Sauli:
We had to skip the rest of our classes to go eat, since our given lunchtime was almost over. Like it mattered; I could catch up easily on anything I missed. I never even had to study for an exam once in my life, and I doubted Adam even cared about what he missed. So, with that, we were off to McDonald's.
Now why I was doing this, I didn't really know. But somehow I was now getting lunch with Adam: The aloof, unreadable guy with the pocket knife, who lurked unknown through the hallways and was apparently avoided by everyone.
It was such a fucking hot day. The sun was blistering down on my forehead, threatening to cook me alive. We were only walking slowly and I was sweating like I was wrapped in a thick blanket in a sauna. I was only wearing a t-shirt and jeans for fuck's sake!
I looked over at Adam with confusion. How the hell did he manage to walk in this weather wearing layers of all black? Not to mention his hair was black too. He was practically begging to overheat. Yet, Adam's face was completely blank with no sign of boiling distress in his expression, whereas I was nearly panting. As I looked closer at him, I could barely see that his forehead had little trails of sweat since his dark hair hid it and just touched his eyes.
Adam noticed me gaping heavily at him out of the corner of his eye. His head turned to my direction and he gave me a look.
"I'm boiling," I exclaimed, as to explain why I was staring at him and panting… "Aren't you dying in that thing?"
He flinched lightly like I had just jumped out at him. I was not expecting that kind of a reaction.
"No." Adam said, and his voice was hard and final. Okay, then… I didn't push it.
After a couple of silent, grueling minutes of just listening to the sounds of the busy roads and walking, I peeked at Adam out of the corner of my eye and noticed that he kept wincing. His face would contort into that of pain for a second, but then quickly smooth out into the blank expression I was getting used to. He was limping ever so slightly as well, but not as much as before. Was he in pain? What was going on? I didn't think I should ask him about it, since I doubted he would ever answer me properly anyway, but just in case, I slowed my pace to make it easier for him.
"So tell me," I said slowly, looking over at Adam's pocket. He was wearing a leather jacket today… in this heat. "Why exactly do you carry that pocket knife around?"
Adam pursed his lip, thinking about it. "I don't know," He replied, "security, entertainment, whatever."
"So you're not going to try to stab me?" I joked.
"Well…" Adam mumbled, reaching for his pocket. He pulled out the pocket knife and flipped the huge blade out, still staring straight ahead. I could see him observing my reaction out of the corner of his eye.
I blanched, looking at him wide-eyed.
"No, probably not," He finished, tucking the knife back into his pocket and dropping his arm again. Amusement glinted in his eyes.
Was he trying to being funny with me? What kind of sick humor was that? Then it dawned on me exactly how easy it would be for him to just kill me. I gulped, suddenly feeling slightly regretful for being alone with him.
No, come on, Sauli. He was kidding! I think…
"So... what other classes do you take?" I changed the subject, hoping not to give him any ideas.
But ugh, that's all I could come up with? I was so incredibly uncreative.
Adam huffed, wiping his forehead before looking over at me and stopping. I halted, wondering why he'd stopped.
"What's the matter with you?" Adam bombarded me, clearly annoyed again. "Why are you doing all of this? Why won't you just shut up and leave me alone?" Talk about a mood swing.
Because I want to know everything about you. Yeah, that wasn't creepy.
I answered his question with another question. "I'm sorry," I muttered, feigning sadness. "Do you want me to ignore you like everyone else?"
"No. I mean, yes. I—ugh!" He threw his hands up in frustration and started marching forward dramatically. All of those musicals clearly had an effect on him.
I smirked to myself and followed after him.
The rest of the walk was pretty silent. I was smiling happily to myself while Adam stalked next to me, still brooding. I swore I saw his hand inching toward his pocket a couple of times, but then drop back to his side. He must be pretty hungry if he was still putting up with me.
So, conversation-wise, this wasn't the best one. Adam really just was not willing to talk. He seemed to be bothered every time I opened my mouth, so of course I had to do it a few times just to rile him up. At least I learned that he did have a personality. It was buried, but it was there. He seemed to have a sense of humor. Every time he spoke, I got another little glimpse of him. They were tiny glimpses, but hey, it was better than nothing.
Were we friends? No, of course not. Judging by Adam's expression, he really didn't like having to do this with me. Was I hurt by it? A little, but I also understood where he was coming from. It was more like two acquaintances going to get lunch because one of them wouldn't take no for an answer.
We finally arrived at McDonald's. I held the door open for Adam, but he was just frozen a couple meters away, staring off into space. I sighed, walking over to him and snapping my fingers in front of his face. He blinked and looked down at me, irritated.
"Come on," I said, impatient and hungry.
I bravely grabbed his leather-covered elbow and pulled him into the restaurant. That was the first time I touched him, too bad he jerked his arm away the moment we were inside. I rolled my eyes.