Liv, in the Moment Read online

  "I do not."

  Connor's brows rose. "You keep making a face after every sip."

  Mom said, "It's true, Liv." She looked at her watch. "You kids need to be out of here in five minutes."

  "Sounds good, Mrs. Jones." Connor turned back to Liv. "You can always tell a girl's personality by what kind of drink they order at Starbucks. And you are no coffee drinker."

  "Are you serious?"

  "Heck yeah. Well, okay, it's not foolproof. But it's pretty darn close. Nine times out of ten, hyper girls order one of those Frappuccino things. Complicated girls get a drink with half shots of this, three pumps of that, an ounce of whipped cream and two sprinkles of cinnamon. Oh, and skinny. They always order it skinny." He must have noticed how Liv was gaping at him. "No joke. I heard this chick order it one time. Anyway, you are definitely one of those soy tea things. What do they call it?"

  "Chai?"

  "Yeah, Chai. That's you right there."

  Liv was dumbfounded. "How on earth did you know that?"

  He shoved an entire link of sausage into his grinning mouth. "Hghum ghghood." He swallowed. "Actually, it was something Mark said that got me to thinking."

  "Oh, no. What?"

  "He said how you could always tell what kind of woman you were talking to at a bar, depending on her drink--"

  "He told you that? Don't let my mom know. She'd kill him."

  "Yeah, thanks for that bit of shocking information. Anyway, so I started thinking that his theory was probably true with chicks at Starbucks too. And after carefully reviewing my test subjects, I realized I was right."

  "Test subjects. Really? Well...that is...such a load of bull--"

  "What! Did I, or did I not, nail your drink?"

  "Mark probably told you," Liv stood up.

  Connor followed her to the sink where she dumped her coffee. "He didn't. I swear." He looked so earnest, so sincere, that Liv smiled in spite of herself. "C'mon, Liv. Admit it. I'm good."

  "No. And anyway, I see guys ordering Frappuccinos all the time." Liv held a hand to her ear. "Hear that? That is the sound of your theory crashing and burning. Ooh. Ouch."

  Connor huffed. "Don't be like that. I'm telling you, it's true. Are you incapable of admitting I'm right because you're so nervous?"

  "You aren't right. And I'm not that nervous."

  "I don't know, Liv. You look downright scared."

  "I do no--"

  "Would it help you if you grabbed my butt? I'm told magical things happen to girls who come into contact with my backside."

  "Wha-- Oh, good lord." Liv burst out laughing. "I should grab it just to call your bluff."

  He promptly turned around and presented her with his firmly rounded bottom. "Go on," he encouraged. "Experience the magic."

  Liv giggled and reached for her backpack. "I'll save it for a rainy day, thanks. Anyway, we should go."

  He put his plate in the sink and drained his milk. "Race you there?"

  Mom walked in. "I did not hear that."

  Connor cringed. "Hear what, Mrs. Jones?"

  "Nice recovery." She gave Liv a hug. "Have a good day." She turned and hugged Connor. "You too. And drive safely or I'll slash your tires."

  "Harsh." He was clearly impressed with her threat.

  "We'll drive sedately," Liv grabbed Connor's arm. "C'mon Speedracer, we've got a slow drive ahead of us."

  They parked next to each other when they arrived at school. The treehugger in Liv felt a little repulsed at the hideous waste of two cars traveling to the same location. But she wasn't about to leave her car at home and catch a ride with Connor. She didn't think he'd be willing to leave his truck either.

  "You talk to anyone?" Connor said, as he looked around the bustling campus.

  "I talked to Chelsea yesterday. Brody the day before. They were going to call Ana and David. Meeting at the same place as usual." She glanced at him. "Didn't you talk to Ana?"

  "Didn't get a chance. Man! I can't believe summer is over. It flew, right?"

  Liv spotted Brody and Ana. "There they are!" She tugged at her shirt, which she'd lovingly added to her clothing stash of urban-hippy-chic. Her thin frame meant she could wear flowing, billowy clothes and actually look good in them.

  Connor gave her a thorough once over. "You look pretty hot," he said. "Still like those bobble headed models, but minus the little boy stuff."

