My Summer Romance

Chapter 5 The Morning After

I woke up to the gentle stroking of my hair and the smell of pancakes in the air. Adam was the one stroking my hair while my mom was cooking breakfast. I must have fallen asleep on Adam because that's where I lay currently, and he was just too nice to move me. He and my mom were having a quiet conversation. At least, that's what they were TRYING to do. My mom's not exactly the quiet talker.

"Good morning, how'd you sleep?" Adam asked me. I'm too embarrassed to say good because apparently I spent half the night hugging him. Who knows? It could have been the whole night.

"Good morning, and fine I guess."

"You guess?" Now I feel even more embarrassed, so I don't say anything. He just smiled at my reaction and said, "I'm just teasing."

I sat up so I wasn't laying on him any more and he did the same. Abby and Jake were drooped over two separate chairs still sleeping, so Adam and I had a quiet chat. We were laughing when we got interrupted by his phone buzzing. It was only a text, but I was still a little upset. Who could be texting him at 8:30 in the morning? Then it occurred to me, his mom or dad. I watched him read and his expression changed from smiley, to what looked like angry.

"WHAT?!?!?!?" Clearly I was correct as Abby woke with a startled look and Jake fell to the floor. I couldn't help to chuckle, but Adam was obviously not amused. I reached and took his phone before he could say something stupid back to... whoever it was.

"What's wrong?" Jake asked.

"I-I... just found out that Zoe cheated on me.... with Trevor." With a quick glance at my mom, she was gone. I took her place at the griddle, giving Adam a confused look. Seeing it, he replied, "Trevor was my friend and Zoe was my girlfriend." He sat, elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. "I'm so stupid. I always fall for the wrong girls."

"No man-" I shot Jake a look which told him to shut up and let me handle this. "Abby and I are going back to my house for awhile. We'll see you later buddy." Adam didn't reply, so both of them just left.

I finished cooking in silence watching Adam as he ran his hand through his hair. "Do you want some pancakes and eggs?"

"No that's okay. I should leave. I'm sorry I disturbed your mom and slept over."

"No, no it's fine. It's not like you were planning on staying the night. Not that it really matters anyway. Your house is a walk across the yard." He smiled at that.

"I really should get going."

"Are you sure? You already spent the night. Might as well get some food out of it. Unless you have somewhere else you have to be. Plus, we have bacon."

Once again he smiled and then said, "Well I can't say no to that." I called my mom down and we all ate together, having a pleasant conversation. Hopefully, we kept the brown eyed boy in front of me from thinking too much about his ex. I could tell he couldn't help it every once in awhile, and it made me feel bad for him. So after breakfast I asked him if he wanted to go somewhere to take his mind off it, or talk about it. He agreed, but asked for his phone back. I told him that he would get it after we talked and vented his anger.

Since there is nothing much to do in Ashland, I decided to drive him to Mansfield. (Oh yeah, total side note, but we are in Ashland. My extended family lives in Shelby. Okay, back to the story.) There was a little more to do there, but nothing that a guy would want to do. I should have thought of that before. We could go to the movies, but I wanted to talk so I did what I could and took him shopping. Hey, at least I'll get to talk to him and buy some things as well.

It was 9:30 when we left and the mall opened at 10:00. We had perfect timing because it took us nearly a half hour to get there.

He let out a sigh as we pulled into the parking lot. "The mall? How's that supposed to make me feel better?" He mumbled.

"First of all, we are here to talk. Second of all, I'm going to kill two birds with one stone. Buying some new outfits for the school year and helping you vent out your dilemma, so I can help you feel better." I know, I still have the whole summer before I need to shop for school. But it's never too early to start, right? "After we talk about it we can hit up the Cinemark in Ontario. Your choice of movie."

"Okay."

"And besides, we need to take your mind of the situation for awhile. Let loose. Have some fun. Can you do that?"

"Yeah. You're right. I need to calm down."

"Okay then, let's go! Maybe we can pick you up some stuff too."

"What, don't like my style Chloe?"

"Non. Tu est trés chic."

"English? Por favor?"

"Come on. We can change up your style a little. It's good to have multiple looks."

"That is definitely not what you said."

"No. But I guess you'll never know," I smile. He frowns but gives up.

We hit up a bunch of stores like Claire's, JCPenney, Macy's, Sears, Aeropostale, Bath and Body Works, and American Eagle. I had at least five bags in each hand, although Adam helped me carry half of them. The whole time we were shopping he actually looked happy and it seemed like he was trying to enjoy my company. He even bought a few things that I thought looked good on him, after I begged him to try them on.

Since it was already 1:00 when we finished, we headed to the Food Court. We each got our own lunch and found a table for two.

I started in on him as soon as we sat down. "Alright, talk." I gave him a cold stare, meaning he better tell me since we were here to talk.

With a sigh, he started, "Okay... But first, what do you want to know? Just what happened this morning, or do you need to know a little more than that?"

"Tell me the whole story. Starting with how you met, your relationship with her, and then your problem this morning."

"Are you sure? That's a pretty long story."

"You have all summer to tell it. And it can't be that long. I am super interested to know your past relationships. I can tell already that you aren't a heartbreaker. Which is good. A lot of guys with your looks are. I mean just look at Jake."

He chuckled. "Wait you think Jake has good looks?"

"Nooo. I didn't mean it like that. He's not bad looking, but he definitely isn't you." What am I saying??? "I just mean that he's a jock. And he certainly lives up to the jock name."

"Ah. So what exactly is the jock name?"

"That means you're a player. You get with all the girls, break their hearts, and move on."

"Hm. Let me tell you my life story. Then maybe you'll think differently of me."

"Doubt it, but go on."

"Today I will tell you all about my past girlfriends."

"Ooh. Adam Collins love life. I should have popcorn."

"Okay. We can call it that, I guess." Adam leans in all serious. "Hold on to your seat because I have quite the love story to tell."