Author's note: New story! Really looking forward to continuing it. Thanks so very much to hollywar for being my beta ;)

Chapter One

"Damn it!"

I burst through the door of the change room, holding my head back so the blood wouldn't spill on my shirt any more than it already had. The room was blessedly empty. I headed straight to the sinks in the shower bay.

"What a fucking idiot."

"Who?"

Apparently, locker room was not as empty as I thought.

I caught a glimpse of Julie Gaffney in the mirror behind me.

Perfect. Just wonderful.

I lowered my head, trying to hide my nose from her view. Naturally, the blood started dripping again. "Nothing. It's fine."

"What happened?"

I tipped my head back again. It was too embarrassing to explain.

"Adam, what happened?"

She was right next to me now, trying to get a look at my face.

"Portman hit me, I'm fine," I muttered, too embarrassed to raise my voice.

She heard me regardless. "He hit you in the face? Why did – wait, come sit down."

I let her lead me to a bench in the locker room.

Could this day get any worse? I get nailed in the face by the biggest asshole in the school, known as my beloved moron teammate; Dean Portman. Not to mention in front of half the school. And then Julie Gaffney witnesses me bleeding from the nose.

Exactly like a dork who just got beat up.

I pinched my nose and held my head back. Julie disappeared and a second later a piece of soft, wet paper towel was pressed into my hand.

"Thanks," I muttered, holding it against my face. I closed my eyes for a few seconds to try and calm down.

It was probably too late to save face; in any meaning of the term.

She touched my shoulder lightly, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, thanks. I'm fine," I mumbled with my eyes shut. It was easier to pretend she wasn't seeing this.

"Why did he hit you?"

She sounds worried. And confused.

"Does he need a reason? Really?"

We were both quiet for a minute.

"He can be such an asshole," Julie's soft, low voice spoke to me. "I'll talk to him."

"I don't need you to fight my battles, Julie." My voice comes out low and curt.

She's quiet.

Great, now I'm an asshole too.

"I'm sorry," I told her quietly.

I opened my eyes. Julie was watching me with concern, but her gaze flicked away.

"Is it that bad?" I squeezed experimentally. It doesn't feel broken. Bleeding's stopped.

"No, I just- I know it sucks to stared at when you're hurting."

She's the most thoughtful person, and I just bit her head off for trying to help me.

Charming, Banks. No wonder the girls are all over you.

"I'm sorry," I repeated.

"You already said that. It's okay."

She smiled and pressed her face to my shoulder affectionately. It's so sweet and unexpected, it makes me shiver.

"You're the best, Jules."

"The best what?" she joked, pleased when I can't help a smile.

"The best girl," I explained. I feel my face flush red, but a surprised smile slowly brightens her face.

Julie Gaffney.

She's the best girl.

Makes sense.

Ever since I met her years ago, Julie has always had this quiet determination. Drive to succeed and the strength to work hard. She's intelligent and always organized. Friendly and generous with her smile. Her long, straight hair is always blonder after the summer. She has an incredibly natural, almost Nordic beauty that's all her own and impossible not to notice.

I notice her every day.

Julie's POV

Ok, that was a little embarrassing. Was he serious?

As I tried to think of a decent response to being named 'the best girl', Adam's eyes closed again, and he leaned against the wall with a little moan.

"What's wrong? Adam?"

"No, no, I'm okay." He looked at me again. "I'm just wondering how I'm going to explain this to my dad." He removed the blood-stained towel from his face, and I couldn't help wincing.

"There's a cut."

"Feels like."

"So... what happened?"

He sighed and shook his head. For a few seconds I thought he wasn't going to respond, but then he started talking.

"We were at the lockers, and Portman was mouthing off about Mr Hall, and how he was uptight because he couldn't get laid and hated everyone who could, or something like that. I was just behind him, and I said that he was a good teacher, and don't get pissed just because he won't grade on a scale for you," Adam explained, shaking his head a little at remembering the incident.

"And he just threw his elbow back, right into my face. No warning."

I winced again, imagining the crack. "Ouch."

"I can't figure it out," Adam muttered. "I don't know why he hates on me all the time."

He looked like he did know, but didn't want to share it with me.

I couldn't argue with him right now. Dean Portman was a good friend to me, but he had testosterone for blood and serious impulse control issues.

And he and Adam had just never clicked. Everyone teased everyone else in our team, it was kind of how we passed the time, but Portman could be really harsh on him sometimes.

"Don't pay attention to him, Adam. He's just jealous."

He almost choked. "Of me? Yeah, right. Everyone's jealous of me," he agreed sarcastically.

Adam was something special. He was an incredibly gifted hockey player, but modest to a fault and he was embarrassed easily when people made a fuss over him.

Despite all he had going for him, he was so quiet and serious that he could come across a little rude. Some of the guys – well, all of them - teased him that he was a rich kid and a snob at heart; but he wasn't. I knew him better then that. He was a great friend, if you could only get him talking.

He took some of the affectionate teasing that we all shared in too hard.

"Yeah, you."

I tapped his face gently towards mine, careful of his injured nose. He looked so downcast.

He needed to hear this.

"He's jealous of you. Honestly, a lot of the guys are; because you're the best player we have. That's the truth. You're smart, and you're dedicated, so you get really good grades. He doesn't. He doesn't know how to relate to you, so he tells you how much he doesn't want to be like you. He doesn't know how to be anything but the big guy, so he's just that as hard as he can be," I whispered. The locker room was so quiet and still for once, it felt like a chance to tell Adam what I couldn't tell him usually.

"Don't listen to his shit. Or anyone else's. It has more to do with them then it does with you."

Adam's POV

I'd never been this close to Julie.

Ever.

Her low voice was soft and soothing. It distracted me from my lame problems.

"Plus..." she continued seriously. "You're prettier than him."

We both laughed, but I didn't move away.

She didn't, either.

I gathered my courage and wrapped my arm around her shoulders lightly, resting my head on hers. She was cool and soft and comforting in my arms.

For once, the knot of tension in my stomach was gone. It was amazing to hear that she saw me differently from most people. Amazing that she'd taken the time to notice me at all.

Just listening to her quiet observations relaxed me more then I could have imagined. She didn't move away. She just leaned into me in return, and we sat together silently in the dark room.

I could've stayed there for hours.

Footsteps approached, and we both looked up.

Go. Away.

It was nearly time for practise, and the whole team would be here within minutes, if not seconds.

"Um-"

"I better-"

"Yeah."

We moved apart. I caught Julie's hand as she turned away to go back to her locker.

"Jules? Thanks."

She flashed a quick smile at me, just before Charlie and Russ came jogging in.

"Hey, Banksie! You okay? I heard you got – ah, a nosebleed."

"Sure, I'm fine," I batted away Charlie's hand as he tried to examine my face, and then messed up my hair.

"Why the hell's it so dark in here? Who's in here?" Russ flicked on the fluorescents full beam.

"Oh, hey Cat."

Charlie looked at me with raised eyebrows, and winked with a goofy look. I could tell what he was thinking as soon as I got a glimpse of his face.

Way to ruin a moment, guys.

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