  Liv looked skyward. "Wow, Connor. That means so much. Coming from you."

  He laughed and reached out to tug on her hair.

  "Children!" Chelsea ran up and threw her arms around Liv, and then Connor. "I missed you two this summer. Every time I'd walk by a twig, I'd think of you guys."

  Connor burst out laughing.

  Liv scowled.

  They joined Brody, David and Ana at the half wall. When Brody kept staring at Liv, she hoped it wasn't because he was speculating on the twigs he'd seen that summer as well.

  Connor couldn't seem to keep his eyes off of Ana.

  Ana really didn't seem to mind.

  Liv ground her teeth. She wasn't interested in Connor in a romantic sense. She was not! But she just didn't like the thought of him with Ana.

  She'd probably be totally fine if he liked some other girl. Probably. She didn't really want to think about it. But she had to think about him with Ana, because they kept making those aggravating Come-And-Get-Me eyes at each other.

  They were supposed to be friends. Just friends.

  That's why it bothered her so much. Yeah, that's what it was. Because everyone knew that once you mixed friendship with something more, you could say goodbye to friendship.

  In her opinion, they should just say goodbye to that something more.

  "So Almanor was frickin' boring. Again," Chelsea said. Every year her parents towed the family out to their house on the lake and tooled around on their speedboat for the entire summer.

  Liv used to be jealous, but after three years of Chelsea's long-suffering accounts of her time in confinement, as she referred to it, Liv was rather glad to hang out at home. "Did any of you guys get together?" she said to the group at large.

  "I was working," Connor said with a carefully crafted tone of disinterest, but Liv wasn't fooled. He'd been so quick to volunteer his activity because he was proud to have that job.

  Was it wrong that she was proud to have helped him get it?

  "Me too," Brody said.

  "I was surfing," David said. "And leaving a wake of ladies with broken hearts after me." He winked. "It was a perfect summer, man."

  Connor snickered. "I bet."

  "Ew," Chelsea said.

  "I prepped for college." Liv was proud of it even though she knew it made her sound like a nerd.

  David faked a yawn.

  "I had to go visit my dad for most of it," Ana said. "It was kind of fun."

  Chelsea was instantly curious. "Oh yeah?"

  Liv said, "Was that hot guy you almost hooked up with last year still there?"

  "He was there." Ana suddenly looked coy.

  Chelsea squealed. "What happened? Oh you so have to tell me everything."

  "I for one would like all the intimate details," David said.

  Liv made a face. "How can you be even more of a sex fiend than you were three months ago?"

  "Did Liv just say sex?" David said to the guys.

  Brody looked uncomfortably amused.

  Connor seemed annoyed. "Don't be such an asshole, Dave."

  "What?" he said, pretending innocence.

  Connor shook his head and said to Ana, "What's your first class?"

  "Um." She looked at her schedule. "Political Science."

  "My first class is that way. I'll walk with you."

  Ana smiled slowly. "I wanted to get there a bit early."

  Connor looked ridiculously satisfied. "Let's go then."

  Liv watched as they walked off. Watched, as Ana laughed at something he said and stroked his arm.

  Ana was her friend. They'd been friends for years.
But words popped into her head unbidden as she watched Ana flirt with Connor.

  Undeniable words. Powerful words.

  The bitch.

  * * * *

  Liv glanced up from her homework when Connor walked in with Dad. They were laughing about some football play that went awry.

  She made a face and focused on her homework. The terrible mood she'd been in since that morning had been made worse when, during lunch, Connor sat next to Ana instead of her.

  Dad went to Mom to give her a kiss before he came over to Liv. "How was your first day of school?"

  She barely looked away from her book. "Same old people doing the same old thing."

  Connor chuckled into the can of soda he'd pulled from the refrigerator.

  Liv turned a baleful gaze on him. "Thanks for that little gem."

  "You got homework, or can you watch a game?" Dad said to Connor.

  He glanced cautiously at Mom. "I like to do my homework after dinner."

  "Great!" They disappeared.

  Mom went on with dinner preparations while Liv continued working. When she slid the pot roast into the oven, she sat down at the kitchen table and watched Liv. After a while she said, "What happened at school today?"

  "What do you mean?"

