The Unexpected Twist - Marline (best books to read for young adults .txt) 📗

to kiss me but right before his lips touched mine he suddenly stopped.
“You don’t mind, do you?” He asked.
“Mind? Not at all.” I answered slightly mischievously.
He immediately took advantage of my encouragement and kissed me. This kiss was far better than the previous one and I enjoyed feeling his gentle side again. He pulled away momentarily.
“How many boys have you kissed to make you such a good kisser?” He asked.
“Do you really want to know?” I chuckled.
“Yes.”
I smiled, a little embarrassed that I had to admit this. “You were the first.”
“What?” Surprise was embedded in his voice.
“At the hotel. That was my first kiss... And you?”
“Believe it or not, my story is the exact same as yours.”
I was genuinely shocked. “Really?”
“Yes. I know, you probably don’t believe me but I have never let a girl come close enough to kiss me. You can ask Jennifer and Kira to confirm that if you want to.”
I laughed softly. “Nah, by now I have learned that I can trust you. I just find it...” I searched for the right word. “Unbelievable.”
I ran my finger over his swollen lip.
“I’m sorry.” I said to him.
He chuckled. “Yes, remind me to never get on your bad side.”
“You’ve already been on my bad side.” I laughed.
“Claire, tell me, at the party, why did you kiss me?” Liam unexpectedly asked.
This time it was my turn to look into the distance. I snuggled against him a little more and then answered the question.
“I’m not sure. Suddenly you didn’t seem like such a threat anymore. And it all seemed so easy. I mean, I’ve been dreading my first kiss for quite some time and you were so close, so I guess I just decided to take the chance. And it was well worth it.”
“Tell me about it.” He agreed.


Chapter 4

“Good morning,” Liam told me, before my eyes were even completely open.
“Morning.” I answered him without thinking about it. Then I suddenly sat up.
“Where on earth are we?”
Liam laughed. “`Don’t you remember yesterday? I sure hope you do because otherwise I think I can expect a slap after this.” I giggled softly at my own stupidity.
“Of course I remember yesterday. It’s not easy to forget nearly being raped and then being kissed passionately by the person who nearly raped you.” I snuggled next to him and he put an arm around me.
“So what are we going to do next?” I asked him.
“Well, the first thing we’re going to do is get you home. And I don’t think you can walk on that ankle, look at how much it has swollen overnight.” I looked down at my ankle and was shocked to see that it was probably three times bigger than it had been yesterday. I bent my knee to check if I could put any pressure on my foot but this was impossible and I cringed in pain.
“You really aren’t very smart this morning, are you?” Liam teased me.
“Hey,” I slapped him softly on the arm. “I didn’t exactly sleep very soundly.”
“No, you were awake half the night and even when you were asleep, you were still worrying out loud.”
“What? I talked in my sleep? What did I say?” I said, slightly shocked. I had never talked in my sleep before and wondered if he was joking.
“You said something about Cameron, something like: ‘I hope she’s not angry.’ And..” Liam looked into the distance and did not finish his sentence.
“And what?” I asked, curious what else I’d said.
“And you said you loved me.” I stared at Liam for a while, not because of what he’d said but because he was actually blushing. The most popular guy at school, probably in the whole town, was blushing because I had said that I loved him. I giggled, the whole situation was just so funny, us in a forest, me not able to walk, me talking in my sleep. I couldn’t help it, I started laughing and couldn’t stop. Liam looked at me with an extremely puzzled expression on his face.
“Claire, what’s so funny?” This only made me laugh harder. “Tell me Claire!” In between fits of laughter I managed to explain to him what was so funny. He didn’t really understand the humor of the whole situation and was probably just wondering if I had gone insane overnight.
“I’m sorry.” I said to him, while trying desperately to suppress my laughter. “But you have to admit it’s funny, us in a forest, in the middle of nowhere. Us

