The week went by quickly and monotonously. Though I'm sure people were talking about me behind my back about what happened with Amber, nobody confronted me about it. I noticed the stares and whispers, but they didn't bother me much.
Friday came in a breeze and it was game day, the team's last game, and it was really important to Luke, so I was going.
Through the week, Adam and I would talk, turns out he was in my AP calc class and his sister, Ariana was in my English class. She was really funny and we got along pretty well. She seemed to be quiet at school, though. Kept to herself a lot, I noticed, but when I got her talking, she's really fun to be around.
I took my seat in the back of the AP calc room, the last period of the day, and jumped when Adam took his seat on my desk.
"What are you doing?" I shrieked. "You're going to get in trouble."
He laughed. "I didn't mean to scare you."
"What do you want?" I was nervous about the teacher yelling at him for being over here, and sitting on the desk.
"Are you going to the game tonight?" He asked quickly.
"Uh, yeah. Why?"
He shrugged, trying to play it cool like it didn't really matter if I was there or not. "Most of my friends are on the football team, so I don't have anybody to go with."
"I'm going with Ariana," I informed him.
"So I'll sit with you then. Geesh, stop begging." He smiled at me and walked across the room to his desk before I could reply.
I smiled back at him as the teacher entered and class began. When he set us off to work in the workbook, I finished in mere minutes and it took everybody else the rest of the hour to finish. I noticed Adam making his way up to the front desk, and if I didn't have improved hearing, I probably wouldn't have been able to hear the conversation.
"Mr. Hanson, I just don't get it," He groaned, sounding very frustrated.
"Which part?" The teacher asked, looking at the workbook that Adam handed him.
"Any of it. I don't understand it at all. Why the hell am I in AP?"
"You can do it, you just need some help. You're smart, but this is a challenge. This course is meant to be challenging. Have you thought about getting a tutor?"
"Well, I uh- I.... sure." He stammered, seemingly surprised that the teacher even brought up the idea.
"Good choice. Let's see, the top of the class right now, that would be Emma."
I looked over to the girl that I knew as Emma, one of Amber's friends. She was very beautiful, but I was sure that she wasn't a great person. I didn't think that any good person could be friends with Amber.
"Emma, could you come-"
Something churned inside of me. Something that I could only describe as... as... as jealousy. "I'll do it." I said quickly, jumping to my feet. My face turned beat red as everybody in the classroom stared at me. What the hell was I doing? "Uh, I- I can do it." I said, a lot quieter now that I had already gotten everybody's attention.
Adam smirked, apparently able to tell why I was so quick to offer, as I rushed over to the desk.
"Miss. Wilson, you're offering to tutor Adam?" The teacher asked.
I nodded slowly. "Yeah, sure."
"Great, that's very kind of you. You two can figure something out together," Mr. Hanson suggested.
Adam snickered as we walked back to my seat. "Jealous?" He asked me under his breath.
I scrunched up my nose in distaste that he had figured me out so easily. "You wish. I was just being nice."
"Right," He nodded, not buying it. "So how about Tuesday?"
"Don't you have to watch your little brother?" I asked.
"Well, yeah. But he just watches TV, so he'll be fine."
"Alright," I decided. "Tuesday it is."
He smiled then walked back to his desk. What the hell did I just agree to?
After school, Luke had practice, so I went with Ariana to the nearby fast food restaurant before the game.
"Are you excited for the game?" She asked me as I sunk my teeth into my hamburger.
I shrugged. "I've been to some before. I'm not a big fan of football."
"Then why are you going?" She asked, nibbling on her fries.
"Luke wants me to," I admitted.
She nodded in understanding. "So you're going to the movies tomorrow, too?"
"I am. How'd you know?"
She tried to hide her smirk but it showed clearly on her face.
"Ariana..." I said in a warning voice.
She just looked at me innocently and smiled. "What?"
"How did you know about the movies tomorrow?" I repeated.
She shrugged. "I heard it around."
"Are you going too then?"
Her eyes got wider, seemingly very shocked at my question, which I thought was a very reasonable question to ask. "Seriously? No, I'm not going. That's insane."
I looked at her with a confused frown. "Why?"
"The 'it' crowd doesn't really like me that much. Or at all. They just don't bug me because of Adam."
