Page 27 of Another Love, Another Time
“You know why? Because it really wasn’t what you wanted. You did it because you were upset with Auggie. You can’t use other people like that. It will never work. I don’t know if your dad would agree, but you should be putting yourself out there. Having boyfriends of your own. Is there anyone you might be interested in at school? You don’t have to be boyfriend and girlfriend, but you could go hang out, watch a movie, whatever kids your age do nowadays. What you don’t need to do is let Auggie have all the fun. You need to be doing the same thing. Got it?”
“You know what? You’re right. I should be having fun too. I have a boy who’s been asking me out for a while. Maybe I’ll give him a chance.” I’m over here moping around. I’m no ugly duckling.
Liam Banks. He’s cute. He’s on the basketball team, and he seems nice. We have a couple of classes together, and we sit at the same lunch table. A lot of the girls think he’s cute, but I haven’t seen him go out with any of them. He’s been asking to hang out for a while, but I’ve told him no. Now, maybe I’ll take him up on his offer. He sent me a friend request on Facebook a few weeks ago that I never accepted. I didn’t want to give him the wrong idea. One of the conditions of my having a Facebook page was that I had to keep everything private, and I could only be friends with people my parents knew about.
I pull up the Facebook app and go to my friend’s request. My thumb hovers over the “accept” button. Why am I so nervous?
I take a deep breath, let it out, take the plunge, and hit the accept button.
“FYI,” I say, “I have a new Facebook friend. His name is Liam Banks. You can check out his profile if you want.”
“Maybe later. Thanks for letting me know,” she answers and then turns up the radio, knowing the conversation is over. I feel my phone vibrate and see I have a new message.
LIAM: Hi. I see U finally accepted my friend request. Thanks. Took U long enough.
RIVER: Your background check just came back. You’re clean btw.
LIAM: I think UR kidding, but I never know w U.
RIVER: You can’t tell?
LIAM: No, I can never tell. U R hard to read. UR like other girls.
RIVER: Is that a good thing or a bad thing?
LIAM: It’s definitely a good thing. It’s one of the reasons I like U.
RIVER: There’s more?
LIAM: More what?
RIVER: Reasons you like me
LIAM: Well yeah
I don’t usually flirt, but this feels good. Normal. Natural. Hopefully, he knows I’m flirting too.
RIVER: Like?
LIAM: Man, U don’t hold any punches, do U?
RIVER: You want me to go easy on you?
LIAM: No, I like a challenge.
RIVER: Yeah, me too. So?
LIAM: Sooo?
RIVER: The other reasons why you like me?
LIAM: Ok killer calm down. Another reason is UR feisty. U don’t just agree. If U disagree with something you tell it like it is.
RIVER: What else?
LIAM: I like UR smile.
RIVER: Cheesy, but keep going…
