Life After Life

•C h a p t e r F o r t y•

My belly was full within half an hour and I pushed aside the empty sandwich plate and salad bowl. I placed my head in my hands, watching Liam work.

He ran his highlighter over the main points, his eyes shooting back and forth across the page. As if on cue, he glanced up at me, his dark eyes meeting mine.

Immediately, I tore my eyes away from him, instead focusing my attention on the mahogany dinner table below me. He chuckled, turning back to his textbook.

I fished out my own textbook from my bag, plopping it onto the table. Liam was inspiring me to study instead of my original plan — lingering around on social media on my phone.

I stretched out my legs from under the table, bringing my feet into contact with Liam's. The side of my foot brushed against his lightly. My lips curled up when he didn't move his feet. His lips twitched up the slightest, but he remained focused on his book.

I willed myself to focus on the material in front of me, reciting the important and testable parts of the chapter to memorize them.

To my dismay, I peeked over at Liam again, to see him highlighting another key word on the same page I was reading.

"You know, that's some mad passive learning," I said, breaking the silence between us.

He placed his highlighter on the table, an amused eyebrow raised at me, "Passive?"

"Yeah, you're just reading it over and highlighting," I explained, nodding over at his textbook. "How do you memorize things like that?"

"It just stays in my brain. How else do you memorize things?" he asked, his brows furrowed.

"I recite the stuff in my head over and over again," I said, as a matter-of-fact.

"Thats inefficient," he chortled, leaning back in his chair, tilting it so that it only the back two legs were making contact with the floor.

"Your method is ineffective," I shot back, challengingly.

We stared each other down for a few moments, our lips pressed flat before the two of us simultaneously dissolved into giggles.

"I'll never get you, or your study methods," I sighed, grinning. "I wonder why I like you so much."

"Because, I'm me," he smirked. Liam tilted his chair back again, shaking his head. A smile played on his lips, "I'm serious though, your method is ineff—"

His words were suddenly cut off and I gasped when his chair tipped back from underneath him, taking him with it. Liam disappeared under the table, landing on the floor with a loud thud, groaning.

"Liam!" I sprung up from my own chair, leaping over towards him.

He sat up on the floor, letting out a sheepish chuckle. His cheeks were crimson when he glanced up at me.

"Are you okay?" I asked, biting back a smile. Now was definitely not the time to laugh. Liam stood before I could even offer to help, placing the chair back upright on the floor.

"I'm fine," he reassured me, scratching the back of his head. "My ass kinda hurts, but I'm fine."

I snorted, rolling my eyes, "That was a visual representation of what happens to people who are over-confident and cocky."

"Why didn't you fall over then?" he said, his brows arched provokingly.

"Then you know what that means," I shrugged, my lips curling up as I sat back down on my seat in front of my textbook. Liam only rolled his eyes, his smile mirroring mine. "Oh, I just remembered, I have a surprise."