Nanga Mai

Six

Anjilika's POV
Liam and I sat in the grass, looking at the scene before us in silence. I have to admit, with the bright blue sky and the sun illuminating Ayers Rock, it was pretty awesome. Kylie was walking around, finding great photo opportunities with Tom following behind. Chris had been sitting with us but disappeared when he got a phone call, so for the first time I was alone with Liam. Though we weren’t talking, it wasn’t uncomfortable to sit with him. I kept glancing at him through the corner of my eye, and damn that boy looked good.

“So where are you from?” His voice took me by surprise and I jumped slightly. It had nothing to do with the fact I was stealing looks at him, I swear. He laughed softly and muttered an apology, to which I shrugged.

“Um, the states. Florida to be exact. You?”

“Um, here.” He said.

“This exact spot? That must have made for a great childhood.” I smiled to lessen the sarcastic blow. For a moment I thought he’d say, “see ya” and run for his life because I was being my usual bitchy self. To my relief, he laughed a loud bray.

“You’re funny. I like that.” I blushed and looked away. “I grew up on Phillip Island, but I live in LA now.” I nodded and a few moments of silence passed between us. This time it was slightly strained. I was trying to think up things to ask him, but it was like my brain was putty. It wasn’t so much that he was a celebrity, more like he was incredibly attractive. I’m just bad around attractive guys.

“So you and Kylie are sisters?” I looked back at him, and nodded. “You act like it.”

“Is that a good thing?” I joked.

“It’s not a bad thing. You’re better behaved than Chris and me. We get into fist fights all the time.” I smiled and he went on. “But, you know, that’s how boys are. My other brother and I don’t fight much though.”

“So your parents had three boys? That’s rough.” He shrugged and I couldn’t seem to wipe the smile off my face. But his had been pretty stationary as well. “What does your other brother do?”

“Luke’s an actor too. He’s pretty big here in Australia.”

“That’s cool. Were your parents actors?” I was slowly getting more comfortable with him.

“No, my mom is a teacher and my dad works for the child protective services on Phillip Island.”

“What does your mom teach?”

“English and Sex Education. She actually taught me both.” My jaw dropped.

“No way! That’s horrible.” He laughed and started messing with a blade of grass.

“Yeah it was rough. I just stopped going to class after a while.” I returned the laugh and he looked at me. “You have a nice laugh.” My cheeks went red and I looked at my lap.

“The schools in the south are so bad with sex education that my mom wound up having to tell me about STDs and birth control anyway.” I ignored his comment because, well, I didn’t know what else to do. I’m horrible at flirting. I do it without realizing, but when I try, it’s just bad.

“It was alright until she started talking about her experiences. That’s when I ran out the door.” I chuckled, and thankfully he didn’t say any more about my ‘nice laugh’.

“That was Kay, we gotta go.” We looked up as Chris came walking toward us.

“Yeah, we should get going too.” I said as Liam hopped up. I had some difficulty; it seemed as if my legs fell asleep. Liam offered his hand and I took it. As he pulled me up, I couldn’t help but notice how nice his hand felt; slightly calloused, but not overly rough, and warm. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” Chris waved at Kylie and Tom and as they made their way over, Liam and I let go of each other.

“So, I’ll see you later?” Tom asked when they were within earshot.

“Yeah.” Kylie agreed.

“Can I have your room number?” He asked.

“Oh, um, 305.” I smirked at her; at least I wasn’t the only one with the ‘horrible with guys’ gene.

“I’ll pick you up around nine?” She nodded and I laughed softly.

“Looks like someone has a date.” Liam muttered.

“Seems like.” I turned to him. “So this is goodbye I guess.”

“Nope. I know your room number now.” He bent down and pecked my cheek. Oh, he’s good at this flirting thing. “See you later, Anjilika.”