Liam's Story - Part Three

Liam awoke to his alarm clock as it began ringing in his ear at exactly 5:30 a.m. He his the snooze button and yawned and groaned as he rolled over, desperate for a little more sleep. He never liked getting up, he was always content to lie around in bed all day. He was the kind that didn't mind sleeping the day away; he wouldn't be missing much, anyway, except maybe a few of the bullies that were after him, and he could definitely live with that. With a heavy sigh, he dragged himself out of bed and stumbled toward his closet, where he sleepily pulled out a red shirt with flames licking the sides. He liked that shirt; Chris had gotten it for him for his birthday last year. It still fit, which wasn't really a surprise to him. He was rather small and thin for someone of his fourteen years. He tossed his old shirt off and pulled the red one over his head with yet another yawn. Next, he grabbed a pair of shapeless faded blue jeans, pulling them on and zipping them up.

He moved to the small bathroom that was in his room, and splashed some water on his face to wake him up. He rubbed at his eyes to get the sleep out of them. His head gave a slight throb, but that was normal when he woke up. He always had a headache when he woke up, but it was nothing a little aspirin wouldn't cure. Sometimes, aspirin wasn't even required, which was a good thing, because aspirin was hard to get when you didn't have much money. He always tried to make what little aspirin he could get his hands on last for as long as it could, what with all his headaches and whatnot.

He grabbed his brush and ran it through his tangled mass of sandy colored hair, tugging at the rats. Once he was finished, he pulled out his toothbrush and opened the cabinet, grabbing the toothpaste. As he shut the cabinet with the mirror on it, he thought he saw something behind him. He spun around quickly, fearing that he'd forgotten to lock the door last night or that someone had broken in. But no one was there, he was all by his lonesome self in the bathroom.

'Stop that,' he thought to himself. 'You're being paranoid, Liam. That's never good.'

He shrugged to himself and wetted his toothbrush before he put some toothpaste on it, and began brushing his teeth. He spat in the sink when he was done, and then washed it clean. He grabbed the mouthwash and a small Dixie cup, pouring the mouthwash into it. He sighed and brought the cup to his lips, where he forced it into his mouth and gargled it for a moment, before he spat that out into the sink as well.

He absolutely hated mouthwash. He hated the taste it left in his mouth. He rinsed his Dixie cup out and filled it with water. He gargled that for a moment, trying to rid himself of that dreadful peppermint taste the mouthwash left in his mouth.

Once finished, he threw the cup in the waste basket next to the sink and exited the bathroom. He shuffled over to the small desk in his room and picked his books up off of it, stuffing them into his backpack before he zipped it up and hefted it over his left shoulder. Ready, he unlocked his door and opened it.

Charles was standing there, waiting for him, along with Danny and Samuel. "Bout time," Danny commented with a grin. "What took ya?"

Liam frowned. "It said it was only 5:45-"

"I'm just messin' with ya," said Danny.

Liam smiled slowly. "You have issues."

"Indeed I do," said Danny.

"Ugh, please, don't encourage him," scowled Samuel. "Don't forget, I have to share a room with him. He's bad enough as it is."

Danny smiled at him. "Aw, c'mon, I make your life fun."

Samuel rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

Charles smirked at the two of them. "Ya ready to go to school now?"

Samuel sighed. "Unfortunately. Where's Chris and Evan?"

"They went ahead. Something about a girl named Daisy-"

Danny sighed. "Yeah, the hot chick with the long sexy legs, and the wavy brown hair-" he caught Charles looking at him with a scowl. "Sorry," he said with a nervous chuckle. "But it's true."

Charles rolled his eyes. "C'mon, lover boy."

"Hey, they're the ones who love her, not me. I was just telling you what she looked like," commented Danny in defense. He followed after Charles as he started to walk down the hall. Liam trailed behind them, with Samuel walking at his side.

They exited the orphanage and went over to wait for their bus. Liam was quiet all the while, feeling as if he were being watched. Unsure of why he was feeling that way, he could only ignore it for the time being. He still had that get-together at the cafe to look forward to after school. He still couldn't believe he was invited. That hardly ever happened.

The bus came soon enough, and they filed on along with a bunch of other kids. As usual, they sat in the back, Liam in the last seat next to the window, Charles sitting next to him. Evan and Chris were sitting in their usual spot, as well, right next to Charles and Liam. Danny looked at the two of them and then looked outside, before he smirked slowly.

"Didn't get in, did ya?" he asked, snickering at Chris and Evan.

Evan scowled. "Blame lover boy over here. He couldn't stand that she liked me the best."

"You?" Chris scoffed. "What's to like about YOU? She was into ME! Get your eyes checked."

Evan rolled his eyes.

Samuel sighed. "And here starts round four of Evan vs. Chris in the challenge of winning Daisy over," he commented dryly.

Liam smiled. "Yeah, wonder who will win this round. What's the score so far?"

"Chris two, Evan one. If Evan wins this one, it'll be a tie," said Samuel.

Liam nodded.
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Liam walked down the hallway in the school, holding his Science notebook in his left hand, along with his Science book. He heard a laughing sound, and didn't move fast enough, as his book and notebook were both flung out of his hands. Gavin stopped in front of him, his foot on his Science book.

"Where are your friends now, huh?" he asked, laughing. "What are you gonna do now, freak?"

Liam sighed heavily. "C'mon, Gavin, knock it off." he bent down to grab his Science book. Gaving kicked it away. "Gavin-"

"Boys," said Gavin. "I say we teach him a lesson."

Two more boys came to Liam's side. One grabbed one of his arms while the other grabbed his other arm, and they hauled him upright, forcing him to abandon trying to get the Science book or notebook.

"Can't hide behind your friends now, can ya?" Gavin taunted.

