Page 52 of The Design of Goodbye
My fingers skimmed over the whole bruise. Something was happening to me. Something weird and strange and I couldn’t figure it out and I was kind of freaking out and—
My flashlight was torn out of my grip.
“I win.” Flashlight still aimed at his face, he did something I’d never seen. Hesmiled. Something fluttered in my stomach, and it terrified me because I knew what it was.
Butterflies.
* * *
Two hours later, I parked my dad’s car next to Gary’s Auto Shop. The car’s headlights shined on the side of the building, giving me goose bumps. The auto shop was old, with crooked garage doors and peeling paint. It was creepy, too, with occasional flickering lights and a backyard filled with unused car parts.
“You work there?” I pointed to the building. Liam nodded, and I asked, not sure I felt comfortable letting him out of my car, “Are you sure it’s safe?”
“It looks creepier than it is.”
I still wasn’t convinced. “Maybe—”
“Thanks for the ride,” he interjected, fumbling around in the darkness of the car for a few seconds. “I lost one of my gloves. If you find it, can you give it to me at school?”
I frowned at the request—because what was I going to do about school? What would I do if Liam tried to talk to me during lunch? Did I talk to him now? I wanted to, but that would mean my friendship with Jules was officially over. After everything she’d done to me, I knew it should be. But...I thought of my mom, and I didn’t know what to do. Everything was so confusing. I hated having to hide whatever this was growing between Liam and I, but right now, I had no other choice.
“Don’t you need it? I can help you look.”
“I’ll be okay,” he said, grabbing his backpack. “Can you pop your trunk? I really need to get going.”
“Sure.”
He opened the car door but didn’t get out. “Can you tell your dad I said thanks for the tires?”
“You’ve already thanked him like a hundred times,” I said. “I think he knows.”
He shrugged sheepishly. “It was really nice of him.”
I was beginning to get the impression people didn’t do nice things for Liam often. The thought made me sad. “I’ll tell him.”
“Okay, cool.” He got out of the car, hesitated, but then added, “I had fun today. I’ll see you next Saturday.”
He closed the door. I popped the trunk and watched him take his bike out through the rearview mirror. I didn’t stop watching him until he rounded the corner to the front of the building.
Liam had two jobs, and, apparently, his second job was at a creepy building he worked at in themiddleof the night. A job he was almost an hour late for. He’d said it was fine, but I hadn’t missed the anxious bouncing of his legs and nervous glances at the clock on my dashboard as I’d driven him to work.
I turned on the interior light of the car, leaned over, and found his glove stuffed between the seat and middle console. I didn’t hesitate and got out of my car. I tried to tell myself I was doing this because Liam needed his glove. And while that was true, I was mostly curious about his job and who he worked with at night.
But Liam wasn’t inside like I’d expected. He was kneeling next to a rusty bench and locking his bike to one of the railings. Just then, the front door of the shop opened, revealing a very angry man. I halted.
“Boy!”
Liam startled and stood to face the man.
The man was very tall and slender, with a receding hairline. If it wouldn’t have been for the ever-present fury in his gaze, he would’ve been forgettable. But I’d never forget that look.
“Where the hell have you been?” The man stepped closer, and I saw an embroideredChuckon the pocket of his mechanic’s shirt.
Liam stepped back. “I was at—”
“Shut up!” the man shouted, so loudly that both Liam and I jumped. “Get your ass inside.”
I stepped forward, even though I really wanted to go back to the safety of my car. “Liam?”
