192 Chapter 192

Lucy's words lingered in my mind such that I wasn't paying too much attention to anyone around me as I grabbed my books between third and fourth period. So I didn't realize Liam was behind me until I turned around and bumped into him. "Sorry," I muttered, hoping to hurry on my way.

He grabbed my upper arm a little more tightly than I was comfortable with, though I don't think he meant to hurt me. "Hey, Cass," he said. "I just wanted to talk to you for a minute, if you've got a second."

I could tell by his poorly crafted sentence that he was nervous, not that he is usually a wordsmith. "What is it?" I asked. I hadn't really talked to him since the day he'd asked me to the dance, and I'd laughed at him. I mean, I hadn't been rude to him, but I certainly hadn't sought him out. That was last March, over six months ago, and I felt like maybe he could've grown up a little since then, so perhaps I should at least show him the decency to see what he wanted to say.