I finally remember my password, and I'm able to get in. I find my scores, and I look at them again, then at Adam’s and back at mine again to make sure I’m not seeing things.
I sure didn't expect scores of eight hundred for reading or math, but this is just kind of embarrassing. I have four hundreds for both reading and math. I wish I could've at least gotten a five hundred on one of them.
Adam’s are actually at six hundred. I see Adam looking at my screen. And I can tell he's trying not to laugh. I hit him playfully on the shoulder, and now I can't help but laugh too. I'm horrible at taking tests.
“I was having a bad day,” I say. "I was hungry, and I didn't get enough sleep." I’m trying to make excuses, but we both know I really just bombed the test. Adam looks at me. "Well, good thing you can take these as many times as you want." He's totally trying not to snicker. “So you’re taking them again, right?” he asks.
I nod.
"Yeah me too."
"Why?" I ask. "Your scores are already pretty good."
“Yeah. But they could be better. Especially for my first choice college. I could get into Georgia State with these scores, but the higher the better, so I'll take it one more time. I hear the second time you usually get a better score than the first time anyway."
He looks at me again, and I'm already logging off of my account because I don't want to look at the scores anymore, they're so bad. "Hey, how about we do some study sessions or something, and we can sign up again in a couple of months? I bet you’ll do a lot better the second time around." He says with a laugh. "Nowhere to go but up, right?"
I shove him again playfully on the shoulder, and we both laugh." "Yeah, I guess you're right. You probably know what you're doing, unlike me."
“Sounds like a plan,” Adam says with a smile as we get up and leave.
chapter nine
"I hate this." I say. "I am not getting any of these practice problems.”
I stare down at the big SAT book in front of me, and all of the math problems and steps that Adam just showed me turn into a big mess inside my head.
“Are you sure you can’t just take this dumb test for me?" I ask him. Adam smiles and looks at my paper. "Come on. It's really not that hard. You're making it harder than it really is. We learned about all this stuff last year, remember?"
"Adam, if I remembered any of this crap, I would not be having such a hard time right now."
I groan in frustration.
"I mean, really, when are we going to use this in real life? That's what I want to know. I could ask that about everything that we’re learning in high school right now, actually."
Adam laughs. "It's really not that bad. I promise.”
He scoots closer to me. We’re sitting at my kitchen table. Nobody's here but us. My aunt had gone out with the kids to some activity or game or something. And my mom won't be home from work until late tonight.
They know Adam and I are studying here tonight for a couple hours, and they said it would be fine. And of course, my uncle gave the look he always gives, thinking it’s so not okay for me to be home alone with a guy, but whatever. Adam is just a friend, and my mom trusts me.
We had only been going through math problems for the last hour, and I was just about done.
Besides, Adam was the wrong guy for making out with when no adults were home. He’s not my boyfriend, and he’s not the guy I want to be my boyfriend.
I start wondering if that means Brian is the right guy, and I shake my head and try to focus.
Adam picks up a pencil, and then he starts running through the steps of this math problem again, but I can barely focus anymore. It's been a long day. We had so many notes to take at school today, plus a test, and I have other homework to get to and I haven't even started it.
But I really need to study for this SAT because it's coming up again in a just a couple of weeks, and this is only our second study session.
I try to scoot a little bit away from Adam, but it's kind of impossible since it would be kind of obvious if I tried to scoot my chair away. I am not about to turn this moment any more awkward than it already is.
And of course Adam doesn't seem to mind the closeness. In fact, I think he's kind of doing it on purpose.
He does smell nice. He's got that going for him, but that's about it.
Adam looks up at me, and I know he just asked me something, but I have no idea what it is. So I just nod, and that seems to satisfy him, and thankfully, he scoots a little bit back towards where he was.
But not all the way. Adam looks at me again. He's been doing that a lot lately. I wonder what his green eyes see in me.
I have to admit I feel a little bit bad for him. How can that be? Me feeling bad for both Adam and Brian right now when they're the ones that have me stuck in the middle?
We spend another thirty minutes studying like this, mostly Adam helping me figure out more math problems. Then we go through some reading problems, and those aren't so bad.
Finally, I just slam my book closed on the counter, and I get up and say, “Okay, I think that's enough studying for today. Do you want something to eat? Because I’m starving.” We haven’t had anything to eat since lunch at school. I look at Adam, and he's putting away his stuff in his bookbag.
“Sure. I could go for something right now."
I go look inside our fridge, see if there’s leftovers or something, but I realize it's almost empty. It's the end of the week, and my aunt doesn't go grocery shopping until tomorrow. I close the refrigerator door and walk back to the counter.
“Want to order in?"
Adam smiles. "Do we get to watch a romantic movie too?"
I seriously try not to roll my eyes. I can already imagine what's going through his head right now.
Adam and me on the couch with a blanket over us watching some kind of romantic cheesy movie while Adam subtly puts his arm over me, bringing me closer to him until we’re making out or falling asleep together all romantic-like.
