Work Text:
Gilded
/ˈɡildəd/ adjective
covered thinly with gold leaf or gold paint or wealthy and privileged.
As Liam Gallagher grew into a teenager it became increasingly obvious how smart of a kid he was. He always had his wits about him.
A smart, practical, wildly independent little man since he was at a talking age. Which the family was more than relieved to learn because one, he could fend for himself pretty easily with no crutch. And two, it seemed like the lasting effects of the cocaine overdose he had as a toddler didn’t seem to lend itself as a hindrance in any way when it came to his intellect or competent abilities.
Because Liam was an upstanding and bright individual, the family came together and drew up a pact that they wouldn’t ever bring the incident up with the young boy. He was too young to remember when it happened, probably blocked out any lingering blurry memories from the trauma. The Gallagher’s figured that was definitely for the best.
So accidental use of cocaine or not, Liam Gallagher was on his way to a promising future. He was dedicated to school, knew he wanted to go all the way through college, get a master's maybe. He had a passion for learning and sought to quench it.
Strangely enough, the first person in the family to actively go through with college plans was Carl to everyone’s shock. He wasn’t going to college in the traditional sense, he didn’t think he was cut out for it. Instead, he did it all online. A cop friend of his said that made school a lot more condensed and simpler.
Carl may not have been the most studious or book smart but what he lacked in general intelligence he made up for with his sheer will. Once he had decided that he wanted to go into social work, he knew he was going to make his way into the profession no matter how long or hard he had to work for it. He was lucky for his time as a cop. It lent him a lot of leeway and respect in many people's eyes. That eventually translated to a lot of opportunities that he was always sure to take advantage of.
Carl was still in the process of making his way through all the courses he needed to in order to get his certifications. A large part of his dedicated focus was because of the help that he got from his family and girlfriend.
Becoming a social worker was chalking up to be a lot of work but Carl didn’t seem to mind the effort and constant headaches school gave him. He wanted to help, be citizen Carl. he knew that his heart was in helping kids that were in the same shitty situation he had been in. He didn’t care if his brain was lagging behind a little. He was going to help the city one kid at a time. For the record he eventually did.
Liam was thrilled to help Carl out with his work. He thought the psychology courses were interesting and knew that he would definitely take a few when his time came.
The Gallaghers all encouraged Liam’s educational endeavours and wanted to see him succeed. Especially Lip. he saw himself in his little brother. His entire adolescence was coated in compliments of his intellect and promising ability. Too bad Lip seemed to get in his own way at every step.
He had the potential, some of the drives, the only place he seemed to falter behind were in his ability to keep things straight. His academic success was stunted. Lip made peace with the fact that he was destined to scrap on by like everyone else in the Southside.
He was able to prove what he thought was his enviable future wrong. Lip had managed to get his footings back. He didn’t really like to think about what his life could have been like if he had managed his achievements earlier. He saw no point. He was perfectly content with the life he had.
Eventually, Lip returned back to school. Worked on achieving his bachelor's degree just short of thirty. He even managed to secure a job at a tech startup after graduation. Lip was proud of that accomplishment because he managed to do it while taking care of his own family and running his short-lived house flipping business.
Despite his acceptance of his own life he also thought of Liam’s. He wanted the absolute best for his little brother. Made sure to push him in the right direction. Keep him on track.
That seemed to work out in both boys' favour. Liam was motivated, incredibly smart and ambitious. Knew what he wanted, knew how to make it happen and wasn’t planning on stopping till success.
After Frank died, Liam took up managing once again to get his mind off of things. He loved the power that came with being a manager. The hard work and creating connections were like a game to him. He decided to rep a football player this time around. Corner a new market since basketball was leading him to dead ends. He represented a boy a few years older than him named Rocco. Was damn good at it too as he got the boy free shit and opportunities left and right for the entirety of summer.
The following school year, Rocco reached his Junior year of high school. Within the first few games of the season, he was recruited for some college football team who swore up and down the kid was NFL-bound. Rocco was always grateful for his humble beginnings. He was a sweet kid, labelled as a 6’4 gentle giant with a huge heart of gold. Rocco made sure to put in a good word for his manager, Liam. The coaches took note of the young boy's impressive talent.
