CHAPTER TWO: PUBESCENT ENCOUNTERS

Adam's POV

The sun watched me from above with a wicked grin on its face. That big stupid orange ball of heat knew how hot it was making me right now. I was already sweaty because I'd been boxing in the community gym with a guy who looked like he should be in college about now. I'd won 2 out of 3 matches with him today. He'd gotten lucky on the last one. Now I was running down the sidewalk passing pedestrians while wearing a pair of grey harem sweatpants, a fitted Boston Red Sox baseball cap, and a neon purple t-shirt. My gym bag was thrown over my shoulder holding my tennis shoes, a pair of basketball shorts, and a plain white muscle shirt.

I glanced at someone's phone as I turned the corner. It was almost two o'clock. I needed to pick up the pace or I was going to be late to work again. Eli couldn't keep sticking up for me forever. He had a job to keep, too. I saw a few people sitting at the tables outside of The Dot when I eventually reached my destination. There weren't any people inside besides a bored looking Eli standing behind the counter with a sleepy look in his eyes. But the sound of the bell signaling my entrance definitely woke him up. He took one look at my red face and held back a snicker. He jerked his thumb towards the back and said, "You've got three minutes to get changed into your uniform, Robin."

I huffed a thanks and ran to the back where I could change into my uniform in private. It only took a couple minutes to change into the black slacks, black t-shirt, and black apron that read The Dot in white letters. I was back behind the counter with Eli with barely a minute to spare. Eli smirked at me while I brushed my hair back into a windblown looking style with my fingers. My bangs were soaked with sweat, and my cheeks were still tinted with a faded red color. I needed to get a car soon. Once I had a car I wouldn't have to run back and forth between the gym, baseball practice, and The Dot constantly. And things would get even more difficult once school started on Monday.

"I like the new hair style, Prince Charming," Eli commented with an amused tone in his raspy voice. My own voice was starting to sound a bit raspier these days as a matter of fact. I didn't have to purposely lower it every time I said something out loud anymore either. "Thanks, I do, too," I shot back just in time. He laughed at our innocent joking and turned around just in time to see Peter enter The Dot.

"It's nice to see you on time today, Torres." I flashed a sarcastic smile and looked back down at my phone. One missed call from Bianca. That's weird. She hadn't tried to contact me in a while. I blew it off and stuck my phone back into the pocket of my black slacks.

"We've got a new employee stopping by this afternoon. I'd like it if you two could show them the ropes and such."

"Lovely," I muttered.

"Great," Eli commented beside me. We both shared a look before Peter gave his thanks and left us with the trendy diner. We didn't get much business today anyways, so all we really did was talk about upcoming concerts planned to happen nearby and some new bands we'd found on Youtube. We were munching on some Fritos and drinking energy drinks when the bell rang to signal someone's entrance around five o'clock.

The boyish grins on our faces disappeared when we saw who was standing in The Dot now. She looked about the same with dark curls framing her shoulders and cobalt blue eyes. But why was she in town? My mouth gaped. Eli just stared with a shocked look in his green eyes. Fiona didn't say anything notable to us as she approached the counter and sat at one of the barstools with a purse flung over her shoulder. "Fiona?" I asked, a little taken aback by her nonchalant mood.

"It's been awhile," she responded with a short smile on her pink lips. "Can I get an almond milk latte, please?"

"Coming right up." Eli gave us both a rare smile before he began moving around to prepare her latte. I watched him for a moment before turning back to her. She was looking at me with a friendly glint in her eyes. The last time she'd looked at me like that was in March. Right now it was September.

I took control over my emotions and leaned on the counter for support. "What are you doing in Toronto?"

She smiled casually and answered, "I got a job as a teacher's assistant for Ms. Oh until Christmas break. I start on Monday."

I did my best to hide my shock and forced a proud smile on my now paled face. "That's great, Fiona. I'm happy for you."

