Chapter 2

Annie couldn't help but drive herself to Naomi's grand home, and knock on her door. She had to tell her about what happened with Liam, or she wouldn't feel right about going out on a date with him. Besides, Dixon already knew about it, so she felt like the secret would start spilling at some point, and the fallout would be worse if she didn't tell it to Naomi herself. Last time Naomi thought that Annie slept with him, she tried to make the poor girl's life hell, even though it wasn't even true. What would her reaction be if it really was true? Would her friendship with Naomi end?

"Annie Wilson, what a pleasant surprise," Naomi said, opening the door with a smile. "I'm actually having a nice after party with the other girls, after the crazy party from last night. Since you're here, care to join us?"

"Um, sure... but the others are here?" Annie asked.

Naomi nodded her head and explained, "Don't worry, it's not a crazy stranger pool like the party. It's just me, you, Silver, and Adrianna."

"Well, I was sort of hoping that we could talk alone right now," Annie said.

"Is this about your hook-up last night?" Naomi asked, laughing. "I sort of figured after I realized you had jetted off from my party. So, who is the lucky guy?"

"Naomi, this is important," Annie told her.

"Well, come put your bathing suit on, soak in the hot tub, and tell us about your dilemma!" Naomi exclaimed. "I'm not taking no for an answer. Oh, did you not bring your bikini? Silly me. Don't worry, I have a whole bunch upstairs. Just wait here."

Naomi came back with quite a few swimsuit options for Annie. Eventually, she just picked one and put it on, and then joined the girls in the hot tub. Silver and Adrianna were also some of her best friends. They would all find out at some point if she started dating Liam. Maybe it was time that she told them.

"Annie has news," Naomi announced, getting back inside the hot tub.

"Is this about the hook-up?" Silver asked. "Naomi figured that you did."

"Okay, this is hard for me to say," Annie quietly said. "I did sleep with somebody last night. But he wasn't some stranger guy..."

"Wow, is that your news? Because it wasn't very good," Adrianna commented. "We all figured that you hooked up with somebody, actually. As long as it wasn't Navid, I'm fine. But it wasn't, because he was with me the whole time. At least I think he was... I might have had too many drinks, so I can barely remember what happened—"

"Ade, it wasn't Navid, I can promise you that," Annie told her, sighing.

"Then what is the problem?" Silver asked. "As long as he's not some ugly ass dude, then you should be happy! Unless you're pregnant. That wouldn't be too good—"

"I slept with Liam," Annie confessed.

Naomi pursed her lips for a moment before smiling.

"Are you happy about this?" Annie asked.

"Well, I can't say that I'm mad," Naomi told her, shrugging it off. "Honey, Liam hasn't been on my mind in forever. I've got myself a new guy. We're keeping it low-key, but I've been seeing him for a bit, and I can tell you that the sex is amazing."

"Good to know," Silver laughed, but then turned her attention back to Annie. "You and Liam? Wow... Just wow. Do you like him?"

"I mean... I don't know. Well, I guess... I mean, yeah, I think I do, but I just didn't know if it was okay with Naomi, and he's known to hurt girls, and I don't want to get hurt—" Annie began.

"Annie, if you're looking for my blessing, well, then you've got it," Naomi told her. "But I can't argue about the bad guy part. He is a pretty big player. Sleeping with my own sister..."

"I did not need a reminder of that event," Annie sighed.

"That was so long ago. Personally, I think he's becoming a better person," Silver defended. "So, if you like him, and he likes you, then where does this leave you guys?"

"Hopefully somewhere good," Annie laughed. "He did ask me out to have dinner so we can 'figure things out'."

"I'm guessing that means it's a date," Adrianna said, smiling. "Don't be shocked when he tries to kiss you. Pretty sure our little Annie is going to have a new boyfriend tomorrow. Am I right?"

"Well, we'll see," Annie said, trying hard not to smile. "I'm supposed to meet him for dinner at 7:00."

"Then we still have quite a few hours for this after party!" Naomi exclaimed. "Oh, and I'm SO helping you pick your outfit for the date."

...

There was a knock on Liam's door, so he sighed as he ran down from his bedroom to open it.

"Oh... hey Teddy... Dixon," Liam greeted quietly.

"It's almost 5:00, and we heard the waves out there tonight are gonna be killer!" Teddy exclaimed. "Dixon and I are heading out to the beach to go for a little bit of surfing. Do you want to head out with us?"

"I mean I would, but I've got plans tonight," Liam said. "Sorry, guys."

"Plans?" Teddy questioned. "Are you holding a suit? Liam Court is wearing a suit! Is this for a girl? She must be pretty damn special if you're wearing a suit for her."

"Yeah, she is special. It's no big deal, though. Have fun out there," Liam said, smiling.

"Is this for Annie?" Dixon asked.

