mum." I say it sarcastically, but she doesn’t even notice.
“Where did you get that top, love?" I can feel her eyes on me. I wish she’d just leave me alone.
I look down. I do love my new top; it's purple and fitted with puff sleeves. I've teamed it with some faded, fitted jeans that I already had. Today, Harper talked me into buying some boots from River Island that just totally set off the look. I'm so grateful for her today. What if I’d have turned up in a party dress or something? I shudder; it doesn't bear thinking about.
"It's from Top Shop."
She looks surprised. "Oh, do they do plus sizes there?"
It’s a wonder I actually have the confidence to leave the house. Believe it or not, she doesn’t mean to be insulting; she's just obsessed with body shape and size and doesn’t think anything about commenting on my size. She has no filter. It appears that she has forgotten what it is like to be a teenager or a human being even. She knows I'm going on a date, and she doesn’t think for one second that her comments could make me feel bad about myself at a time when it's important to feel nice.
"No, Mum. It's a size 14."
Her eyes widen. "Oh, right, love. Well, you look lovely."
Do you see what I have to live with?
I was severely bullied at school for three years, and this is the mother I had to come home to. If it weren't for my dad and brother, I would have gone insane. My brother, Russ, is in his last year of college, so I don't see much of him. But he was around when he could be, when I needed him the most. He doesn’t say much, but he's that kind of person, the kind that doesn’t need to. I knew I had him there with me every step of the way. I don’t think he’ll ever realise what he did for me when I was at my lowest.
I see Russ coming down the stairs; he must have caught what Mum said.
“Leave her alone, Mum." He rolls his eyes at me. He's always telling me to ignore her, that I'm fine just the way I am. Just doing his big brother duties, I suppose.
"What, Russell? I'm telling her she looks lovely."
Russ comes over, kisses me on the cheek, and mutters to me, "Yeah, in that unusual way of hers."
I give him a small smile.
"So, where are you off to tonight all dressed up?"
I'm just about to answer when there’s a knock at the door. My stomach flips, but before I can answer, Russ dives at the front door. Russ is tall and well built. He does a lot of Jujitsu, something that he started at an early age, and now he's a black belt. I can imagine he's quite intimidating to some. My dog, Sky, starts to bark. She’s a rescue German Shepherd that we swear must be crossed with a Great Dane or something equally as big, because she is enormous. I guess we will never know. She can be intimidating, too. It can be hard for new people to accept how timid she is. She is so friendly, but she looks scary on the outside. But my brother definitely looks scary on the outside.
I usher Sky into the kitchen.
"Hey, I'm here for Rosie." I hear Liam’s deep voice.
"Oh, are you?" Russ asks.
Russ will make him squirm on purpose, so I rush over and shoulder him out of the way.
I look at Liam. "Hey, sorry. Don't take any notice of my brother."
Russ shouts out, "Yeah, dude. Take notice. Take a lot of notice." He grins, walking away and gives me a wink.
I roll my eyes and turn back to Liam who’s looking at me, startled.
I give him a nervous smile. "Don't take any notice. I'm ready. I’ll just grab my jacket and bag. Do you want to come in?"
He shakes his head. "No; I think I’ll stay here."
I give a little laugh and grab my things. I can't help noticing how good he looks. He has on dark jeans, trainers, and a black jacket. He doesn’t even need to try, and he looks good. My mouth is dry. People are going to see us walking down the street in a minute and think that he's with me. I love that.
I close the door behind me and walk to him, standing at the bottom of the path. "Sorry about that. My brother was just trying to make you squirm. I never got a chance to tell him that this wasn't a date. He just presumed, and he likes to have his fun."
Liam shakes his head. "It’s no problem. Maybe fill him in when you get home, though, yeah?"
My heart sinks. I mean, I knew this wasn't a date, but it’s not nice hearing it confirmed. "I will."
Silence stretches between us as we walk. The night is so cold that our warm breath is visible against the cold air.
"You look . . . You look nice, Rosie."