Liam was met with many offers straight off the bat. He looked over each of them, reminded himself that it was good practice to be polite when it came to overlooking his opportunities, in case he needed to network in the future. He turned down many future summer classes, invites to special lectures and future career prospects in lieu of one very special opportunity.
The same private school he had gone to briefly, before Frank’s sluttiness made him lose his spot, came crawling back begging him to re-enrol. They offered him the opportunity to skip a grade and go into their high school magnet program as a thirteen-year-old. He took the opportunity, knowing the type of jobs and scholarships the alumni of that particular private magnet got.
He liked the school just fine. It was definitely better than the public school he would have been destined to go to in the Southside. The facilities were nice. Work was challenging but not so much so that Liam found himself struggling often.
The only real downside was his fellow student body. Most of them were snotty, rich, condescending assholes. There were only a handful of other students besides himself that were scholarship cases that didn’t come from generational wealth or upstanding privilege. Despite that fact, Liam still enjoyed school, made a place for himself amongst his peers, and fit in because he was at the same level as them intellectually. He was glad that being smart was the thing that mattered most there.
His first year of high school had already somehow come to an almost end. The end of the year meant the students had their own individual service projects to do that would act as their final grade.
Liam spent weeks researching. Countless nights up late collecting data, combing through essays, and emailing professors for their dissertations and deeper opinions on his subject. He harboured all his passion and refined skills into his final presentations. Gave his tears sweat and a little blood -he cut his hand on the trifold- until the project was finally complete, weeks in the making. He wasn’t a big believer in the entire concept of perfection- He didn’t think humans would ever be able to properly achieve it. However, the project Liam Gallagher carefully curated was pretty damn fucking close to perfection.
He was on pins and needles the entire week. He knew that his day to present was Thursday. Was anxious every evening as he prepared the speech he had committed to memory weeks ago in front of the mirror over and over again. His behaviour was definitely a little erratic if not obsessive. Still, no one made a huge deal out of it as every time they tried to say something that seemed to stress Liam out even more. Carl tried to offer him some of the confiscated Xanax that seemed to be in abundance in the evidence locker. Liam was not congenial to the offer. Still, he realised that he should try to chill a little. So he started practising inside his head instead of out loud.
Eventually, the time came. He woke up an extra two hours before he needed to that day before school. Took the time to iron his school blazer and creased his tie just so. He practices his speech a few times over once again. Made sure all his data was correct and unchanging from when he harvested it. Tried to troubleshoot any potential problems, was satisfied when he saw none. He was ready.
He gave his all in his presentation for his final grade. It was a smashing success to his relief. He thought his work was good and was so glad to be proven true when his teachers showered him with astounding compliments. He was proud of himself, prouder of the 100% he got. He let his tense shoulders fall as he took a deep breath but he didn’t let himself relax completely because he was privy to what was to happen next.
After the final projects, all the teachers would come together and nominate fifteen students who did their best to present their research to families, friends, socialites and most importantly college recruiters.
Liam had gotten an invite.
He was more than thrilled to tell his family about the accomplishment. Friday nights were their designated day to get together, and that Friday night was particularly special as Lip, Tami and the boys were visiting from Milwaukee. Liam couldn’t even wait for dinner to be properly served before he split his guts. He explained the entire ordeal as he pulled apart the bread rolls for everyone at Debbie’s request. He was practically shaking with excitement as he laid out the plains.
He chucked the final roll onto Ian’s plate. “So it's Tuesday night and I was asked to invite you guys” He grimaced while taking a seat. “Everyone else's families are gonna be there so it's kinda important you’re there too” His tone was a little more unsure towards the end. His eyes shifted over the faces of all of his siblings trying to get a read on everyone.
As usual, Debbie was the first to speak. “Fran, Sandy and I will be there,” she offered a kind smile. Sandy was already balls deep into her mac and cheese. It took a second to realise Debbie had offered them up. She had no qualms, or plans so she gave a confident thumbs up in agreement and then immediately went back to her food.
