Tightening his grip on my hand, Tim followed me around the school premises.

I liked what I'd seen so far. The principal was Victor's friend, and the reception he gave my brother and me was warm. He assured me that they looked after the kids well, and I didn't have to worry about bullies. The wide range of extracurricular activities they offered was another plus. Tim's eyes lit up at the mention of soccer. That was one of the reasons why we were heading outdoors to take a look at the pitch.

"I can play as I did in summer, right, Liam?" my brother asked, quickening his step to keep up with me.

"Sure thing. Let's see what they've got. "
It was late afternoon already, and the school grounds were almost deserted. Tim let go of my hand and ran toward the empty pitch. I let him get familiar with the place. Hopefully, he would like it this time.

"Your son?"

A woman stood next to me and nodded toward my brother.

"Brother," I said.

"He's also new to this school, isn't he?"

I was going to ask what she meant by also, but then, I spotted a kid sitting on a bench next to the pitch. The boy must've been my brother's age, although he looked smaller. Probably the glasses and his obvious shyness were to blame.

"That's my son, Antoine. My name's Amelia."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Liam," I said.

Amelia must have been close to my mom's age if my mom was alive. Clad in a suit, she surely came here straight from the office.

"Likewise. What's your brother's name?"

"Tim. Is Antoine starting here, too?"

"He is." Amelia sighed. "Let's hope that third time's really a charm."

"Is it his third school?"

"Yeah. You see, Antoine's an only child. We cannot have more kids. He's a good boy, but his shyness doesn't help him make friends. He didn't have it easy in the previous two schools he went to. Besides, they didn't have anything for the kids to do in the afternoon, and for the parents who work—"

"It's a problem," I finished the sentence.

"Exactly." Amelia nodded. "I want my son to do some sports and make friends. Spending his afternoons playing video games isn't what I think a kid his age should be doing."

"You're right. Tim loves soccer. I hope he can play here."

Amelia smiled and pointed to the pitch, where the two boys stood next to each other. "It looks like those two can be friends."

***

"She shouldn't have done it, you know," I said to Aiden as we were finishing placing the last of my things on the shelf in my new bedroom.

"Sky wanted to." Aiden shrugged. "She's a friendly girl, and it's your first day here. Don't worry about it."

Sky decided to buy dinner for all of us to welcome Tim and me to her apartment. She and Ellie were in the kitchen, getting everything ready while Aiden lent me a hand unpacking my things.

"Thanks again, man. I can't believe it's all done."

"Anytime. Let's go help the girls."

I followed my friend to the living room. The girls had placed the boxes of pizza and a bowl of salad on a coffee table. We didn't get to help much.

Sky handed me a bottle of wine. I opened it and poured the drink into our glasses while everyone took their seats on the floor.

"To the new roomies." Grinning, Aiden raised his glass. The guy was delighted with my decision. I figured it was because he would probably move in with his girl in no time, and we would be neighbors.

"Cheers!" I said and touched Sky's glass with mine. She smiled at me before taking a slice of pizza and starting to eat.

Tim looked happy as well. Sitting between Aiden and me, he was munching on his food and watching a cartoon on TV, not paying much attention to our conversation.

"So, now that you're all here, I wanted to tell you something." Ellie got up from her place next to Aiden. In a minute, she was back with an envelope.

"What's that?" asked Sky.

"We have a party at L'école in a week — a welcome gala. The other day the rector gave me the invitations for my friends and me. I was wondering if the two of you wanted to go."

"And what about me, baby?" Aiden raised his eyebrows.

"You're going anyway." Ellie laughed, looking at him. "You're my plus one."

"Okay, I guess," I  said. "Are you going, Sky?"

"Give me those." Sky reached for the invitations in Ellie's hand. "Holy...look at the location. I wouldn't miss it! Dinner, the dress code, dances..."

I took the invitations from Sky's hand and read the text on them. The whole thing would take place in the opera theater, one of the few places in Paris that meant something to me.

Aiden must have misinterpreted the look on my face as he chuckled and looked at me, shaking his head.

Ellie grinned. "Okay, then. You can't say no once you've agreed, so save the date."

Sky clapped her hands, unable to hide her enthusiasm. The conversation shifted to parties we'd been to. For the rest of the meal, we chatted about pretty much anything and enjoyed spending time together.

"Guys, we'll be going. We're sure you have a lot to talk about," said Aiden, hugging his girl's shoulders.

"See you tomorrow!" Ellie waved at us before the two of them left the apartment. The sound of their laughter echoed in the foyer.

Glancing at the clock, I saw that it was after ten.

"Tim, it's time to go to bed," I said.

"Ten minutes, Liam," he whined, unable to tear his eyes away from the TV.

"No. It's past your bedtime. Come on; brush your teeth, and I'll show you your new room."

Reluctantly,  my brother turned off the TV and dragged his feet to the bathroom.

When he was done, I led him to his bedroom. The look of awe on Tim's face told me my decision to move was right. The kid would finally have enough space to play, and I would have some much-needed privacy.

In a while, I turned off the lights in Tim's bedroom.

Sky must have gone to bed, too, judging by the darkness in the rest of the apartment.

The exhaustion of the long day should've made me fall asleep fast. However, I spent an hour lying in my new big bed, unable to sleep.

Reading didn't help, either. I listened to the silence reigning in the apartment before throwing the comforter aside and padding to the kitchen in search of something to drink.

Lost in my jumbled midnight thoughts, I nearly jumped when something, someone warm collided with my bare chest.