"Well, it could be fun," I attempted, wanting her to go with me to make it less painful.
She shook her head stubbornly. "Sorry, you're on your own."
I groaned and took another bite of my burger.
"At least your brother will be there."
"Yeah, but he's going to be busy with his friends. I don't want to be like a third wheel or anything."
"You'll be fine." She chuckled, then looked at her phone and grinned at me. "C'mon, it's game time."
I sat down next to Ariana on the warm bleachers with the rest of the eager students. The cheerleaders were going over their cheers and the band was preparing for their pre-game. I saw Adam coming up the stairs towards us and he sat down beside me.
"Hey," I greeted him.
He smiled at me and slightly acknowledged Ariana's presence with a short nod in her direction. "So is this your first game?"
I shook my head. "No, I've been to a few."
"Hey! She's mine. You get her tomorrow." Ariana snapped.
"We can share her." Adam said sternly.
"I am right here." I interrupted their little argument. "And I don't mind spending this night with both of you."
The band started their pre-game performance and I pretended to watch intently on their marching and then playing the fight song and anthem.
I was bored out of my mind by the end of the game; I really hate football. Sure, I could understand it. I could play it. I could win at it. But I absolutely hated football.
When the final buzzer rang, the whole crowd jumped to their feet. We'd won 14-0.
I stood from the bleachers and walked down the bleachers with Adam and Ariana. As we were passing the group of cheerleaders that were still on the field, Amber attempted to do a backflip but failed, horribly.
If it were anybody else, I wouldn't have done anything. But it was Amber Brown, and I didn't like her. So I let out a laugh. I didn't mean for her to hear it, I just couldn't help but laugh at her failing.
Amber stood up and glared at me, obviously hearing my uncontrolled little laugh. "What? Like you can do better?" She looked aggravated, probably because she just failed at her backflip.
"Yes," I answered her question. "I can."
She just raised her eyebrows at me, looking angry at me for answering her question, which I didn't understand.
"Lindsay, don't do this," Ariana pleaded. I knew that she didn't like confrontation, but I wasn't really sure exactly what I was doing except for answering Amber's question.
"Prove it then," Amber insisted, crossing her arms over her chest as if to challenge me. Oh. I then understood what Ariana meant by asking me not to do this. She could apparently already tell what was going to happen.
"Okay," I said slowly, deciding to just do it and get it over with instead of Amber bugging me later about laughing at her.
I jumped the fence that separated the football field from the bleachers and noticed that everybody that was still in the bleachers or around the fence stopped and began watching with curious eyes.
I hurried to the other side of the field, unintentionally getting everybody's attention. I got a running start, then did a flipping sequence, non stop to the other end of the field where Amber waited.
I landed perfectly, right before I hit the fence, and turned to see Amber's shocked face. Some of the bystanders clapped for me, including Adam and even Ariana. I took a confident bow and jumped the fence again to join them.
I looked over at the still-shocked Amber. "I guess it is an opinionated statement, so you may disagree with me, but I feel like that was better," I informed her before walking away. I don't know why that felt so good. I guess that I was just so fed up with that... that... that bitch. She had been giving me evil glares and painful shoves in the hallway all week and I bottled it up, but I guess that frustration overflowed that night.
"Do you want to spend the night at my house?" Ariana asked me, trying to move on from what just happened.
I didn't miss the hopefulness that filled Adam's face.
That made me smile. "No thanks. I'm just going to wait for Luke. He should be out soon."
"Suit yourself. Next weekend, though. Sleepover," She decided, backing away with Adam.
Adam looked back at me and smiled. "Bye, Lindsay."
I waved a small goodbye then headed for the locker rooms. I waited outside the guys locker room for Luke as all of the sweaty players emptied out.
"Luke! Hurry!" I called into the locker room without opening the door.
I heard a bunch of guys start howling and chanting and whistling in perverted manners.
"Oh, I'm his sister, you morons!" I yelled back, getting tired and irritable.
"You did great," I complimented him with a tired smile as he exited the locker room.
He wrapped his arm around my shoulders. "Aw, thanks."
"I'm so tired, I can't wait to get home."
Luke just looked down at me sheepishly. "Uh, Lindsay..."
"What?" I groaned as we walked to his truck, already able to tell that I wasn't going to like what he was about to say.