“Mick and I will be there” Ian followed. Similar to his cousin, Mickey nodded a little in agreement, not minding being offered up but not having anything else to add either.
Slowly everyone else nodded in, all saying they would be there. Lip was the last to speak. “Yeah, we can push back going home for another day bud, we’ll be there cheering you on”. Liam gave a reassuring smile, going through his mental check-off list, happy to see the dominos were falling into place.
“Great!” He clasped his hands together at the edge of the table. His stance got a few snorts as he tried his hardest to appear professional in his deligations. “This is a classy event. So you guys have to dress nice. Debbie if you’re going to dress like a hooker at least look like an expensive one please” he was sure to note, he thought it over for a second, ignoring the growing snickers from around the table. “No offence”.
“Uncle Liam, that doesn’t mean I have to wear a dress does it?” Franny’s eyes went wide, a deep frown followed.
“No, of course not, Fran” Liam offered her a sympathetic smile, eyes then shooting up to look at the rest of his family members around the table. “The rest of you better look good though”
“I always look good,” Carl immediately protested.
Everyone at the table rolled their eyes. Liam didn’t stop talking. “I took the liberty of renting you all suits. I guessed on all the sizes so we might need to get them tailored” Liam cleared his throat with a drink of water. “We also have an extra one because there was a BOGO deal”
“I’ll wear a suit” Sandy interjected “Better than one of Debbie’s prissy dresses.” Liam nodded his approval.
“Can I wear one too?” Fanny’s voice immediately peaked up.
Debbie shot her an unsure shrug. “Don’t know if we’ll have time to go find one sweetie”
Sandy matched Debbie’s gesture, biting apart her drumstick. With her mouth still full she managed “I can take her after school Monday to find one”.
Sandy was often the voice of reason when it came to trivial things with Franny. She was eventually able to talk some sense into her girlfriend when it came to letting Franny express herself. Sandy got her unofficial stepdaughter. She too hated to be forced into dresses or girly things as a kid. Sandy wasn’t a huge fan of children in the first place but she did have a soft side for Franny, her little dude as she often referred to her as.
Debbie’s shoulders immediately went lax, glad to not have to do it herself. She was coming around to the fact that she couldn’t have complete control over her daughter. Or at least trying her hardest too. Her entire childhood she didn’t really have anyone actively paying attention to what she did, Debbie guessed on some subconscious level she was trying to correct that through Franny. Live out the childhood she never had. She knew that trying to dictate Franny was slowly pushing her daughter away and Debbie didn’t think she could live with herself if that happened so she was trying to be better for her. “Ok sounds good then”
Liam leaned forward in his seat, grabbing another leg out of the KFC bucket. As he sat back down he directed his eyes to his brother beside him.
”Also Carl you need to wear your cop uniform so you better figure out how to get it back”
“I’m not really a cop anymore?” Carl tried but Liam didn’t seem to care about the validity of Carl’s interjection. Carl hadn’t picked up hours in a few weeks. He was trying to wean his way out of the career but he guessed he could get his uniform back since he was still on the payroll.
“It doesn’t matter. No one needs to know. Just act like a cop. Having you in uniform will be good for my reputation” Liam thought it over. “Ya know what, Ian, Mick would you mind wearing your camo uniforms too?”
“Sure bud” Ian immediately agreed.
“Yeah, sure. As long as I don’t have to wear a fucking suit, I’m game”
“Okay well, I think that's everything” Liam huffed. He wiped his fingers along the edge of his napkin looking over his family member's faces. “Tuesday at six” he made sure to punctuate. “You guys better not be late, the doors to the school close at six sharp” he made sure to stare daggers into everyone, his young nephews included, to make sure they understood.
Once everyone gave a hesitant nod he continued. He took his phone out from his back pocket, shuffling on the chair for a second to reach it. He typed something, everyone’s phone screen immediately flashing up, buzzing against the dining table.
“The auditorium is gonna be pretty full. This presentation is kinda a big deal” he flashed a knowing smirk but since he was the only one that got the inside joke his intent fell flat. “So there's assigned seating. I took the liberty to book you guys almost the entire row. Your seat numbers and tickets just got sent to you”
Everyone quickly shuffled to get their phones turned on, looking over what Liam had just sent to the family group chat.
