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Alright everyone, here we go with chapter six. This part of the story takes place three years later during Liam's senior year. Hope you enjoy ;)

Also we got Josh Hutcherson (of course) up above as Liam in senior year. 

~*~*~

Chapter Six

THREE YEARS LATER

Liam took his time opening his eyes. He wasn't ready to get up quite yet and hoped to put it off for a bit longer. Perhaps his mom would let him skip school today. It didn't happen often, but his mom didn't really have a problem with him skipping school every once in a while. As long as he didn't miss tests, got his work done, and attended enough days to graduate then she allowed it.

Unfortunately the thought was quickly pushed aside. It was the first day back to school after winter vacation. His mom may be cool about skipping, but she's not that cool. She'll make him attend school for at least a month before he can have a skip day. So rather reluctantly, Liam climbed out of his warm, soft bed and slowly got ready for school.

Standing in front of his bathroom mirror, Liam took a moment to stare at his reflection. His eighteen year old self stared back. His hair had grown out longer throughout the year. He wasn't quite as lanky now as he used to be, but there still aren't many muscles or even any tone on his body. His skin was light since he never tanned a day in his life. Also the hazel eyes that reflected back weren't quite as innocent as they once were. They had experienced things. They knew things. Liam was no longer the happy-go-lucky, extraverted fifteen year old that he had once been.

Now he was an older, wiser, introverted eighteen year old. With a defeated sigh, Liam lowered his head and returned to his bedroom. Continuing his walk, he did his best to ignore the memories that plagued him. As much as he hated it, he and his mother still live in the same home that they did with his father and sister. After the divorce he wanted a fresh start, but his mom wasn't quite ready to abandon all of those memories. In a way she's still not. So they stayed, and Liam personally couldn't wait to graduate and leave the house. Too many memories threatened to overtake him.

Not long after their initial separation, his parents decided to divorce. At first Liam hoped that after a little time apart they would eventually find their way back to each other. Unfortunately that didn't happen. They were serious. The marriage was over. Liam was angry about the divorce for a long time.

He spent the first year or so absolutely livid with his mother. Since he lived with her and saw her every day, his anger seemed to take itself out at her first. For a while there he even lost himself. The music he listened to was angry and screaming metal. Almost every weekend, he was out drinking, attending parties, and acting out. His mother was worried for a long time.

Now he still likes metal music and going out with Liz every once in a while, but overtime he has definitely become more tame . . . at least, toward his mother. Every week, like clockwork, his father will call him. Same day – same time. Only Liam never answers. In reality he hasn't talked to his father since the disastrous phone call when he first informed him of the separation.

Every year for Christmas and his birthday, Liam received cards and gifts in the mail, but they go straight into his closet without so much as being opened. Years ago on the day that his parents signed their divorce papers, his dad gave a letter to Liam through his mother. The letter is still sitting unopened in an empty shoe box in Liam's closet.

However, it wasn't just the memories of his father that haunted it. It was of his sister too. Leslie was in her senior year at University College London (UCL). During her senior year, Leslie was accepted with early admissions and was packed and on a flight only two days after her graduation. Liam and Leslie haven't seen each other since. Unfortunately the flights are expensive and with high school and college student budgets a flight to Europe or to America is the last thing either of them can afford.

Perhaps if he saved his money correctly he would be able to go during the summer before college. It would be nice to have a short trip to London before college starts. Either way his sister seemed to be doing very well for herself. She was creating a life there. Leslie lived a small apartment not far from school with her boyfriend. They met freshman year and became friends for a long time. Last Christmas, he finally worked up the courage to ask her out and they have been dating since.

Peter Oakland, her boyfriend, seemed nice enough (they met a few times over skype). He was also in his final year of school. Apparently he's nuts for old antiques and actually wants to open up a thrift shop in London. Leslie was very supportive of him and they honestly seemed to make a good team. Recently they actually went to one of the local animal shelter and adopted a dog. The dog was a three year old corgi named Maggie. She was found wandering the streets of London without a dog tag or chip so she was taken to the shelter and no one came to claim her.

It was cute in a way. Peter, Leslie, and Maggie were a family. In a way they were the parents and Maggie was their baby. Liam had jokingly asked Leslie about the possibility of marriage and she had actually blushed at his question. Who knows? Maybe they've always discussed the topic? Either way, the possibility didn't seem that far into the future for them.

In a way, Liam was almost jealous of his sister. Leslie was free. She escaped the confines of their small town and the drama it holds. She left before their parent's marriage went bad. She was happy and experiencing the ups and downs of college with the man she loved. Liam hoped that he could be as happy as she was someday, but somehow he didn't see it. He wasn't like Leslie.

Leslie was brave, and smart, and funny. She had the will and ambition to go places, but she didn't let it over power everything else. She was kind and genuinely cared for people. Leslie also didn't let things like falling in love and commitment scare her. Sometimes it feels like she got all of the good qualities of their parents and Liam got everything else. He just hoped that someday he could be a fraction of what she was.

Looking over at the clock on his nightstand, Liam saw that it was almost time. He couldn't put it off any longer. Liz would be picking him up any moment. After double checking that he had the correct textbooks for the day, Liam picked up his backpack, took his phone off the charger, and put his headphones inside his hoodie pocket.

