CHAPTER SIXTEEN » GATHER
"You don't get to walk away from this."

☽

"Hey!" I called out, trying to grab Liam's attention over the loudness of the school bell. "Liam!"

Eventually, he slowed to a stop, turning around with sunken shoulders, the sad, defeated look in his eyes still lingering from earlier. I made a quick jog to catch up with him, attempting an assuring smile as I reached him.

"You heading to the meeting?" I questioned, as the two of us both began to continue down the corridor.

Liam's eyebrows drew together in confusion, as if he had no idea what I was talking about. "What meeting?"

"Oh, you probably didn't get the message," I replied with a small shrug, motioning over to the other end of the corridor, where the boys locker room was situated. "Someone suggested we needed a meeting. Thought I better show my face."

"Oh," Liam responded indifferently, his expression seeming fairly distant. I didn't push it, and instead started making my way to the locker room, Liam trailing behind me silently.

I could hear murmurings already coming from inside, which hinted that a lot of people were there already; which was strange considering the bell had only just rung to dismiss class.

I pushed my confusions aside and stepped in, Liam close behind me. Upon our presence, the voices began to come to a halt, everybody's eyes turning to us, the intensity of their stares making me feel uncomfortable.

"Hey," I started unsurely, turning my head to share a look with Liam, but his eyes were elsewhere. "You started without us?"

"Yeah," one of the players, Nolan, replied casually, his eyes narrowing into a glare as he watched Liam. I realised that was who he'd been watching closely.

"So, why'd we need the meeting?" I finally asked, unable to keep my voice from wavering slightly as my eyes scanned around the room. "What's it about?"

Everybody was staring harshly, so harshly that it seemed as if they were ready to murder us and stuff our bodies in the lockers without a seconds thought.

"About how we don't want someone like him as our co-captain anymore," Gabe, a newer member of the lacrosse team, eventually spoke up, a sneer on his face as he glared at Liam.

"Someone," Noah repeated darkly, a chilling look in his eyes. "Something."

"Well he's your co-captain," I pointed out, taking a step forwards. "There's nothing you can do about it."

"We're voting him out," Gabe countered back, tilting his head to the side as he watched me smugly.

"Yeah, no. I think not," I stated firmly, keeping my gaze held on him. I didn't like the look on his face one bit, and I knew exactly what all of this was about. "I'm your captain, what I say goes."

Nolan took a step towards us both with wild eyes and an almost malicious grin on his face. "Then we'll vote you out too."

This time, it was Liam who moved forwards, his jaw clenched as he straightened up against Nolan. "You can't do that," he started, his whole body tensing. "What if we're not ready to go?"

I kept my stare lingered on the crowd of boys in front of us, my eyes only wandering when Nolan stepped towards Liam, a determined look in his eyes as the two came face to face.

"Do it Nolan, do it," somebody encouraged from within the group, earning a hard stare from me. He shrunk back.

"You think you can take me?" Liam seethed, pulse racing angrily as both him and Nolan inched closer, standing their grounds.

Worried that all of the frustration was going to cause a shift, I stepped between them both, placing a hand on Nolan's chest to edge him away. The boy gritted his teeth, his gaze hardening on me. "Get out of my way."

Liam started forwards again and I quickly turned around, placing both of my hands on his tense shoulders, attempting to keep him at bay. He breathed out heavily, his eyes still focused intensely on Nolan.

"Chill the fuck out," I whispered, my eyes locked on his. "Liam," I prompted, listening to his heart pounding heavily. "Liam."

Finally, he tore his gaze away from Nolan, his frustrated blue eyes finally meeting mine instead. He exhaled heavily, keeping his attention fixed on me as I lowered my hands back down to my sides. I found myself sighing in relief as his heart rate began to slow back down to it's normal pace.

All of a sudden, the door to Coach's office was pulled open, revealing a messy haired and tired looking Coach, who looked at us all in confusion, the door slamming shut behind him. "What the hell's going on here?" I glanced back at Nolan, who looked a little frightful at the sight. "Who called a meeting without me?" Nobody responded, everybody seeming to look between each other instead. "Guys," Coach prompted, his voice rising with annoyance. "I said who called the meeting?"

"I-I did," Liam stepped forwards, his response causing me to watch him in exasperation. Why was he doing this? "Sorry Coach, but, uh, my grades are slipping and I need to take a step back from the team. We just voted Nolan to be the new co-captain."

"Nolan?" Coach asked in confusion, as if he didn't even know who the kid was. The thought was mildly amusing.

"Yeah."

"Nolan's perfect. He's a great player," Coach started again. "He's got amazing leadership skills. Which one of you is Nolan?" I bit my lip to stifle a laugh, and instead glanced back, watching as Nolan slowly rose his hand. "Yeah, that guy. How about a hand for your new co-captain, Nolan. Let him hear it."

