But Liam doesn’t look the slightest bit intimidated. He looks Tyler right in the eyes. “I didn’t trip you. You’re just clumsy.”
Tyler snorts. “What—are you trying to show off in front of your girl? Not that you need to do much to impress her.”
My cheeks burn. The last thing I want is Tyler talking smack about me in front of Liam. But Tyler’s words hit home. What he said seems to upset Liam more than anything so far. “Mind your own business,” Liam says in a low voice.
Tyler takes a menacing step towards Liam. Their confrontation has got the whole restaurant watching—everyone is probably hoping there will be a fight. Everybody but me. I just want Tyler to leave us alone. “Does your girlfriend know you’re a psychopath?”
Liam rolls his eyes. “Is that all you’ve got to say?”
“It’s true.”
“Yeah?” Liam lifts an eyebrow. “Well, if I am a psychopath, maybe you should be careful. Because I know pretty much everything there is to know about your family. I know where your mom goes to yoga class. I know your dad parks his car outside the garage at night. And I know what window is your sister’s bedroom.”
Tyler’s eyes widen.
“Also,” Liam adds, “you’ve got a new cat, don’t you?”
All the color drains out of Tyler’s face. I’ve never seen anyone look so freaked out. I’m not even sure why. What is Liam talking about? Why is he talking about Tyler’s cat? This makes no sense.
But apparently, what Liam said did the trick. Tyler takes a step back, his brow furrowed.
“It wouldn’t even be a challenge to kick your ass,” he mutters. He moves past Liam to get back to his seat, but I notice this time he makes an effort to avoid touching him.
Liam drops back into the seat next to mine. There’s a satisfied look on his face. A secret smile plays on his lips.
“I think you just scared the shit out of Tyler,” I comment.
Liam shrugs. “Yeah, well. He’s a jerk.”
“Didn’t you guys used to be friends?”
“No. Not really.”
But that’s a lie. Everyone knows that Tyler and Liam used to be tight. Still, he doesn’t seem to want to talk about it anymore, and that’s fine with me. I didn’t come here to talk about Tyler Martinson. I came here to spend time with Liam.
The waitress brings two straws for our milkshake. I wish we only had one straw, so Liam and I could have shared. But two straws is nice too. I try to time it so that I am taking a sip at the same time he is so our faces are inches apart.
“I love the milkshakes here,” Liam says.
His leg is pressed against mine and so is his upper arm. If we weren’t surrounded by other kids from track team, I wonder if he’d try for a kiss. The thought of it makes my heart nearly beat out of my chest.
But before I can get too excited, my phone starts ringing in my pocket. I recognize the ringtone. It’s my mother.
Great.
“Hang on.” I reach into my pocket and pull out my phone, which was a present for my birthday last year. But my mom put all these restrictions on it, so I can’t play too many games or watch YouTube. Oh, and there’s GPS tracking. So that she can know where I am at every single moment of the day. Seriously, why doesn’t she just put a microchip in my head? “Hi, Mom.”
“Olivia,” Mom says. “Are you still at that diner? It’s getting late.”
Sheesh, she knows I’m still at the diner. She’s got that GPS thing on my phone.
“It’s not that late.” I look down at my watch and then out the window. “It’s not even dark yet.”
“How are you planning to get home?”
“Um.” I glance at Liam, who has his eyebrows raised. “I’ll just walk.”
He’ll walk me home. I’m sure of it.
“Walk!” Mom says it like I suggested zip lining home. “Out of the question! I’ll drive over and pick you up.”
“Mom!” I try not to sound too whiny, but I really don’t want her to pick me up. Not now. Not when things are going so well. “It’s still really early. Can’t I stay? Please?”
“Don’t you have homework to do?”
“I did it at school.” （That’s a lie. There was no way I could concentrate on my homework when I knew Liam and I were about to have our first almost-date.）
Mom is quiet for a moment, thinking it over. I keep my fingers and my toes crossed that she says I can stay.