Sky's huge baby blues gazed into my eyes as I placed my hands on her slim shoulders, trying to steady her.

"Hey, roomie," I whispered. "The place is huge, and yet, we keep running into each other."

Sky let out a chuckle. "You scared me. I went to get some water."

"You couldn't sleep either, right?"

"Yeah." She sighed. "I don't know why."

I opened my mouth to answer, but no words came out of it. We still stood in the kitchen. The only thing I had on me was a pair of boxers. Luckily, Sky was dressed in her PJs.

My hands were still on her, though, and for some reason, I wished I didn't have to remove them.

"We have some wine left." I heard Sky say. "Would you like a glass?"

"Yeah." I nodded, reluctantly removing my hands and watched Sky open the cabinet to take two glasses.

She poured some wine in both of them and handed one to me.

The darkness around us prevented us from seeing each other well, and yet I could tell I was making the girl uncomfortable with my lack of clothes.

"Wait a minute. I'll be back."

I placed the glass on the table and rushed to my room, where I quickly threw on a tee and a pair of basketball shorts.

"We can have the wine on the terrace," Sky said when I was back. "Maybe this way, we'll sleep better."

"Okay. Lead the way."

The evening wasn't cold. Standing on the terrace, I let my eyes soak in the view in front of me.

The quiet on the street was disrupted by a few cars from time to time. Other than that, it was incredibly peaceful.

The lights were on in some of the windows of the building opposite ours.

I watched Sky sip her wine as she focused her gaze on something in front of her and tried to stop thinking about how her skin felt to the touch without much luck.

"I hope you like it here," Sky said. "I love this area, and the view is nice."

"I love it here. I wanted to thank you for today."

"It was nothing, Liam." Sky shrugged.

"That's where you're wrong," I said, taking another sip of my drink.

Sky rubbed her bare arms. It was our cue to head inside, back into the warmth of the apartment.

Back to my bed, alone.

I didn't want to do it.

What the hell was wrong with me?

After a couple of days of living with Liam, I felt like I won the jackpot. He was tidy and organized apart from being fun, and that made him the best roommate I'd ever had.

True, Ava and Gia were okay, but we did argue about doing the dishes and cleaning, especially with Gia, who didn't seem to care about those things at all. Besides, there was the visitors part — one visitor, in particular —Gia's boyfriend. I liked the guy, but whenever they were together, they were loud. Really loud. While Ava was able to plug in her earbuds and get lost in her music and reading to block out the sounds, I wasn't so lucky. My room was next to Gia's, meaning I was on the receiving end of their teenage passion.

I stared at my uni assignment on my laptop screen, saved it, and considered watching a movie. It was a little after nine, and Tim had gone to bed after the three of us had dinner and watched a cartoon. Liam was strict with his brother's schedule, not letting him stay up past his bedtime.

I flipped through the list of movies, and the idea of watching one of them alone was so unappealing that I gathered my courage and went to knock on Liam's door.

"Come in," he said.

I pushed it open and saw him propped against the headboard, a book in hand. It wasn't the first time I saw him reading, and I wondered what the book was.

"Are you busy?" I asked.

"Not really. Are you gonna stand in the doorway?" The corners of Liam's mouth tipped up.

I blushed and stepped further inside.

"I'm bored, and I wanted to watch something. Are you game?"

"Sure." Liam closed the book, placing it on the nightstand and hopped off the bed. "Anything in mind?"

"What kind of movies do you like?"

"Oh, you know, the more blood, the better. Zombies, vampires, monsters, carnage, more blood—"

I scrunched up my nose, and he laughed. "I'm kidding. Adventure, comedy, action, and sci-fi are okay. Western and horror as well. I can watch drama, just don't start crying because I'm not good at dealing with crying girls."

Liam made some popcorn, and I chose an action movie. We made ourselves comfortable on the couch.

I realized I was watching him more than I watched the movie, which, by the way, wasn't bad at all. But the boy next to me was definitely something else — from his blond hair that looked soft to the touch and the most expressive eyes to the sculpted chest adorned with a tattoo, I didn't have a chance to get a close look at. Then there were his arms, narrow hips and strong legs, and everything else that was him...

"Have you seen how the guy handled those two idiots?" asked Liam, chuckling, and I scolded myself for ogling him instead of watching the movie.

"Yeah, brutal." I smiled and reached for the popcorn. Liam did the same, and our fingers touched in the bowl.

I considered removing mine but waited for him to do it first. He didn't. I looked at the screen seeking distraction from Liam's hand and his body in nothing but a white tee and shorts, and when I did, a couple was going at it. Moans and panting filled the room, and I blushed furiously because the whole thing made it even more uncomfortable.

I looked over at Liam; he looked at me. His eyes paused on my lips. His hand was no longer in the popcorn bowl but on the back of the couch. Something passed between us as we stared at each other, a kind of magnetic pull I only read about in the novels Ava lent me. The closer he inched toward me, the faster my heartbeat got, until my poor heart thumped wildly against my ribcage.

I wanted him to kiss me. I wanted to find out whether his lips were as soft as they looked. I wished to know if for once I'd feel something when his mouth was on mine.

My love life had never been a fairytale, and I was reminded of it once again when Liam suddenly got up, took the bowl, and rushed to the kitchen to get more popcorn, muttering something about 'needing a refill.'

I moved to the furthest corner of the couch and made sure to plaster a smile on my face when Liam was next to me, and we went back to following the plot, the almost kiss forgotten.

If only it were easy to forget.

A bit of tension..hopefully...