Walking into the kitchen he found his mother at the breakfast table with a bagel and a file open in front of her. She had been busy hiring new employees recently so she's been busier than usual. Her greying brown hair was up in a ponytail and she was dressed for work. Liam made his way to the coffee pot and filled up his to go cup before grabbing a granola bar from the cupboard.

"I hope that's not all you're planning on eating today," his mom chided.

Liam sent her a sheepish smile. "I have a package of Ritz in my backpack that I can eat during class. That'll hold me over just fine until lunch."

"That is not a good breakfast," she scolded. "I swear. Where did I go wrong with you?"

Liam's smile faulted at her words.

"Liz is outside. I have to go," he mumbled quietly leaving her in the kitchen.

His mother loved him. That much was pretty obvious. However, a lot of the time she just doesn't say the right things. She needs to think of what she's saying before she actually says it. Only she doesn't, and sometimes that hurts more than anything else.

As suspected, Liz was already outside waiting in her car. Last year, Liz's parents got her a car for her seventeenth birthday. It's wasn't off the lot or anything. It was used, but still in good condition. It got the two of them to school and back and that was good enough.

"Remind me again why we have to do this?" Liam requested as he climbed into the passenger seat.

"Because it's the law," Liz replied grimly.

"Joy," he remarked.

~*~*~

Lucky the day actually wasn't too bad. Since it was a Monday they had to attend all of their classes, however, they did get out earlier which is a nice bonus. Liam had easy enough classes for his final semester. Spanish 2, AP English, Civics, Anatomy & Physiology, and Health 2 (he put it off the past three years and now it's finally caught up with him). Luckily all of his classes were in periods 1-5 so he didn't have a sixth and seventh period. Now he could leave school even earlier than the other students most days.

Things were going well for him, at least until Health class.

The class was small. Majority of the class were freshman and sophomores, but there were a few other seniors who were in the same boat as him. Last year's teacher, Mrs. Butte (I'm not kidding. That was her name) was an old seventy year old lady who slept and made her students read out of the textbooks the entire time. Only now she has retired and everyone was rather anxious to see who the new teacher was.

Liam was sitting at his desk with one of his books open before him when someone suddenly sat next to him. In the school, he is known as a bit of a loner. Besides Liz, he didn't have many friends. So it wasn't often that someone actually sat next to him unless it was assigned.

He looked up briefly at the kid beside him and realized that he's never actually seen him before. Perhaps he's new, Liam thought to himself. They lived in a pretty small town so in retrospect he should have recognized him.

The kid beside him seemed to be around Liam's height. He had messy, kind of spiky, blonde hair with a pair of deep blue eyes. He had a slender jaw and a few muscles on his body. So in a way he was probably sporty, but not necessarily athletic. Fluidly, the boy turned his head and sent Liam a small smile. Blushing, Liam dropped his gaze. He hadn't realized that he had been openly staring at him.

The boy chuckled softly beside him.

"I'm Chase West," he introduced sticking his arm out.

Liam turned back to him and sent a friendly smile. "I'm Liam. Liam Parker." Politely, he took Chase's hand in his and shook it.

"Well it's nice to meet you, Liam." His voice was soft and didn't seem to speak too loudly like some of the other boys in their grade. "Are you a senior too?" He asked.

Nodding, Liam admitted, "Yeah. I should've taken it years ago, but I kept putting it off and now I don't have a choice."

Chase responded, "Yeah, I know what you mean. Health 2 wasn't a required class at my old school."

"Where are you from?" Liam couldn't help but ask. He didn't know why, but he genuinely wanted to know. Usually he was shy around new people however Chase seemed to have the opposite effect on him.

"Miami, Florida," he answered. "My dad got a new job offer and we had to move."

"My mom actually lived in Florida for a while," Liam remembers. "She was a kid when she moved, but she said it was an interesting place."

Chase laughed. "Yeah it can definitely be that way."

A man soon entered the classroom. He was young, probably in his early to mid-twenties. Curly, brown locks sat upon his head and he had a five-o'clock shadow on his face. He looked cute and scruffy, but still professional.

"Hello class! My name Mr. Moore and welcome to Health 2," he said to the class.

Liam zoned out for the rest of the period. Mr. Moore would be going over the syllabus and class expectations anyway so he wouldn't be missing much. His attention for the most part remained on Chase. For some reason he was drawn to him. He couldn't help it. It was like Chase was metal and Liam was the magnet.

However, another part urged him to fight it. He was scared. The last time he grew close and allowed himself to trust a person it pretty much blew up in his face. What if that happens again? He wasn't sure if he could deal with that a second time. Distance. That's what he needed to be comfortable. Perhaps if Liam kept his distance Chase will get the idea.

He honestly wasn't sure if it would work, but he hoped it would.

~*~*~

Now I will be honest I have been having trouble when it comes to writing chapter twelve. Idk what it is exactly, but I have only been able to write a few sentences or paragraphs at a time and I have been struggling with this for a few weeks now. I'm hoping my writer's block will get better but at the moment chapter twelve is at a standstill. Everyone wish me luck on this and let's hope I finish twelve and move onto thirteen soon. 

~Kaylee

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