, Liam! The most unlikely pair to ever get lost in a forest together!” Liam grinned at this. “Yes, it was quite unexpected. But Claire..” Again, he didn’t finish his sentence.
“Yes?” I urged him on.
“Did you mean that? When you said you loved me? Well, of course you didn’t mean it, you were asleep but-“
“Liam.” I stopped him, before he could say anymore. “I meant it. I love you.” He smiled and I couldn’t take my eyes off him. His smile was so beautiful, so perfect, that it momentarily drove all my worries away.
Liam looked at me and I could see that his eyes sparkled. “I love you too.” He leaned forewords and kissed me. My blood began to race through my body which caused my ankle to throb but I didn’t care. I didn’t have a care in the world, my life was perfect. Except for one thing. I couldn’t decide whether to keep my eyes open so that I could look at his gorgeous face or to close them so that I could enjoy the moment. Mid-kiss I burst out laughing.
“What has gotten into you this morning?” Liam asked, and this time he laughed too, merely because I was acting so weirdly.
I took a deep breath and leaned against the tree.
“It’s not me, it’s you. You’re just too good-looking.” I told him, with fake annoyance.
He smiled. “And how may I ask is that funny?”
Now it was my turn to blush. I couldn’t decide whether to tell him or not and apparently he noticed this.
“Tell me!” He demanded playfully.
“No.” I answered mischievously, wondering how far he’d go to get his answer. Liam started tickling me.
“Tell me!”
I laughed. “That’s unfair! Fine, fine, I’ll tell you.” I was silent for a few seconds, wondering how to formulate the answer to make it least embarrassing towards myself.
“Well?” Liam said impatiently.
“While you were kissing me..” I said slowly. “I was debating with myself whether to keep my eyes open so that I could look at you or whether to close them so that I could enjoy the moment.” I didn’t dare look at him; for fear that his expression would tell me that I was being ridiculous. Liam didn’t say anything; instead, he put a hand on my cheek and forced his lips onto mine. I gave in to his kiss willingly.
“You are the weirdest, strangest, most interesting girl I’ve ever met.” He said when he pulled away. “But that is probably why I love you.” I smiled, and suddenly it struck me that I had just given this young man the ability to break my heart if he ever chose to do so.

Suddenly Liam felt in the pocket of his jacket and frowned. He then searched the other pocket, stood up, and scanned the ground around us.
“Oh no,” He groaned.
“What’s wrong?” I asked him.
“The tape. It’s gone.”
“It’s gone?” I repeated.
“Yes. Stan probably stole it in the middle of the night.” Frustration and anger were evident on Liam’s face. I didn’t know what to say, scared that I would make the situation worse and so just looked at Liam and then at the floor around us until Liam had made sure that the tape was really gone.
“Stupid idiot.” I muttered.
“What?” Liam asked and his eyes narrowed as he looked at me.
“I’m talking about Stan.” I explained quickly, before Liam thought that I was talking about him.
“Yes, yes he is indeed. But I will get him; he will pay for what he’s done. But let’s not worry about that right now, come on, let’s go home.” Liam helped me to my feet and then suddenly scooped me up into his arms. I was surprised that his eyes and mannerisms showed not a hint of the concern and frustration that had been there a few moments ago.
“Liam! Put me down! I can walk, or at least limp.” But Liam wouldn’t even consider my demand and started walking towards the forest.
“Hmph.” Was all I said, because I knew that I wouldn’t be able to convince him to put me down. After a few minutes I said:
“If I get too heavy than just put me down anywhere.” Liam looked at me, as if I had gone crazy.
“Claire, you could never get too heavy. You’re light as a feather. Maybe you should eat more. Come to dinner with me Saturday.”
“Is that a question or a demand?” I asked him. Usually I hated being demanded to do something but this time I wasn’t insulted or annoyed, I was just curious what Liam would say. Actually, I was just jesting, in a way hoping for an argument because I was so used to arguing with him.
Liam looked down at me again and I could see in his eyes that he knew what I was up to.
“Well, technically it is a question but since I’m not taking no for an answer you could see it as a demand.” He was still looking at me.
“Liam! Look ahead of us before we bump into a tree or something.”
Liam laughed. “Stop avoiding my question.”
“Your demand.” I reminded him.
“Claire!” he said, exasperated. He stopped walking. “I’m not moving from this place until you give me an answer.”
I didn’t look at him when I gave him an answer. “Don’t get me wrong, I would love to go to dinner with you. But if anyone sees us and someone at school finds out… well, let’s just say, girls can be very scary when they’re jealous.”
Liam laughed heartily. “All right, I have an idea.” He started walking again and I could see that he was up to something.
“What?” I asked him curiously.
“It’s a surprise.” He answered, “I’ll pick you up on Saturday at 6, ok?”
I groaned. “Liam, if you embarrass me on Saturday then I promise I’ll get back at you.” Liam looked down again, amused. “Really, how? Remember that I’ve got a whole clan of obsessed school girls to protect me if you do anything to me.”
“Yeah, yeah.” I said, and attempted crossing my arms, which was impossible since Liam still held me around a meter off the floor. Instead I put my arms around his neck. I felt content, happier than I had been since I had heard about what had happened to Cameron.

Something dropped out of the sky, well, probably from a tree, and fell on me. I looked down and screamed. I wiggled and nearly fell out of Liam’s arms but he had a strong hold on me and put me down gently on the floor.
“Get it off me!” I said, panicked. It was a millipede and with its dozens of legs it was crawling up towards my neck.
“Liam!