Swell (Complete)

Chapter Nine (Part Two)

"She is still so unsure, she always leaves him wanting more
You let me down but I can't let this go now."

....

Tom sat next to Will in the back of their form room. Will could tell Adora hadn't wasted time in telling his brother how she felt.
He knew it was better that way, but he hadn't expected Tom to take it so heavily. When they'd parked in the car park Tom had excitedly announced he was going to find his new girlfriend. Marti and Will had just exchanged glances and let him hurry off inside.
Now sitting next to Tom, Will could feel his brother's rejection radiating from him.
"Are you OK?" Will asked after their names were called.
"Adora just dumped me." Tom said, his voice was thick with something Will couldn't quite place.
Was it hurt or anger? Had Tom actually ever had a girl reject him before? Will honestly didn't know the answer to that.
"Well, you guys only had the one date, so could you really..."
Tom looked at him with a frown. "Will, I actually really liked her."
Will swallowed a lump, facing his twin now, he could see frustration burning behind his eyes.
"Sorry." Will whispered, feeling as though Tom had just told him off.
"I'm going to try and change her mind I think." Tom looked away and Will leaned back with a tilted head.
"How?" He asked. He knew why Adora had told Tom they couldn't date, how did Tom think he could change her mind when it was his personality that made Adora feel uncomfortable.
"I don't know." Tom started to tap the table with his finger.
Will thought for a few moments, trying to figure out if he could get away with knowing why Adora had dumped his brother or if he should ask. "Did she say why?"
Asking felt safer for some reason.
"I remind her of Iain." Tom said through clenched teeth. "Apparently that's a compliment."
"Well, he is a nice guy..." Will put in.
Tom glared at him.
Will leaned back again in surprise. Tom was angry. That was the emotion he hadn't been able to pinpoint at the start of their conversation.
"Tom, take a breath and think." Will said slowly. "You remind her of a guy who she has been friends with since she was born, probably. It would be like us dating someone like Marti. How do you think you could change her mind of that? Become an arsehole?"
The bell for the end of form assembly rang and Tom stood up so violently that his chair fell back. "I don't know, but I'm going to try anyway." He snapped. He picked the chair up and pushed through the other students to get out of the room.
Will felt a tight, uncomfortable feeling in his ribs as Tom disappeared out the door.
Week two at Wheeler Falls High was going to be something else.

The clouds broke in the last two periods of the day. Adora stood under the awning on the school front steps looking at her bike and then at the car park as the rain soaked the ground.
Parents were lining up to pick up kids in the rain and Adora was waiting.
She had been surprised when Tom had agreed to keep their study date, but it had made her guilt fade a little. She took it to mean that he was OK with the 'friends only' status she had put between them.
Her backpack was full of her psychology notes and on the ground at her feet. The first class had felt strange; Tom had practically ignored her as she sat next to Will in the back row. It had been eerily quieter than the first psychology class they'd shared last Monday morning without Tom's bright voice trying to show off. Adora had begun to realise that Will was a different person with a guitar in his hand than to the one outside of music. She remembered his reaction to Rae and her violin and the distant look in his face when she had found him. She'd thought that after their music rehearsal Will would have remained open, but he'd been as quiet as his brother during their psychology class.
"So, ready for your study session with Tom?" Marti's voice came up from behind her and Adora grimaced over her shoulder.
"Yes and no." Adora confessed. Marti and Adora had been in the library when Tom had found Adora to tell her the study was still on after school. "Am kind of glad to not be riding home in this rain though." Marti's smile increased the ease that had been slipping over Adora as she thought about the twins alone.
"Yea, it doesn't seem to show any signs of letting up either." Marti leaned out from under the school's awnings and lifted her head to the rain. When she pulled her head back under the awning she wiped raindrops from her face. "It's definitely wet." She chuckled.
Adora smiled and shook her head. "Most of May and winter is here."
"Damn, when Mum and Dad said we were moving to a beach I thought it'd be all summer and hotties!" Marti joked.
Adora leaned back against the wall and looked back over to her wet bike. Part of her wanted to run out into the rain and protect the bike, but she felt that was just for a distraction while they waited for the boys.
"Well, hotties do come out more in Summer, so you won't totally be at a loss." Adora smiled.
Marti laughed quietly and leaned on the space next to her. "There's still hotties around."
Adora raised her eyebrows and turned to ask Marti who she had her eyes on when Tom and Will appeared beside her.
"Alright, let's load up Adora's bike and head home." Tom said simply. Adora gave the twins an uncertain smile and nodded. She put her backpack on and hurried over to the bike rack.
It took Will and Tom five minutes to put the bike on the station wagon's roof racks. Tom had insisted on the girls waiting inside the car, out of the rain despite Adora offering to try and help.