After the teams pick-me-up at the ice cream shop, we said our goodbyes for the day, with Julie coming over to spend the night with me.
Adam walked us back to my house, insisting it was improper of him to leave two girls to walk home alone.
Julie was rather offended by that comment, resulting in her finding a tree branch and chasing Adam with it.
I smiled, chuckling at the two. I was lucky to have such good best friends.
When we finally made it to Scooter and I's house, I invited Adam to come hang out with us for a bit.
He agreed, and the three of us went up to my room.
"Holy shit, and I thought my parents were rich." Adam's eyes widened, glancing around.
"What? Never been in a slightly big bedroom before?" I tilted my head to the side.
Julie's mouth fell to the floor. "I don't think you understand. You have your own bathroom. ATTACHED to your bedroom." Julie blinked and kept looking between me and my bathroom.
"That's not normal?" I asked, crossing my arms, suddenly feeling embarrassed.
Adam pulled my hands apart, recognizing my signs. "No! But it's freaking awesome!" He smiled at me.
His smile put an identical one on my face. "Thanks."
"Awhhh, Ella, you were such a cute kid!" Julie smiled, holding a photo of me from my dresser.
"God I forgot about that." I laughed, coming over to look at the picture.
"Yeah, cute with missing teeth." Adam chuckled, grabbing another framed picture.
My cheeks flushed, quickly coming over and snatching the picture from his hands. "L-let's look at something else." I stuttered.
The front door opening and shutting broke me out of my embarrassment. "Ella? You home?"
Scooter was here.
Without saying a word, I ran downstairs and engulfed him in a hug.
"Oh he- woah!" Scooter hugged me back, laughing.
"Hi kiddo." He smiled, ruffling my hair.
"Hi." I looked up, smiling back.
"Ella? Are you okay?" Adam called out, walking down the stairs with Julie.
"Oh hey, Scooter, right?" Julie asked, walking up to us and sticking out a hand to shake.
"Yeah, you're Julie?" Scooter returned her handshake.
Adam stood at the bottom of the stairs with a sour expression on his face.
I let go of Scooter, still standing near him.
"Hey Adam." Scooter said, trying to be polite.
Adam only nodded his head at Scooter, seemingly ignoring him.
Scooter's brow furrowed for a moment before he looked down to me. "Why don't you and Julie head upstairs. I wanna talk to Adam for a minute, okay?"
"Okay." I smiled, walking towards Julie.
Julie and I silently agreed to listen from the top on the stairs.
When Scooter thought we were out of sight, he turned to Adam.
"Hey, Banks. Eyes off Bunny, got it?" He pointed a stern finger in his face.
"Who's Bunny?" Adam looked confused, but not backing down.
"Ella. My sister." Scooter scoffed.
Adam's eyes widened in surprise. "Your sister?!"
"Yeah? You think random people have the same last name?" Scooter laughed at him.
"What about Cole?" Adam's face twisted.
"Nothing about him. He keeps up with her and I might have to teach him something." Scooter spit, cracking his knuckles.
"Cole?" I whispered to Julie, confused.
"Who's Cole?" She whispered back, giving me a confused look.
"One of Scooter's friends on Varsity, the ginger." I whispered.
We heard the boys stepping to come upstairs and we quickly and quietly made our way into my room, making ourselves look busy as if we'd been in there a while.
"Hey kiddo, Hi Julie, you guys can have back pretty boy here, I chewed him out good so there won't be any funny business." Scooter threw an arm around Adam's shoulder, pulling him into a friendly headlock.
"Hey!" Adam exclaimed, trying to push Scooter's arm off him.
Julie chuckled, smiling a Scooter.
I saw something I had never seen before. Scooter gave her a smile, his eyes seemed brighter, his cheeks seemed pinker. It hit me like a freight train.
Scooter had a crush on Julie.
I smiled at him knowingly, before he coughed and excused himself out of the room.
"So what did you two talk about?" Julie wiggled her eyebrows, hinting at what we had heard.
"Uh, nothing, just hockey stuff." Adam's cheeks flushed as he looked down and rubbed his arm.
"Come on, Banksie, tell us!" I stood up, pulling him forward by his arm.
He smiled lightly, the famous Adam Banks smile he always gave me.
We all talked for a couple more hours before Zach came to pick up Adam.
As I walked Adam outside, I pecked his cheek, waving him off.
Adam's face was a noticeable red as he hopped into the passengers seat, placing a hand over his cheek.
I smiled to myself, walking back inside.
"What was that?" Scooter crossed his arms, nodding towards the door.
"What was what?" I asked, confused, before walking back upstairs.
I felt like I was floating on a cloud.
"So what movie- what's got you all goo-goo eyed?" Julie looked up at me from the floor, VHS tapes scattered in front of her.
"Oh, nothing." I sighed, still giddy.
"Spill. Did Adam finally man-up and kiss you?!" Julie jumped slightly, tugging on my arm.
"What? No, Adam doesn't like me like that." I shook my head, my smile faltering.
"He obviously does. And you like him back!" She exclaimed, bumping me with her shoulder.
"I do not!" My eyes shot down as I felt my face heat up.
"You're both idiots." She shook her head.
"How do you know he likes me?" I asked her, the comment catching my attention.
"He makes it so obvious, he was jealous of Scooter, and Cole." She laughed, putting the tape in the player under my tv.
"Why would he be jealous of Cole?" My head tilted.
"Cole very clearly has a thing for you, and both Scooter and Adam see it."