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Hey all! I hope you enjoy chapter one of the new and improved Chasing Liam! HAHA! I was also able to find a younger looking picture of Josh Hutcherson who is Liam Parker so here you go. This is somewhat what he would look like now at the age of fifteen.

Also this story is dedicated to a fellow writer, MissCris. Back in high school MissCris was having a one-shot contest here on Wattpad. I wrote a one-shot based on the song Fifteen by Taylor Swift. Basically that is how Chasing Liam was formed. I knew there wasa story in there and eventually I wrote the first version of it. This story will forever be one of my favorite because it was one of my first ones. I have loved rewriting this story and I'm glad I did it. I hope you all enjoy it!

~*~*~

Chapter One

"Can you believe it? We're finally in high school!" Fifteen year old, Liam Parker, yelled excitedly at his best friend, Liz.

"Calm down, Liam," Liz jokingly warned him. "Why are you so excited for high school? This means finals, drama, and of course, bullies." She glanced around and added, "Especially for you."

Now the thing about Liz is that she was the most unique person he had the honor of ever meeting. So her birth name is Elizabeth Naoma Kathleen McGuire, but to stop the confusion of having so many names, she just goes by Liz. She is his best friend, and she has been since elementary school. Ever since the day they met she has done nothing but protect him from others. She is ultimately the best friend any person could ever ask for.

Today Liz's curly, strawberry blonde hair was hanging loosely around her shoulders and her athletic face flashed him a smirk. Her blue eyes showed laughter and she let out a light giggle.

"Liz everyone in our class knows that I'm gay," he reminded her.

"Yes, but not the sophomores, juniors, and seniors," Liz reminded her friend. "They could easily beat you up!"

Liam shrugged. First of all, he already knew this. His parents practically drilled it into his brain last night. Second of all, he honestly didn't care. If someone had a problem with him because of who he happened to get a crush on then that was their problem. Not his.

"All I want to do is find a hot boyfriend," he half-joked with her.

"Alright, just do me a favor and seriously try your absolute hardest not to lose your virginity to the first guy you meet. Please, I just really don't want to see you get hurt," Liz asked in a serious tone. Liam honestly appreciated her concern. He did. The only problem is that when he's in the moment – doing anything – his brain usually forgets about everything else going on.

The first day of classes was always boring. They saw their other in school friends, who they never talk to outside of school, but always partner up with if there is an in-class assignment. They met the new teachers, and found the new classrooms. Also, in every single class of the day, they both received the class syllabus. Also they discussed the rules of the school as well as in-class behaviors. Joy.

At the end of the day, they were both ready to go home.

"I don't know about you, but I think I'm experiencing senioritis," Liz informed him as they walked the few blocks to Liam's house.

Laughing at her words, he pointed out, "It's only the first day of freshman year!"

"I know, right?" Liz said sarcastically. "I don't know how I am going to survive the next four years of high school."

Looking over at his best friend, he smiled. "Well, at least you'll have me."

She stopped looking him up and down, and shrugged, "Eh, you'll have to do."

"Hey!" Liam yelled as she took off running. Laughing, he chased after her.

~*~*~

The next day at school was pretty similar to the first. Students went to the rest of their classes, discussed the syllabus, caught up with friends, and met new ones. That was, at least, until sixth period hit.

Now unlike many of his classmates, Liam was actually really good at math. He always had been, and most likely, always will be. Anyway, due to his intellectual math intelligence the high school decided to place him in honors math which happens to be a class of juniors and seniors. Luckily the school only requires three years of math credits. Most students begin with algebra 1, then geometry, then algebra 2, but instead this year he can take algebra 2, and next year pre-calculus, then in his junior year he can take calculus and be a math free student during his senior year.

This ought to be interesting. Walking into the classroom, Liam immediately noticed that there was a seating chart on the doc camera. His eyes shifted through each name until he located his own. The assigned seat that he would call his for the rest of the semester was on the right end of the middle table in row two. Liam took a quick look at the name he would be sharing the table with before making his way toward it.

He was the first one to sit down. Wanting to be prepared, he pulled out his math notebook, a pen (he absolutely despised pencils), and the scientific calculator that he needed for this class. Once that was done he reached into his backpack and brought out the book he was currently reading so he could kill time.

A few minutes later, Liam noticed from the corner of his eye, a tall senior sit down next to him. The senior was fairly tall standing at about six foot with an athletic build to him. A series of golden locks fell into his green eyes giving off a slightly boyish charm.That must be Brody Hamilton, he realized suddenly. Rumors and high school tales immediately filled his head about the infamous Brody Hamilton. He remembered the gossip that had been told to him. Brody used to be the school's superstar. Everyone knew his name. Girls lined up just to go out on a date with him. Guys wanted to be him. He played on the school's baseball team and everyone seemed to like him. Only that changed quite a bit when he announced that he "swung for the other team."

Liam mentally high-fived himself at the baseball joke. Anyway, ever since Brody came out of the closet he had been trying to fly under the radar. And how did Liam know all of this, well as it turned out, his sister, Leslie was one of the girls who had a crush on him last year before she graduated. She felt that it was her job to inform her brother about everyone that he may or may not come into contact with.

