All Chapters of Puck Me, One More Time: Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

85 Chapters

Chapter 51 — At the birthday party.

Liam's POVI had been getting dressed for twenty minutes before I admitted to myself that I was actually going.Not because I was excited about it. Not because Steph's birthday party was anywhere on the list of places I wanted to spend my evening. But because the message was still sitting in my phone and every time I told myself to ignore it, some part of me that had not fully given up yet pushed back quietly and won.I kept it simple with a checked shirt, fitted pants, and my favourite cardigan jacket over the top. Nothing that said I had put in effort and nothing that said I had dressed for anyone specifically. Just clean and neat, which was how I always showed up to anything regardless of what it was.The venue had been announced at school for the better part of a month so I already knew where I was going. I told my mum I was heading to a friend's party, while I tried to keep it brief with her, and left before she could ask follow-up questions.The outside of the venue already had t

Chapter 52 — My little secret on the verge of being seen by everyone!

Liam's POV"I ask again, what are you looking for? Or better still, who are you looking for?" Eric said it the second time with that same smile still sitting on his face, the kind that had nothing warm underneath it.I looked at him for a moment. Then decided that the shortest path through this conversation was the direct one."Nun-yuh." I moved my head slightly side to side as I said it, just enough to make sure the message landed fully. "It's just none of your business." I added, keeping my voice flat.Something flickered behind his eyes, although not offense exactly. It was more like the mild recalibration of someone who had expected a different response and was adjusting. He took a sip from his glass, unhurried, like he had all evening and was not particularly bothered by my answer."So." He switched direction smoothly. "What did you get Steph for her birthday?" He tilted his head slightly. "Or did you come empty handed?"I did not even dignify that with a response.Because Steph w

Chapter 53 — Share with everybody!?

Liam's POVI could not contain the shock that was written all over my face. Like… I still could not believe it, not even one bit.That was my sketchbook. The same one that had been the source of every piece of leverage anyone had ever tried to use against me since Ken first found it. And the only person who had been in possession of that book and the only person who had ever physically held it was Ken.The thought hit me before I could stop it and once it arrived, it did not leave quietly.I know that Ken had given it to them.I tried to push back against that conclusion because some part of me still wanted to give him room to be innocent of this specific thing. But the math was not complicated. Ken had the book and now Eric had the book. And I had not seen that sketchbook since the night Ken had flipped it at me from outside my window before running off. I had genuinely forgotten to ask for it back during all the sessions that followed — had gotten comfortable, had stopped treating it

Chapter 54 — Ken and Steph stepped in.

Liam's POV"I cannot believe a goody-two-shoes like Liam is such a creep… for real!" One of the students called out from somewhere in the crowd, the laughter that followed rippling outward and pulling more people into it."Ewww, this is just so gross." Another voice came in right behind it.And everything went slightly blue before my eyes.Not literally but in that specific manner that happened when your brain started protecting itself from too much at once, when the edges of the room softened and the noise became less distinct and you were still standing in your body but from a distance. All over again, I had thought the expulsion was the worst thing this week had to offer. I had genuinely believed that sitting in Ms. Scott's office and hearing that word land was the bottom of it.But honestly, compared to how I feel right now..this was the bottom of it.Because the expulsion had happened in a small room with limited witnesses. This…which is my most private drawings, displayed on a pr

Chapter 55 — You are the one who is a ‘Creep.’

Ken's POVThe moment I stepped through that curtain the projector screen was the first thing my eyes landed on. It was impossible to miss out on that in that large and bright position where everyone in the space could see it clearly… and what was being displayed on it registered in my brain before I had even fully crossed the threshold.Those are Liam's drawings.Every single one of them, cycling through on that screen for a room full of people who were laughing and pointing and treating it like the highlight of this birthday party that they came for this evening.Something ignited in my chest that moved faster than thinking.I had walked in with Steph, but then I had noticed that she had slowed us down getting here. While she was insisting on the celebrant making a proper entrance, talking about timing and standing ovations and how the party needed to be in full swing before she arrived. I had gone along with it and believed her because I had no specific reason not to at the time. But

Chapter 56 — If I catch you bullying Liam again…!

