Playing With Fire

Andrea and Liam- Age 13 part 1

Andrea and Liam- Age 13

Jayme and Andrea have become really close over the years and have become inseparable ever since Jayme moved into town. After the incident with Liam pushing Andrea off the swing causing her to cut the back of her head, things were pretty tense between the two, making remarks towards each other when they were at their parent’s house. At school, they completely avoided each other. But neither of them noticed the other staring at the other from a distance.

Liam’s friends would tease him about his crush on Andrea and, of course, being the tough 13-year-old boy he is, would deny it, because at 13, liking someone who your friends make fun of just makes things worse.

She didn’t know, but he would watch her from afar, making sure she was okay. No matter how tense things got between the two of them, he would always watch out for her.

He also wanted to make sure his friends stayed away from her. Not because of the teasing, but because he liked her. His crush made him overly protective and he would tell his friends that she wasn’t allowed to hang out with other guys without her dad's permission. He was just too nervous to say anything to her, but he kept telling himself that she was like his sister. What he didn’t know was that she did the same thing.

She would see him hanging out with his friends and hear the comments that he said about them being like siblings, breaking her heart and all hope she had that he would feel the same. She would go home and cry over her broken heart, writing in her diary about how much she hated him. But she never did hate him.

The school announced their annual spring dance for the 8th graders. Girls were being asked to the dance left and right, but not one approached her. She was a very pretty girl and she took care of herself, so it confused her when no one asked. She was on the phone with Jayme one night talking about the dance.

“I don’t know Jay; I think I’ll just skip it and stay home. There’s no point in going if I don’t have someone to go with.” She said, bummed.

“Don’t stay home, come with me!” Jayme asked.

“I can’t do that; you’re going with Collin. I’ll be the third wheel.”

“I just won’t go with him then. You’re more important to me and I’ll go with you.” She exclaimed, making her best friend smile on the other side of the phone.

“I’ll give it a couple more days. I’ll let you know.” There was a knock on her bedroom door and it was her mom.

“Hey sweetie, someone is here to see you. Do you want to come downstairs?” her mom asked.

“Not really, I’m on the phone with Jay. Is it important?” she asked, covering the speaker of the phone.

“Kind of. Tell Jayme you’ll call her back later and I’ll send your guest up to your room.” She turned away and headed downstairs.

“Um…I guess I’ll call you back later. Someone is here to see me and mom said it’s important.”

“You better call me back. Maybe someone is here to ask you to the dance!” Jayme got excited.

“No, because mom would never let a boy in my room.” There was a knock on the door. “I gotta go. I’ll call you later or I’ll see you at school.” She hung the phone up and walked to her door and opened it.

There stood Liam. The look on her face could put him in his grave. She just glared at him, “Go away” she said in distaste, and went to close the door, but he put his foot in the doorframe to stop it.

“Can we please talk?” he pleaded.

“I don’t want to talk to you. Just, please, go away.”

“Please, it’s important,” he begged.

She rolled her eyes at him and stepped to the side, letting him walk into the room. He walked in quickly and went to sit on the bench at the end of her bed. She stood in front of him from the other side of the room with her arms crossed, protecting herself, showing she was angry, but most of all, shielding her heart.

“Can you sit down please?” he asked, so she sat down on the floor where she stood. “Can you stop being a pain in the butt and come here and sit next to me?”

“Why? So you can hurt me or make fun of me?” she snapped at him.

“Please, I’m trying to be sincere.” She huffed and picked herself off the floor and slowly walked over and sat next to him on the bench.

They sat there in silence for a few moments, him looking around her room. It has changed over the past few years since he hasn’t been there. There was a new coat of paint, changing the room from the pink that he remembered to a soft purple with posters adorning her wall of her favorite bands and actors. There was a shelf with a few medals and awards from when she played soccer and volleyball over the past 2 years.

“I like what you did to your room. It’s more you.” He said, still looking at all the changes, avoiding her eyes.

