I'd be lying if I said I wasn't anxious to see my plan start to unfold before my eyes when I walked through the front doors of school the next morning. In Liam's eyes, this was all a pathetic book of ridiculous challenges; something he'd be able to finish in a month's time.

     He didn't understand just how difficult some of the tasks were going to prove to be for him. 

     Dragging myself down the empty halls, I stepped into my English class without much thought. Catching sight of Liam lounged back in his chair, feet kicked on to the dark table top, flexed arms behind his head. He looked undeniably comfortable and the smirk he wore only added to my sudden uneasiness. 

     Maybe this wouldn't be as hard for him as I thought.

     "Reese." he greeted with a grin. 

     I dropped my backpack on to the back of the chair, eying him wearily. 

     "Don't look so disappointed sweetheart." he leaned forward, dropping his feet to the tile with a loud thud. He outstretched his hand, palm up, as if he were awaiting my own, before brushing his fingers under my chin and pushing my mouth shut.

     "You don't wanna catch flies in there, now do you?" he taunted.

     No, but I do want to punch you. 

     "Please don't touch me." I muttered, shifting in my seat to pry notebook from my backpack.

     Liam yawned, stretching his arms behind his head again. "Why not?" 

     "I don't know, because I like having personal space and you're invading it?" I snapped irritably. 

     His smirk still didn't waver. 

     "I'm sorry I've made you uncomfortable, Reese." he said.

     I waited for a derogatory remark to follow, possibly something that may stroke his own ego, but nothing came. He trained his eyes on the back of Mr. Herring's head, the smirk growing as if he were stifling a laugh. 

     "Why do you even show up if you don't do anything in this class?" I questioned.

     Liam shot me a confused look. "It's called marking my attendance, sweetheart. Haven't you-" he stopped abruptly and swallowed before continuing. 

     "Haven't you ever realized I'm usually here for the class? I just don't do the work." 

     Even I had to admit it was a pretty good save.

     I stabbed my pencil into the first piece of notebook paper, cringing when the sharpened led snapped. I started to curse quietly, dropping it on the desk as I dug another one of out my pencil case. 

     "Getting a little aggressive with your writing there, are we?" Liam's quiet tease earned a dark look out of me. 

     "You're enjoying this far more than I thought you would." I grumbled, tapping my pencil against the edge of the desk. 

     He winked, then leaned back in his chair until the front legs of it lifted off the carpet. He rocked back and forth for a few minutes, watching the clock intently as he awaited the bell. The amused look in his clear blue eyes faded for a moment, revealing a little irritation. The look was gone as quick as it appeared, and he turned back to me. 

     "What are you looking at?" he asked. 

     I opened my mouth to respond, but Mr. Herring had made a guest appearance in front of our desk and leaned over it, staring between the two of us. 

     "My model students, here early and everything." he slapped his palm against the table so hard it shook a little. "I knew it was a good idea to pair the two of you."

     "It really wasn't." Liam and I answered in unison. 

     My head whipped in his direction. It was the first crack I'd seen in his "nice guy" facade in the last ten minutes. But I couldn't mark it against him since it wasn't exactly a lie or cruel remark. It was the truth. 

     "What do you mean?" the middle aged teacher's thick white eyebrows drew in confusion. 

     Liam tapped his fingertips along the desk. "You see, sir, as much as I think Reese is a wonderful girl and incredibly smart, we don't work great together. It's a shame, really."

     I snorted. "Gee, Liam, thank you." 

     "You know it's the truth." another smile started to creep across his face. 

     Mr. Herring nodded slowly. "Well, I hope you two can work out your differences, because you will be spending a lot of time together for this project. Good luck." 

     I watched after the teacher, crossing my arms. Liam sighed heavily, relaxing against his chair. 

     "Thanks." Liam muttered. 

     I sent him a quick sideways glance. "We'll need all the luck we can get."

                              *

     The first major fracture in Liam came in the hallway on our way out of English. A tall senior rammed into him, causing them both to stagger back a few steps. The senior stared Liam down, but it wasn't in the usual fear that most of the kids held in their eyes staring at the jock. 