I blush again; hopefully, he can’t see in the dark. "Thank you. I didn't know what to wear to a house party, so Harper helped me. She's coming tonight."
"Well, you're perfect . . . I mean . . . What you're wearing is perfect. Your hair is so long. I've only ever seen it tied up at school."
I shrug. "I'm a no-fuss kind of girl. Hair up, no make-up. I guess that’s when I'm at my most comfortable."
He nods as we approach Connor's house. "You should do what makes you happy; if you don't like makeup and getting dressed up, you didn't have to tonight."
"Oh, no. I needed my armour for tonight."
He raises his eyebrows. "Why? We going into battle?"
"If the high school parties I went to at my old school are anything to go by, then yes."
"You weren't happy at your old school?"
I shake my head. "No . . . I wasn't."
He looks at me but doesn't say anything as we get to the front door.
I’m unsure about what to do once we're in there. Liam knows everyone here, and all eyes are on me. They're wondering what I'm doing here, why I'm here with him.
I feel Liam's hand touch mine, and I look up at him. Those blue eyes, with the crinkles at the corners as he smiles at me, send heat rushing all through my body. "Come on. Let's go into the kitchen, and I’ll get you a drink." He’s noticed that everyone is looking at me and knew it must have been making me feel uncomfortable. Is it possible to fall in love with someone there and then on the spot? So relieved I've got something to do, I step forward. I feel his hand in the small of my back, guiding me through the people milling around. The heat of his hand burns through my top as though it’s on my bare skin. His proprietary touch is making me feel looked after. I need to keep a clear head. This is not a date. I'm just going to revel in the fact that I'm here with him, even if I'm not with him with him. I'm going to try and enjoy it. He's being so nice to me. He’s the most popular guy at school, and he's giving me attention. That attention may be purely platonic on his part, but I'm still happy to take it.
We get through to the kitchen, and Harper is there with some of her friends. "Rosie, you made it! Wow, you look gorgeous! I knew that top was a must."
I smile at her. "Hi! Thanks again for the shopping trip; you’re a lifesaver."
She waves her hand dismissively. "No worries. We had fun. I had a great day." She looks over at Liam. "Doesn't she look gorgeous?"
Right. Harper, going to have to kill you now.
He glances at me. "She does . . . Yeah. Listen, I'm gonna chat with the guys on the team. Will you be okay with Harper, or do you wanna come with me?"
I shake my head and smile at him. "No, I’ll be fine."
"Cool." He leans in to say in my ear, "Come and find me if you get bored." The heat of his breath brushes my ear, such an intimate move, and he smells so good.
Harper's eyes widen as he walks away. "Wow, what was that?"
"Behave. It wasn't anything." I dismiss the action even though my heart is racing.
"Hmmm, I'm not too sure about that. Come on. I’ll introduce you to my friends."
Two hours later, I've relaxed a ton. I feel a whole lot better about being here. Harper and her friends are lovely. Yeah, sure; they talk about superficial stuff. I mean, who knew you could speak for an hour about contouring? I'm not even sure what contouring is, but they're nice to me. People are being nice to me at a party. So, I'm on cloud nine.
Liam has been over once or twice, and I've caught him watching me a couple of times to make sure that I'm okay. He just wanted me to experience what a party was like. This has proved it; he hasn’t been with me much at all. He didn't want my company, just wanted to do something nice for me, and that's okay. I like knowing that he has this lovely side to him, considering we hear so much about his bad side all the time at school.
It's getting near to 10:30. I need to be home by 11. I can't see Liam anywhere. I tell the girls I'm going to look for him so that I can leave. I walk through to the kitchen to see if he's there. A few people are milling around outside. Maybe he's out there? I step out into the cold air, shivering. I need to get my jacket before I leave; it's freezing.
I see Liam with his back to me from where I am and make my way towards him. My eye catches some movement at his waist, a hand . . . A female hand. Liam bends his head, and another hand snakes around his neck. Oh . . . Okay . . . So, he brought me to a party, and now, he's kissing another girl.
