Chapter 14: Awkward ride
Liam had been paying attention to what the teacher was saying so he didn't hear what Harry said the first time. He turned to look at the backseat where his friend was seated and raised a questioning brow at him.
"Her..." Harry whispered while pointing at a girl who was seated at the left row, the seat in front of Oliver's.
"She has been staring at you like forever!"
Liam furrowed his brow and looked at her direction. True to his friend's words, she turned to look at him and smiled when their eyes locked. He didn't bother to return her smile before turning to glare at Harry.
"You should pay attention to the teacher instead." He lectured.
"Oh please, Liam! Tell me it's not better to look at Rachel than looking at boring Mr Spencer?"
"No talking in class! Liam, Harry, last warning." Mr Spencer growled at the two boys.
All eyes turned to look at them including Rachel's. When Liam looked at her again, he saw her blush. She was probably guessing they had been talking about her.
Liam briefly noticed Oliver kept his gaze ahead like he was not concerned with whatever was going on inside the class.
Oliver wasn't his business, so he looked ahead and paid no heed to Harry until the class was over. Immediately Mr Spencer went out, Harry did not waste time to throw himself in front of Liam's desk, literally kicking Liam's quiet seatmate out.
"You should ask her out! She has been giving you all the signs for the past 30 years. She is very pretty, her parents are super rich, and she is awfully smart. I believe she is the chosen one. Do not miss this Liam." Harry said passionately.
"So much exaggeration." Liam hissed.
"I have to study. Girls aren't my problem right now."
"Girls have never been your problem! If I didn't know you too well, I'd think you played for the different team." He wiggled his brows at him.
As usual, Liam ignored him and began to pack his books.
"Tell me the truth..." Harry eyed him suspiciously before sitting beside him.
"Are you..." Harry looked around to be sure no one was within earshot before he asked, "...not functioning down there?" He lowered his gaze to a particular region below Liam's belt and received a smack on his head.
"Are you crazy?" Liam sounded upset.
"Then what's wrong? Girls keep troubling me to hook them up with you. If you had a girlfriend, I wouldn't be going through all of that. Besides, I'm tired of spreading rumours and telling people how you change girls every hour just so they wouldn't suspect you have some kind of.... personal problems." He whispered.
"And those rumours are something to be proud of?" Liam scoffed. "We are going to be out of high school in a few months and I need to get into a good college. You should be thinking about that also."
"Screw that! We are leaving here soon so you should enjoy your time. Besides, we can always get into a good university through a scholarship. I mean, you are the star player of the soccer team. And me, star of the basketball team." He said proudly. "We should score as many girls as we can before we hop off to college. What do you think?" He asked with a hopeful smile.
"I think... we should join a group tutorial." Liam said seriously.
"Seriously dude? The fuck's wrong with you? Why are you suddenly so passionate about education? That's so creepy bro."
Ever since Liam's mother, Elizabeth, fell sick, he has been doing a lot of self reflection and realised what a shitty life he had been living. He wanted to make his parents proud of him and didn't want to make his mother worry while she underwent treatment. Even if it meant attending tutorials and taking his time to study instead of having fun, he would gladly do that.
Harry wanted to say more but their attention moved to where Oliver was seated when they heard Rachel talking to him.
"Can I have your number?" Rachel asked a little too loudly which got the attention of at least half of the class.
She was really pretty, her father was one of the major sponsors of the school and she was smart on top of it all, who wouldn't want her?
But wasn't she the same person who had been flirting with Liam for a long time? How come she moved to Oliver within a split second.
Harry fumed. "That nasty..." He paused when Sophie appeared behind him and touched his shoulder.
"She was flirting with Liam the whole class!" He continued.
"She probably wants to make Liam jealous. Silly girl." Sophie added.
Liam looked unconcerned but for some reason, he was curious as to what Oliver would say or do. Oliver didn't only appear to be rude and indifferent about other things, he had a girlfriend so he was certain Oliver would turn her down.
Remembering their encounter this morning, he didn't know if he should regret agreeing to hitch a ride with him or not.
The chances he got to hop on a bike, he had been the one controlling the machine instead of staying behind so riding with Oliver had been a really awkward experience for him.
One time, he accidentally grabbed Oliver's shoulder when they passed a rough patch and felt Oliver stiffen before he stopped the bike abruptly. That action caused him to grab Oliver tighter.
"I. SAID. NO. TOUCHING!" Oliver had sounded pissed.
Liam removed his hands and raised them.
"Chill dude, it was a mistake."
Oliver had looked like he wanted to say something else but he let it go and started the bike again. Liam made it a conscious effort to not touch Oliver this time even if he was going to fall off the bike but thankfully, he managed to not fall until the bike came to an abrupt stop again.
"Get down!" Oliver demanded.
"What? Why? I didn't touch you again!" He said defensively.
"I suppose you wouldn't want the other kids to see you riding behind me. We are close to the school gate."
That made sense. He would die of embarrassment if his classmates or anyone from their school saw him. Why didn't he think of that?
He quickly got down but before he could get the chance to take off the helmet and hand it back to the owner, Oliver rode off.
"Sure."
He returned to reality when he heard Oliver's quiet voice talking to Rachel.
What was happening?
He saw Oliver collect Rachel's phone and type in his number.
Did he just....???
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone