Liam
I don’t have many things I like either
But isn’t one too few?
How about adding one more?
Things you like.
Things I like. It’d be nice to have many, but I couldn’t even think of one thing to add, so I asked Liam for help.
What should I like?
Liam
I have two concert tickets. The concert will be held this weekend
My friends say they’re sick of that band’s songs so I didn’t even ask them to go
What about you?
I answered Liam that if I was okay, let’s go together, then returned to Virgil to finish the conversation. Just before putting down my smartphone after the conversation ended, I discovered Liam’s new post on the feed, which was as follows:
Liam Blake I think I’m going to die wanting to see them soon.
Another cryptic message today, but it probably refers to the concert of the band he mentioned earlier. I don’t know which band it is, but Liam seems to like them tremendously.
***
On the way to pick up Liam the next day, I suddenly thought. Wouldn’t Liam often experience finding confession notes in his locker? And even if I told him about the note I received yesterday, he wouldn’t go around blabbing about it to others.
“Hey, Liam.”
When Liam, who seemed particularly cheerful today, got in the car, I spoke to him.
“Yeah, Cheiky?”
Liam asked with a somewhat playful smile. ‘Cheiky’ is my nickname, but after growing up to a certain extent, I’d rarely heard anyone except my parents call me this. Since someone who wasn’t very close—though I thought they were someone I’d like to get closer to—called me this, I felt very strange.
“Have you ever had this happen? You opened your locker and there was something inside that you didn’t put in.”
“What kind of thing? A fake snake or dead rat? I don’t know who wore them, but anyway, dirty socks? Oh, there was rotten food too. And the really crazy bastards pissed in there.”
“…You must have a lot of nasty people around you.”
“Paying the price for being born too perfect—that’s how I think of it, in my own way.”
Liam answered refreshingly and asked what came out of my locker.
“A kind of love letter… I guess.”
Though it was too short to call it a love letter.
“Wow, what did it say? Can I ask who it was from?”
“I don’t know who sent it. There was no sender’s name. The content is short too.”
“Someone likes you but doesn’t have the guts to come forward directly.”
“I thought it was a prank after all.”
People’s tastes vary, but I’m just a loser who became a victim of a food fight and ran away just yesterday. Of course, being bullied isn’t a crime, but kids who get bullied aren’t popular, and I’m not unaware of that.
“It might be a trap set by Aiden.”
“…Aiden throws punches first if he doesn’t like something. He’s not the type to use his brain to bully someone.”
Liam said in a deliberately hardened voice.
“It could be an idea from one of his gang.”
“Blair and Hazel are similar kids, so they wouldn’t come up with that kind of idea.”
“Then it must be someone’s prank after all.”
“…You’re not even considering the possibility that there’s someone who likes you?”
When I countered to Liam that the possibility might not be zero but close to it, I tried to change the conversation topic to something else. But Liam seemed to want to continue conversing on the same topic.
“Why do you think no one likes you? You’re… very attractive.”
Liam said in a somewhat trembling voice.
“Huh?”
“I’ve never told you, but I hear it often from girls. Especially the track team girls. They say you’re cute.”
“But anyway, the person I like is…”
“Leda? Yeah, it’s not Leda. I can say for sure. She has someone else she likes.”
I answered Liam that as long as that was true, whether the note was sent as a prank or sincerely didn’t have much meaning, then kept my mouth tightly shut and focused on driving.
Leda has someone she likes.
It’s not surprising news, but suddenly I lost all desire to say anything.
“……You really like Leda.”
Liam said quietly, turning his gaze toward the car window.
“I don’t know how much I like her, but if I assume someone confesses to me right now, I think I’d reject them if it’s not her.”
“I’m envious.”
Liam didn’t say exactly what he was envious of. However, he was giving off an atmosphere that made it difficult to talk to him easily, so I decided to just keep my mouth shut.
“But what about Virgil? You said you two made up.”
Around the time the car entered the street where the school was visible, Liam said in a slightly cold voice.
“You used to come to school together with Virgil and Sophia. Sophia was taken by Leda so that’s one thing, but what happened with Virgil?”
“I lied because I thought you wouldn’t want to reveal your location.”
“What did you say?”
“I said Leda asked me to give you a ride, but your house is on the opposite side from theirs, so it would be hard to give both of you rides. But I want to make a good impression on Leda, so I asked him to take the school bus to school for the time being. Then he agreed right away.”
“……Yeah, thanks for being considerate.”
Liam made empty words without looking thankful at all, then remained silent the whole time before getting out in front of the school. He took a few steps toward the friends waiting for him on campus, then came back to me, flustered, and offered an apology.