But that's not about to happen. Although I could go for a movie.
“Yeah, we can do a movie. No romance allowed, though. So what do you want to eat? Pizza? Chinese? I think I could go for some Chinese."
“Chinese sounds good. Egg rolls and fried rice. Or whatever you like." Adam puts his backpack aside and sits on a stool at the counter. I’m standing there googling nearby Chinese places, and we finally settle on this place with decent reviews that delivers and make our order.
Several minutes later, just when I think maybe we will never get our food and the movie we’re watching in the living room is almost half over, we hear the doorbell ring. We’d decided to go for an action movie we found on Netflix.
I walk to the door and check the time on my phone. It's already getting pretty late, and I'm surprised my aunt isn't here yet with the kids. She'll probably be here any minute and then wonder why I ordered something when she brought something or she's about to make something for dinner, but oh well.
I open the door, cash in hand, and see that it's a guy from the Chinese place with our food. Finally.
The Asian guy hands me the bag of food and tells me the total. I hand him some cash, including tip, and before I know it, I’m back at the couch, and Adam and I are pigging out and watching the movie again. Adam chews on some food and then looks at me. "This is pretty good, actually. So is your aunt going to be home soon?"
"Have no idea. I thought she would be home by now, but who knows."
A few minutes later we’re done eating, and then we’re both sitting back on the couch, shirts about to bust. And I'm starting to get sleepy.
We get to the part of the movie where the guy saves the girl, and they end up kissing. And I can feel the tension in the room. Adam’s probably looking at me out of the corner of his eye, wondering if this is a good moment for him to get closer to me once again or hold my hand.
But I hope he gets the message that this is just a movie after a study session between two friends.
That's it. Nothing more than that.
But a few minutes later, when the movie is just about over, I've fallen asleep.
I know because I wake up, and I'm resting on Adam’s shoulder.
And he's looking at me and just smiling a sweet smile. Oh god. He's probably falling even more in love with me right now even though I can feel a little bit of drool on the side of my face.
I sit up, look at the TV, and see that the closing credits are just about done. I scoot a little bit away from Adam, who just kind of laughs and says, “Hey, sleepyhead."
"Sorry. I guess I was more tired than I thought. All that studying wore me out."
I check the time on my phone. "Wow. I'm really surprised my aunt and brothers aren’t home." Then I see a message from her, and I see that they ended up going out to dinner with my uncle and asks if I want anything.
I text her back that I’d already had something to eat with Adam.
I put the phone back down on the couch, and I look at Adam. "Well, it's getting late. You should probably be heading home. My aunt says she’s on her way.”
Adam nods, and we both get up and stretch. I go to the bathroom while Adam grabs his stuff. I rinse out my mouth, thinking about how gross I must look. I walk back to the living room, and Adam says, "I guess I'm heading out. Study again next week?”
"Maybe," I say. "I have a ton of homework due, and you probably do too. "Adam takes a couple steps towards me.
"Well, we can work on it together. It'll go a lot faster plus two heads are better than one.”
It does sound like a good idea to work on school stuff together. I probably wouldn't procrastinate as much, but is this leading him on? I'm not sure. He sees me hesitate, and he looks down and turns away a bit, holding onto the straps of this book bag.
And I end up saying, “Yeah, okay, let's do that. If I try to do it all on my own, I'll probably just give up."
Adam looks back at me, and I can see the hope in his eyes. “Next week after school? Same time?"
I give him a small smile. "Sounds good to me."
“Okay. Dinner will be my treat, then."
And he leaves, and I'm hoping, really hoping, that I'm not making things worse.
chapter ten
Seniors are supposed to be the oldest and therefore most mature out of all the kids at school, but the closer we get to the end of senior year, the more the guys take it upon themselves to act like dumb immature jerks. Ten times worse than the freshman.
And who seems to be at the head of it all? Theo, of course.
This doesn't surprise me. He always seems to be at the forefront of every stupid thing that happens around here. Like the fight he got into with Brian last year when the truth about his little sister's death surfaced and everybody found out.
He was the first one start to start talking trash and make inappropriate jokes about it, including to Brian.
But also when something disgusting happens to a girl around here, he's usually behind it too. He's had a string of girlfriends and ex-girlfriends, but every time he's done with a girl or even before he's done with her, he's already saying the worst things about her, like how easy she is or how he did this or that with her.
Like I said, it's disgusting. I don't even know why girls agree to go out with him in the first place. He's cute. He's tall, he's got the abs, and he plays sports. Theo is your typical funny jock, except he’s also the biggest jerk ever.
People think he’s funny, but at the end of the day, he always takes it way too far and crosses the line.
So I'm not surprised when I can hear Theo clearly laughing at someone else’s expense all the way down the hall.
We’re in between classes, and everyone's walking this way and that, trying to get to their next class or find their best friend before the bell rings. Getting in and out of lockers or to the bathroom.
And then there’s Theo. He's laughing way too loudly with another guy in our year. It looks like they're messing with another freshman girl. She's all by herself, so of course she's an easy target.
