Chapter 3

3

Liam was in a corner booth, chatting and laughing with a girl.

She reached out and playfully tapped his forehead.

So comfortable, so familiar.

I knew her.

Liam's childhood friend. They grew up together, and were as close as they could be without actually being together, afraid of wrecking things and losing their friendship.

Honestly, I was glad they weren't together, where would I fit in?

I stood by the door for a minute, and no one noticed me.

That familiar feeling of being out of place started creeping up again. It was like being eighteen, when I'd gone to the bar to see Ethan, and felt totally lost and awkward when I'd opened the door.

I realized it then, and I knew it now: I didn't belong here.

Back then, I'd tried to pretend it didn't bother me, because I loved Ethan.

Now, I tried to ignore it, because I loved money.

I walked over to Liam, and touched his shoulder.

His eyes flickered over to me.

I saw his smile fade.

I forced a sweet smile, and brushed some hair off his forehead. "Sorry, I had a late shift at work."

He finally snapped out of it, and took my hand, his face concerned. "Are they not keeping it warm enough in here? Your hand is so cold."

"Maybe the temperature difference inside and outside threw me off, are you okay?" I went to pull my hand back.

He held on. "I just don't want you to get cold."

The room went quiet, the atmosphere went weird. I heard a voice, "Hey Liam, is this the mysterious girlfriend? You barely show her off! Introduce her, man."

I looked over at the voice.

It was coming from a dude in a loud baseball jacket, sitting next to Ethan, looking a little reckless.

Ethan was leaning back in his chair, toying with a lighter.

Click, click, click.

His signature when he was annoyed.

Liam stood up, put his arm around my waist, and led me into the circle. "Guys, this is Willow, my girlfriend."

"Girlfriend? The ring says she's practically a fiancée! When's the wedding?" Someone noticed the ring and cracked a joke.

My hand clenched, then relaxed.

Liam stiffened, then quickly recovered. "When you all have your presents ready, I'm good to go."

Someone made another joke, and Liam backed me up. "She gets embarrassed easily, you can joke with me, but leave her alone."

More jokes followed.

Liam got dragged away to the bar, and I was left alone. So, I went back to scrolling through my phone.

I didn't really do anything on it.

No reality TV, no video games, no reading, no TikTok.

I liked spacing out, but spacing out in a loud party felt wrong.

So, I started eating.

Slowly, picking at the appetizers on the table.

I hadn't had dinner. I was kind of hungry.

I sat in that private room for two hours and nineteen minutes.

I ate a small cake, three cherry tomatoes, and drank two juice glasses.

I felt eyes on me, watching the whole time.

But I never looked back.