“He’s busy.”
“So? Interrupt him.”
“I can’t just talk to him out of nowhere.”
“Why not?”
“It would be weird.”
“Seriously, Liv.” She holds up a hand. “I can’t even.”
Maybe if Liam weren’t talking to Olivia Reynolds, I could go up to him. But I’m not wrong. It would be weird if I went up there now. I mean, he’s going to think I’msome total stalker or something.
I start to explain that to Madison, but she’s not listening anymore because Aidan has burst into the auditorium to find her. He’s still wearing his outfit from football practice, and he stinks of sweat. God, couldn’t he have taken a shower or something before coming here? The first thing he does is plant his lips on Madison’s and they kiss for like five minutes straight. It’s so gross. I try not to look. They probably wouldn’t even notice if I left right now.
“Hey, Aidan.” Madison separates from Aidan for a split second, probably because she needs to breathe. “Tell Olivia she should go talk to Liam.”
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 toyou. Anyway, you could do better, Olivia.”
“That’s whatIsaid,” 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 donotwant 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 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’msucha 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.”