Ken's POVBut on second thought, I decided to go with the flow from the crowd first as the flow was still ongoing. They had their phones up and their laughter kept rolling in, while everyone got their shots of Eric standing there with birthday cake icing covering most of his face like he had lost a fight with a dessert table. You know, I needed to make sure that Eric gets what he actually deserves and then, I will know how to fix things with Liam. The deed has been done and so nothing really stops what he was already thinking but for sure, I will try.At the same time, I love the fact that the energy had completely flipped from what it had been five minutes ago and I was not going to pretend I did not find that deeply satisfying.I pulled my own phone out with my left hand as the right one was still carrying a decent amount of icing residue, and got my shot of Eric as I wouldn't be left out in having a clown-like picture of him in my phone, just as others already did. He was still try

Chapter 57 — Are you satisfied now?

Liam's POVI had been standing to the side watching the whole thing play out — Ken smashing the projector, the icing cream drama with Eric, the crowd shifting its attention — and not one part of me was fooled by any of it.Because Ken stepping in and playing hero was a pattern I had seen before. He had done it at the cafeteria. He had done it at the homecoming corridor. He had done it at the pool. Every single time, right when things were at their worst, Ken appeared and handled it and walked away looking like the person who had saved the day.And every single time, something about his involvement in the situation that needed saving had conveniently gone unexamined.But not this time.The sketchbook was mine and it had been in Ken's possession since the night he jumped out of my window. That was my mistake and I was owning it. But the book going from Ken's hands to Eric's hands was not something that happened accidentally. Books did not grow legs. Secrets did not travel between people

Chapter 58 — That's part of our deal, too.

Ken's POVI stood there after Liam walked out and the words he had just said were still sitting right in my mind even though he was gone.Everything he had thrown at me, including the accusation about the sketchbook, the claim that I had called him here, the question about whether I was satisfied. And so, all of it had landed with a precision that told me exactly how long he had been building it. It's not something he had come up with on the spot. But it must be something he had been carrying since he must have seen Eric with his sketchbook.The part that hit the hardest was the look on his face when he said it. It was the specific look of someone who had expected better and had stopped being surprised that they did not get it. Or better still, the look of someone who had made peace with the disappointment even while they were still feeling it.That was worse than anger, just like anger pushed back. I had not called him to this party and I did not even know that he was going to be her

Chapter 59 — Cross path with him.

Ken's POVI still had my eyes on Steph, watching that smile and trying to read what was sitting behind it, when she reached sideways and picked up the microphone from the table beside her. She turned and held it out toward me with that expectant expression that said this was not a suggestion."You did not say happy birthday to me yet." She said it simply.She was right that it was part of the deal. I took the microphone from her hand.Before I could even open my mouth the room erupted. Students who had been at the edges of the space, scattered in groups, conversations running — all of it collapsed into one collective sound the moment the microphone changed hands."Happy birthday, Steph!"The voices came from every direction at once, filling the venue fully. It was just the typical energy of a room that had been waiting for this specific moment and was now delivering it all at once. Steph's reaction was immediate and completely genuine — the grin spreading across her face before she cou

Chapter 60 — You want her!

Liam's POVI had done my best to hold the face together when I walked out of that birthday hall. My chin up with a steady pace, the whole performance of someone who had already processed what happened and had moved past it cleanly. Whether it had actually worked or whether everything I was feeling inside had already pushed through to the outside and was visible to anyone paying attention — I genuinely could not tell, for real.I had not looked back to check either.I was coming around the second to last turn before the main entrance when it happened. The nudge came from nowhere, because at one moment I was walking with my eyes down and my thoughts somewhere far from this corridor and the next I was losing my footing and tilting sideways and my sketchbook was shifting under my arm and I had not seen anything coming.Ken's hand caught my arm before I went all the way over.And then I was being steered sideways, through a door and the party noise cut off behind me.After what seemed to be

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