Now, yeah, I know I've been saying all night that it's not a date, that he doesn't see me like that, blah, blah, blah. Still, I think that, deep down, I wanted it to be one of those fairy tale nights, one that you read about in a romantic novel, that he was going to walk me home, tell me that he liked me, and kiss me. Then, it would all be happily ever after. But this is my life. This is not a romantic fairy tale, and the guy I came with is kissing someone else. The thing is that I have no claim to him whatsoever because that's not what this was supposed to be, so I can't even be upset about it. I inwardly groan when I realize I'm going to have to tell Riley that he copped off. She thought I’d be a buffer to other girls tonight, but she was wrong.
What am I supposed to do now? Mum and Dad would kill me if I walked home on my own. Maybe Russ will still be home. Its 10:30, though. He's probably at the pub with his friends. I’m going to have to ask Dad if he can walk around for me. Not mortifying at all!
I go to step back inside when I barge into someone's chest. "Whoa, you're in a rush. Where are you off to?"
I look up. A tall guy with dark hair is looking down at me, grinning. He’s wearing a baseball cap. "I'm sorry . . . I-I didn't see you."
“Don’t you worry about that, sweetheart. You can crash into me any time you like.” He has a wide grin; he's good-looking but knows it. I think I may have seen him around school but never spoken to him. He carries on. “Where are you going in such a hurry? Come and get a drink with me.”
I shake my head. “I can't. Thank you, but I have to go.”
“Go? No! You can’t go. Come on. It’s Saturday night, and it's, like, eight pm. I’m Tim, by the way, and who would you be?”
“Rosie . . . And, nice to meet you, but it’s10:30. I have a curfew.”
He frowns. “Well, you're just going to have to give me your number so that I can take you for a drink some other time. What school do you go to? You can’t go to Arrowsmith; I would have seen you.”
I smile at him. “I do actually, but I'm quite new.”
“Wow. You’d think I would have noticed you walking down the halls.”
I think there is a strong possibility that this guy has been drinking. I'm not the kind of girl that guys notice when walking down the halls.
“I-I really . . .” I'm interrupted when I feel a hand at my back. I spin around. It’s Liam. What happened to Kissing Girl?
"Hey, what's up?" he asks.
"Nothing. I just accidentally bumped into Tim here and was saying sorry. It’s time for me to go, so I was coming to tell you that I was leaving. But you were busy."
He looks down at his feet, embarrassed.
A girl steps out from behind him, blonde, petite, and pretty—the opposite of me. "Yeah, he was busy until he saw you and Tim here causing a commotion."
"Chelsea, pipe down," Liam says and then turns back to me. "I’ll walk you home."
That's all I need, him and his bitchy girlfriend walking me home.
"No, it's fine. I'm leaving now; you stay."
"I brought you here, and I'm taking you home. I can come back to the party if I want to. You only live five minutes away."
I try and think of a way to get me out of this awkward situation.
"I'm not taking no for an answer. Tim, entertain Chelsea here for me while I walk Rosie home."
Tim frowns at Liam. “Hey, you trying to cramp my style or what? How many girls do you need to have? One isn’t enough? Rosie and I were just getting to know each other, weren’t we, sweetheart?” Tim winks at me, and I've got to admit that I kind of like it. I like that he's blatantly flirting with me in front of Liam, too. Maybe it will make him realise that while he doesn’t see me in that way, that other guys might. Although even I'm still trying to get my head around that one.
Liam looks probably the most serious I've ever seen him. “I brought Rosie, Tim, so it's my responsibility to get her home safely. If you want to talk to her, you'll have to find her at school. She’s in year 11 by the way.”
Tim’s eyes widen. “Thought she’d be sixth form. Damn, girl. You look older than you are.” He shakes his head.
Liam turns to me. “You ready?”
I nod and then turn to Tim and smile. “Nice to meet you.”
Tim’s face softens; he is attractive. “Well, aren’t you the sweetest thing?” He leans in to kiss my cheek, just a peck. “I will definitely find you at school.”
