"Oh."
The silence stretches out, and we exchange small smiles.
"Well. We should do something," I say. "Though we better stay up here. I don't want to get involved with whatever's happening downstairs."
"Good idea," Curtis says, holding out his hand.
I grab it, guessing that Curtis wants me to pull him up. Instead, he tugs downwards, and I trip forward.
19
Curtis: Bad Idea
Liam falls onto the bed beside me with an "oof", catching himself with his arms in time.
I laugh until I catch sight of Liam's pink face. He looks… unsettled. Maybe I shouldn't have pulled him down. "I'm sorry," I say.
"You did that on purpose." He rearranges his features into something plain, if a little grumpy, before flipping over into a sitting position, legs over the side of the bed. "So. What should we do?"
"We should study," I say. "I've been meaning to catch up on English."
Liam protests. I ignore him as I grab my English folder and laptop and spread everything out on the floor beside my bed. Liam says that I just want to copy his annotations. I pretend to scoff until I read his annotations and eat my words. Because, damn, Liam's notes are great. I never realised how good at English he is, but his writing is so eloquent and he's analysed the play we're studying in ways I've never thought of.
"You're such a bossy boots," Liam says as he watched me copy down his tiny notes written in the margins of his book. He's colour-coded everything with highlighters. It's perfect.
I stop writing and look at him. We're both on the floor, our backs leaning against my bed. "A bossy boots?"
"Mm-hmm." Liam continues typing on his computer without looking up.
No way, I think. I'm more of a people-pleaser, and I hate it. Though I guess I never felt like I had to do that with Liam.
An hour passes. My neck gets sore, so I lean my head back and glance at Liam's profile.
He's gay. He said so — not in so many words — but he confirmed it. I keep thinking about it in the back of my mind. I kind of want to ask him about it, because for some reason, I'm curious, but I don't want to bother him or be intrusive.
He wouldn't mind if I asked him, right? When I'm around Liam, he makes me feel like I can say or ask what I want without worrying so much.
I open my mouth to speak when someone knocks on the door. A moment later, Kennedy's head pokes into the room.
"Hi," she says, glancing at Liam before making eye contact with me.
"What's up?" Liam says.
"What are you two up to?"
"Studying English," Liam answers. "At the moment I'm writing up a quotes list. I can email it to you. I know Curtis is already going to steal it from me."
"Thanks, that'd be good." She clears her throat. "Curtis, do you want to go on a walk with me?"
After a moment of surprise, I clear my throat. "Sure," I say, standing up. "Er. I won't be long, I'll just put on my shoes and grab a jacket."
Kennedy nods. "I'll wait by the front door."
"Okay," I say.
After she leaves, Liam raises a brow at me. "Is everything okay with you?"
I dig a jacket from my duffel bag and put it on. "Um. Well…"
