Chapter 10

“Hey, I’m glad I caught you before you left.”

Liam looks up from the table as his mother walks into the kitchen. “I was just finishing up,” he says.

“You’re not in a rush, are you?” she asks. Liam shakes his head. “Good. I just wanted to make sure that you’re alright.”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I don’t know,” she says with a shrug. “You were kind of mopey for a few weeks.”

“Not really mopey anymore,” he counters.

“You’re still not yourself,” she argues. “What’s going on?”

“Not a whole lot.”

“I’m your mother, I can tell when something is up,” she says, glaring at him with a crooked grin. “Come on, talk to me.”

“I had a sort of break up and...”

“I didn’t know you had a girlfriend,” she interrupts. “Are you still a virgin?”

“Mom!”

“Hey, I’m just curious,” she says throwing her hand up defensively. “Your dad and I were beginning to wonder if you were gay.”

“Would that be wrong?”

She shakes her head. “It wouldn’t, but if you are, you know you can bring him home to meet us.”

“Mom,” he growls. “I’m not gay.”

“Okay, honey. I just wanted to make sure you understood.”

“I do understand, and it’s not that,” Liam says, dropping his head down.

“Is it someone we’ve met?”

“I’ve never brought a girl home, Mom.”

“Well, Karen was a girl,” his mother corrects.

“Karen was six years old and she lived next door,” he emends. “I haven’t brought anyone home since she left.”

“Why is that?”

He shrugs. “I don’t know. I never really thought about it.”

“Well, maybe that’s the problem,” she says thoughtfully. “So you had a break up. Those things do happen. Did you have feelings for her?”

Liam nods. “I did ... still do...”

“Have you tried to see what went wrong?”

“I know what went wrong.”

“Well, maybe you try to fix it,” she suggests, reaching out to take her son’s hand comfortingly. “You know, sometimes talking it out can fix a problem, and most of the time it is more of a misunderstanding than a problem.”

Liam yanks his hand away. “I can’t. She’s gone.”

His mother’s face takes on a look of shock. “Did she move away?”

“Something like that,” he says in a low voice. “But I did meet someone new.”

“That’s good,” she says, sounding optimistic. “What’s her name?”

“Loni.”

Liam turns to the last number on the dial before the lock pops open. He sighs. Having that conversation with his mother was kind of a relief and a burden at the same time. He wanted to open up more and tell her all about him and his sister ... Nayzu ... but he couldn’t. For starters, she probably wouldn’t believe he has been fucking a monster that had come through his closet door from another dimension. Then she’d probably freak out at her children fucking each other.

And then there is the problem he faces of loving not only his sister, but Nayzu as well. Both didn’t return the feelings, and maybe that is for the better. It’s immoral for him to fuck his sister, as well as against the law. And then there is Nayzu who isn’t even human! Loni fixes the both problems, but the other two still weigh heavily on his mind constantly. He reaches for the lever and pulls up, opening the door. Liam nearly falls backward in fright.

“Took you long enough to open the damn door,” Nayzu says sarcastically, flapping a piece of paper at him in the air. “It gets stuffy in here, you know.”

“What the hell are you doing here?” he asks, quickly looking from side to side to see if anyone has noticed.

“Keeping an eye on you obviously,” she says with a shrug.

“You’re spying on me?” She nods. “Not only is that wrong, but it’s childish.”

“It didn’t seem wrong when I spent all those years doing it,” she says, her eyes narrowing at him.

“That was different,” he blasts her.

“How so?”

“Well...”

“Cause I was fucking you?” she blurts loudly.

“No!” he answers with a high whisper. “Shh ... keep it down, will you?”

“Oh, so you don’t want anyone to see me, huh?”

“It’s the rules,” he says smugly.

“And it’s going to be funny when someone comes over seeing you talking to an empty locker too.”

Liam opens his mouth to spit out another retort and then quickly closes it. She has him there. “Where have you been for the last three weeks?”

“I could ask you the same,” she says, again flapping the paper around. “It seems you’ve been fucking some other girl.”

“What is that?” he asks, ignoring her comment.

“It’s a note from Loni,” she says, adding a venom-like tone to the girl’s name.

“You left me,” he accuses.

“That’s because I needed time to think,” she explains, thinking that it is more than he deserves to hear.

“About what? About hearing that I loved you?”

“Exactly,” she says. “I had to be sure that it was serious.”

“And why wouldn’t it be?”

“Because you are still stuck on Rebecca,” she accuses.

“Yeah, maybe I am,” he grunts. “So what?”

“So what?”

“Yeah, so what?”

“I cannot bring you into my world unless our love is an unbreakable bond,” Nayzu says, suddenly letting the anger and hate fall from her words.

“Why would I want to go there?” he asks, suddenly feeling ashamed.

“Because we could have a life like you can never imagine,” Nayzu explains.

“What can you give that a human girl couldn’t give me?”

“Everything,” she answers.

Liam stands there for a few long moments, looking down at his feet. When he looks up, he looks straight into her eyes. “You should have talked to me. You shouldn’t have just left like that.” He fights back the tears, waiting for her excuse. Nayzu goes to speak when suddenly he reaches out and snatches the note from her. “Maybe I was using Loni to prove to Rebecca I was over her. I can’t use you for that, can I?”

Again Nayzu goes to reply, but this time she gets the locker slammed shut in her face before a single word can escape. Liam turns and settles back against the locker, still fighting the tears and sniffling. Inside Nayzu presses her hand against the cold metal, wanting to say something—anything—but finding it hard to find the right words. Liam unfolds the note and reads it: meet me in the south stairwell...

Just then the bell for first period rings, jolting Liam back to his senses. The sound of lockers slamming and feet shuffling draws his attention to the hallway. No one, it seems, has thought twice about his little spat with an empty locker. With a smile on his face, he crumples the note up and starts down the hall.

He manages to get to the other side of the building without being caught. Upon reaching the door, he takes one last glance back to ensure that no one is in the hall to see him. Satisfied that he is in the clear, he pushes the door open and slips into the stairwell. He heads down to the next floor—the basement level. Pausing at the door he thinks about his conversation with Nayzu. He suddenly feels ashamed to be doing this. Liam shakes his head and mumbles, “You should have just left like that if she really loves me...” then without another thought, he pushes the door open.

Waiting for him is Loni, wearing a cute little sundress. Immediately, he slips over to her, wrapping his arms around her waist. His eyes fall to hers and she says, “I was beginning to wonder if you got the note.”

“I almost didn’t,” he confesses.

“Why?”

“It’s not important,” he says, pressing forward to kiss her. Loni’s lips are delicious. And so is the feel of her skin. While not as smooth and exotic as Nayzu’s, it still feels nice.