Maybe Holding Hands Wasn't Such a Good Idea

“Don’t forget, James, I’m getting a ride from a friend after school,” I said as I closed the door to the black sedan.

“I won’t,” James smiled. “See you tomorrow morning, Liv.”

A small smile was on my lips as I remembered what happened yesterday after third period. Matt and I talked for a while again, as we did the day before that—Monday. When we hugged each other goodbye, Tiffany’s face turned about five shades of red. I was just waiting for steam to come out of her ears. Maybe today, I thought to myself with a quiet chuckle.

“Whatcha giggling at?” Kara asked walking quickly to catch up with me.

“Just remembering how pissed Tiffany was yesterday,” I said with a smile.

“I would seriously pay you all the money in my pocket if you take a picture of her face today,” Kara said with an easy grin as we stopped off at her locker.

I turned to her, my brows furrowed in confusion. “What are you talking—”

“Matt told me about his little plan for today,” Kara explained. “So, about Monday, I’m sorry.”

I smiled. “I’m sorry, too. I should have asked you if you’d be cool with me helping Matt out.”

“No, you don’t need to ask me to help anyone—including my brother—out. I just over-reacted because I don’t want you to get hurt. And, for the record, I am glad that you are helping Matt. I hate Tiffany and can’t wait till she’s out of his life.”

“So friends?” I asked with a hopeful smile.

Kara rolled her eyes at me before giving me a quick, hard hug. “Friends.”

After we pulled apart, I contemplated her previous offer slightly for a moment. “So how much you got?”

Kara smiled and dug around in her black skinny’s pockets. “Hmm...A dollar, plus ten cents, and a red button?” She looked up at me and laughed. “Why do I always find random buttons in my pockets?”

I shrugged. “Better a button than something gross.”

“Truth,” Kara giggled throwing the button into her locker. She had a confused look on her face when she closed her locker. “Something gross like what?”

“I don’t know,” my brows furrowed together. “A dead bug.”

Kara made a face. “Eww. That is gross. I’ll stick with the random buttons, thank you very much.”

The bell rang. “See you later, K.”

“Okay, later, Liv,” Kara waved.



“I want your papers turned in on Friday,” Mr. Johnson’s voice rose to be heard over the ringing bell meaning the end of third period.

I felt a sort of breathless excitement for what was going to happen next in Matt’s plan as I gathered my things together. I was seriously hoping to see some steam coming out of Tiffany’s ears, metaphorically of course, seeing as how this is real life and not a cartoon.

I was chuckling to myself as I envisioned an ACME anvil falling out of the sky out of nowhere and landing on Tiffany, scrunching her up like an accordion.

As soon as I saw Matt and Tiffany walking toward me, my smile faded and I did my best to appear incredibly frustrated. I quickened my pace and nearly huffed as I walked into Matt.

“Jeez, Liv, slow down,” Matt said. “What’s wrong?”

“Sorry,” I grumbled out. “My ride bailed on me today and I have no idea how I’m getting home. It’s too far to walk and I don’t have enough money for a cab. I just don’t know what I’m going to do. And I totally didn’t mean to dump my problems on you,” I sighed dejectedly. “I’m just gonna go, okay? See you later,” I took half a step before Matt stopped me.

“Liv, wait, I’ll give you a ride home.”

“You will?” I asked turning back to him, my face alight with relief.

“You will?” Tiffany asked with a pout. “But I thought we were going to get together after school today,” her hand traveled up Matt’s arm in what was supposed to be a seductive manner.

Matt shrugged her off. “Tiff, I never said I was hanging out with you today. Besides, Liv needs a ride home.”

Tiffany stomped her high heeled feet. Matt ignored her and turned to me. “It’s not a problem, Liv. I’ll meet you after school,” he said leaning forward and giving me a hug.

“Thanks, you’re literally my knight in shining armor,“ I kissed his check and heard Tiffany let out an outraged gasp as she stomped her foot again. When I pulled away from Matt, my eyes locked on Tiffany’s face and I shot her a smirk. She was absolutely livid, her cheeks were a deep burgundy and her eyes were narrowed on me. I could tell her was ripping my head off in her mind, slowly. Very slowly.

I smiled at her, a big plastic smile of innocence like the one on Barbie, before my hand traveled up Matt’s arm coyly in the same seductive manner that Tiffany used moments before. “See you later, Matt,” I said with a hint of intimacy, my eyes smoldering into his in a flirty goodbye.

“Later, Liv,” Matt smiled back at me, his dimples popping out on his cheeks.

I turned and walked out of the building, a certain swagger in my step. I turned back around casually and smirked when I noticed that Tiffany was glaring after me. “And the Oscar goes to...Liv Masters.”