“Fuckin Christ assigned seats?” Mickey raised an eyebrow at Liam. he looked back down at his phone, shoulder bumping into Ian who was looking off of his screen. “What is this like an actual theatre? In a fuckin school?”
“Yeah, kinda there's a whole stage, a pit for the band and fully operational tech booth” He gave a little shrug. He had been in the space so many times that it no longer phased him, he did see how it could be overwhelming though.
“Stupid rich fuckers” Mickey mumbled, still a little confused as he looked over the map of the auditorium. The space was probably larger than the entire school the Gallagher’s had all attended.
“Yeah, yeah, eat the rich and all that but I’m also going to enjoy the space while I get it” Liam gave a little shrug. He didn’t bother to explain the expression, ignoring the few twisted looks he got. “Anyway for the tickets, click on the link I sent and then-”
“We know how to use our phones, man” Carl scoffed. He clicked the screen on, looking down at the QR code completely confused, immediately back-peddling on what he just said. Liam gave a half-annoyed eye roll. “As I was trying to say. Just show the code to the ushers, they’ll direct you to your seats''
Everyone nodded once more. A natural lull fell in the conversation as everyone consumed themselves with the food in front of them. Lip was halfway through polishing off his ear of corn when he realised that there was an elephant in the room that no one yet addressed.
“So wait a second, bud. What’s your project on, in the first place?” Lip pointed his cor up at his little brother.
Liam didn’t take even a second of hesitation. “Urban displacements and gentrifications lasting effects on the next generation especially in conjugation to POC population”
He got a few blank stares back so he cleared his throat, rephasing it. “Gentrification, guys”
“Oh okay”
“Yeah, good for you”
“Tell those yippee motherfuckers what's up” came all the responses at the same time.
Gentrification was definitely something that the Gallagher’s -hell everyone on the Southside- understood. They were sure glad that Liam didn’t choose his second choice option: Hydraulic Fracking as a result of nuclear energy alternatives. At least Gentrification they all had a leg to stand on when it came to understanding.
>•<
Finally, presentation day came. The school day was a complete blur for Liam as he was so dead focused on his presentation. He was so in his own head about it that he concocted a plan to ensure he was more than ready.
He skipped his final class in lieu of watching the auditorium being set up. It was a lot easier than the stealth mission he hyped it up to be. Liam approached his chem teacher saying that he needed to go fix his Tuba before the competition came up that following weekend. He was granted a yellow slip of freedom immediately.
Liam had never even touched an instrument before but as someone who hadn’t missed even a single period before his teacher had no reason to suspect any alternative motives or deviations from his word.
He headed in the direction of the band room as his teacher's eyes followed him down the hall. Once he was sure that he wasn’t being watched anymore he took a back route to the auditorium all the while repeating an alibi in his head just in case he got caught. Another teacher did eye him suspiciously and he did manage to get to tell his second lie of the day regarding band class. He got away scot-free again.
If this whole education thing didn’t work out Liam was seriously considering a career in acting.
He sneaked onto the back of the stage. Crouching to hide behind one of the heavy curtains so he wasn’t caught. He peered his head out a little once he was positive no one could see him, looking onto the stage and onto the floor of the auditorium.
There were a few people scattered around, setting up for the event. He flinched when he heard a voice call out in his direction. Liam immediately ducked behind the curtains again. Once he realised no one could even see him he reappeared. This time his eye line was met with a giant projector screen slowly being lower down over the main stage. He figured that's where the data would be presented.
He was glad that he was now completely out of view but struggled to see the rest of what was happening. Already pretty confident in his sleuthing ability from earlier, he inched closer forward before the screen was fully touching the stage’s ground.
There were a few of the tech students spewed out on the main floor. They sang the alphabet through a hand-held mic to check for no feedback, the others helped set up the judge’s table.
There were three unfamiliar adults in the dead centre of the room Liam figured were some of the college recruiters. He was able to tell with his great deduction skills- her giant branded sweater- he could tell she was from the University of Chicago. The man handing her a thick looking binder sported his own ‘Duke’ merchandise.