Theo is saying something to her, and I can tell she just wants to get away. But they're not letting her. I look around to see if there are any teachers standing in the hallway like they usually are, but for some reason, no teachers are out in the hallway today.
Just when you actually want a teacher out here, they are nowhere to be found. I’m making my way past Theo, his friend, and this girl, my books in my hands, when I see Theo make a grab for her. He pulls the back of this girl’s bra strap and then lets it go hard. It makes a huge sound, and they think it’s funny, but it pisses me off.
No way is it okay for him to be grabbing a girl’s bra. She looks like she's about to cry, like she'd rather the earth swallow her up right now than go on like this for another second.
And no one else is stepping in to help her.
Before I know it, I’m standing in front of her and facing Theo.
"Hey. Leave her alone already."
Theo looks me up and down with a smirk on his face.
"Just having a little fun. What are you getting so riled up about? Is it that time of month?"
I roll my eyes. At least come up with something new, I want to say. But instead, I intertwine my arm with this girl’s, and I start to walk us out of there.
No way am I about to engage with Theo. He always finds some rude comment to say back to you, some way to get everyone else to laugh at you, and it’s almost always sexist or sexually inappropriate.
Best thing is to get just get out of here.
I can see that he’s not about to let me and this girl pass, though. He’s already standing in front of me, arms crossed.
I turn around and say to this girl, “Why don’t you go through the double doors down there?”
She gives a quick nod and starts walking down the hallway. I watch her for a couple seconds. Having to go around the building to get to where she needs to be is probably going to make her tardy for class, but it’s preferable to having to go through Theo when he gets like this.
I turn back around. I can tell he doesn’t like that I ruined his fun. I make to get past him myself.
No way is he about to block my way.
But he steps in front of me again. I glance in a different direction, and I can tell that his friend isn’t going to let me go either, not if Theo says I can’t.
I roll my eyes to avoid eye contact with him. “Get out of my way so I can get to class,” I say loudly, crossing my own arms.
It’s pretty much just us left in the hallway, and I can tell the bell is going to ring in a matter of seconds. I’m still hoping a teacher will come out here and tell us all to get to class, but no such luck.
Instead, I hear doors slam shut and teachers start lecturing and telling kids to take out paper for notes.
I sigh. This guy is about to make me late to class just because he’s choosing to be a jerk. Three years ago, I might have asked him to please just let me go past him or I would have tried to leave. But not anymore.
No way am I going to give him that pleasure. He’d really gotten to me once in ninth grade, and that was one time too many, before I was smart enough or brave enough to stand up for myself.
“Get out of my way, Theo,” I say again, more forcefully this time.
“Hey, what’s going on?” I hear behind me. I turn around. It’s Adam. He’s not as tall as Theo, who’s just about six feet tall, but he still walks right up to him until their noses are like two inches apart.
"Is he bothering you?" Adam asks, not taking his eyes off Theo, even though Adam is the one who has to look up at him.
“No," I say, staring up at Theo myself. "I was just getting to class."
Theo looks at me with a smirk on his face. Then the tardy bell finally rings. "You think you're so good, don't you?" He takes a step around Adam and towards me. My first instinct is to take a step back away from Theo, but I make myself stay in place at the last second. I'm not about to give him the pleasure of
seeing me back away from him. Not again.
Adam steps in between us again, but I still have a good view of Theo. I keep staring him down.
"Leave her alone," Adam says.
Now Theo looks at him. "Or what?" He looks down at him like he's a piece of trash, someone he can to step on and kick away.
I glance at Theo's friend. He’s behind him, just kind of staring, maybe ready to step in if Theo needs him, but looking kind of unsure now.
"I'll make you regret not leaving her alone, that's what," Adam says. "I did it once. I'll do it again."
Theo clenches his fists and turns so that he and Adam are face-to-face again. I can feel things getting real tense all of a sudden. Like it's not just an argument anymore, but any second now, either Adam or Theo could raise a fist and throw a punch.
And this could turn into a real fight real fast.
chapter eleven
I touch Adam's arm. "Come on, Adam. He's not worth it."
Theo looks at me. "You mean you're not worth it." He looks me up and down. "I still remember freshman year. You’re nothing special. I think everybody realized that." He smirks, and now Adam pushes him hard against the chest, sending him back a couple of feet.
But Theo regains his balance back in a flash and quickly comes at Adam again.
I can see what's about to happen, and I have no idea how to stop it. Theo’s friend still looks nervous, but now he’s helping Theo surround Adam. I know there's not much I can do to stop the fight.
Not one about to happen between three guys.
"Let's just go, Adam." I say, but Adam is not listening. Instead, his fists are out in front of him, ready to hit back if needed. My eyes widen.
I’ve never seen Adam like this. At least not since ninth grade when he managed to lay one punch on Theo, and a teacher happened to come in before anything else could happen. Of course, no one had said what had really been happening.
I'll Be Here (Matters of the Heart Book 2) Page 5