     "You should really watch where you're going." the senior said through his teeth. 

     A muscle in Liam's jaw twitched as he cracked his neck, then his knuckles. I watched anxiously, waiting for a snap. 

     "I'm sorry, man." it looked as if it physically hurt Liam to apologize. "I'll pay more attention next time."

     I heard a few of the students crowding around groan in anger because they hadn't been able to experience a fight firsthand. The senior stalked down the hall, brushing passed me a little too roughly for my taste. I stared after him for a moment, then returned my attention to Liam across the long, crowded hallway. He made sure he had my attention before his expression turned to one of cockiness. He flashed me a thumbs up and a smirk before spinning on his heel and curving around the corner and into another hallway. 

      This is definitely going to be a lot harder than I thought.

                             *

     "It was torture. He was actually talking to me, but like I was his sister or something and not a potential girlfriend." Brianna whined as we stepped out of the school. 

     I smiled and patted her shoulder reassuringly. "Hey, it's nothing personal. He's just. . . he's actually doing a lot better at this whole being nice thing again than I thought. Thanks for testing him." 

     She huffed out a disappointed sigh. 

     "It just sucks. I finally get a guy's attention and they treat me like Bryan does." she sounded as if she were contemplating whether to feel sad or disgusted. 

     "Guy's in high school are just idiots, Bri. They can't see the beauty in front of them. Most just think they want one thing." I tried my hand at comforting her. 

     I must have done a pretty good job, because she smiled suddenly and started nudging me. 

     "Andrew Wilde is totally looking at you." she said.

     I followed her eyes and found the football player was actually looking in our direction. It just wasn't at me. 

     "Go talk to him." I gave her a gentle shove. 

     "What? No, are you crazy?" she squeaked, swatting my shoulder. "And you know how we feel about dating jocks. It's not a good idea."

     I nodded in agreement. "But Andy's a pretty nice guy, Bri. I have him in Chem and Shop. He's part of the student council I think." 

     She shook her head, burying one of her hand's in her straightened hair. "No, Bryan would kill me too." 

     I had always been envious of Brianna for multiple reasons. The first being when she straightened her already beautiful ringlets, her hair appeared like black silk. The second being her constant fear of her brother not approving of something. It sounded ridiculous, but I'd always wanted a sibling to watch over me, but hardly had parents to do that. Bryan and Brianna were all I really had. 

     "Hey, Reese, right?" Andrew had jogged over to us during our mini-fight. 

     I raised an eyebrow skeptically. "Yeah. Do you need notes from class or-"

     "No." he shook his head. "I actually just wanted to meet the girl that's got Liam acting like a normal dick rather than an egotistical one for a change." 

     I didn't know who was more taken back by his words; Brianna or me. 

     "You don't like Liam?" Brianna questioned. 

     Andrew shifted the weight of his backpack on to his left shoulder. 

     "It's not that, I love him, he's my best friend. He just has the tendency to let everything get to his head." he shrugged. "I don't know why I just told you that." 

     Brianna frowned, forehead creasing in confusion as she considered what Andrew said. Andy's eyes drifted to my best friend, a genuine smile on his face. 

     "I'm Andrew by the way." he wiped his hand against his black Gym shorts then stretched his hand out. 

     Brianna started to lift her own, but was pulled back before she could even blink. 

     "Nope." Bryan waved. "See you later, Wilde. Go play ball and stay the hell away from my sister." 

     Andrew's smile faltered, replaced with a grimace. "Whatever, dude."

     Andy nodded curtly at me before flipping Bryan his favorite finger and running out to the field to meet with the rest of the team for practice. 

     "What the hell! Why don't you-" the loud outburst startled the three of us. 

     We all turned to find a shirtless Liam standing in front of the school, dripping with dark liquid. The girl cowered away, whispering an apology. 

     "Hey, Liam!" I called, waving over enthusiastically. 

     His lip curled back a little in a snarl before he shook his head at me in anger and bitterness. He bounced on the balls of his feet for a moment, eyes burning into mine, then took off toward the field without another word.  

***AN***

*Unedited*

Hey guys, hope you enjoyed! Sorry for the late update!

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~ChasingMadness24