Part 3The Promise

The next morning, Liam cornered me on my way to school.

"You're leaving this late? You skipped breakfast again, didn't you?"

The casual, familiar tone of his voice made me flinch. He held out a paper bag from our favorite bakery.

"Chloe," he said, his voice softer now. "What I said yesterday… I didn't mean it to be about you. I was just angry at my parents."

I took a step back, away from the bag. "No thanks. The thought of eating anything from you makes me sick."

His hand dropped. He just stared at me, his jaw tight. "Okay. You got your shot in. Are we good now?" He took a breath. "Look, I just want to ask you not to give Tessa a hard time. She didn't do anything wrong. I went after her."

As it turned out, I didn't have to give her a hard time. She brought it to me.

I had just gotten to class and sat down when Tessa walked over, holding a carton of milk. Her voice was just loud enough to cut through the quiet morning chatter.

"CeeCee," she said, her voice dripping with fake sweetness. "Can you forgive me? I brought you this as a peace offering."

Every eye in the room was on us.

I looked from the milk to her face. "Forgive you for what?"

She placed the carton on my desk, her eyes welling up. "I never should have accepted Liam's friend request. I didn't know he was… yours." She reached out and tugged on my sleeve, her voice catching. "Please don't be mad at me, CeeCee. If you want him back, I'll… I'll give him back."

Before I could respond, Tessa’s best friend, Maya, cut in.

"Seriously, Tessa? Why are you apologizing?" she said loudly. "Chloe and Liam are just friends. You didn't steal her boyfriend. And Chloe," she said, turning to me, "maybe you could drop the ice princess act for five seconds?"

It was a perfectly executed performance.

"You two are good," I said flatly. "Good cop, bad cop, right?"

I pulled my arm away from Tessa’s grasp. I didn't use much force, but she let out a theatrical gasp and stumbled backward, crashing right into my desk.

"Ah!"

The carton of milk went flying, splashing all over her shirt.

And that’s when Liam walked in.

"Tessa, are you okay?" he rushed to her side, shrugging off his jacket and wrapping it around her shoulders, his eyes filled with concern.

"I'm fine, Liam," she sniffled.

The other students were all looking at me like I was a monster.

"What are you all looking at me for?" I said, a bitter laugh escaping my lips. "She tripped."

Liam heard me. I know he did. But all his attention was on Tessa. "I'm taking you to the nurse's office. Just hang on."

He scooped her up into his arms and carried her out of the classroom without a single glance in my direction. It was like I was invisible.

That afternoon, Maya got her revenge. As I was coming back from the water fountain, she deliberately slammed into me, spilling her entire cup of bright red slushie down my front and knocking me to the floor.

"Oops," she said with a shrug. "My bad." Then she walked away.

I looked up and saw Liam standing down the hall. Our eyes met. He just stood there, watching me, his expression as cold and distant as if he were looking at a stranger.

…

Just before the final bell rang, I walked back into the classroom, soaked and shivering. In my hand, I held a thermos. Without a word, I walked over to Maya's desk, unscrewed the cap, and poured the steaming, pale-yellow liquid over her head.

"I did it on purpose," I said, my voice eerily calm. "And I'm not sorry."

She shrieked, jumping up. "What is this! What did you pour on me?!"

I just smiled. It wasn't until the whole thing blew up and we were in the principal's office that I clarified.

"It was just hot water," I said. "And two tea bags."