"What?" Liam said, scratching his head. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Come on, don't play dumb with me," Dixon said, rolling his eyes. "She knows that I know. I saw you two cuddled up to each other when I got back from Naomi's party. Are you taking her out tonight? She's your special girl?"

"Alright, yeah, I'm taking Annie out tonight," Liam told him. "You're cool with that, right?"

"Honestly, I'm not," Dixon said.

"Dixon..." Teddy muttered.

"No, I'm not 'alright'," Dixon said. "I mean, go ahead, take her out, I don't have anything against her having a boyfriend, but she's my sister, and I'm worried about her. I'm worried that you might hurt her."

"Yeah, 'cause I'm just that guy known for hurting everybody around him," Liam quietly said, sighing. "I know who I am. You don't trust me to take care of Annie? I would never hurt her."

"You're one of my friends, and I trust you, and I know you don't intend to hurt people, but sometimes you do it anyways," Dixon said, sighing. "I'm not asking you to stop, or to not take her out, but just please think about what you're doing, and don't hurt her. She's been hurt enough in her life, and she doesn't need another guy messing things up for her. She deserves the best."

"I think you two should be hitting the beach now. I don't think you want to miss the 'killer waves'," Liam said, gesturing for them to leave.

...

It was 7:30.

"Liam, where are you? It's been 30 minutes since we were supposed to meet, and I've been waiting at the restaurant for all this time, and I just don't understand what's happening right now, so can you please call me back? I'm getting worried," Annie said to the voicemail, before ending it, and putting her phone back in her purse.

She felt betrayed. She was expecting this magical night with Liam, where they had a perfect dinner, shared a kiss under the stars, and talked about being in a relationship together, but instead, she was waiting inside of a restaurant, being stood up. All she wanted to do was have a good night. Maybe everyone was right about Liam just being a bad boy. He would never be able to commit to her. He would never love anybody. His intentions were always using girls. Maybe Dixon was right. He got what he was looking for last night— they had slept together, and now he was done with her. That was starting to feel like the case.

Suddenly, her phone buzzed, and her faith restored. Maybe, just maybe, he had some miraculous excuse for why he wasn't there. Maybe his home situation kept him, parents, or anything at all. She didn't care. She just needed to know that she hasn't been stood up.

'I'm really sorry, but I can't make it tonight. I don't think we're a good idea. I still care about you, and I hope we can be friends. -Liam'

A tear dripped down her cheeks, and she shoved her phone back into her purse. She began walking towards the parking lot, finding her keys. Fumbling for them, she angrily opened her car door, getting inside.

"Annie?"

Annie turned around.

"Ivy, hey..."

"Are you okay? What are you doing here?" Ivy asked. "Naomi told me that you're going on a date with Liam tonight, and—"

"Well, that date isn't happening. Everyone was right to say he's a 'bad boy'. He stood me up," Annie said, sighing. "He didn't show up tonight, so he last-minute texted that he doesn't think we're a good idea. So, this is great. This is just awesome. What are you doing here anyways?"

"Raj is going to start cancer treatment tomorrow, so I thought we would go out to celebrate. He's washing up, but he'll come back in a second," Ivy explained. "Annie, I'm really sorry about the way he treated you. Being stood up must suck, dude."

"Yeah, it does suck... a lot," Annie said. "I hope you and Raj have a good night, though. At least you guys get to have some fun. But relationships suck for me. They always do."

"Maybe he has a reason for it. I know Liam's known for being on the bad side, but I've always thought he genuinely has feelings for you," Ivy told her. "You've always been the one person he's never wanted to hurt."

"He loves to act like he cares about me, doesn't he?" Annie scoffed. "He doesn't care, Ivy. He loves to pretend like he has such genuine feelings for a girl before he sleeps with them. And he got what he wanted, so now he's done with me. The text he sent made it pretty clear."

"Annie—" Ivy began, but the brunette got into her car, and drove home, sobbing the entire way.

Entering her house, Annie sighed. She leaned her back against the door, letting tears run down her cheeks. She hadn't cried so hard in a very long time. Down the stairs came Dixon, his eyes widening when he saw his crying sister.

"Oh my god, what did he do?" Dixon asked, walking up to her immediately and giving her a hug. "It's only like 7:45, was the date that short? What happened?"

"You were right, Dixon," Annie sobbed. "You were right about Liam. He never wanted to be with me, he just wanted to sleep with me. He stood me up tonight, and sent a text to me saying that he doesn't think we're a good idea. Now that we've slept together, he's just done with me for good. I actually thought I meant more to him than other girls."

"Annie, I didn't want to be right," Dixon said, shaking his head. "I never wanted to be right if it meant you getting hurt. It's his loss. You're an amazing girl, and he doesn't deserve you, anyways."