Flooded Waters

Chapter 31



   Miss Kanoa left the two of them alone right after Alina overheard her whispers to Liam. Now, the two of them were leaning down on the carpet, their hands busy working on the project. From cutting the paper into little pieces to jotting down notes, they were silent. It was a comfortable silence with little tension.

Alina sighed heavily. She dropped her pencil onto the notepad, her hand cramping. She gazed over to where Liam was busy working on the poster. The scissors in his hands moved quickly across the paper and cut it nearly perfectly.

"We've been working on this project for about an hour," Alina paused and caught Liam's attention. He agreed, nodding his head. "Should we maybe discuss Noah's strange disappearance?" She lowered her voice to a soft whisper.

Liam licked his dry lips as if in deep thought. He didn't respond for a while, busy thinking about his decision. "Sure."

Alina half-smiled and helped Liam clean up their messy area. She picked up the markers that were scattered across the carpet and placed them back into her yellow pencil case.

After the carpet was completely clean, the two of them plopped onto Liam's bed. It was very comfy, Alina's criss-crossed legs sinking into the soft mattress. Liam sat right across from her.

"So," she began, pulling out an additional notebook that she had kept to jot down notes about Noah's disappearance. "What do we know about his disappearance so far?"

Sometimes Alina questioned why she was helping her ex-best friend, Mabel, find her brother. Maybe it was because she cared. Maybe Alina still held onto the tiny sliver of hope that someday their friendship would be mended back together. But for now, they had to stay as strangers who once shared every secret to each other.

Liam did a quick run-down of what they already knew. Noah had been missing for a while now and he had disappeared once before. The rumors that were sent by an anonymous user on Twitter might be connected with his disappearance. Lastly, some people in both of their friend groups were acting suspicious.

It was hard to decide on who could possibly be the most suspicious. Maybe even Liam was behind this. Alina couldn't trust anyone, but somehow she trusted Liam to be innocent. She believed in him. Why?

There was no time to rethink her decisions. They had a mystery to solve. She pushed the thoughts and the unanswered questions to the back of her mind.

Liam grabbed the notepad from Alina's hand, scribbling down something on the paper. He handed it back with blushing cheeks. He smiled, but Alina could see right through him. Liam acted like he was happy, but his eyes said some other emotion -- sadness.

Alina placed her hand over his, which was resting on his lap. He flinched, but let her hand stay cupped over his cold ones.

"Are you okay?" She asked in a gentle whisper. Liam nodded, but she could tell he was lying. Something was wrong. Giving him an are-you-serious look, he finally blurted it out.

"No," he exhaled, shying away from Alina's stare.

Alina frowned. What was wrong? He seemed just fine minutes ago. What had happened? "What's wrong?" She squeezed his hand like the supportive friend she was.

He didn't answer, but when Alina repeated her question, he finally gave in. "It doesn't matter," he mumbled under his breath. Liam didn't meet her eyes. Was he embarrassed?

"No, Liam," Alina interrupted, grasping his hand. "It matters to me. What's wrong?"

He stared at their intertwined hands, panning up her arm and to her face. She removed her hand from his awkwardly, completely embarrassed. Liam kept his mouth shut and Alina didn't pressure him into responding anytime soon. Whatever was bothering him, she wanted to know because she cared.