єṅċһѧṅṭяєṡṡ - ṡ.ṡṭıʟıṅṡҡı

159

"College can't come soon enough" Faline groans to Corey and Mason as they look at Liam.

Said teenager is in his underwear, lying face-down on a bench with a devastated expression while Corey, who is in his lacrosse uniform and pads, Faline and Mason try their best to coax Liam into getting dressed.

"I can't handle this-"

Mason sighs in exasperation as they give up and decide to just start dressing Liam themselves.

"Yes, you can!"

Mason grabs Liam under the arms and pulls him into a seated position so he can help Liam into a long-sleeved shirt.

"And you've handled so much worse than this! You're practically the Alpha now!"

"I'm nothing without her-"

"Lord give me strength"

Faline sighs impatiently as she tries to put Liam's lacrosse shoulder pads on him.

"Liam, can you help me with this, please?"

Mason, Faline, and Corey are almost finished dressing Liam and are fastening the rest of his lacrosse pads as Liam continues to whimper.

"Hayden left me"

"She moved. To protect her sister. And it's not like she dumped you or anything"

"Basically did" Faline mutters to Mason and Liam lets out a sad huff.

Corey struggles to put Liam's jersey on over his pads and groans from the effort.

"Liam, why is your arm so heavy?"

Suddenly, Mason's phone buzzes, and he checks it to find a text message from Scott.

"Okay, Scott says Coach is losing it" Mason says.

Liam's lip sticks out as he pouts.

"You and Scott are leaving, too"

Liam leans forward as though he's about to lay face-down on the bench again, but Corey pulls him back into a seated position. Mason, too, is starting to become impatient with Liam as he crouches down to look him in the eyes, Faline doing the same.

"Going to college is not leaving, okay? It's called 'growing up!'" Faline says.

"And we're all going to be going to different colleges eventually" Mason chips in.

Corey jerks upright and looks at Mason with an offended expression.

"I thought we were both applying to UCLA...?" Corey says.

Mason shoots Corey a look and uses a flat palm to gesture across his neck to stop Corey from talking. Liam, too, looks at Mason with an appalled expression as Faline sighs.

"You're going to the same college, too?"

Mason, who is tired of arguing, turns the subject back to Liam.

"That is not the point!" Mason says as Faline glares at Corey who shoots her a sorry look.

Corey gives up on trying to put Liam's jersey on, and Mason grabs Liam's lacrosse stick before shoving it into Liam's arms, grabbing his helmet and sticking it on the end.

"Then what is the point?"

Mason and Corey each take one of Liam's arms and lift him to his feet and Faline stands behind with her arms under his armpits, though he does nothing to bear any of the weight of his body, causing the trio to stumble in their effort to drag him out of the room.