My face burns. I’m not surprised Madison told her boyfriend that I liked Liam, but I still hate that she did it. Can’t Madison and I have any secrets anymore? Plus Aidan is like the worst person to know. He has a big mouth and he’ll tell everyone.
“Liam Cass?” Aidan makes a face. “I hate that guy. He’s such an asshole.”
“Why is he an asshole?” I say. “He’s really nice.”
Aidan snorts. “Yeah. Nice to you. Anyway, you could do better, Olivia.”
“That’s what I said,” Madison chips in.
“Whatever,” I mumble.
“Anyway.” Madison grabs her backpack off her seat. “Aidan and I are heading out. Want a ride home?”
I absolutely do not want to sit in the backseat while Aidan drives erratically because he has to make out with Madison and touch her legs while they’re driving. I’d rather walk the two miles home.
Aidan and Madison take off through the back exit while I sit back down in my seat. I really must be a stalker, because I’m still looking at Liam. He looks so good dressed up. Part of me wants to snap a picture with my phone so I can look at it later. I’m totally staring. It’s awful. But I can’t stop. This is why I’m failing math.
Liam goes up to talk to the debate teacher, Mrs. Randall, and then he talks to an attractive woman in her forties that has the same dark hair and eyes that he has and also a similar nose. I think it’s his mother. He looks a lot like her. He seems to be really polite to her, which is good. I read online that it’s a really good thing when boys are nice to their mothers. I don’t know what Madison was talking about. How could she say she doesn’t trust him?
It isn’t until most of the people in the auditorium have a filtered out that Liam looks into the audience and our eyes meet. He gets that smile on his face again, and I feel this warm tingle in my whole body. I’m sure Liam doesn’t give slobbery kisses like Aidan. I bet he kisses really well.
Oh my God, he’s coming over to me.
I stumble to my feet, trying to temper the dopey smile on my lips. How do normal people smile? It’s like I forgot how. God, he’s going to think I’m such a loser.
“Hey, Olivia,” he says.
“Hey,” I say.
That sounded good. Casual. My voice didn’t squeak and I didn’t spit when I talked. Score.
Liam rubs at the back of his neck. When he was up there on that stage, he looked so confident. I’m terrified of public speaking, but he didn’t look even the slightest bit nervous. But now he keeps rubbing his neck and shuffling his feet. “So, um, you saw it?”
“Uh huh.” I squeeze my fists together. They seem abnormally clammy, like I’ve got a fever. “You did a really good job. I mean, I think so. I’ve never seen a debate before.”
“Thanks.” He coughs and smiles. “It went really well. We won.”
“I know.”
“Oh.”
And now we’re both just standing there. I wrack my brain, trying to think of something interesting to say before he walks away. “Did you get to your math homework yet?”
That’ll do.
He shakes his head. “No. I’ve been busy with the debate since school ended.”
“Oh. Right.” Duh. Obviously. God, why do I sound like such a moron? “Well, I did it, and it wasn’t too bad.”
Actually, that’s a total lie. There was no way I could focus on math homework when I knew I’d be seeing Liam shortly.
“Okay, good.” He coughs again. “Hey, listen, Olivia, me and some guys from track are going to Charlie’s tomorrow after school, just to hang out and get some food. Would you… I mean, do you want to come with us?”
I stare at him. Is he asking me out? “I…”
The smile on his face falters. “It’s no big deal. Either way.”
“No, I mean… yes. I would like to come. That would be great. It sounds like… fun. You know.”
His brown eyes light up. “Yeah, it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
“Yeah.” My mouth feels almost too dry to speak.
“So… do you want to meet in front of the school at four-thirty? It’s after practice, and we need time to, you know, shower and stuff.”
I nod. “Okay. I’ll be there.”
Okay, maybe it isn’t an official date. But I really think Liam might like me. I mean, he seemed really happy when I said yes. And he wants to shower beforehand so he smells good. So, these are all a good signs.