Contrary || l.p.

7. A Car Ride in Return

The rock music in his car was actually appealing to my liking, to my surprise. The lyrics were quite true and it was pretty relatable to a few of the situations that I was going through at the moment. It was a song that I would probably keep on if it ever came on shuffle.

"What song is this?" I asked Liam, turning up the volume a little bit.

He quickly glanced over at me and returned his eyes to the road. "This song? I'll Be Gone by Linkin Park."

"Oh," I said and continued listening to the song, pulling away from the volume dial.

He smiled. "Why? Do you like it?"

I nodded honestly. "I never thought I actually would, but yes. It's a good song."

He chuckled. "Linkin Park is one of my favorite bands."

I scoffed. "Wow. So, you tell me your favorite band, but not your favorite author?"

He laughed and shook his head. "Are we really having this conversation again? Jessie. You really wanna know, don't you?"

I nodded rapidly, hoping and praying that he would tell me now. I mean, it had been bothering me all day.

He laughed again. "Alright, fine. Just so you'll shut up, I'll tell you."

I gasped and sat up. "Wait, really? Who is it? Is it Rick Riordan? Suzanne Collins? J.D Salinger?"

He laughed and said, "Oh my fucking goodness, calm down!"

"I can't calm down! Are you really going to tell me?" I asked, hoping that this was not one of his sick jokes.

He shrugged in amusement. "I mean, I guess... We're practically friends now, so I guess I should at least let you know a few things about me that you're dying to know." He looked at me briefly and smiled. "Okay, look. Suzanne Collins is alright, Rick Riordan is amazing, J.D. Salinger is a classic with The Catcher in the Rye, but my favorite author?" He paused and chuckled to himself. "My favorite author has tugged at my heartstrings since I picked up a copy of his book. You'll see who he is when we get to my house." He turned a corner, causing me to feel excited about knowing another fact about him. "But before that, I'll have to pick up my sister from school first. Is that alright?"

"You have a sister?" I asked him, raising my eyebrow.

"I have three sisters. Two older, and one younger.... and a brother," he added.

I smiled, getting slightly interested. "Wow. Will you tell me about them? Like, what grades are they in? What do they do?"

He pulled a strange face and raised an eyebrow at me for a second, then turned back to the road.

I shrank a little. "Was that too personal?"

"What? No," he shook his head, "no, no. It's just that..." he shrugged, "no one has really been interested in my siblings before. No one really cared much."

I tilted my head and said, "Oh."

He smiled, leaned back in his seat and began. "My brother's name is Royce. He's in 5th grade this year; he plays video games for a living, and he borrows some of my old ones." He turned a corner. "My sister, Grace, is in 3rd grade, she likes to draw, and she has a strange obsession for boybands and solo artists who've hit puberty." He stopped at a stop sign and motioned for another car to pass before driving once again. "The two older ones, Nicola & Ruth, already have families of their own, and both are working as real estate agents in the same field," he explained in detail and shrugged. "That's basically it. They're great people, really."