Liam swallowed down all his anxiety. His knuckles went white around the curtain rope he was leaning against. His entire family spent the weekend reminding him that he needed to take a breath. He tried his hardest to heed their suggestions but at the same time, his whole future was riding on that fateful night. When he told Lip that he rolled his eyes saying that Liam was being a bit dramatic. Liam swore up and down that he wasn’t. That these college recruiters were no joke. One wrong move and he was to be blacklisted forever. Okay maybe forever was a little dramatic but it sure felt that way.
He tried his hardest to remain calm. He knew that he was well prepared. Probably way more than he needed to be but hey, he figured there was no such thing as too prepared. He pulled his handkerchief out of his pocket running it over his sweaty forehead, then patted it over his temples a few times. Another deep breath in through the nose, exhaling through his mouth. He was ready.
>•<
Liam had refused his family’s request for him to go home and eat dinner to relax a little before the presentation. He stayed at school the entire three-hour lull between his chess club meeting ending and when the event was supposed to start. He didn’t mind one bit. He packed himself an extra portion of food. One of his best friends was part of the agriculture magnet and always hooked him up with the freshly grown fruits. Liam spent his time camped out in his debate teacher’s classroom. The one that had referred him in the first place. Liam practised his speech over and over again getting a few more pointers from his beloved teacher.
He fixed himself into a suit in the shitty bathroom stalls. Flipping his cuffs over as he stared at his own reflection in the mirror. He gave himself another speech, assuring himself that everything was going to go smoothly. He flipped his wrist over, eyes landing on the watch Ian had bought him for his birthday.
He still had another ten minutes to spare but chose to head to the stage anyway. His classmates definitely taught him how to be more punctual. The same definitely could not be said about the rest of his family, however.
It was creeping up on six-fifteen when the Gallagher’s all rolled into the school’s parking lot. Luckily for Liam, he had thought ahead.
He met them at the lobby’s front doors, shaking his head disapprovingly. Came all the half-baked muttered excuses as to why they were late and ‘if they missed it’ as they all tried to fix their outfits to fit their body. Liam gave a half-smirk as he pulled them all into the small room.
He slowly explained that the presentation didn’t actually start till six-thirty, he just told them all to be there early because he knew for a fact they were going to be late.
None of them could even be mad at their little brother because the plot was so ingenious, and for what it was worth, valid. They were still early enough that the theatre wasn’t allowing people to sit in it yet. For the record, that made all of them want to show up even later for things.
Liam was being called by a tech student beckoning him to link his computer to the projector so he made his way back to the theatre, doors shutting behind him. The rest of his family were forced to sit on the cold uncomfortable tile of the lobby. Forced into a confined corner. They were all on their phones, Ian was playing with Franny and Freddie when a group of students made their way past them.
They tried the theatre door a few times, all groaning frustratedly when they realised they were locked out.
“My computer was restarting and I need to make sure I can get to my information in time!” One of the girls was still pulling the handle.
A few of the kids shared mutually concerned looks, pounding their fists against the heavy doors to no success. “Do you know anyone that's in there?”
One of the boys pulled his phone out. “I think Liam is in there”
“Gallagher or Montgomery?”
The boy thought for a second, he was in there moments ago and had to step out to meet his friends. He deeply regretted not putting his backpack as wedge against the door, still he thought back to the other kids in there. He groaned when he remembered the only person he knew. “ Gallagher''
The girl rolled her eyes. “Yeah of course he’s there” her tone was sharp, sarcastic.
The Gallagher’s not too far away from the cluster, all raised an eyebrow. None of them dared to speak, interested in what those little shits had to say about their baby brother.
“Yeah, did you hear he got perfect marks?” That seemed to catch a boy from the back, who had been silent up to that point, attention. He blew raspberries. “Yeah whatever what was his project even on? Something easy I bet”
The original girl folded her hands over her chest. “Like being poor or something”
Snickering fell over the whole group. The Gallagher family, Mickey, Sandy and Tami were now fully immersed in what the group had to say, ready to pounce at any moment.
