Falling Away #Watty 2023

•Chapter 44•

I leaned against the counter as the waitress passed the banana smoothie to me. I took a sip and headed toward the nearby booth, scrolling through my phone for any new messages from Gemma. Another sip of the drink.

"I didn't know you and Dylan are together now," Liam said as he took a seat opposite me.

I looked up at him briefly and then returned my attention to my phone without a word to him. The waitress served him an apple fizz cocktail, and he took a sip before leaning closer, his hand resting on the table.

"I never meant to leave you. It was never my intention. I love you, Zoey," Liam lamented. "It was all Mrs. Lanai's idea. She said no one should be aware of my whereabouts."

I glanced up at him, feeling a surge of anger but restraining it as I listened patiently to what he had to say.

"I wanted to tell you. I wanted to call you that evening when the news first came out. Mrs. Lanai forbid me. She said it was a bad idea, that everyone knew you and I were together, and the first place my father would come to was your house. I disagreed with her at first, but she gave me good reasons why it's better for me to leave," he explained, his eyes filled with tears.

As he continued, everything seemed off to me. I wasn't going to buy it, anyway.

"She promised me she was going to tell you, that I shouldn't bother. I was scared, Zoey. After all my dad did, I wanted revenge. Once I heard he escaped from prison, I was aiming for him. I wanted to stab him." Tears rolled down his cheeks as he continued. "I wanted to escape from the house. I was going crazy. But Mrs. Lanai stopped me. She said the only way to ease the pain is to be away from it. She wanted me to start all over in New York."

No matter how angry I was about him leaving me, I was sober when I listened to his explanation. I didn't know what to do at that moment; I was confused. "I met your dad," the words fell out of my mouth before I could hold them in.

His eyes widened. "Did he do something to you? Did he try to harm you?" He asked in haste.

"No, he didn't. He was sad. He said he regretted everything he did and wanted to beg for your forgiveness. He never wanted to harm you," I muttered slowly.

Liam balled his hand into a fist. "After all he did, how did he expect me to ever find a place in my heart to forgive him? I hate him, and I want him dead."

"I think he deserves your forgiveness," I mumbled, looking down at my cup of smoothie on the table.

"I hope someday he'll rot in hell," he said, wiping his eyes with his hand. He stood up angrily to leave.

"I thought you never meant to leave me, then why did you start dating Mackenzie?" I asked, looking up at him.

Liam turned in shock, speechless for a while. When he didn't say anything, I decided to continue. "Did someone persuade you to date her?"

He sat down gently. I'm sure there was no explanation for that, so I waited patiently for him to say something. But what he said sent shocks through me. "I never loved her. In my first week at Columbia, she told me she had a crush on me and wanted us to date."

I didn't know how to process everything he was saying. I gave a quick glance at Mackenzie, who was happily chatting with Layla and Dylan.

"How can you say that?" I whispered. "Do you know how much Mackenzie loves you? I barely knew you were the one she was talking about when she told me about you."

He shoved his hand into his hair. "I love you, Zoey, and I don't want to spend a day without you anymore."

Was this guy crazy or what?

"I'm over you, and it's a part of me now to stay away from you," I said firmly.

"Zoey, I can break up with Mackenzie if that will make you come back to me."

"No, you can't. Don't do that because of me," I pleaded.

"What do you want? I'll do anything. I promise."

I stood up and spared him one last stare. "I want you to stay away from me," I said and walked away.

I SAT NEXT TO LAYLA, trying to concentrate on their conversation, but deep within me, I was worried. Not because of Liam's confession of his love for me, but because he wanted to leave Mackenzie.

"I've decided on the perfect outfit for Liam and me. Friday night movie is going to be awesome," Mackenzie exclaimed. "I was thinking of matching t-shirts."

"That's so cool. I don't really know if I'll be going with you guys. I have a bunch of books to read for Professor Wellman's test on Monday," Layla said.

"What about you, Zoey? Are you gonna come?" Mackenzie asked, turning to me.

"Me?" I asked in shock. "I'm not really a fan of movies."

"She'll come with me," Dylan interjected, sparing an assuring look my way.

I opened my mouth to say something but spotted Liam walking toward our direction. I forced a smile Dylan's way. "I'll go to the movies with Dylan. I think we should wear matching outfits too."

Dylan arched an eyebrow at me, then drifted his gaze toward Liam, who took his seat beside Mackenzie, listening to our conversation.

"That's a great idea. I was thinking oxblood polo shirts," Dylan said.

"Wow, oxblood is a nice color," Layla added.

Mackenzie held onto Liam, resting her head on his shoulder. "You guys are getting too fast with this couple thing."

I gulped. "We're not dating," I blurted out.

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