Liam set down his copy of The Great Gatsby and turned to his table partner, "Hey," he awkwardly greeted Brody.

The pair of jade green eyes shifted to him before flicking toward the screen and back, "Hi," he said. "William right?"

He nodded, "Just call me Liam. Everyone does."

"Are you a transfer? I don't think I've seen you around before." He thought I was a senior. Liam thought with wide eyes. Liz is going to love this.

"No, um I'm actually a freshman," Liam admitted sheepishly.

Brody's blond eyebrows rose in shock. "Uh, are you sure you're in the right class?"

Laughing, Liam nodded. "Yes, I'm just really good at math." Before he could respond, the teacher called the class to attention and began to hand out the last syllabus of the day.

~*~*~

When the class was finally dismissed, Liam began to pack up his supplies more slowly then his peers. Once done he shrugged his backpack onto his shoulder but didn't make any effort to leave.

"So, I guess I will see you Thursday then?" Brody said with a small smile.

A nervous but elated smile formed onto his face. "Ye-Yeah, you will definitely see me Thursday."

Brody sent one more smile, which left his heart pounding, and made his way out of the classroom.

Until Thursday.

Liam quickly followed him out of the classroom then ran to find Liz. He was practically bursting when he found her at her locker. "Hey you will never guess who I get to sit next to in my math class!"

She turned to him surprised by his suddenness. "Who?"

Sending her a sly look, he answered, "Brody Hamilton."

The expression on her face quickly turned from curiosity to that of surprise. "Seriously? Brody Hamilton? He's like Woodland Hills royalty."

Liam nodded along with her statement. "I know. He's so nice, and funny, and very cute."

A look of concern seemed to take of Liz's features. "Just be careful, Liam. Before he came out Brody was quite the player when it came to the female population of the school."

"Yeah, but that was before he came out," he pointed out emphasizing the word 'before.'

"Perhaps but old habits die hard. I just don't want to see you get hurt," Liz confessed to him.

"Okay," he said understanding her concern, "I promise to be careful. It's not like it matters anyway. Brody is a senior, and I'm just a lowly freshman. I'm sure the only time he'll even know that I exist will be in math."

Liz still had a few layers of concern in her eyes, but nodded anyway despite them. As much as she hated it she couldn't be with her best friend twenty-four seven. This is high school. It's the time for growing, maturing, and figuring out who you are and who it is you want to be. Liam would have to make his own mistakes to learn from just like she would. As much as she hated it, she had to let him make those mistakes, but no matter what she would be right beside him to pick him up off the floor if he falls.

Her response was short and simple, "Okay."

~*~*~

The weekend went far to quickly in Liam's opinion.

Friday night was spent doing his homework so he wouldn't have to worry about it for the rest of the weekend. Afterwards he binged Criminal Minds on Netflix for a couple of hours until his mom got home from work. His dad followed a few hours later.

Now that his sister, Leslie, was away at college and living her life with new experiences and people, the house was really quiet. His mom was a manager for one of the stores in town and his dad was a bookkeeper for a few of the restaurants in town. In a way that is probably where Liam gets his math skills from. Either way though things have been weird lately.

His entire life his parents have been loving and tentative toward each other, but lately things have been changing. His parents have been spending less time together and the times they are together usually ends with a fight or argument. Liam feared that someday soon the word divorce would come into play, but until then all he could do was hope that whatever was going on resolved itself.

Luckily that night didn't end quite as bad as the others. The three of them went out for a late dinner at one of the restaurants that his dad crunches numbers for and it was actually fun. Afterward, they returned home and put on a movie in the living room. His parents took up the couch while Liam sprawled out on the recliner next to it with his phone in his hand as he played a pool app. They never understood how he could multitask like that but it was actually easy to him.

That weekend gave him hope for the future, because his parents didn't fight for the rest of the weekend. It was almost as if they were on their best behavior or something. They both worked on Saturday, but Sunday was always the family's game night. So for a bit of extra fun they invited Liz over to fill in Leslie's spot and Liam spent the night playing Life and Cards Against Humanity with his family.

The weekend caused him to have a really good attitude Monday morning. Liam was smiley and happy throughout the day and was actually fairly extroverted toward people which is actually a lot to say since he's quite the introvert. Finally sixth period hit and Liam's mood was still going strong.

"You're in a good mood today," Brody commented quietly to him.

Liam's hazel eyes shifted from the teacher over to Brody then back to the board. "Yeah I guess I am."

"Any particular reason for it?" he asked.

Shrugging, Liam wrote down another equation before answering, "I just had a good weekend I guess. It kind of uplifted my mood a bit."

Smiling, he responded, "I'll say. Well I guess I should take advantage of that good mood while it lasts."

He sent him a confused look. "What do you mean?"

"Go on a date with me."

Liam's eyes widened at his words. "What?"

"Go out on a date with me?" This time he made it sound more like a question then an order.

"I don't know what to say," he admitted as Liz's words rang through his head.

"Say yes."

" . . . No."

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