Liam sighed again, not in the mood. "C'mon, Gavin, I'm not in the mood."

"Do I care if you're in the mood? No, I don't." Gavin smirked. "Boys, if you would please."

The one on Liam's right took his fist and punched him in the side, right in the rib cage. He hissed, but managed to suppress the yelp that threatened to bellow out as pain soared through his body. 'Not again,' he thought to himself. 'Damn them.'

The one on his left took his fist to his stomach, forcing him to double over as the breath wheezed out of him. He struggled to regain it, but befor he could, Gavin added a hit of his own, kicking his leg out and hitting him in the chest. He flew backward and landed on his back, his head smacking against the tiled floor hard, leaving him dizzy and in pain. He gasped for breath, winded.

Gavin laughed. "I'll get you later, freak. I have to get class for now, but don't think this is over." he laughed and kicked Liam's Science book toward him, successfully hitting him in the ribs. Liam gasped and rolled over onto his side, gripping his side tightly. Gavin and his two boys walked away, leaving him there on the floor.

"Damn you..." Liam whispered as he struggled to sit up. The world spun for a moment, and he had to close his eyes with a small groan before it would stop. 'This just isn't my day,' he thought to himself. He tried to get up, but pain shot through his body because of his right side, and he gasped and went back down, clutching his side tightly. He quickly pulled his shirt up and looked at his side.

His ribcage was black and blue on the right side. Because he was so small and thin, he got hurt easily, and the hard, nasty punch and the hit from the book had pretty much done him in. He sighed painfully. It hurt to breath in or out too deeply. He slowly struggled to his feet, trying to keep from hissing in pain.

'Now,' he thought to himself. 'How am I going to hide this from everyone?' His head gave a sharp pound, reminding him of his head hitting the ground. He winced as he brought a hand up and rubbed at it. 'Ow. That's not good.'

He sighed heavily and bent down to pick his book and notebook up. Pain flared through his body, but he did his best to ignore it. He shuffled down the hallway again, hurrying to class, trying to straighten his clothes out from Gavin's attack.

"Liam?" a voice behind him asked.

He froze and turned to see who it was. It was Skimmer, watching him with a concerned expression. "Er...yes, sir?"

"Are you okay? You're moving weird," he commented, coming closer.

"I'm fine, sir," he said. "I fell. That's all."

"Are you sure? You seem to be favoring your right side. Is something wrong, Liam?"

"No, sir, I'm fine."

Skimmer sighed heavily. "You don't look 'fine'."

"I am," Liam assured him. "Just peachy, sir."

"Well...if you say so. But if you have any problems, tell me."

"Of course, sir," he said. 'Like I would,' he thought to himself. 'For all I know, you're with Ratchet and want to get rid of me. And the other orphans.' He hated to think that. Skimmer had been good to him, had never really wronged him, but still, he just couldn't be trusted. But maybe he was just being paranoid. He wasn't sure.

Skimmer frowned. "Well, get on to class then, Liam. And try not to favor that side too much; you'll make your other side start to ache." he sighed and turned to walk away, slowly. Perhaps he was waiting for Liam to call him back, maybe even hoping he would so that he could help.

But Liam would not call him back. He didn't want his help. It would only make things worse than they already were, and he just couldn't deal with that. He turned with a small sigh and started walking down the hallway.

Skimmer looked back at him for a moment, worry evident in his deep gray, tired eyes. "Poor kid," he said to himself.
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Liam winced as he slowly took his shirt off in the bathroom in his room at the orphanage after school. The shirt brushed against his ribs and made him hiss in pain. He looked at his ribs in the mirror, and grimaced at what he saw. He could clearly see the crack. Perhaps the break. He had at least one broken rib, maybe more. And if it wasn't broken, then it was cracked pretty bad. He sighed heavily and hung his head low as his head gave a sharp pound.

He couldn't go to the cafe like this. He would slow everyone down and wouldn't be able to enjoy himself or act like himself. Unable to act like himself, his friends would worry about him the whole time, and he didn't want that. They should get to enjoy the get-together at least, even if he couldn't.

He opened the cabinet and pulled out some bandaging. Carefully, slowly, he wrapped it around his torso, around the dark black spot. He gasped aloud, and then flinched because gasping made his ribs hurt all the more. He tied the bandaging and slowly stumbled out of the bathroom, staggering to his bed, where he eased onto it and lay down, staring up a the ceiling as he lay on his back.

He was content to lie there, not moving. But someone knocked at his door, dragging him out of the peace and quiet that he had reached somehow.

"Liam?" Charles called through the door. "You comin' or what?"

Liam sighed. "You go ahead," he called, hoping his voice was loud enough to carry through the door. It hurt to yell, and he didn't wish to do it more than he had to, or louder than he had to. "I'm not going."

"What?" Charles asked at the door. "Not going? Why not? I thought you were happy about it."

"I was," he called back. "But I'm not going. You go on without me."

"Liam, open the door."

"No," he called not wishing to get up, and not wishing to open the door so he could see his bandages. "I"m...doing my homework."

"You didn't have any homework!"

Liam frowned. He didn't. He'd left his backpack and books in his locker at school. "I'm busy," he called. "Just go without me."

"Liam, c'mon, what's wrong?"

"Just go," he called. "Have fun. Tell me about it later."

"Liam-"

"Charles, go! I'll be fine here. Go have fun."

"...If...that's what you want," Charles called.

"Yes, it's what I want. Go have fun."

Slow footsteps announced Charles's reluctant retreat. Liam sighed heavily and gazed up at the ceiling. The one time he was invited to something, and he couldn't go. And it was all because of Gavin and his cronies.

"Damn him," Liam mumbled to himself. "I hate him."