“If you wanted to see my room, you could have asked my mom to take a picture for you and give it to you.” She rolled her eyes.

“That’s not why I’m here, I wanted to talk to you.”

She c****d her eyebrow, “Okay, speak.”

“Stop that. I’m not a dog.”

“You might as well be. You act like one.” There was a slight pause between the remarks going back and forth.

After an awkward moment of silence, he decided to ask the question that was burning in his chest, “Why do you hate me?” He looked down towards his knees, his hands running up and down them, showing he was nervous.

“Me? hate you? You hate me!” she said.

“I don’t hate you Andy.” He sighed. “I never hated you.”

“Well, you have a weird way of showing it,” She softly said.

“What do you mean?” He finally looked up at her with a questioning look in his eyes. He really wanted to know what she was thinking and feeling because he needed to know if she felt the same.

“You make fun of me all the time with your friends. You don’t talk to me anymore. You never come over and when you do, you avoid me."

“What have you heard me say that made you think I was making fun of you?” he asked. “I never said anything bad. I just said you’re like my sister.”

“Well, you don’t stop your friends from saying anything and that's just as bad.”

“I’m sorry Andy. I really am. Can we please be friends again? I miss you.”

“Are you just saying that because Aunt Tori told you to come talk to me?” His eyes went wide in surprise. “I heard them talking to you about it last week, so there’s no point in lying about it.”

“Well, what can I do to prove to you that I mean it? That I want to be friends again?”

“Talk to me Liam. Talk to me at school. Come hang out with me after school sometimes, like we used to, and no more pushing me off stuff."

“You’re never going to let me forget that, are you?” She smiled and shook her head no. “How about you go to the dance with me then?” Her head snapped to him and her eyes went wide.

“You don’t already have a date? I heard that you were going to ask Cindy?” she questioned.

“Nah. Rumors.” He smiled. “I really want to go with you though.” He blushed.

“Why?” she turned away from him for a moment to hide her blushing as well. When he didn’t answer, she turned to look back at him and when she turned back, he was staring at her. We bent over slightly and kissed her cheek. “Why did you do that?” she questioned, putting her hand over the spot where he kissed her.

He shrugged his shoulders, “Because I like you.” He admitted. Her heart started beating fast and she was smiling with delight.

“You do?”

“Yeah. I do.” He grabbed her hand and held it in his. “I really do.”

“I…I like you too, Liam.” She looked up at him.

“Can I kiss you?” he asked, making her turn even more red than she was before. She nodded her head and they both leaned in and closed their eyes, sharing their first kiss with each other. There was a knock on Andy’s door and they pulled away from each other and took their hands away from one another. Her mom popped her head through the door.

“Hey Liam. Your dad wants you home now to get ready for bed.” She interrupted. He stood up and walked over to Laura and hugged her.

“Thank you for letting me see Andy. I’m taking her to the dance.” He smiled.

“Really? Then I will have to take her dress shopping! When is the dance?” Laura asked.

“This Saturday.” She nodded and they said goodbye to Liam as he walked next door to his house.

Her mom walked into Andy’s room and sat next to her. “So, I take it the conversation went well?” she smiled.

“Yes mom. He said sorry and he told me he liked me!” she smiled. “He kissed me.” They kept constant communication, building trust in each other and Andy knew she could talk to her about anything.

“That’s wonderful sweetie. I am so glad you two are working out. We always knew you two were meant to be with each other.” She nudged her shoulder.

“Mom. Stop. It’s just a small kiss and just a dance. It’s not like we’re getting married.” She rolled her eyes and her mother kissed her forehead.

“Get some sleep sweetheart and tomorrow after school we will go dress shopping.”

“Goodnight mom.”

The next day, Jayme met Andy at her locker, surprised to see Liam there. Andy told Jayme that they were going to the dance together and everything that happened last night during their lunch hour and Jayme was beyond excited for her, never seeing her best friend this happy.