“Caroline!” The boy broke out into a heavy laugh.
“What?” The girl, Caroline, huffed. “I’m being serious, George! I’m in his class! He did it on graffication or whatever, back me up on this, Clara”
“Pff” Clara scoffed. “Makes sense why he did so good then”
George nodded. “Yeah, It's unfair, of course, he’s gonna have an advantage. He comes from the Southside”
“Aren’t they all like below the poverty line?”
“Exactly!” the girls high-fived, condescending giggles followed the movement. “He’s living his topic! Which means he’s going to know it better than us”
“That’s totally unfair” the other boy rolled his eyes. “I did my project on Mars's gravitational pull. I don’t have any past experiences with that” A condescending huff “Just cus he’s from the ghetto he has an advantage in his project? That’s like discrimination against us”
George nodded, leaning into the small group as if what he was going to say was a secret. Almost too bad to say out loud . His volume didn’t diminish any as his tone became breathier, mocking a whisper.
“If he’s so against gentrification he should just go back from where he came from” Caroline and Clara caught one another’s eyes, shocked by the notion so much that they couldn’t butt in. George continued. “He doesn’t belong here, we all see it. Yeah, he’s smart, I guess. But at the end of the day, he’s still ghetto, I-”
“The fuck you just say?” Mickey’s voice was booming before the kid
could finish what he was saying.
“Yeah you think his family's ghetto, I can show you what ghetto is” Tami followed Mickey’s lead, tying up her blonde hair as she approached the group.
Historically she didn’t have the fighting experience or prowess as the Gallaghers did. But it wasn’t like she was about to punch out a bunch of teenagers. All she cared about was that her threat carried.
It seemed to, in conjunction with Mickey’s irritation. The kids looked dumbfounded that someone was listening to them. Even a little scared as they realised they were in some deep shit.
Before any justice could be served, the auditorium door opened, offering them an escape.
Liam had heard the knocking from his seat in the back. He got up to open the door when he heard the group of his classmates talk shit. He finally pushed it all the way open when he heard Mickey’s roar of defence.
“Oh hi, Liam” Caroline shot knowing looking at her group of friends before running away, back down towards the stage. They followed quickly.
“Those assholes were-” Mickey spoke up.
“Yeah, I know” Liam's eyes shot up from the ground, sad. Pained . “I heard the whole thing”
“Bud, We-” Ian tried, stepping up to meet his husband.
“I’ll deal with it later” Laim rose his hand to stop them. He gave a deep agonising breath, exhaling forcefully from his nose. “I’m up first for the presentation, just go sit in your seats” He pushed the door open a little wider, leaning against the cold handle. They all tried to protest but Liam wasn’t having any of it. He promised that he was okay one last time, ushering them to their row towards the centre.
One of the college recruiters was thanking the school for hosting and giving the students this opportunity. Liam was half listening, escorting everyone. He gave one last half-hearted thumbs-up, straightening his tie.
“Up first is Liam Gallagher?” The recruiter smiled at the audience, placing the mic down on the table before taking a seat.
Liam made his way down the rows until he reached a small platform in front of the stage where he was expected to present. There was a line of about nine other chairs where the fellow invited students sat, waiting for their turn. As Liam grabbed the mic, Clara, sitting closest to the stage snickered a little, avoiding Liam’s eyes as he settled in the dead centre of the platform.
“Hello, I’m Liam Gallagher, I chose to do my project on a socio-economic topic. Urban displacements and gentrification” He gave his best confident smile nodding over to the tech to the side of him to click the next slide of his presentation.
It took a second for the projector screen to load. In the time it took buffering Caroline’s voice rang as she whispered over to Clara. “There he goes” she giggled.
Liam’s hand went tight around the handheld mic, holding a huge breath in. Then he realised, her voice had been unexpectedly picked up by the mic. She went beet red when she realised a few eyes were on her. Liam seized the opportunity to get vengeance.
He cleared his throat, everyone's attention going back to his figure. He looked back at the screen behind him. The loading wheel kept spinning, and so did his head. His mind was running a million miles per hour as he tried to settle on a plan.
