"Hey, Camilla, what's wrong?" Liam said as she picked the call, but he was greeted by sobbing sounds.
He quickly jumped up from his bed and asked what was wrong again, but the only response he got was louder wailing.
"Camilla, talk to me," he pleaded worriedly, and then the call ended.
Unable to think straight, Liam rushed out of his room, troubled by her cries.
All he could think of was going over to see her.
"Where are you going this late?" his mother stopped him as he took the car keys to leave.
Liam checked the clock. It was a few minutes past nine—it was really late.
He tried calling Camilla again, but her phone was switched off.
He told his mother he was going to see Camilla, but she still wouldn't let him leave and instead offered to call her father.
"Okay, Mum," he said and pretended to return into the house. He didn't.
He headed to the backyard and escaped through the garden on his motorcycle to find her.
Vivian, Liam's elder sister, came out of her room and went to meet their mother, who was still trying to get through to Mr. Santos.
Vivian picked up a piece of fries from the plate in front of her.
"Why aren't you asleep yet?" Mrs. Anderson asked, dropping her phone.
"Can you call your brother down? I'm unable to get through to Camilla's dad," she added.
"He left the house," Vivian replied.
She had seen him sneaking out earlier while she was smoking in the garden so her mother wouldn't find out.
Being the only girl among two boys, Vivian had always been rebellious.
To escape her parents' plans of making her run the company after them, she changed her course of study to photography, leaving them with only Liam to take over the business.
"What? I told him not to leave the house this late," Mrs. Anderson said worriedly and reached for her phone again.
"I'm sure he dropped his phone inside before leaving," Vivian quickly stopped her.
"Why don't you stop focusing on Liam and let him..."
"Did you pierce your nose?"
"…"
"Goodnight, Mum," Vivian said quickly and ran off to her room before her mother discovered the tattoo on her shoulder as well.
~
Liam arrived outside Camilla's school and was immediately faced with the problem of how to get in.
He managed to get close to the girls' dormitory but couldn't enter.
The entire place would be locked at exactly eleven.
He walked around looking for another way in and eventually found the window to Camilla's room but it was on the second floor.
He tried calling Camilla again just as he heard the matron telling everyone to return to their rooms.
This time, she picked up.
"Hey, I didn't know I answered..." Camilla began, but Liam cut her off quickly and told her he was outside her window.
She didn't believe him at first and immediately went to check.
When she called out to him, he waved to show her where he was.
Camilla was pleasantly surprised to see him.
She wanted to ask what he was doing there at that hour, but instead hurried downstairs to meet him.
They hugged for a few seconds before pulling apart, just as Camilla heard the matron urging the girls to hurry inside before she locked the door.
They exchanged knowing looks.
Liam grabbed her hand and led her away toward the wall, and together they climbed out of the school.
He took her to where he had parked his motorcycle earlier, and they rode off with no destination in mind.
After about thirty minutes, he pulled over beside a quiet road.
They got off and burst into laughter.
"Are you going to be okay being absent from the dorm?" Liam asked between laughs.
Camilla shook her head.
"I'll just have to stay out longer," she replied.
They sat on a bench by the roadside, enjoying the calm and peaceful atmosphere.
Liam gazed intensely at Camilla as she closed her eyes and breathed in the fresh air, finally relieved of her stress.
He hadn't seen her in months, and he missed her deeply.
He thought about the lies he had told her about his nonexistent crush and wished he hadn't said anything at all.
Now, it would be harder to tell her how he truly felt.
"How did you know to come here?" she asked.
Liam immediately looked away.
"I was worried," he replied.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cry over the phone. I picked up without realizing it," she said, and he told her it was alright.
"Did someone upset you? You were crying a lot," he asked.
"I had a fight with Tyler," she answered, turning to him.
Liam was surprised that a fight was enough to make her cry so much.
He felt angry and disturbed at the same time, angry that Tyler had made her cry, and disturbed. It means that she really like him more than he had thought.
"What did you fight about?" he asked after a few seconds.
Camilla remained quiet.
She turned away and stood up from the bench, leaning against the wall as Tyler's words replayed in her mind.
She didn't understand why she kept rejecting any deeper closeness with him when she clearly liked him.
She always found herself pulling back, and to make things worse, Tyler didn't like her closeness with Liam.
Liam walked over, hurt by her silence.
She usually told him everything when he asked, even about her first kiss.
This was the first time she had avoided telling him something.
"Is it something you can't talk to me about?" he asked gently.
Camilla forced a smile and nodded.
She didn't want to tell him he was the reason for their fight, nor did she want to cancel her plans with him just to please Tyler.
"He didn't hurt you, did he?" Liam asked again.
"No, he didn't. It's nothing."
"You know you can talk to me, right?" he said once more, and she assured him everything was fine.
"How are things with Camilla?" she asked, changing the topic.
"I don't want to talk about her," he replied, heading back to the motorcycle.
Camilla wondered if things weren't going well between them too.
She followed him quietly, got on the bike, and he drove away.
Liam knew that returning home at that hour would result in a long lecture from his mother, and going to Camilla's house was out of the question.
He called Eric and asked to stay over.
Eric's parents didn't live with him, and he stayed alone in one of their houses not far from Heights.
They headed there, and Eric opened the door.
He was surprised to see Liam and Camilla together so late, but he swallowed his curiosity and told Camilla to use the spare room while Liam shared his room with him.
"I can stay in the same room with Liam. He doesn't like sharing a bed with other people," Camilla said after Eric handed her a blanket.
Eric stared at her, stunned.
"Right, Liam?" she added, but Liam said nothing and pretended to get some water.
"I'm sure Liam doesn't mind, but I do and I'm his best friend," Eric said, gently pushing her toward the other room before closing the door.
He returned to Liam, who had already dropped the empty glass and was toweling his hair.
Eric lightly hit his shoulder, made a funny face, and asked how he ended up staying out so late with Camilla.
"It's not what you think," Liam said and went into the room.
"So nothing happened, even after staying out this late?"
"I picked her up because she was sad and crying," Liam replied.
Eric sighed, disappointed, then his face lit up.
"Did she break up with Tyler?"
"No. They fought."
Eric sighed in frustration and draped an arm around Liam's neck as he sat beside him.
"Don't tell me you're going to help her make up with him," he said.
Liam didn't answer. He pushed Eric's arm away.
"I need to get some rest," he muttered and lay down without changing his clothes.
"Coward," Eric mumbled, lying down beside him.