"Well, it's just- You see, uh, there's this- Uh, there's a party."
"Okay, so take me home first," I said simply, laying my head back.
"It's the complete opposite direction and it's the last game, Linds. It's going to be huge," He started to plead with me with his droopy puppy dog eyes.
I wished that I wasn't such a softy. "Fine. You owe me, though. You owe me so bad if I go."
He smiled. "You're the best."
"I'm not going in. I'm just going to stay in the truck."
He raised his eyebrows at me. "You're just going to sit in the truck, for hours?"
I nodded. "Well, I'm not going to a high school party, no thanks."
He chuckled. "You're insane."
I shrugged. "Hey, I'm going. So stop complaining."
"You should probably drive home, too." He said.
I rolled my eyes. "Whatever."
He laughed and parked across the street of a house that was insanely packed with people. I could hear the pounding music from inside the truck. There were people standing out front, some talking, some making out, others passing out.
"I'll be back in a few hours." He said, getting out of the truck.
"Be safe, Luke." I called after him.
He smiled at me then disappeared across the street and into the house.
Five minutes passed and I was already dying of boredom. I couldn't go to sleep because I wasn't all that tired anymore and I didn't bring a book to read or anything.
Ten minutes later and I was just talking to myself about random stuff, singing songs that were stuck in my head. All in all, I was killing myself with boredom.
Fifteen minutes since Luke abandoned me, time was moving like a snail. I couldn't think of anything to occupy myself with. Every few seconds, I'd look at the time, just making it go by much slower.
Twenty minutes alone and I had enough. Going into that party was absolutely not an option, so I got out of the truck and grabbed the blanket from the back seat then climbed into the truck bed. I laid on my back and stared at the stars, just thinking to myself and watching a plane go by. I stuffed my earbuds into my ears and started listening to He is We as I sang along, drowning out the party across the street.
I jumped and let out a scream when I felt somebody jump into the back of the truck with me. I looked up to see Adam doubling over in laughter. I pulled out my headphones and glared at him.
"What's so funny?" I asked.
"I always get you at the worst times, huh?" He said, calming down and sitting beside me.
I shrugged. "You just have horrible timing." I laid back down on my back. "What are you doing here?"
He laid down beside me. "Well, I was going to go to the party. But then I heard you singing, so I came over here."
Was I really singing that loud? My face flushed red. "Oh."
"So, what are you doing here?" He asked, putting my hand in his and entangling our fingers. Were we holding hands? Yeah, we were. Why? I wasn't sure, but I liked the feeling that it shot up my spine, so I didn't pull away.
"Luke wanted to come and I didn't want to go inside."
"What?" He gasped, dramatically. "There is an exhilarating game of strip poker in the dining room."
I chuckled. "I'm good."
"You're missin' out." He shook his head in fake disappointment.
"Oh, you just want to see me shirtless and drunk." I snorted, then froze. Did I really just say that? What the hell was happening to me? Whenever he's around, I talk like nobody's watching. It needs to stop.
He smirked. "You found me out."
I rolled my eyes. "Oh, shut up. What if I have a boyfriend?"
His smile faltered just for a second. "You don't."
"How do you know?" I asked, innocently.
He shrugged. "Why don't you have a boyfriend?"
I was a little brought back by his question. "What do you mean?"
"You're gorgeous, smart, funny-" I started blushing again.
"I'm perfect." I said quietly.
He stayed silent.
"What sport do you play?" I asked.
"Baseball." He said, clearly confused by my question.
"I can beat you at it." I said sternly. "Play guitar? I'm better at it. Get good grades? Mine are better. There is nothing that any guy can beat me at. Guys don't really like to be beat."
He stayed silent for a minute. "I can beat you at something."
"What?" I chuckled.
He held up our entwined hands. "Deception." And he winked at me.
I quickly pulled my hand away from his. "What's that supposed to mean?"
He just shrugged. "So does that mean that you've never kissed a guy?"
I blushed and shook my head. "Which completely wipes out the question of virginity that you were about to ask me about."
He tried, without success, to hide the smile on his face.
"So this thing on Sunday, Ariana's going, right?"
He nodded. "All of my brothers and sisters are going." He said quietly.
I chuckled. "Something tells me you aren't excited about it."
"I don't mind it too much, and it really won't be bad at all since you're going this year." He explained.
