(Adam's POV)
"Her name is Fiona Coyne. She comes from a rich family, her and her twin brother moved here last year, and she stayed while he moved to New York." Adam listened to the words as Clare spoke the, his mind only on the girl she spoke of. He'd been living off that moment in the hallway that entire day, and he wanted even more now to know who she was. Of course, Clare had been the person to know who she was.
"Fiona…" he said out loud, "God, even her name is beautiful."
Clare smiled slightly and tilted her head to the side, "Awe Adam, so romantic."
"Shut up." he glared softly at her. He'd hated to think he had the ability to be romantic.
"Alright, so we get it. Adam's in love." Eli broke in from his seat beside Clare. Adam had almost forgotten he was there.
Ever since he and Clare had gotten together he spent most of his time silently watching her. Like he was keeping an eye on her, and when they looked at each other it was like they were sharing some secret that Adam wasn't allowed in on. He hated it, and he wanted something like that so bad it hurt sometimes.
"The question is, what are you going to do about it?" He asked Adam, raising his eyebrow. But Adam drew a blank. He had no idea what to do about it. He was never one to be shy around girls. But after the whole incident with Bianca, he felt less confident than usual. And… what if Fiona knew his secret? Half the school had been talking about it, so there was a huge chance that she may know as well. But for some reason, he felt like this girl was worth the risk.
"Well you better decide fast," Clare said, her eyes elsewhere, "Because she's walking in by herself right now."
Adam perked up, turning his head to look where Clare had. His eyes locked on Fiona as she glided gracefully to the front door and came in. She looked cold. Of course she was, it was practically winter outside and he couldn't help but the even the reddening of her nose was cute. In that moment he felt self conscious. Fixing his hair and straightening his shirt, he watched nonchalantly as she ran a hand through her thick curly hair and made her way across the room to an empty table by the wall. He couldn't seem to take his eyes off of her as she sat down her purse and took out her phone, ignoring the world around her.
His thoughts were broken by a nudge from Eli, "Go say something to her. Introduce yourself or something."
Adam shook his head and then looked at the two beside him, "No. I- I can't.""Yes you can Adam." Clare added, "You can do it. Just be yourself."
Of course, it was just like Clare to be so optimistic and bubbly. But for some reason it gave him a bit of confidence and he began to stand up. But before he could lie to himself that he actually could do it, he sat back down faster than he stood up.
"I can't do it."
Eli scoffed and rolled his eyes, "Come on you chicken, I'll go with you."
This, Adam thought he could handle. Eli had a presence. Like he was unafraid of everything. Adam could feel off of his confidence. So he nodded and agreed, "Yeah. Okay. I can handle that."
Eli stood up and Adam followed his lead. They were halfway over to the table Fiona sat at when Eli stopped.
"Oh hold on I've got to…" but before he ended the sentence he shoved Adam forward, causing him to bump the chair opposite of Fiona's at the table she sat at. Eli chuckled a dark chuckle before heading back to the table where Clare was, she too had a giggle on her lips.
Adam glared at the two of them, but it was too late now because Fiona had broken her attention from her phone and looked up at him.
"Uhm…" Adam began, his mind was a complete blank, "I… uh… I.."
She looked up at him with a raised eyebrow, waiting for him to speak and he felt like a complete idiot.
"I'm Adam." He finally spit it out, letting out a sigh of relief as he did.
"Oh…" she began, "Right, you're the boy from the hallway he gave me back my pen. It's nice to meet you, I'm Fiona."
"Yeah, that was me… glad I could be of help," he began, trying to hold back how excited he was that she remembered him, "How it is?"
At that comment he was immediately hating himself. How is it? That was possibly the stupidest question in the entire world. It was a pen! How could it be anything? It was an inanimate object. He wanted to hit himself in the face and run as far away as he could. Nothing could ever beat the embarrassment that he felt at that moment.
She looked confused, taken aback, and bewildered, but after a second she chuckled and nodded her head, "It's great. Thank you for that. It's my favorite, lucky pen."
Adam nodded and an awkward silence fell between the two of them. He shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked back and forth on his feet, trying to avoid contact.
"So.." he started, breaking the silence, "Why are you all alone?"
Fiona shook her head and looked down at her phone, "No reason. Just that my only friend, spending all her time with her new boy toy. It's whatever."
"Oh man, isn't that the worst?" he asked, finding a new found confidence in himself as he pulled the empty chair of her table out and sat down, "See those two over there?" He said and pointed to the table that Clare and Eli occupied. They were sitting close to each other, staring into each others eyes with a genuine smile on their faces, laughing with each other in their own little world.
"Yeah…" Fiona said, watching them.
"I'm kind of always the third wheel with them. The three of us were best friends, and they decided to fall in love. Ever since then, I've found myself left alone as well."
"Isn't it the worst?" she sighed, scooting her chair closer to the table, "Mine was actually my brothers girlfriend. They broke up, and now she's using this new boy as her rebound, and I'm stuck with both of their baggage. It's terrible."
"That really sucks." He said, completely remorseful to her situation. He knew how much it sucked being stuck in the middle. When Clare and Eli were fighting, he was the middle man, always getting it from both sides. And now, he wasn't stuck in the middle. He was hardly even at their side. Slowly trailing behind was more like it.
"You know…" he began with a slightly cocky smile, "Since we're both in the same situation… we could always hang out together sometime?"
Fiona raised her eyebrows and his heart stopped as he waited for her reply, but as her lips curved up into a smile he felt relief, "That doesn't sound too bad."
His heart jumped at a million miles an hour as his mind processed the incredibility of her smile, and the fact that she didn't think hanging out with him sounded that bad. To him, it sounded amazing.
(Fiona's POV)
Who is this boy? Fiona thought to herself when Adam had first approached her table. She knew it was the same boy she'd ran into in the hallway, but why all of a sudden was she noticing him everywhere? And the even better question would have been… why didn't she mind? Her heart did somersaults throughout their entire conversation, and when he suggested that they hand out it felt as if it was going to climb up her throat and jump out of her mouth. She didn't exactly know how to feel about this, because the last time her body had reacted in this way, it was about Bobby. The very boy who had put her through hell and back. The same boy she thought she loved, but who had only ended up hurting her in the end. How was she supposed to feel about the way her body felt, when the last time it only brought her pain in the end? It was a terrifying thought, but there was something about this boy that for some reason, made her feel safe.
