Charlie's POV

I couldn't believe it! How could he? It wasn't like that! I was daydreaming about it, obviously, because I sat in class and didn't hear a word the teacher said. It was the teacher with a grudge too. Mrs. Mortigan.

She swatted my desk, and I gasped quickly, turning to look at her. I tilted my head, smiling.

"You like to push your luck, don't you Mister Conway?"

Ugh! Why did she always start the conversation with "Mister Conway"? It was annoying! I narrowed my eyes, and my smile faded until it was nothing.

"Didn't I tell you not to call me that." I was awake this time…there was no excuse.

"You may be a jock, Charlie, but this is no excuse for your behavior." I was losing my nerve. I had two classes with her on Thursdays, and Adam was in this particular class. It had been the other class with her that I'd mouthed off before.

"I'm sorry."

She widened her eyes with surprise, and I could hear the rest of the class shift uncomfortably. Adam shot me a look, and I could see that out of the corner of my eye he was in as much pain as I was.

"You're…sorry?" She echoed.

"Yeah, that's what I said!" It came out a bit more sharp than I expected.

I fought pretty hard to keep myself from looking straight at Adam. I mean, everyone on the team knew about us, and I didn't really care about the rest of 'em. I didn't want him to have to give in if that's not what he wanted. I know it wouldn't be the first time he'd have had to. But it wasn't going to be like that this time. I was determined…We were going to work through it, not disregard it. He doesn't give me enough credit! I do pick up on these things, after all.

The teacher eyed me, before the continued with her lecture. I couldn't hold it any longer. I looked straight at Adam, who looked back at me. He seemed confused, hurt, and shameful. He looked away quickly, sooner than I expected. After this class it was lunch, luckily.

The bell rang, and we erupted from our seats. I felt myself tugging Adam's shirt, and he frowned at me.

"What?"

"Can you just listen to me, please." It came out more desperate than intended, but he nodded anyway.

We walked into the lunchroom, where we sat next to each other. Koon came to sit with us, but I shook my head, and he walked away, looking somewhat dejected.

I looked at Adam. I really didn't know what I was going to say, but I had to say something to save myself. He interrupted my thoughts, just before I was about to begin.

"Charlie, I'm sorry." I looked up, surprised as Mrs. Mortigan had been when I told her that I was sorry.

"You're what?"

"I'm sorry…I was wrong to jump to conclusions." I had to agree with that. I nodded, and he kind of stared at me.

"So what really happened?" He said it in a tone that I guess must have been forced. It sounded curious, and like he really wanted to know what I had to say.

"I was waiting for you, and he came down the stairs and knocked me over. He gave me his hand to help me up, and I pulled him down too. He just, landed like that…it wasn't on purpose."

He seemed to give it some though, before shrugging.

"Okay…Tell him I'm sorry too."
I could see Koon looking at us from across the room, and I waved him over. He got up, and walked over to our table.

"You can tell him yourself." He sat down in front of us, giving Adam a not-so-friendly look.

"Koon, Adam wants to tell you something." I spoke after a pause on both their parts.

"Oh yeah? Well, I'm listening." We both looked at Adam, who narrowed his eyes at me, and swallowed.

He was easily intimidated, and I really shouldn't have put him in that situation. I could see him put his hands underneath the table so that Koon wouldn't see him shaking. I'd never noticed his behavior around other people. It struck me now that what had happened in his past really affected him. I bit my lip, and looked down. Koon didn't seem to notice.

"I'm…uh, sorry…" Adam managed. I was so incredibly pissed off at myself. I could be such a blockhead. But really, I hadn't even noticed how nervous he got around other men, and boys even. As Koon lifted his hand, and reached over the table, Adam flinched. My heart went out to him, but I didn't intervene. I probably should have.

Adam looked at Koon, who cocked his head. Reluctantly, Adam took Koon's hand and they shook.

"I'm sorry for callin' you a preppy bastard." He smiled. He forgot things so quickly, and forgave so easily…I could see how he could get taken advantage of.

Adam looked pretty relieved, and he even smiled too.

We went on eating our lunches in silence. Adam still looked pretty disturbed.

"Is there something wrong, Adam?" I frowned at him.

"Me? No--well…ye-No…No. Nothing's wrong." Koon and I exchanged glances, and I eyed Adam.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, uh, n-n-yes! I'm sure." This must be really serious. Adam almost never stuttered, unless something was really wrong. I turned my shoulders to face him. Koon looked concernedly at him.

"You can tell me, Adam."

"I'll have to sooner or later…" He looked up, realizing what he'd just said. I frowned deeply, and looked down.

"What's wrong?"

"I…well, my parents, uhm…They're…We're…like, uhm…" No matter how concerned I was, this was really weird of him. It was kind of hard not to laugh, but somehow I managed it. I could see Koon bite his lip out of the corner of my eye, too. Still, I persisted.

"You and your parents are…what?"

He looked at the clock, as if waiting for an excuse. He looked back and forth between Koon and I for a moment. Lunch ended, and he got up to leave. Koon stepped back, but stayed close enough to hear what we were saying. I grabbed Adam's sleeve, he spun around, looking as if he was fine.

"I guess I'll have to tell you later, then…" He walked off faster than usual.

Koon looked after him, and shrugged at me. We had our next class together, so we walked slowly. I tried to imagine what was going through Adam's head…
What was wrong?