"Then why do you sound so upset?" I asked, desperately missing the comfort of my hand in his. But I forced myself not to put it back.
"It's just- I don't know."
"Of course you know, silly." I giggled. "Tell me."
He pondered for a minute, then sighed. "You remember my brother, Alec, right?"
I nodded. "The autistic one?"
"Yeah. Well, he has a really bad case of Aspergers, it's really bad. He hasn't said one word to anybody in years. My family just doesn't understand that his brain doesn't work normally. They always pester him and yell at him for being so quiet. It really pisses me off." He ranted.
"Doesn't your mom stop them?"
"She doesn't pay attention." He said quietly.
I finally gave in to the impulse and put my hand back in his. "They seem lovely."
He snorted. "Yeah."
"It'll be okay." I assure him.
He smiled. "I love this song."
I listened to the song that was blasting from the house, Lighters by Bruno Mars. I smiled, "Me too."
He stood up, keeping a hold on my hand. "Let's dance." He said, pulling me to my feet.
I blushed as Adam pulled me close to him and wrapped his other hand around me, laying it on my back. His other hand kept hold of my hand and held it to the side. I laid my head on his chest and felt him rest his cheek on the top of my head. I let his shirt muffle my singing as I sang along to the song.
"This one's for you-u and me, livin' o-out our dream!" I sang in a small whisper as we rocked back and forth to the song that was playing. I closed my eyes and took in his warm scent.
When the song ended, I looked up at him, not taking my arm off of his waist as he looked back into mine. His eyes bored into mine, and I couldn't look away.
"I've only known you for a week." I spoke quickly and breathlessly. "But I know that every time I see you, your eyes twinkle more than the last time. Your smile shines brighter. The only conclusion that I can come up with is that.... that you're falling in love with me." I whispered.
He didn't answer, he just moved his head down to mine. His lips were only an inch from mine, giving me a chance to pull away, but I didn't. He slowly closed the distance between us and kissed my lips delicately then pulled away.
My face was burning with a deep shade of red and it took everything I had inside of me to suppress a giggle.
"I don't mind if you beat me at everything." He spoke lightly, his hand moved to caress the side of my face, sending tingles down my spine. "As long as you're by my side, you can beat me at everything, I won't mind."
Again, I blushed.
"Alright, Lindsay, let's g-" Luke called, coming up to the truck. He stopped when he saw Adam there with me. "Oh, hey, Adam." He slurred, obviously drunk.
"Aye, dude." Adam said, leaping out of the back of the truck as I did the same.
I walked up to Luke and held out my hand. "Keys." I ordered.
He rolled his eyes. "I'm rot that runk." He said.
"I don't care. Keys." I demanded.
Again he rolled his eyes and pushed past me, stumbling over to the driver's side.
I grabbed the collar of his shirt and pinned him to the truck, glaring at him. "Luke, I swear to god, give me the damn keys or you'll walk home." I said through gritted teeth. I was super annoyed that he just ruined my first kiss.
He sighed heavily before putting the keys into my hand and sliding into the passenger seat. I looked to Adam who was walking into the party. "Bye, Adam!" I called.
He waved back and disappeared into the thundering party as I pulled away into the night.
I looked at the time, two in the morning. We have been at this stupid party for four hours? That went by fast. I couldn't get Adam out of my head, no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't.
We pulled up outside the house and tiptoed inside, praying that my mom was already asleep.
"Be quiet." I scolded Luke. "If you say one word, you are sleeping outside, got it?" I told him before going up the stairs.
He just nodded as I helped him climb the stairs.
"Where have you been?" My mother snapped from the top of the stairs.
I panicked, but knew what I had to do. "There was this party after the game. Luke didn't really want to go, but I insisted."
"What? No-" Luke tried.
"He ate some spiked watermelon, but he didn't know that it was spiked. Sorry." I muttered. "Just trying to live the high school life."
She smiled. "Oh, baby. I'm so proud of you." She squealed, wrapping me in a hug.
I chuckled. "I'm going to get Luke to bed. Night mom."
"G'night, sweetie." She called going into her room.
I took Luke into his room and waited for him to fall asleep until I went back into my room and easily fell asleep thinking about just one person, just a four letter word, three letters, two syllables, such a simple word, yet, it's all that I can think about....
Adam.