“Since I have some time to kill while my information is loading let me tell a story” His mouth seemed to be ahead of his mind in execution.
He paced around the platform. Subconsciously mimicking the movements he had seen in the TED talks he watched for fun. “Well not really a story” He corrected himself. “Because a story suggests fictitious accounts. I assure you that this is very real”
He looked over at the chairs once more, a shit-eating grin. “A few minutes ago before I got on this stage my classmates, Oscar, Clara, Caroline and George” He leaned over to see them a little better, a vindictive wave. “Were talking about how I’m not at the same level as them” He took a second, watching the audience’s face drop in the scandal of it all. “In layman's terms: they think I don’t belong in this school because I’m poor”
Murmurs broke out, the college recruiters included.
“Yeah my family is poor” Liam nodded in agreement, the mic gave some feedback, the entire audience cringe. Once the static settled, Liam lifted the microphone an inch away from his lips. “We’ve singlehandedly watched our neighbourhood go from a low-income area to being overflown with rich millennials”
“What my peers neglect to understand under the preservation of their wealth and privilege is the very real effects gentrification has on very real people”
Liam turned to see the twisted expressions of his peers. Some were upset, others embarrassed. Oscar looked plain mad. The other kids sitting next to them that weren’t involved were amused. Liam didn’t pay them any attention. He figured that he was in some pretty deep shit with his classmates as it was, mightest well use them as an example to prove his point.
“I am also able to acknowledge that gentrification, while rare, does also work in people's favour sometimes” He paced around a few steps, feet carefully swerving to avoid the long cord coming from the microphone in his grasp. He looked up from his shoes directly up at one of the judges and then passed her head to the audience. “Because the area I live in, that private investors and the city are working so hard to displace, individuals who speak up and show the slightest potential are swooped out and brought to developed areas where others can benefit from them”
“Here I am, a prime example of that” He transferred the mic over to his left hand. His right arm extended outward to declare himself. “I know that I am lucky for the opportunity to be here. At this school. Doing this presentation. But just because I’m here doesn’t mean I’m any better than my family”
He looked upward at Lip. “I didn’t have a mom or dad growing up. I was raised by my older siblings who, for the record, I think did a great job” He took a beat. The audience fell into a mild, pleasant, spout of laughter. “That isn’t rare where I come from. You see we don’t have nannies or maids or schools to watch the kids. All we have is family. I’m not ashamed to say that either like some of my peers here seems to think is so embarrassing”
Liam’s eyes shifted over to Caroline. He had an incident in the past with her, she had jokingly poked fun at his orphan status. Something he never could forget. She tried to hide her blush behind the binder she held in her crossed arms. Her efforts were in vain as the entire audience was now staring at her. “I’m proud of the person I am because of my sibling's combined efforts”
“So, yeah,” Liam finally concluded. “Maybe my peers think that my family is Southside trash” there was a brief moment where he took the time to suck in a breath, teeth scraping his bottom lip. The entire audience was on the edges of their seats, desperate for what Liam had to say next. “But at least I have a family to defend me and I’m grateful for that”.
His gaze shot up to his family members in the back row. His eyes scanned over each of their faces. The most genuine nod to show that he wanted to include them in this. That he was telling the truth when he said he was grateful for them all being there. For everything they did. His genuine smile eased their pained expressions.
He cleared his throat, eyes shifting back to the board of directors in front of him. “With that said. I would like to bring the attention back to my project. Many families displaced in urban areas” He nodded over to the woman who had the remote controlling the projector. The screen had finally finished loading. She scrabbled a little to click the next slide, still cultivated by Liam’s impromptu speech, as most of the audience was. The Gallaghers barely registered any of his actual information.
They were too proud of their little brother for choosing to defend them. They knew just as well as the boy that the interjection could have cost him his entire scholarship. Liam was past the point of caring about that. He was always going to care more about his family than a dumb opportunity.
His words became white noise as they all shared knowing glances and prideful smiles.
>•<
Everyone was sent back out to the lobby and parking lot so that the judges could deliberate the results with the students. Most of the families had already made their way back to their cars. The Gallagher’s all made sure to give the dirtiest looks they could muster towards the snotty kid’s parents who just rushed past them.
