Chapter 11

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this." Liam said as they arrived at the house. The music that could be heard from outside as well as the movement that were seen through the window spoke of how large the party was.

With Vincent around he was forced to put aside his flower merging for the moment. They hung out until it was time to go. 

"Stop whining. It's going to be fun." Vincent encouraged, lightly slapping his arm. 

Liam could only shake his head as Vince banged on the door, only for it to swing open a moment later. 

"Vince, you made it!" The boy who fit the description of Nate exclaimed upon seeing his friend. 

"Wouldn't miss it. We would have been here earlier if someone wasn't being a baby." Vince said, giving Liam a not so subtle look. 

Liam rolled his eyes in exasperation as Nate stepped to the side. "Well you're here now. Come on in."

Stepping into the house, the smell of alcohol assaulted Liam's nose, barely stopping himself from making a face. He could even smell some of it on Nate who disappeared to mingle with others. 

He could feel a few gazes on him as he and Vince shuffled through the crowd to the table where refreshments lay. 

"Trust me, you're going to have fun." Vince said, handing him a cup before turning. 

Liam caught his arm before he could get far. "And where do you think you're going?"

"If I hang around you tonight you're not going to branch out and meet new people. That defeats the whole purpose of us coming here." The boy said with a smug smile on his face as Liam freed him. "Have fun." He added before slipping away. 

He barely heard himself sigh as he took a sip from the cup, vaguely aware of someone walking up to him from behind. 

-[Artemis]-

What was she doing here?

Looking around her at the large number of people around her at the party. She didn't even want to come but her friends dragged her here. 

The same friends who ditched her to scope out some guys from the school football team. Eyeing the cup in her hand, she was on her third one of the night. It was more or less due to her being uncomfortable in this scene but she had a decent tolerance to alcohol. 

With an assassin for a father, she'd been forced to gain some level of resistance to poison and alcohol, no matter how minor the resistance was. 

From the corner of her eyes she saw a familiar dark haired boy slip through the crowd and away from a girl who seemed to be looking for him. 

She'd seen him come in with Vincent and she'd kept her eyes on him for a while. She'd also seen the advances that a few girls made at him only for him to slip away. 

While they were disappointed, she noticed one thing that they didn't. His eyes seemed to scrutinize each person that entered his sights. 

For a moment as he slipped away, their eyes met despite the distance, recognition lighting up in his eyes that lingered on her for a moment before moving away. 

Of course he recognized her, they were in the same year and had a few of the same classes. That, in addition to the fact that she knew she was hot and she was proud of it.

Watching as he slid through the crowd and silently out of the house, she quickly followed behind.

As she got outside, she saw him leaning on the porch with a distant look in his eyes. Steadying herself, she walked up to him. 

"You know the party's inside, right?" She said lightly, his gaze turning to her in surprise before it settled.

He let out a small chuckle. "I know but parties aren't exactly my thing." He said, gesturing to the house.

"Then why'd you come?"

"A friend of mine dragged me here to have fun and meet new people." He said the last three words with air quotes. 

"Well, you've met me." She said, giving him a flirtatious smile. 

He showed a smile of his own "And yet I still don't know your name. I'm Liam."

"Artemis. Nice to meet you." Being up close to him, she couldn't blame the other girls. He was hot and mama likes what she sees. 

"The pleasure is all mine. Since you're also out here I can assume you weren't having fun in there." He said curiously. 

"You'd be right. My friends ditched me as well." She answered, a hint of annoyance in her tone aimed at her friends. 

She could see the gears turning in his head. 

"What do you say we go somewhere and have some actual fun?" He offered with a gentle smile. 

Charming too. This night just got a whole lot better.

-[Liam]-

He'd stepped out to get some air and a break from the rather stuffy atmosphere. Imagine his surprise when he saw Artemis at the party.

Seeing her had reminded him of Sportsmaster, the Light, the team of young heroes as well as other things he'd pushed to the side earlier to focus on his immediate problems. 

Those problems were money and safety which were progressing slowly. 

His surprise only grew when she approached him while he was in his thoughts. She was in his class but they never talked which was likely due to his predecessor's stature and demeanor. 

Things were different now and they had moved away from the party. 

"So, tell me about yourself. You look like you've got a lot of stories to tell." Liam said, aiming the bowling ball in his grip. Being careful not to use too much strength, he let it loose, knocking down all but one pin. 

They had moved to a nearby bowling alley. It wasn't that populated at this time, which made it even better in their opinion. Slightly faster service among other things. 

"Less than you'd think. But for starters, I'm very competitive." she said, squaring up to the lane with her own ball as the pins got reset. 

Barely waiting to take aim, she rolled the heavy ball with a certain expertise, knocking down all the pins. She turned back to him with a smug smirk, hands on her hips as he whistled lightly, walking up to her. 

"Funny thing," he started as he got very close, standing in front of her. He could feel her breath hitch slightly at the closeness before he smirked. "I'm competitive as well. I'm always up for a challenge,"

His hand slowly slid past her to grab a bowling ball from the rack beside her. If either of them moved forward even an inch, their lips would brush against each other.

"And I don't like to lose." he finished with a smug smirk, he pulled back with the ball in hand, taking his position to play. 

He wasn't blind. He knew Artemis was attracted to him, physically at least and he would be lying if he said it didn't go both ways. She was a bold girl but he was even bolder. 

'Two can play at that game.' he thought, watching her quickly regain composure. If she looked confident before, she was absolutely determined now. 

"Oh you're on."