“Everyone, take your seats,” Ms. Barnes said. “I’m just about done grading your papers from Monday and will be with you shortly. No talking.”

“Jeez,” Kara said quietly taking her rightful seat next to me, which was occupied by a boy in our class the day before. “She really doesn’t have a life if she was able to read through all our papers in just a couple of days.”

I stifled a giggle.

“Okay,” Ms. Barnes said stacking the papers on her desk into an organized pile. “When I call your name please come and collect your paper. Adams. Sanders.”

“Wish me luck,” Kara pleaded desperately before going up to Ms. Barnes’s desk.

“Good luck,” I whispered quietly.

“Johnson. McKinney. Connors.” Ms. Barnes continued to call names.

“I suck at life,” Kara replied glumly, letting her head hit the desk.

I looked over at her paper. “K, seventy-five percent, isn’t so bad. At least you didn’t fail.”

Kara grunted her cave-man grunt in response.

“Smith. Masters. Michaels.”

“Good luck,” Kara’s words were mumbled by the desk.

I walked up to Ms. Barnes and she handed me my paper. “Good work, Olivia,” she replied.

“Thanks,” I said looking down at my grade—ninety-nine percent—and smiled softly. Kara wasn’t going to like this at all.

“I don’t give out hundreds. One hundred percent implies flawless work. That’s as close to a perfect grade anyone can receive in my class.”

“Thank you,” I said again before returning to my seat and a glum looking Kara.

“Let me guess,” she said with a slightly sour pout. “Perfect one hundred, right?”

“No,” I said sitting down and getting my notebook and pen out of my backpack. “Ninety-nine,” I mumbled softly.

“What was that?” Kara asked.

“I got a ninety-nine,” I whispered to her.

“You’re actually mad about that aren’t you?” Kara laughed in amazement. “Over achiever much?”

“Apparently, Ms. Barnes doesn’t hand out perfect scores because there is no such thing as ‘flawless work’.”

“Yeah, well, at least you don’t have the threat of summer school hanging over your head if you fail,” Kara copied down the notes on the board with a scowl.

I giggled quietly. “Yeah, Matt told me.”

Kara turned to look at me quickly. “What did he tell you?”

“That your parents really motivated him to learn Spanish,” I said writing down the notes as well.

“At least Spanish is cool. It’s like a skill you can actually use in your life. But knowing History, pfft,” she scoffed. “It’s nothing but names and dates; trivia,” she waved her hand dismissively. “Tell me, who cares if twenty years from now, I can tell you all about tenth grade History? No one.”

I smirked at her. “You never know, knowing tenth grade History might help you win a lot of money on some reality game show in the future.”

Kara laughed quietly. “Yeah, like I would sign up for something like that. Get real, Liv.” She sighed as she looked at my History paper. “I wish I had your life.”

My eyebrow rose in her direction. “You do realize that that would mean pretending to date your own brother.”

“Ugh, thanks for that incredibly disconcerting mental image,” she whispered dramatically. “But you know what I mean. You have the perfect grades, the perfect boyfriend—”

Perfect boyfriend? I snorted indelicately.

Kara continued. “The perfect house, the perfect hair,” she grabbed a loose strand for emphasis. “The perfect best friend,” she winked. “Let’s face it, Liv, your life is simply glamorous.”

“Oh yeah, I have the perfect life.” I rolled my eyes. “Yay me!” I added sarcastically.

Kara patted my shoulder affectionately. “Cheer up, rich kid.”

I shrugged Kara’s hand away and she chuckled, going back to her note taking.

The last bell of the day rang out joyously and all the kids in my History class stormed for the exit, eager to escape Ms. Barnes’s amazingly interesting lecture on the Civil War.

“Ugh, is it the weekend yet?” Kara asked as we left the classroom at a more sluggish pace.

“Almost,” I said.

Kara stopped walking. “Why couldn’t you just lie to me and say yes? Jeez, Liv, what kind of best friend are you?”

I smiled and rolled my eyes. “Apparently a bad one. I’ve gotta get some stuff out of my locker. I’ll meet you at Matt’s truck, okay?”

“Yeah, see you in a bit,” Kara said as she melted into the throng of students making their way off campus.

I was alone in the hallway as I spun the combination into the lock and popped my locker open. I exchanged my History book for my copy of Pride and Prejudice and grabbed my Algebra 2 book. I bent down to put the books in my backpack and saw of pair of high heels enter my line of sight.

I looked up at Tiffany with a bored face. “Can I help you?” I asked.

“Stay away from Matt,” her eyes flashed darkly into mine.

