130 - the chapter where Liam hears his first No

Rose

I followed Maeve to the car feeling confused about the whole situation. Why are my parents here? Do they already know the Van Derr Waal? How come I don't know any of this?

I hated feeling so lost!

Maeve opened the car door, taking out a box before handing it to me with a smile that never seemed to leave her face.

" Thank you for your help, Rose.”

" It's nothing, Mrs. Van Derr Waal…”

" Maeve, please. Lee talks about you so much, I feel like I already know each of you. In fact, when you joined the group, my boy talked about you so much that I swore you were the one who would be my future daughter-in-law. You know, you have so much in common and you are so beautiful! " The woman spoke with a sense of pride, as if she were talking about her son's second grade science fair presentation.

" Me?" I stopped walking, staring at her in surprise.

" "Yes, but he soon dashed my hopes by telling us about your relationship with Davis, and I must admit that you two make an amazing couple, but I was so upset about it, because I had already lost hope that Skyller would realize how crazy Lee was about her." She continued.

" Oh my God, he told you everything! “

" Of course he did, I'm his mother" she frowned, seeming not to understand the reason for my surprise "Now let's go, we have a lot to deal with today".

Maeve started walking again, heading towards the entrance of the house where Liam was unlocking the door for his father to enter.

" Do you know my parents? " I asked.

" Oh yeah, after Thanksgiving, Tom was interested in knowing who my brother's colleague was who got our son. So we came back from Hawaii and invited your dad and stepmom over for dinner," Maeve explained.

Her explanation was interrupted when we entered the house, and Mr. Van Derr Waal turned on the lights, looking around.

" The landlady has sorted out the power and water and the boiler has been inspected "' he began, walking into the living room as my parents watched carefully.

" All right, maybe this place isn't so bad with power. It doesn't look so scary anymore and it will definitely get better after a good cleaning, and....”

I startled when my father walked over to the closet door near the entrance, which opened with a loud creak that turned into a sound like laughter as it slowly closed on its own, causing everyone to stop walking, turning in our direction.

" I take it back, I hate this place! " I whined, making Christian laugh.

" 'Jack, maybe we should add some rules about using Ouija boards in this place,” my mother commented.

" Let's not be hasty, maybe they need them," he returned.

" Very funny. Why are they here? " I muttered in disbelief.

" It's so good to see you, Mom. I've been missing you, thank you so much for being here to support me in this stage of my life " my mother ironized.

I didn't let myself be intimidated, I kept my arms crossed, staring at them both without blinking.

" That's easy to answer, Ms. Campbell. I wouldn't let you give up your dormitory spots and move into a house that will be under my responsibility without talking to your parents first. And since your parents in particular were close enough, they decided to come for the big day," Thomas explained.

" Wait, you said you spoke to our parents? All of them? " Camille widened her eyes.

"Yes, your parents in particular were very surprised, young lady,” Thomas assured her, to the girl's utter shock.

" Let's talk about it in the living room, I brought the contracts " My father suggested.

" Contracts? " I stared at him in surprise " 'What contracts?”

" The contracts containing all the ethical, financial and moral responsibility issues that you will commit to follow, along with all the house rules,” my father explained as he led us into the living room.

" 'You didn't say anything about a contract, Dad. Don't you trust us? " Liam complained.

They exchanged a look between them, not quite sure how to answer that question.

" Ahh dear, how can you ask something like that? " Maeve began.

" 'Of course we don't trust,' Addison added, 'What? You can't be surprised by that!”

" 'We're not stupid or naïve,” Jack assured her, motioning for us all to sit on the old sofas that were no longer covered by sheets.

I placed the box of donuts on the coffee table, settling in next to Christian, hoping everyone was seated.

" Let's go back a bit, what did my parents say? " Camille looked like she was about to faint and I couldn't judge her.

She was telling me that her parents wouldn't find out about her move until it was too late to stop her.

" At first your mother wasn't too keen on the idea, but Maeve talked it over with her and...”

" Your mother is a lovely woman, Camille. It only took a few words with her and she understood that you would be fine here with all your friends," Liam's mother assured her.

" 'Does that mean she accepted it? " Cam looked shocked.

" 'Mae has a unique way of winning people over,' Thomas assured with a proud expression.

My father proceeded to distribute a few folders dangling from our hands, looking pleased with the situation in general. I opened it, frowning as I read the document.

" Sublease agreement? What's that? " Theo frowned.

" 'This is a guarantee that we won't have any unpleasant surprises as I have taken full responsibility for the integrity of this house,” Thomas began, “so to avoid any misunderstandings, I've asked Jack to draw up this contract and everyone will have their own copy of all the rules I'm imposing at the moment.”