“Sorry. I must have lost it for a moment. My mood has been all over the place today…… I was too rude to you.”
“No. But are you okay?”
“Ah, you don’t need to worry about me. Thanks for caring.”
After finishing his answer, Liam bit his lower lip hard, then quickly moved his body to head toward where his friends were. He seemed uncomfortable being with me, so I tried to leave for the place where Virgil was waiting. However, Nathan and Charlotte, who were greeting Liam, called me, so I had to go to where they were.
“Where are you going alone again? You went to a weird place during lunch yesterday too.”
“Don’t tell me you don’t like hanging out with us?”
At Nathan and Charlotte’s interrogation, I explained that wasn’t it, I was looking for Virgil. But not only Virgil but also all of Leda’s group were here.
“If you’re looking for Virgil Praxis, he’s here.”
“You……! You said you’d be in homeroom.”
When I confronted Virgil, he answered to remember that he’s a creature that moves according to the time. I kept glancing at Liam, anxious that something might happen, but fortunately nothing particular happened.
……Until morning, that is.
“Sorry but I have to say this. Do you know you sometimes make people miserable?”
“Who was all excited when I first brought it up, and now you’re complaining? Seriously, you’re exhausting. How is such a petty bastard the football team captain?”
Right after afternoon classes ended, Liam and Leda had an argument in the middle of the hallway. No one seemed to know what topic the two were arguing about except the parties involved. Nathan, Charlotte, and Alice could only speculate, not knowing why the two were fighting.
Everyone seemed to think they were arguing about their own topic since they had a history of dating, but from what I could see, it didn’t seem like that. To begin with, those two hadn’t even truly dated.
Since popular kids fought in front of many watching eyes, after the incident, the school was buzzing entirely with talk about the two of them. In that situation, the only ones staying silent were the parties involved, me, and Sophia.
Episode 2+
Could there be another idiot like me?
After finishing the particularly hectic day’s work and returning to lie down on the trailer bed, I repeatedly criticized myself. What did I want from Cheick? Did I want him to understand my feelings? When he likes Leda?
“……Leda.”
First, I need to apologize to Leda. I can put off worrying about it until later.
Right after we stopped our fake relationship, it was also Leda who decided to stop coming to school together. She said she’d pick up Sophia in her car and come to school from now on, so I could just take Cheick’s car to school.
‘I’ll talk to the high jump champion, so you just wait.’
Leda’s attitude at that time was very confident. Even considering that’s just her personality, it seemed excessive.
‘If you do that for me, that’d be great.’
I encouraged Leda to act as she intended. If she asked Cheick to take care of my commute, I’d get a good opportunity without putting in any particular effort on my end.
I was able to realize not long after that Leda’s confident attitude was because of her certainty that Cheick wouldn’t be able to refuse her request.
Because there are almost no guys at Moonbeam who don’t admire Leda Swan. Yeah. Even just our team guys have other people they’re seeing, but if Leda asked them on a date, they’d be ready to run out immediately.
‘If I assume someone confesses to me, I think I’d reject them if it’s not her.’
Even without Cheick, there are many guys interested in Leda. But a guy who likes her that faithfully—there are probably almost none.
……Why does it have to be you?
While Leda was doing something good for herself, she used your feelings to help me out incidentally. Why?
It’s fine for me to have feelings that won’t be reciprocated. But it’s a bit hard to bear that the object of my feelings has those feelings for my best friend and the person I feel most inferior to.
If Cheick had said he liked someone else, even if he said he liked Olivia Torin, I wouldn’t have committed this many things to regret.
Even before the Cheick problem, my inferiority complex toward Leda is at a considerable level. The reason I feel such emotions is extremely simple. It’s because of the difference in wealth status we belong to.
Leda is a very good friend who gives me a lot. Yeah, our relationship is like that after all. Rich kid Leda gives, and trailer park poor kid me receives. I feel grateful for that while also feeling inferior.
Leda and I are longtime friends, and we’re close enough that we perhaps know each other more than necessary. Therefore, we also know what words would most scathingly pierce each other’s vital points.
‘I wasn’t doing what you wanted me to. I should have just asked Nathan or Charlotte to give me a ride.’
Like Leda said, I also had ulterior motives, so when she told me to take Cheick’s car to school, I was just happy. But still, I felt resentful so I took it out on her. But if she took my whining at face value, she wouldn’t be Leda Swan.
‘Look at this? Things aren’t working out well for you. That’s your fault, so why is it my fault? Seriously, you’re so annoying. If I did that much for you, you should be grateful and take care of your own business. Don’t even think about freeloading while whining and blaming me.’