“I don’t see how I can do that when he’s giving me a ride home,” I replied sarcastically. “Close quarters and all. But you know what the inside of Matt’s truck looks like, right?”

“Listen to me, you little tramp, I know what you’re doing, and I’m telling you now to back the fuck off.” She grinned smugly at me as she crossed her arms over her chest.

I bent down to finish zipping up my backpack before addressing Tiffany again. “What? No ‘or you’ll regret it’s’, ‘or you’ll be sorry’s’? Where did you learn how to threaten people? I’m sorry to say this, hun, but I’ve gotta give you a two out of five star rating, for effort at least.”

Tiffany stopped smiling and moved toward me so fast that I didn’t even have time to flinch before she pushed me back into the lockers. I managed not to wince or cry out as my own lock dug into the skin of my exposed shoulder, just missing the fabric of my light pink tank top.

“Stay away from him,” Tiffany’s face was inches from mine before she sauntered away from me, her heels clicking loudly on the tiled floor.

I winced as I moved away from my locker. I rolled my shoulder trying to get rid of the numb feeling. “Fucking psycho,” I muttered as I tilted my head trying to look at the red mark on my shoulder, it was definitely going to bruise, I was certain about that. I opened my locker again and pulled out the white cardigan that was hanging in there. I pulled it on before slamming my locker shut, slinging my backpack onto my good shoulder, and walking to the parking lot to find that both Matt and Kara were already waiting for me.

“Dude, it’s freaking hot as hell today, why are you wearing a sweater?” Kara asked once I was within earshot of her.

“I’m cold,” I shrugged only my left shoulder as I lied casually.

“You’re a freak,” Kara laughed affectionately. “I feel like I’m gonna melt into a sticky puddle of Kara and you’re wearing a sweater.”

I shrugged my left shoulder again. “To each her own.” I turned to Matt. “Can we leave now? I have a lot of homework to do today.”

“Sure,” Matt’s eyes were on me. “Pile in,” he said unlocking the doors.

As I got into the back seat, I had a funny feeling that Matt somehow knew I was lying where as Kara hadn’t picked up on it at all. I shook the thought away as I looked out of the window as Matt drove away from the school. There was no way he could know I was lying when my own best friend hadn’t noticed.

When Matt pulled up at his house, he turned around to look over at me as Kara got out of the truck. “So did you want to hang with Kara for a bit, or did you just want me to take you home?”

“Can you just take me home, please?”

Matt nodded. “Yeah. Hop up front.”

I got out of the truck and then got back in, sitting beside Matt. He carefully backed out the drive and started to drive to my house.

“Hey, Matt?” I said breaking the silence.

“Yeah?”

“What would you say if I offered to pay for your gas?” I peeked at him from the corner of my eye.

Matt’s mouth was set in a tight line. “No.”

I sighed. “But I feel bad. My house is so far away and everything.”

“Don’t,” he said simply. “I’m not taking any money from you and that’s it.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. Figures. “I just wanted to help out,” I said quietly looking out of the window.

Matt stopped at a light. “Liv, look at me.”

My gaze reluctantly met his. “You already are helping me, a lot. I just don’t want to take anything else from you, okay?”

I nodded. “Fine. But I don’t like it. You should let me give you some gas money.”

Matt laughed as he started driving again. “Liv, I don’t want your money! And you can’t make me take it.”

I rolled my eyes at him. “Fine.” I was silently contemplating all the ways I could slip some money into Matt’s pockets, his backpack, or his wallet. I would find a way to give him some money for driving me to my house.

Matt pulled up at my house ten minutes later and shut off his truck before turning to look at me. “Well, we were lucky today. Tiffany didn’t follow us.”

“Great,” I said. “So, I’ll see you tomorrow,” I gathered up my things.

Matt nodded and pulled me into a tight hug and I very carefully slipped a twenty into his hoodie pocket with a smile. I winced as his arm brushed the sore spot on my shoulder, glad that he couldn’t see the face I was making. I had absolutely no intention of telling him or Kara what Tiffany had said or done to me after school.

There was a sudden, loud knocking at my window and I jumped in surprise thinking that it was somehow Tiffany at my door. I turned around as the door opened.

“Tyler? What are you doing here?” I asked in surprise as relief flooded through me. At least it wasn’t a pissed off, psychotic Tiffany.

“I didn’t have practice today,” Tyler’s ice blue eyes were locked on Matt as he answered my question. “Thought I’d surprise you.”

“That’s sweet of you,” I said feeling the tension flowing thickly from the two guys I was sitting in the middle of.

