It was silent for the most part as Liam and I trailed back down to the parking lot. My tears had finally dried up, but my eyes hurt from crying too hard. I knew it was well needed and I was grateful that I had no more tears left in me. It was emotionally draining and I felt exhausted, but I knew it was worth it.
"How are you doing?" Liam asked me as he took my hand and helped me over a large branch that was in our path.
I jumped down and Liam followed shortly after as we let go. "I think I'm going to be okay."
He smiled at me as we were getting nearer to the parking lot. "You can come to visit any time you like," he began, "just let me know and I'll take you."
I smiled at Liam's words and even though it was out of town, Liam still offered. "Thank you, Liam," I said as we reached the parking lot, "you've done so much for me and you hardly even know me."
Liam chuckled as he unlocked his car and we both got in. "That's an understatement," he buckled his seatbelt, "we've been spending a lot of time together over these last six months so I think I know you pretty well."
I buckled my seatbelt too as Liam started the engine and drove off. "Oh, really?"
He nodded, looking pretty confident. "Yes. I know that you don't drink coffee because you hate the taste and I know that you prefer to have a shower in the morning. I know that you tap your pen when you're studying and trying to concentrate. I know that you can't sleep with any light on and you like to read when it's dead silent. I know that you have about ten alarms set on your phone. I know that you have a noticeable frown line when you get angry and I know you push your glasses up the bridge of your nose when you're trying to explain yourself. I also know that you like scented candles and that you stress way too much so maybe that's why you like the candles."
As Liam was talking, my eyes widened and I was shocked that he knew all of that. I knew that he noticed me and studied me and for the months we had been spending together, it was pretty impressive. "What just happened?"
Liam cleared his throat, scratching the back of his neck and concentrating on the road. "Uh," he looked speechless, "nothing."
Nothing was an understatement. "How did you know all of that?"
He said nothing for a second before finally responding. "I-I just notice a lot of things."
I heard a stutter in his sentence and it made me wonder if he was lying. But, if he was the king of lying then it seemed impossible. I was still shocked by what just happened and I realised that he was right about all of those things and some of them I didn't even realise until now. They weren't big things like how I liked to study a lot or how I have two brothers, they were the small things that people rarely ever noticed. My mouth suddenly went dry and it took me back to the time when drunk Liam said that he was in love with me. I've known Liam for five months and you don't just notice those small things in that amount of time without it meaning something.
"Liam?" I turned to him.
He looked at me and then back on the road. "Yes, Lou?"
I swallowed hard, getting the courage to ask him. "How can you know all of those small details and not be in love with someone?"
Liam continued to drive, clearing his throat. "What?"
I sighed, rethinking what I just asked him. "Never mind." And with that, I left it and the ride home had suddenly gone dead silent.
*
It was the last few days of January and at the end of next month, I would be going back home. I wasn't sure if I was ready or not, but after what Liam did for me with Mason, I felt like I would be ready in time. I was thinking about all of this as I was sitting in Chemistry and then Liam popped into my mind like a balloon. I wanted to erase him from my mind, but instead I got a text message from the man himself.
So much for trying to erase him from my mind.
I checked my phone and I didn't know whether to believe him or to just ignore him.
My mind was worried about what could've happened. Was it Xanthe or their parents? Did someone get into a car crash, did someone die? I quickly excused myself from class, grabbed my belongings and raced out to the corridor and into the parking lot.
I was breathing heavily because I had rushed through the school like my life depended on it. My eyes searched for Liam and once they found him, he was casually leaning against his car without a care in the world. I instantly rushed over to see what the 911 call was about.
"What's going?" I panted. "Did someone get hurt?"
He shook his head and unlocked his car with the click of a button. "Get in."
I did as he said and he sped off towards somewhere I didn't recognise. "Liam, what happened?"
Liam continued to drive, looking more relaxed than I realised. "Nothing, I just wanted to get you into the car and away from school."
I blinked a few times and turned my head angrily. "What!?" I was beyond annoyed at the stunt he just pulled. He took me out of Chemistry again and told a lie to get me to go with him. I really wanted to punch him and do some serious damage like I said in my text message, but I wasn't a violent person.
Liam chuckled at my reaction. "Yeah, it was a false alarm." He didn't even sound sorry and that made me even angrier.
"Stop the car right now!" I yelled, but Liam did nothing to show that he was slowing down.
He shook his head, looking amused. "No can do, Lou."
I sighed heavily, knowing that there was no way he was going to stop the car. "We're ditching again." I said it more like a statement to myself than to Liam.
"We are." He smirked.
I rolled my eyes at his expression and looked out the window. "Why did you lie to me? Why didn't you just tell me?" I asked him, feeling quite annoyed that I fell for another one of his tricks.
I should've known.
"After getting arrested, I knew it was a huge no and if I'd told you that we were ditching again, you wouldn't have ditched class to come with me anyway." Liam explained.
"I would have." I said it slowly, knowing that it was a lie.
He laughed loudly. "No, you wouldn't have."
"You're right," I confessed. "I wouldn't have." After a moment of silence and driving on the road that led to somewhere unknown, I decided to speak again. "We better not be doing anything illegal, Liam. If we are, I'm staying in the car and I don't care if you take all week. I will be staying in here."
Liam concentrated on the road, looking from me to what was in front of him. "Don't worry, Lou. We aren't doing anything illegal."
I thought his words would have calmed me, but they did the exact opposite. How was I to trust him when he had lied to me so many times before? "I don't believe you." I told him truthfully, knowing I could say anything I wanted and Liam wouldn't get mad or offended.
Maybe that was an understatement.
We stopped at a stop sign, piling behind three other cars. Liam dug an envelope out of his pocket and handed it to me. "What we're doing is in there."
I was contemplating whether I should open it. It could've been another prank or even an explosion. I shrugged my fears off and opened it anyway. My eyes landed on two tickets to the aquarium that just happened to be out of town, not too far from where Mason's cross was. "And what if I don't like fish?"
Liam chuckled as we moved an inch forward. He turned to me with a glowing smirk. "I saw your list."
My eyes widened. "What list?"
"Your list," Liam continued, "the one in your little notebook, which is in your underwear drawer."
My face went bright red and I wasn't sure if it was because I was blushing or because I was angry. "You went through my things!?"
He went through my underwear drawer. I think I want to sink and drown and die.
Liam laughed again as he continued to drive towards our destination as the road was clear. "Yeah, I found it quite fascinating. It was sort of like a bucket list, except it was all of the things you wanted to do in America before you left."
I was officially embarrassed. "I can't believe you went through my things!"
Liam shrugged as he made a right turn to where a large building was located and I knew that we were at the aquarium already. I wasn't even finish arguing with him and I was still so furious. "I needed something to do and instead of asking you, I decided to snoop in your room and surprise you."
"Surprise me!?" I screeched. "You went into my private things, Liam! If you wanted to surprise me, it bloody worked."
Liam parked his car and stopped the engine. "Now," Liam turned to me, "are you going to argue with me some more or are you going to tick the aquarium off your list?"
I sighed again and got out of the car, Liam following shortly behind me. "Don't think that this gets you off the hook." I said as he locked the car door and we both walked into the aquarium.
"I know," he said as we both went inside, "just enjoy it."