Fiona smiled back at me and studied my face closely. It seemed that even she could see that I'd hit "puberty" over the summer. My face still had that baby look to it, but it wasn't as feminine now. My style of clothing still consisted of gray skinny jeans that hung off of my hips just enough to make my mom mad and harem styled sweatpants. And my hair was usually just brushed around with my hands. I didn't spend much time on it like Drew still did. I wasn't one of those jocks who worked out constantly in the gym, but I tried to keep my body in shape for soccer and baseball season.

"One almond milk latte." Eli interrupted our stare down and slid the Styrofoam cup towards the socialite who I knew best for being my ex. "It's on the house today, Ms. Coyne."

"It won't be Ms. Coyne for long," she said to him with a sly toothy smile on her gorgeous face. Something caught in my throat, and Eli looked at me with nervous eyes. "I'm sorry?" he asked her with a confused smirk.

"Jeffrey proposed last month. We're getting married ten months from now in Bora-Bora," she announced. Fiona held out her left hand to flash a silver ring with three big diamonds studded at the top. I had half a mind to snatch the ring off of her finger and fling it out the door. But something was holding me back. Maybe it was the sick feeling settling in the pit of my stomach while I stared at the ring. There was a fiery feeling in my throat that made me think about the first time Drew and I had snuck into my mom's alcohol cabinet. I had just come up with a poor excuse about calling my mom and letting her know I'd be staying with Clare tonight when the bell rang over the entrance door again.

Fiona looked over her shoulder to see who our customer was. She didn't look very happy to see who had decided to visit us on this lovely Thursday afternoon. The Latina girl was wearing the same type of sweatpants I'd been wearing earlier and a lightweight shirt that showed the straps of her black sports bra. She had a pair of high-top tennis shoes to complete the outfit and a gray tote bag slung over her shoulder. Bianca looked like she'd just come back from dance practice.

"Can I help you?" Eli stepped back in front of the counter and watched Bianca carefully. I hadn't told him or Clare about how I'd been with Bianca or what she'd really been planning for me in the end. Eli didn't even know that I'd cheated on Fiona with Bianca at all. All he knew was that Fiona and I had recently broke up and that Bianca had tried to get me to cheat on her at the beginning of last year. Bianca looked at him for a second before glancing at me. I was watching Fiona who looked like she was about to lunge at Bianca's throat any moment now.

"I'm the new employee. Peter said for me to stop by so that one of you could show me the basics before I start working here." Her voice sounded the same. Then again why would it sound any different than it had in March? She basically looked the same too. Bianca looked just as spicy, just as tempting, and just as manipulative as she had looked the last time I'd seen her. I swallowed another pill in my throat and gave Eli a hopeful look. He grumbled something under his breath and approached Bianca.

"Okay, hot tamale, let me give you the certified tour," he said with a smirk. To my surprise she actually smiled back and followed him to the back of the diner where I'd changed into my work clothes just a couple hours ago. I kept my head down as she passed me, but Fiona didn't even try to hide the hateful look in her eyes. They disappeared past the doors, leaving me alone with the bride-to-be.

"What's she doing here?" Fiona shot at me as soon as Bianca was gone with Eli. I glared at Fiona, feeling a hot wave of anger bubble up in my gut. I didn't quite understand what the angry feeling meant. Before, when I'd been with Bianca, I used to get that exact same feeling every time Clare or anyone else said something bad about Bianca. Those feeling were gone, but for some reason I was still having some sort of sense of protectiveness towards her.

I shook the look from my face and shrugged my shoulders nonchalantly. Just act like you don't care, Adam. Make it look like you could care less about what Bianca's doing. Even though, technically, you do sort of still care. "I guess Peter offered her a job here. Nothing I could do about it now."

Fiona said, "I thought you hated her."

"I don't hate her," I answered, a little annoyed by Fiona. "I don't really care about her right now. I have other things to worry about like college and maybe a baseball scholarship."

"You're still playing baseball?"

"I'm the best first baseman they'll ever see," I said to her before smirking and winking. She rolled her eyes before taking another sip of her almond milk latte. I couldn't stop looking at the ring sitting on her finger. The same words kept flashing through my mind: If you hadn't cheated, she could be engaged to you right now.