“Listen, I know that entire situation,” Tami’s hand wildly gestured around once the Gallaghers all managed to pile into the same corner of the lobby they had been in earlier. “Was kinda a shit show but holy shit if that kid doesn’t have some stage presence” her voice was brinking on genuine amusement. Once she saw everyone's still saddened expressions she toned it down a bit. “I’m sorry but that kid was charming”
“Definitely didn’t get it from the family then” Sandy immediately seized the opportunity to get a jab in.
“That kid gonna be a great politician someday” Tami elbowed Lip, honestly just impressed. He didn’t reciprocate, pulling Freddie upon his shoulders. “Feel fucking bad for the kid” was all he managed.
“Do you think we should take him out of this school?” Debbie was quick to interject, completely disregarding Tami as she usually did. She couldn’t help but think back to all her middle school tormenters, the mean girls who prayed for her downfall. She didn’t want to have Liam objected to that.
“Definitely not” Ian immediately interjected. “Liam loves this place” he bit the inside of his cheek. “I mean you saw how excited he was to do this whole thing” His hand reached up to scratch his neck clearly unsure of what he was saying. “He does like this school though Debs. we’d hurt him more by taking him out”
Debbie and Ian locked eyes. She knew he was right. Still made her sad that she couldn’t protect him.
“Stupid little bitches” Mickey muttered. Vocalising what everyone else was thinking
Sandy couldn’t help but let out a chuckle eyes growing wide, “Mick, you can’t call fourteen-year-olds bitches”
“No, he’s right” Debbie immediately interjected. She shook her head at her girlfriend, gritted teeth. “Those little skanks are bitches”
“Hey” Lip sighed, objecting himself as the voice of reason as usual. “I’m not disagreeing with you. Those little shits were pure evil but Liam’s got it figured out” He held onto Freddie’s leg as the kid wiggled around. “He’s okay guys”
Carl was still grumbling in the corner. “I’m gonna find those little shits houses in the police database and egg their houses” he was viciously typing away at his phone.
Lip thought it over for a second, then gave a nod. “Go wild, they definitely deserve it”. A thick haze of unsure silence overcame them as they were left with the reality that they were going to need to check in on Liam and see where his head was.
The door pushed open, the crowd of kids saw the Gallaghers shared death glares. All four of them sprinted out of the lobby, heads held low so as to not catch disapproving eyes. Liam trailed not too far behind them.
A few of the Gallaghers almost missed the young boy as their eyes were deadset on watching the shitty kids make their way into their respective Range Rovers and Tesla. Lip cleared his throat, getting his family’s attention to snap back over.
Liam walked through the auditorium doors, head hung low. Immediately a few members of the family grimace, offering up sorries. Then Liam lifted his head back up, a plastered smile. “I won!”
“Fucking aye!”
“We knew you could!”
“Yay Uncle Liam!”
“Yeah, you show those little fuckers”
“Didn’t doubt you for a second, bro”
They all engulfed him in a hug.
Once Liam could pull himself away from the tangling limbs he beamed a little. “The judges unanimously agreed that standing up for my family actually helped support my case!”
“Guess you should be thankin us then” Mickey cheesed sarcastically. “How much money you win again?”
“Two summer semesters worth of classes”
Mickey frowned, grumbling a, “you can keep that”
Liam gave a little shrug, feeling the love from all of his siblings. Lip pulled him into a side hug. “You did a good job out there. Handled it better than we would have” A few stray nods. It seemed that Liam didn’t fall into the old Gallagher pattern of thinking with his fists foremost.
“Yeah, well I am a big believer in solving my issues with diplomacy” His eyes scanned over all of their faces. He couldn’t help but break into a shit-eating grin. “Plus I have access to the science lab early in the morning. Gonna put rats in all their locker”
The deadpan delivery took a second to resonate with the bunch. Once they finally understood what he said they all erupted into laughter and cheers once more.
Liam may have been a very special kid, that was indisputable, but he was still definitely a Gallagher. He wouldn’t have it any other way.