  "You've been in a bad mood since you got home. What happened?"

  "Nothing happened. I'm just...bugged. Connor wasted no time trying to get together with Ana. Like, as soon as we got there this morning, he was trying."

  "Your friend Ana?"

  "The one and only."

  "Why is that bad?"

  "It's...not...technically. But--"

  "You like Connor."

  "No! I mean... No."

  Mom sighed. "Look, Liv, I worried you might develop feelings for him, but honestly, it would be much better for everyone involved if you stayed friends. If you dated and it didn't work out, it could get really awkward around here, and I'm not going to banish him from the house.

  "If he suddenly felt like he couldn't hang out here anymore, we couldn't keep an eye on his stepfather. And who knows what kind of meals he'd get? And his mother!" Mom made a sound of disgust. "She's utterly useless. Do you know if she's gotten out of bed yet? Anyway, it's better to keep everything as is, Liv."

  "Wow. I wasn't even going there but if I was? Thanks for the supportive ear and the shoulder to cry on."

  "You don't need either. You've seen more ugliness in the world these last few months than you had your entire life. I don't think sugar coating things for you is appropriate any longer."

  "Well that was quick." She deliberately oozed sarcasm.

  Mom appeared unimpressed.

  Liv sighed. "It's just, he totally ditched me to go be with Ana. What's so frickin' great about her besides her perfect body and pretty face?"

  "Liv, you're sounding a little possessive of Connor. It makes perfect sense. You helped rescue him, in a way. But he doesn't owe you anything. You shouldn't expect him to cater to you just because you did the right thing."

  "I don't expect him to cater to me--"

  "That's good. Because it sounds to me like he's being a typical boy, and I for one am glad he's acting normally."

  Liv twisted her lips. "Fine. Yay for him. But I swear, Mom. If he and Ana start dating, I am so not letting him bring her over here."

  Two weeks later, Connor had a girlfriend.

  Dad invited her over.

  The Heartless Beast.

  * * *

  CHAPTER SIX

  Labels That Work

  Liv decided certain people in life were deserving of titles. Not all of them golden and Olympic. Sometimes, they were simple, clear, concise. Like The Wench--instead of The B*tch. She did hate to cuss, after all. The Heartless Beast. The Sex Fiend--a title that no longer applied to just David.

  She had to watch for two torturous weeks as Connor and Ana went from flirtatious to touchy-feely to groping. She watched as Ana went from playfully patting that Best Butt of The Senior Class to full on grabbing it with a whole lot of squeeze thrown in for good measure. Hugs escalated to tongue-down-your-throat kisses, and David went from crude teasing to plaintive jealousy over how much action Connor got on a lunch break. Brody and Chelsea tacitly avoided looking at them, but Chelsea was clearly experiencing some of the distaste Liv was. "Get a room," had become her most frequently occurring phrase.

  "I actually thought they would be cute together, but now I'm grossed out," Chelsea said during lunch on Thursday.

  David was staring at Ana as she rubbed up against Connor. "I'd trade places with him any day of the week."

  "Liv," Brody said. "You know that exam we have coming up in History?"

  Liv forced her attention away from Connor and Ana. "Yeah?"

  "Want to study together?"

  Liv shrugged. "Sure."

  "How about Saturday night?"

  David snorted. "What losers. Studying on a Saturday night."

  Chelsea shoved him. "Some people actually think with other parts of their bodies, David, besides the one you call Monster."

  "Monster?" Liv knew she was wide-eyed. "Tell me you're joking. You do not seriously call your--your package Monster. Please say it isn't so. Please." She was astonished when he actually blushed.

  Chelsea burst out laughing. "Didn't know I knew about that, did you?"

  David tried to give her a dirty look, but his embarrassment ruined the effect. "Who told you?"

  Liv burst out laughing. "It's true? Oh. My. Go--"

  "Who told you, Chelse?" David demanded.

  Chelsea blew him a kiss. "Wouldn't you just love to know."

  Brody grabbed Liv's hand. "Saturday night? My house?"

  Liv was still laughing when she said, "Of course. Text me your address. We can be losers together."