" Since I'm great with rules, I helped create most of them, so I think I can start reading, you can follow along in your copy " my mom took the contract.

" Start with the landlady's rules " Thomas asked.

" 'Of course, Mr. Van Derr Waal,” my mother smiled, “the property must be well maintained, any damage must be repaired immediately. The furniture must be preserved.”

" If you don't want to use it in your daily life, you can move it up to the attic. We will help you to buy some more comfortable things, especially in the matter of beds and sofas " Maeve added.

That was great, because I couldn't imagine lying on that couch after an exhausting day.

" And her last rule, no pets," my mother warned.

" My rules now " Thomas took the floor " You will be responsible for fulfilling all the previous rules, the rent must be paid on the correct day, and it is your sole responsibility. You will be responsible for keeping only the amount you receive, it is your responsibility to buy any supplies for the house and we will visit once a month to make sure everything is going well, and we expect to find this place in one piece, clean and stocked.

" We know how much you like to party and we won't be hypocrites to forbid it, but you can offer a maximum of one party a month and we don't want excesses " my father took the floor " Once even the police are called, it will be a breach of contract and you will be back in the dorm so fast you won't even be able to pack.”

" And I don't care if you share a room or not " Thomas added.

" 'Here, I have a pen. Who will be the first to sign? " My father smiled.

" 'I have a suggestion. Since we're signing a contract, we could get a better place, don't you think? It's easier to keep a house that's already in good condition than to fix it up." Liam smiled, "We found a perfect one, and just like you rented this one, you can rent the other one, and…”

" No," Mr. Van Derr Waal didn't wait for his son to finish his sentence, receiving a shocked look in return.

And it wasn't just from Liam. It surprised all of us who really didn't expect something to be denied to Liam in such a direct way.

" What did you say? " he stammered in a daze.

"He said no, dear. I know it's a word you weren't used to hearing...", the mother began.

" Weren’t? "What does that mean? " He widened his eyes.

" It means that we've decided to take this opportunity to put some limits on you,” Thomas added.

My friends and I exchanged amused glances at Liam's stunned expression, as he seemed to have completely lost his ability to speak.

" 'Maybe we should…”

" Quiet, Cam. We're witnessing the first no he's ever gotten," Theo whispered to his girlfriend.

Liam remained petrified in the same place, seeming not to know how to react to this situation. I looked at Christian, who seemed as amused by the situation as I was.

" 'Do you think he's going to faint? " I whispered to my boyfriend.

" No, the news wasn't so bad, after all,” Christian defended him.

" Limits? What does that mean? " Liam let out a nervous laugh, seeming on the verge of despair " Why would you do something like that?”

" Will you allow me, Mr Van Derr Waal? " my father raised his hand.

" Be my guest, I understand you have adopted him,” the man pointed out.

" I suppose your father's decision is related to your latest credit card bill, which your father happened to show me, and I must say that you spend twice as much as I did in my first job after graduating, and I was lucky enough not to have a modest salary," Jack ironized.

" But... I didn't spend that much " Liam tried to justify himself " I had to buy materials for the course and you know that good paints and brushes can be very expensive and..."

" Lee, it was almost a thousand dollars in pizza " Maeve stared at him " And we gave up adding up the expenses at the cafeteria.”

Okay, maybe we have a little bit to blame for that.

" I'm a full time student, I need food and coffee, what's wrong with that?

" Liam, in December you spent so much on a tattoo parlor, I'd swear by the time you got home you'd look like a comic book!" Thomas complained. And in the end, all you have is a pot of brushes on your arm!"

" 'Would you rather he came back all tattooed? " Christian frowned.

" He spent 1600 dollars on a pot of brushes!”

Right, that could have been our fault too.

" So that's it? You're going to cut up my credit card? How am I supposed to survive? " Liam stood up

" 'We're not going to cut up your credit card,” Maeve reassured her son.

" 'They're your parents, they would never do that,” my mother sympathized.

" 'Yeah, we've just decided to take it away for a month or two,” Thomas assured him.

'Okay, that was going to be a problem. We were about to move, how was he going to live without a credit card for a month or two?

" 'Dad, how am I going to manage without a card? I need money! " he got up in a huff.

" I can answer that. We talked it over and decided that the other five people who were using the card with you may very well help you out during this period," my father warned, making my eyes widen.

"Oh my God," was the first time Sky spoke up.

" 'We'll pay for the rent, but the food and supplies, you'll have to manage,” Thomas warned. 'Now, back to the point, who will be the first to sign?”

I stared at him dumbfounded, and there was no way I could complain, that punishment was more than fair, but in the end, I knew we were all in trouble, because supporting Liam is definitely not an easy task.