I feel Liam stiffen at the side of me, and he's giving off a vibe that makes me think Tim is making him mad. Maybe there's a history between them, but Tim hasn’t done anything wrong. Liam was just making out with this Chelsea girl in front of me. It's not as if he has any claims on me.
“Come on, Rosie. Tim, look after Chelsea for me,” Liam spits out.
Tim nods and winks at Chelsea as though all is right in the world. He isn’t picking up on Liam’s vibe at all. "It would be my pleasure."
"Ew, don't be so creepy," Chelsea spits then turns the charm on, her face taking on a whole new expression when she looks at Liam, practically batting her eyelashes. "Don't be too long, babe."
"’Kay," Liam says and ushers me through the door. "Come on. We need to get your jacket."
We step outside to make the short journey back to my house. It feels a lot more awkward than on the way to the party if that’s possible.
I feel the need to say something. "Thanks for seeing me home; you didn't have to."
"It's fine. I could do with a breather anyway."
Okay. A breather from kissing horrible but pretty girls. Life is hard.
I can't resist; I have to mention it. "You seemed to be having fun."
He looks at me quickly. "What . . . Chelsea? No, I can’t seem to get away from her at these parties. Lately, she’s everywhere I turn up. Sometimes, it's just easier to go along with what she wants."
"And, it helps that she's gorgeous, of course," I answer.
"You think? I prefer brunettes," he says quietly.
Thank you, God, for giving me brown hair.
"Oh, right. I'm sorry I interrupted you, anyway. I was just going to head home on my own."
"I’d have been upset if you'd done that. Anyway, it looked like Tim was keeping you company.”
“What? No, I’d just bumped into him when I was looking for you.”
“Watch him; he has a different girl every week.”
I laugh. “Sounds like someone else I know.”
He frowns. “I'm not as bad as him, I promise you.”
“Well . . . I'm sure I'm safe. Can't see me being his next victim.”
We lapse back into silence until we arrive at my house. We both come to a standstill. I shiver a little, and he notices. He steps forward and runs his hands up and down my arms. "You're cold. You'd better get inside."
I smile at him, and his eyes go to my mouth. "You have a gorgeous smile. Shame we don't see it much."
"Thanks. I'm working on it." He thinks I have a gorgeous smile!
"What did you think of an Arrowsmith High party, then? Have you had a good time? I checked on you a couple of times, and you seemed fine, seemed to be having fun. I didn’t want to crowd you while you were relaxed and enjoying yourself.”
A warm feeling floods me. He knew I was okay and had left me to enjoy myself.
"You know, it wasn’t so bad . . . I'm happy you asked me to go. I think I'll always dread these things, but you showed me that they can still be fun and that some people are nice."
He frowns. "Someone was mean to you in the past, I take it?"
I nod. "Yeah . . . My last school . . . It wasn't great."
"Well, I'm glad I've shown you the other side tonight."
"I owe you . . . Thank you. I had fun. If you ever need any more help with maths, let me know."
His eyes widen as though he's just thought of something. "Actually, can I talk to you about something at school on Monday?"
"Sure . . . Want to talk to me now?" I want to know what it is.
He shakes his head. "No. It's freezing out here. It'll wait. Not on the bus, though. Everyone will be listening; I'll see you at break, maybe at our table in the library?"
Okay. So, we've only been at that table once before, but I love it that he called it our table. It might be freezing outside, but the warm glow all over me is certainly shutting the cold out.
"Yeah, I'll meet you there at first break."
We're both quiet for a minute. Then, I step back, "Thanks again, Liam, and good night. Enjoy the rest of the party."
"Oh, I'm going home now. I never wanted to go back. I'm gonna text Chelsea now to tell her I've gone home. Like I say, she's hard to get away from."
I feel a silly burst of happiness that he's not going back to the party, to her.
"Okay. Well, night then."
I walk inside the house and close the door. I lean my back against it, happy how tonight went, even if his lips have been on someone else. Excitement overtakes me that I have another meeting planned with him. What could he want to see me about? I go to bed with a thousand possibilities whirring around my mind.