I turned to Matt to see that he was looking at Tyler with the same—if not more—derision in his hazel eyes. It was like when two rams were locked in a staring contest getting ready to fight over food, territory, or a female mate, waiting for the other to make the first move before running forward and butting heads to prove who the alpha male was.

“Sanders,” Tyler greeted expressionlessly.

“Vaughn.” Matt nodded his head.

“Wait, you two know each other?” I asked Tyler.

It was Matt who spoke up first. “Once upon a time, in a land far, far away.”

“Cute,” Tyler said before looking at me for the first time. “The question is, how do you two know each other?”

“Matt is Kara’s older brother, I’ve known him since forever,” I said noticing how Tyler’s jaw clenched.

“Yeah, Vaughn. Me and Liv go way back,” Matt added as he slung his around my shoulder pulling me close to his hard chest.

“Well, my girl’s home now, Sanders, maybe you should fuck off.”

“Tyler! Matt, I’m sorry,” I apologized.

“It’s cool, Liv. See you later,” I nodded and got out of the truck, Tyler’s arm instantly curled around my waist, crushing me to his side—a clear sign of territory—as he slammed the truck’s door shut.

“Jesus Christ, Tyler!” I said pushing away from him as Matt drove away. “What was that?”

“Tommy told me he saw you kissing Sanders today!” He exclaimed, ignoring my question.

I rolled my eyes. “Tommy the water boy?” I had no idea that Tommy was in the English building at all. Tommy was a short, thin little freshman and practically worshipped the turf that Tyler ran on.

“Did you?” Tyler asked.

“Yeah, on the cheek. As a thank you for giving me a ride home. What’s the big deal?”

“What’s he doing offering you a ride home anyway? Doesn’t he know you’re with me?”

I took a deep breath, swallowing the sharp retort I wanted to deliver and tempered my voice before I spoke. “He’s Kara’s older brother. I’ve known Matt a long time, Tyler. He was just helping me out.” I couldn’t resist adding. “And yes, he knows we’re together but he said he wouldn’t hold it against me.”

Tyler’s face reddened angrily and for a moment I thought went too far with my comment, but I didn’t back down from his stare.

“You can’t go over to Kara’s house anymore,” Tyler said in a deadly calm voice. “I don’t want you seeing Sanders again.”

My eyes widened in surprise and my mouth opened and closed quickly like a goldfish before I could actually talk like a person. My voice was just as calm as Tyler’s when I spoke again. “Are you seriously telling me what I can and can’t do?”

“No,” Tyler said. “I’m not telling you what you can do, I’m telling you what you can’t do and who you can’t talk to.”

I curled my fingers into a fist before I could do something rash, like slap him. I had never been so angry with Tyler before. “Go,” I said, my voice trembled slightly with suppressed rage.

Tyler’s blue eyes widened in surprise. “What? We’re not done talking about this.”

“Yes, we are, Tyler. You can’t tell me what to do. I will talk to whomever I want to. And I will hug a friend and or kiss him on the cheek for doing me a favor, if you can’t accept that, that’s not my problem.”

His voice was quiet. “What are you saying? Are you breaking up with me?” His eyes flashed with alarm, regret and sadness.

I reached forward and laced our fingers together. “No, Ty,” I said softly, squeezing his hand. “I don’t want to break up with you. But you have to know that you can’t just tell me what I can and can’t do. Being in a relationship doesn’t work that way.”

Tyler grimaced. “I know, I was being an idiot. I just really can’t stand Sanders,” he made a face at the name. “And I don’t like the idea of him and you alone together.”

I smiled reassuringly at Tyler while a guilty knot formed in my stomach at the words I was going to say next. “You have nothing to worry about. We’re just friends. And if it makes you that uncomfortable, I’ll make sure we’re never alone together, all right?”

“Good,” he said while his arms encircled my waist. He leaned down and kissed me softly.

“Look, it’s been a long day and I have a lot of homework to do,” I said picking my backpack up and slinging it over my left shoulder. “So, I’ll call you later, okay?”

“I was hoping we could go out,” Tyler said with a small pout.

“Not today, Ty. How about this weekend?” I suggested.

“Fine, but only because I know how important school is to you,” he said pecking my lips quickly once more. “I hate that we fought today,” he said quietly as he leaned his forehead against mine.

“Me too,” I said staring into his blue eyes.

He kissed my nose softly before pulling away from me. “Okay, I better go while I still can. Don’t forget to call me,” he said walking to his Mustang. He parked a little ways down the block, which is why I hadn’t seen Tyler’s red car when Matt and I pulled up.

“I won’t,” I said with a wave. I sighed before walking toward my house, ready to collapse on my very welcoming bed. But first, I needed to find some ice for my throbbing shoulder.