A loud burst of applause sounded from the rest of the team, but I couldn't bare to look at them, I was only focused on Liam, whose heart I could literally feel shattering on the spot.

Coach watched with a grin, waiting for the applause to die down before he continued, his eyes eventually landing on me. "And mini McCall, you're still captain, right?"

Before I could even answer, Liam spoke up again. "She's still captain," he cast a glance back at me, nodding firmly as our eyes met. "Right, Bex?"

I swallowed thickly, aware of the eyes burning holes in the back of my head. "Right."

"Good," Coach clapped his hands together. "Let's hear it again for both of your team captains."

Everybody began to clap again, and as I glanced back I noticed Nolan practically relishing in the applause, making me feel sick to my stomach. Shaking my head, I turned back to look at Liam, only to found him walking straight out of the door.

Without a seconds thought, I started after him, ignoring Coach's question of where I was going. Liam had slammed the door behind him with an incredibly harsh force, but I'd managed to catch it just before it closed, slipping through as I rushed after him down the empty corridor.

"Liam!"

He kept walking, seeming to pick up his pace at the sound of my voice. I let out an annoyed groan, following after him as I called his name a few more times. When it became clear that he wasn't going to stop, I started to jog after him, eventually close enough to grab his shoulder.

He spun around almost instantly, his eyes full of anguish. "What?" He snapped, his teeth grinding together, his eyes looking anywhere but at me.

"Liam," I started slowly, realising I hadn't actually planned what I wanted to say. "You didn't have to do that." He exhaled heavily, shaking his head in annoyance, starting to take off again. "Hey!" I shouted after him. "Liam, don't walk away from me."

"What do you expect me to say?" He retorted back, whipping his head round to face me again. I shrugged my shoulders slightly, unsure of what to answer. "Exactly."

"Hang on a minute–" Liam didn't bother turning back around again so I jogged after him again, grabbing his arm roughly and pulling him back to face me again. "You don't get to walk away from this."

"I'm not walking away," he stated firmly, finally meeting my gaze. The angry, harsh look in his eyes had seemed to melt away slightly, his usual look of innocence beginning to return. "I mean, literally speaking I am but–"

"Okay, Liam, shut up," I interjected. "Look, you didn't have to give in to them like that, okay?"

"And what the hell would you have done?" He shot back, his eyebrows raised. "Fight them all?"

"I mean, if I had to, yeah..." I trailed off unsurely, as Liam watched me with a look of disapproval.

"It's not a joke to me, Bex," he responded, the sudden harshness in his tone hitting me at full force. "I just want them off my backs."

"Liam–"

"You don't get it!" He snapped all of a sudden, his voice practically bouncing against the corridor walls, leaving me in a stunned silence. "It's easy for you."

I stared at Liam in disbelief, slightly shocked by his statement. "Easy? You think this has ever been easy for me?"

"I–" he stuttered out, eventually shaking his head, dismissing whatever he was about to say.

"I just lost my best friend," I stated, watching his eyes soften slightly at my words. "The only person who ever truly understood me," I swallowed thickly, shifting my gaze away from Liam, who's eyes had already fallen to the ground. "I woke up this morning, and for this one, brief fleeting moment I forgot everything that had happened last night. And I–" I cut off, my chest tightening. "I picked up my phone, expecting to see one of his lame good morning texts, until I realised I wasn't going to get one. I wasn't going to get one ever again," I glanced away for a moment, my cheeks burning after hearing my own voice crack. "So no, Liam. None of this is easy for me. It never has been."

"You're not the only one hurting about that," Liam responded quickly, an edge of bitterness in his tone of voice.

"This isn't a competition of who's got the most pain, Liam," I snapped back, my patience thinning rapidly. "We both lost someone, no matter what they meant to us."

"It's not just about that though–"

"You lost control, I know," I ground out, glancing up at the ceiling in exasperation. "Shit happens, Liam."

"You wouldn't be saying that if you had the whole damn lacrosse team on your back," he bit back.

"I stuck up for you in there," I reminded, ignoring the flash of gold I spotted briefly in his eyes. "I'm on your side, Liam."

He opened his mouth, as if he was about to snap back with something else, but in the end, he shook his head, turning to storm away again. "Whatever."

I watched him head down the corridor, biting down hard on my lip as I shook my own head in irritation. "I loved him, you know."

Liam came to a stop, standing with his back to me for a few more moments before eventually turning back around. "I know."

"And I have no idea what to do without him." My voice wavered slightly, and I glanced away quickly, swallowing the thick lump in my throat.

"I know."

"And I really need us to stick together," I stated, lifting my eyes to look at Liam, who had slowly begun making his way back towards me.

