Unknown Chapter 1

Unknown

Chapter 1

The Thing about Trust

It’s strange to be back at school. The normal hustle and bustle and yet I don’t feel normal at all. I feel like a puppy without a home—no, like a puppy whose home was burnt to the ground. Phoebe is a Readerand my mother—well, she wantedto be a Reader.

I look down at Liam’s hand knotted with my own. He is the one person who hasn’t changed. The one person who feelsthe same to me. Troy feels more fatherly, Pops more put off by me. But Liam, Liam feels the same, he is my one constant. Even with Dad’s vague, disturbing note.  

Thankful,

The world your mother has brought you into is wrong. It’s inhumane. I’d hoped you’d never know of the anomalies in her life. People like Phoebe and Liam cannot be trusted. I warn you to keep your distance. Keep your thoughts and future safe. 

Dad

My teeth nibble at the inside of my cheek. Dad. He’d actually signed it Dad. He hasn’t been a dad, my dad, in years.

“You’re thinking about it again.”

“Huh?” I turn to Liam, who pulls me away from the middle of the hall, before Tony Hawks runs right into me. 

“The note. Your dad.”

“No.” I shake my head and lie. If he thinks I’m thinking about it, he thinks I’m doubting him—it isn’t a new conversation.

Liam leads me into a mostly deserted hallway. “I know that you are. I don’t blame you. It’s unnerving. And I can see why you’d think twice about what he says.”

I shake his hand from mine and grip my hips, pacing the short distance between the hall lockers. “I don’t even know where he is. Where’s he been for six years? Why would I ever trust him?” I mean it—and yet my head is full of rain clouds. Not for Liam. Never for Liam. But still, how does he know these things? How does he know Liam’s name? And Phoebe—how does he know about her? Did Mom tell him?

“Because he’s your father—that’s why. And even with six years of absence, you have eleven years of love and respect and trust.” He tugs at my wrist mid pace. “And I can see that you do.”

“I don’t.” I look down at his hand on my arm, not wanting to see the black overcome his eyes. “I just—I don’t understand how he knows about any of this. How does he know, Liam? How does he know who you are? How does he know your name?” I ask Liam all my questions—trying to prove to him I don’t doubt him. “If he’s so worried, where is he?” My eyes fill. Why is he doing this to me? Why couldn’t he have just stayed away? 

Liam shrugs and runs his hand through my hair, tucking a strand behind my ear. “You know I love you, right?” The leather cord and Euro coin around his neck peeks out. Part him. Part me.

Nodding, I peer into his eyes—I really need to return the sentiment one of these days. Amazingly, Liam doesn’t seem to mind that I haven’t. 

“Come on,” he says, kissing the corner of my mouth and sliding his hand into mine.

“Where are we going?” It’s a dumb question, class starts in five minutes. But this is Liam I’m talking to—breakfast isn’t out the question.

“To see your friends.”

I blow a raspberry through my lips—that sounds exhausting.

Laughing at my gesture, he continues pulling me along. “I’ve got some hands to shake.”

Hands to shake?“Liam?”

“You can trust me, Thankful, I’m going to prove it to you. I know there’s someone we can help today.” He pulls me into a crowd and waves to Kent and Chelsea down the hall.

He’s serious—he’s completely serious. My one constant wants to start getting friendly. The world around me is falling apart. Everything I’ve known to be true crashes down around me—even my father’s betrayal. The wall of reasons I’ve built to block out the pain and abandonment is crumbling. Everything I know to be true is turning into lies and rubble. Phoebe. Mom. Dad. Reading… Knowing…

I feel the pressure of Liam’s hand in mine. Despite the mess Dad’s note has made in my head, Liam is the one person who doesn’t need to earn back my trust. But here he is, ready to shake some hands, insisting he prove himself to me.