  Brody smiled broadly and released her hand in a slow tangle of fingers. Liv blinked. She'd noticed him paying more attention to her since school started, but assumed it had something to do with Connor and Ana, and the implied Do Not Disturb sign encapsulating them.

  Just before lunch period ended, Chelsea asked Liv to go with her to her locker. As soon as they were out of their friends' earshot, Liv said, "Have you noticed anything weird about Brody?"

  Chelsea was all blue-eyed mischief. "Weird? Like how he's been checking you out. A lot."

  Liv felt a rapid blush burn her cheeks. "But... Why? We've been friends for years."

  "It's cuz my wittol gerl is all gwown up," Chelsea teased.

  "Explain."

  Chelsea grinned. "We noticed it the first day--"

  "We?"

  "Me, David and Brody. Brody said you were looking hot, and of course, David and I had to check you out." She stopped to open her locker and get her books out. "And yeah. Not sure what it is, but you look different." She slammed her locker shut.

  Liv made sure her jaw was not hanging open. "Why didn't you tell me?"

  "I forgot. Too distracted with the spectacle Connor and Ana are making."

  Liv flinched. "I know Ana's our friend, but..."

  "But why is she suddenly a total hooker?"

  Liv was caught somewhere between laughter and guilt. "Yeah." They walked over to Liv's locker.

  "She slept with that guy at her dad's house," Chelsea said. "She tell you?"

  "Are you serious? No!"

  Chelsea glanced over to where Connor was smiling lazily and had a hooded look to his eyes while Ana did something to his neck. With her mouth. And her tongue. "So seriously disgusting," she muttered. "Why don't the teachers stop them?"

  She shook her head. "She was jealous of you, the way you and Connor were always together. Probably why she didn't tell you. But yeah, totally hooked up with that guy. Did everything. At first I kind of thought, hey, she spent a lot of time with him the last summer she was there too, so maybe she really cared about him. But then, she gets back here, and within a week starts screwing Connor."

  "WHAT?" Liv covered her mouth, startled to have shouted.

 
; "Whoa," Chelsea said. "Calm down, Liv. Are you seriously surprised? Have you not seen all the foreplay going on at lunch? And at break? And before school? And--"

  "Okay! I got it."

  Chelsea's eyes rounded. "Ohmigod. Seriously, Liv? You have feelings for Connor?"

  "No!"

  "Oh yeah? Then why are you bothered?"

  "Because I care about him as a friend."

  "Ana is our friend too."

  "Ana is a slut." Liv bit her lip. She was not mean spirited, not usually, but...but...

  "Oh, hon," Chelsea sighed and wrapped her arms around Liv. "I didn't know. He's always making fun of you and you are always annoyed with him."

  Liv blinked back gathering tears, surprised to feel them, and pulled out of Chelsea's arms. "I don't like him," she said. "I'm just bothered by how easy Ana's suddenly become."

  Chelsea clearly did not believe her. The bell rang just then. "Call me tonight. We can talk about it."

  Liv got her books and slammed the locker shut. But as she turned to go to class, she saw Ana rub her hand down the front of Connor's pants.

  She had never been a violent person. Causing harm to another person was not something that had ever appealed to her. But just then she felt violent. Scratching, hair pulling, and eye gouging suddenly seemed like the best things in the world to do. Divinely inspired in fact.

  She simmered through her two following classes. Growled with it on her way home. Decided to positively wallow in it for the remainder of the evening.

  But Dad walked in after work.

  With Connor.

  With Ana.

  She nearly hissed.

  "Hey, Lucky," Connor said.

  Liv ignored him.

  "Hi Liv." Ana's smile struck Liv as both catty and sultry at the same time.

  "Um, hi. What are you doing here?"

  Dad kissed Liv's cheek. "Connor mentioned he's dating your friend, so I told him to bring her over."

  "Oh. Great." Thankfully, no one seemed to notice her decided lack of enthusiasm. "Was this a spontaneous plan then?" You Heartless Beast.

  "Yeah," Connor said. "I picked Ana up on my way over."

  "How fun."

  Connor gave her an odd look but said nothing further.

  Liv cleared her throat, but before she managed to force the words, "Would you like something to drink?" from the depths of her unwilling vocal chords, Mom walked in. Thank God.