"I know," he paused briefly, coming to a stop in front of me. He finally met my gaze, a weak smile brushing over his lips. "I'm sorry. I really am."

~

I took my seat in biology as the bell rang, beginning to pull out my books as the class fell silent, only stopping when Vee nudged me, motioning forwards. I glanced past Mason's head, watching as Liam's lab partner began to gather her stuff in a hurry, moving away from him to sit on the other side of class.

Liam glanced back at the three of us, causing us all to shrug simultaneously. "Maybe she forgot something?" Mason suggested, the attempt causing Venus and I to share an exasperated look.

"Is there a problem Liam?"

I glanced over at Ms Finch, who stood at the front of the class with her arms crossed, watching him in confusion.

"Um, no," Liam answered quickly. "Not with me."

"Who will let Liam join their group?"

In front of us, Corey, who had only just arrived, and Mason, both shot their hands up without hesitation. When nobody else did, Venus and I slowly began to raise ours too.

"Someone other than you four," Ms Finch said, glancing around the room. The rest of the class began to either share looks, or awkwardly look elsewhere as Liam glanced around with a sigh. "You all have one minute for someone to volunteer or the whole class fails the day's lab."

"Miss, four of us did volunteer," I stated, wondering why the hell she was doing this when it was only going to make things worse for Liam. "Can't he just work with one of us?"

"I would appreciate if you didn't question me, Miss McCall," she replied, her lips pulling into a thin line as she turned to look at the other side of the room. Bitch.

Liam swivelled round in his seat, turning to face us with worried eyes. "This is just making it worse."

"Well it's about to get worse," Corey added on.

I leaned forwards. "Why?"

He cast a brief acknowledging look at me before turning back to Liam, who looked worried by Corey's comment. "Why do you always show up when there's bad news?"

"The entire lacrosse team is looking for you," Corey informed, ignoring his question. "They're blocking the exits."

"Why?" Mason asked, as Liam's face began to pale significantly. He shook his head turning back to face the front.

Corey looked at Mason before leaning back so he could explain to Venus and I too. "They're gonna try and make Liam shift in front of everyone."

"That..." Mason trailed off. "Definitely can't happen."

Liam whipped around again, his eyes searching the four of us frantically. "What are we gonna do?"

Before any of us could answer, Ms Finch had begun to address him again, making him turn back around. "Right, Liam. Looks like you're winning any popularity contests. So, why don't you work alone. And I'll decide whether or not I was bluffing about failing everyone or not."

I swallowed thickly, shaking my head in frustration as I desperately wracked my mind to come up with something to get Liam out of the lacrosse situation.

"I think I've got a plan," Venus whispered to me after a few moments of silence, her words also catching Mason's attention.

He turned around to face us expectantly, as did Corey. "We're all ears."

~

Within the last few minutes, the school halls had become surprisingly empty as Venus and I headed through them.

"You think they made it out?" She questioned as I lifted onto my tiptoes to look through a window, only to find yet another empty classroom.

Where the hell did everyone go?

"I hope so," I told her, spotting a member of the lacrosse team stood by the doors. I nodded over to him, plastering a fake smile on my face as we came to a stop in front of him. "Hey, Troy."

"Uh, hi, Rebecca," he greeted almost unsurely, quickly glancing to his left.

"Hey, man, fight's about to start!" Someone shouted down from the other end of the corner. Venus and I turned around, watching as a boy waved Troy over before quickly disappearing round the corner.

I frowned, looking up at Troy for answers. "Fight?"

"Uh, sorry, I gotta go," he said quickly, almost tripping over his own feet as he began to rush down the corridor.

Venus watched him leave through a glare, before turning back to me, looking confused. "There's a fight?"

I'd been left puzzled for a few moments too, until I suddenly put two and two together. "Assholes," I muttered, beginning to head off down the corridor, following the direction Troy left in.

"What?" Venus questioned, calling after me as she attempted to keep up.

"The fight, they're going to try and make Liam shift!" I shouted back, picking up a noise, as if on cue, that sounded like the egging on of a crowd.

I rushed down the corridor, Venus hot on my trail, my heart racing once I spotted the crowd gathering in the doorway to a classroom.

I pushed my way through, ignoring the harsh looks I was being given after shoving a few people aside. "Move!" Venus snapped at someone from behind me, as I managed to place myself towards the front of the crowd – right behind Mason, who was being held back by a few of the lacrosse guys.

"What the hell are you doing?"

❥

A/N

Bex ready to save the day lmao

Sorry for not updating in ages again. I finally have a week off now, so I'm gonna hopefully spend some time writing and getting some more updates done on this.

In the meantime, look forward to the shitstorm of the next chapter 😂