The Color of Us (College Bound Book 2) by Laura Ward, Christine Manzari Page A

given me hope. When I was with him, the pain was just a dull ache. He made me feel things that were good. I needed that.
    The metal legs of the chair next to me scraped loudly along the linoleum floor. Looking up, I saw Liam scooting the chair a bit to his left. He was adding some space between us. My stomach sank. Nope. Not back to normal.
    “Hi.” I ran my fingers up and down the metal spiral rings of my notebook, waiting for him to turn toward me. I should apologize for dumping all my emotional baggage on him. It wasn’t fair. Right now all I wanted was for him to look at me like he did before I told him my story.
    “Hey.” Liam studied his phone, not looking up to me.
    “Liam, I—” I stopped when his eyes met mine. They were cold and almost… annoyed. I swallowed around a lump in my throat. “I’m—”
    “The schedule for our road practice times is posted outside the classroom.” Mr. Weinberg’s interruption was almost a relief. “Today is our last day of classroom instruction. You will take your written test after the break. Let’s get started.” He turned toward the blackboard. Usually this was the point in the class where Liam would begin harassing me, although calling it harassment wasn’t exactly true. I looked forward to his inappropriate comments and the way he almost made it his goal to see how many shades of embarrassment he could force me to turn.
    Today he was silent.
    I had no idea what to say to fix what had happened in Liam’s Jeep. It’s not like we were dating. Hell, we weren’t even friends. We hung out during class and drove together once. And then I had a panic attack when it rained, cried about my sister, and told him I hated a dead guy. All in a matter of a few minutes. No wonder he was sliding his chair away from me.
    An hour and a half later, Weinberg announced our break. Liam bolted from his seat and out the side door. My stomach was too unsettled to hold anything, so I passed the soda machine and headed outside. I needed air.
    Oh, who was I kidding? I needed… him.
    Liam leaned back against his Jeep, smoking a cigarette and watching me as I exited the building and crossed the hot pavement. His eyebrows pinched together more tightly as I got closer. My hand pressed against my heart, and I willed it to slow down.
    “Liam?”
    In answer, he lifted his chin with a sharp jerk instead of responding.
    “Would you like to hang out tonight? Maybe catch a movie?” I bit my bottom lip hard. Maybe if I pretended nothing had happened, he would too.
    Liam took a long drag of his cigarette and glanced up at the sky, squinting from the bright sunlight. “Can’t. Already have plans.”
    His answer wasn’t surprising, but it still stung. Not because he said no, but because his response lacked the personality and charm he usually exuded. Sufficiently rejected, I turned to walk back into the building. Before I’d even taken a step, I stopped and curled my hands into fists. I was tired of just accepting things the way they were. Of doing what was expected of me. Of rolling over and letting things happen to me instead of making them happen. Being around Liam, even for such a short time, had shown me what fearlessness could feel like.
    I faced him and waited for him to look at me. “I’m sorry for dumping all my heavy stuff on you. Totally unfair. Won’t happen again.”
    Liam’s jaw was clenched so tightly I could see a muscle pop as he took in my words. “You have nothing to apologize for, Alexis.”
    I let out a short, hard laugh, hating that my nickname was gone along with everything else. “Clearly, I do. You’re totally different around me since the other night. I get it. No one wants to hang out with the sad girl.” A few hot tears pricked at the corners of my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. I focused on filling my lungs with air. Breathing in and out. In and out. In and out.
    “It’s not that.” Liam dropped his cigarette on the ground and flattened it with the toe