Contrary || l.p.

23. Explain

Four class periods later, I bolted out of class and headed for the place Liam and I usually met. I had to suffer the bombarding questions from the five of my friends, asking why I was so happy this morning.

I was way too happy to say an entire story, therefore, just saying, "Liam." After I did, they put the story together themselves, and assumed that we finally made up.

"About time," Isaiah had said at nutrition break, when I told him about it. "I'm glad I'm seeing your smile again, Jess."

Now, I searched the entire area, looking for the familiar face that was Liam. I looked to my left, and simultaneously came in eye contact with Liam, who seemed to be searching for me too.

We both smiled and walked towards each other, not breaking eye contact once.

"Hi," I said above a squeak as soon as we reached each other.

"Hey," he smiled and pulled me in for a tight hug.

I wrapped my arms around his torso and took in his familiar scent.

This hug lasted longer than the average, which made me feel better about not wanting to let go. We just stayed there, with our arms wrapped around each other, not saying a thing. I really have missed his hugs.

"Shall we go?" He asked into my hair.

I nodded, and we finally separated, then began walking around the school.

"Alright," he began. "What do you want to know?" He asked me and stuffed his hands into his jacket pockets.

I took a deeper breath. "Okay, first of all," I said, thinking of what I should say. "Why did you get new tattoos and piercings... and where?"

Wow, Jessie. Out of all the questions you could have asked first, you asked about the tattoos.

He smiled and pulled the lip ring between his teeth. "I knew you'd say that first." He chuckled. "Okay, well I was bored one day and my dad & I were walking past the tattoo shop. We decided to walk in and get another matching tat." He explained. "The guy at the shop said that with the purchase of a tattoo, we could get a free piercing. I took it."

"I meant to ask you about that. The Chevron tattoo... what does it mean?" I asked, eyeing it. "Both you and your dad have it."

"This one? Oh, my parents met at a Chevron gas station. She needed help, he was there, blah blah blah." he rambled. "Long story short, they got a Chevron tattoo the day they got married, and so I went to the shop and got two to represent both of them."

I nodded with a smile. "That's sweet."

He chuckled. "Yeah, well..." He shrugged.

I giggled and shook my head. "Okay. What about this one..." I said, pointing to the cursive Everything I wanted but nothing I'll ever need tattoo.

"It means what it says." He explained. "I want so many things, but most of those things, I don't even need." He said to me and we sat down on a bench. "Enough about the tattoos, Jess." He smiled. "What do you really want to know?"

"Alright..." I exhaled and turned to him. "Who are those guys that we got arrested with?"

He blew out a puff of air. "Well, you have met Calum." He pointed out. "Let's just say he's the youngest of the group. Still a Senior, like us, but he's a few months younger than me. He and I are usually the ones who don't do stupid shit like the others." He said to me. "We are really close, and we're into a lot of the same things. Except for him, Michael has some sort of control spell over him. He's afraid of Mike when he shouldn't be." He said with the roll of the eyes and I scoffed.