I pretended to spin kick her. She laughed and spun around and soon we were kicking and punching down the hallway away from the boys. Becca brought out the weird in me.
"My elbow seriously hurts," I laughed as we paused to catch our breaths.
Penn and Liam were standing a little ways down the hallway, laughing and nodding their heads in agreement. They were probably agreeing that they should ditch our asses for sexy, worldy, models that didn't 340/890
pretend to be tipsy super heroes. Pfft, no.
That sounded boring, who would want that?
"Is Peen cool? He's super hot," I joked, unable to stop the laughter from spilling from my lips.
Becca actually karate chopped my arm after that. We needed to get out of these costumes stat.
"His name’s Penn," she corrected, loud enough for the boys to hear, which made me laugh harder.
"That's what I'm saying: Peen."
Becca shook her head but couldn’t conceal her smile. "You suck, but yes, he's awesome and super funny. Cute and funny! Can you believe it?"
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I high-fived her. "I'm going to go get something to eat with Liam, I think. How weird is that? Do you guys want to come?"
We started heading back to the boys.
"Nah, I think Penn is going to take me home." By the tail end of her sentence we were in range for the boys to hear our conversation.
"Yup," he confirmed, rocking back on his heels.
"Can I trust you with my friend, Penn?" I asked, putting my hands on my hips and pretending to puff my chest like a superhero would. I imagined my cape floating in the AC
draft behind me for added dramatic effect.
"I got her," he winked. "Have no fear."
Liam laughed and stepped forward to grab my hand. "Let's go, SuperGirl."
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I let him drag me through the front door toward his car but not before yelling goodbyes to Becca. All the while, I smiled about the fact that I actually got away with being Liam’s date at a party. Sort of. Okay, hardly.
We weren’t together around anyone, and when we kissed it’d been pitch black. He also didn’t ever refer to me as his date.
But we were in matching Superhero costumes.
Sooo, it seemed pretty official to me.
"My elbow really does hurt," I said, finally sobering enough to realize that it was throbbing.
Liam reached inside his jean pockets and unlocked his SUV. He came around the passenger's side and opened to the door to let me in.
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"Let me see," he said after I'd hopped up onto the seat.
I showed him the back of my right elbow.
"You're always injured at my parties."
He shot me a playful frown.
"Because of Becca! She bruised my face with her gyrating hips last time." Damn Becca. She’s worse than Shakira.
He laughed and stepped back. "If it still hurts after we eat, I'll take you to get it looked at. And I think I should hear more about the gyrating hips story."
I laughed and buckled up. "All right, I'll explain it on the way."
…
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I was expecting to go inside the restaurant like most normal people, but Liam ordered from the car and then a waiter ran out with our order a few minutes later. Liam tipped him handsomely before handing me the bag of food.
"Sorry that we can't go in, but the press would have a field day, especially now that you're 'The Rising Star in Soccer'."
"What? Is that printed somewhere?"
"It was the title of an ESPN article the other day. Did no one mention it?"
I shook my head. Who would have mentioned it? My friends didn't check ESPN, my dad was busy working, and my mom was busy sending me care packages.
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I didn't really mind not knowing about articles like that though. I didn’t need anything else going to my head.
"I don't want to read it, but you should save it for me so I can read it when I'm like sixty," I laughed. “When I need to cling onto my glory days.”
"Will do… but you’re okay with eating in here?" he asked, eyeing me cautiously.
His question almost shattered our happy moment. When we were at the party things started to feel normal, but that was because we were secluded in our own tiny world.
There were no seniors, no press, and no adoring fans. Now it was a completely different story, and the reality of our situation was starting to sink in. We couldn’t leave his car 346/890
for fear that someone would recognize us and leak the story to the press But we still had a little while to live in lala land. When I got home I'd worry about the consequences of my actions, but for now I'd just appreciate being with him.
"What'd you order?" I smiled, tucking my thoughts away for later.
"Chicken and waffles. You'll love them,"
he answered with confidence.
"Oh, I don't like chicken or waffles," I joked.
"Humor me," he winked, preparing a bite and handing it over to me.
"You don't mind if we eat in your fancy car?" I asked, eyeing the nice leather upholstery.
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"It can be cleaned and this meal is more than worth it."
Because it was with me or because he really liked chicken and waffles?
After I tasted the bite I feared it was the latter.
"Holy shit, that's good!" I exclaimed, stealing the next two bites after that as well.
"Well, I guess I know where to take you to fatten you up," he laughed before finally taking a bite of his own.
We ate in silence for a bit. Well, he was silent. I moaned and groaned in bliss about the maple honey butter they'd used to coat the waffles.
"You know it's probably not a good idea for us to be seen together at those house 348/890
parties anymore," Liam announced, catching me off guard.
I chewed the rest of my bite. "You're probably right." I agreed with him even though his announcement made me feel sick.
Was he regretting everything, again? No. He was being smart.
"I don't really enjoy them much anyway," he continued, staring out his front windshield.
"Why do you live in that house then? I don't get it, not to be rude, but it seems like you have enough money to move out of the Animal House."
Liam smiled. "I own that house and let some of the guys from the team pay rent. My other place is being renovated, so I’m staying 349/890
there for now. It's usually a lot of fun, but they've been throwing a ton of parties lately."
He owned the house? It was massive.
"Do you mind that they throw parties in your house?"
"It's not so bad, and that's kind of the point: Party hard now before settling down."
Of course. They were all young, attract-ive athletes. Liam was still in the partying hard phase.
I dropped my fork back into the bag and cleared my throat. "I’m kind of tired," I said, sitting back against my seat.
He concentrated out through the front window as his eyes narrowed. Finally he spoke. "Yeah, it's getting late anyway."
I thought I could push my negative thoughts away until I got home. I’d been 350/890
wrong. The feeling had sank in as soon as he brought up the fact that we shouldn't be seen together. And it only hurt worse because he was absolutely right. We'd been careless, trying to push the bounds without weighing the consequences.
When we got to my house, Liam put the car in park a few houses down so that no one could see us. We sat facing out through the front windshield, completely silent as the night crept on around us.
When he turned his head toward me, I could feel it. I could feel his eyes rake over my skin. I swallowed and stared at the black dashboard, trying to get my head on straight.