Disclaimer: I don't own anything. I wish I owned Adam so I could STOP HIM FROM DATING IRIS!!!!! Sorry, still a little pissed off about Friday's episode. I also don't own Dare You To Move By Switchfoot, but it is an awesome song and I wish I could say that I wrote it.
This chapter is dedicated to Shady Lane and Admiral Lily, I hope this makes you feel better after the show!
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BEEP BEEP!
Joan turned around to see Miss Lishek tearing into the school parking lot. Joan slid off the hood and knocked on the front windshield. Luke turned down the Rooney that they had been blasting through the speakers and got out, slamming closed the door that had been open since they arrived twenty minutes earlier. Glynis and Friedman came over from the curb where they had been sitting. Joan saw Adam's pickup truck pull in behind Lishek, who flew out of her car and came rushing over, Adam and Grace right behind her.
"Miss Lishek! Are you ok yo?" Adam called out.
"Yeah, you just ran three red lights and last time I checked, that was illegal!" Grace added.
"Alright," Miss Lishek began as they grouped around her.
"My sister just went into labor and I have to get to the hospital. You all need to go ahead without me."
"What?! We can't compete without you!" Friedman demanded.
"I have already called them and explained the situation. Here are the directions, you are to drive straight there. You should get there by 3pm in time to compete in your first set at 4pm. By the time you're done, I'll be there," she assured them.
"Well, Miss Lishek are you sure this ok? I mean, what if something happens?" Joan asked.
"My cell number is on the sheet with the directions," she began running to the car.
"Now don't worry, you'll be fine! I'll see you there! Just remember, follow the directions!" and with that she drove away.
"…ok…" Adam said.
" I guess we should…go then," Luke hesitated. Everyone seemed uneasy about leaving without their teacher.
"Here," Grace took the directions from Joan.
"Rove will lead, I'll navigate for him and you guys can follow us," she decided. They all agreed and Joan climbed into her car with Luke, Glynis and Friedman. She followed Adam as he pulled out of Arcadia High and out onto the open road.
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Joan sighed and tried to concentrate on the road. They were in the absolute middle of nowhere in the stifling heat. The scenery had looked the same for the past hour, nothing. Joan had turned the air conditioner off because it used up more gas and she wasn't sure how far they were from the next gas station. The geeks were busy arguing over some Mars special that had been on TV the night before. When she finally focused on the road, her heart dropped and she swerved to avoid hitting Adam.
"Shit!" she yelled, turning the steering wheel hard to the right. She pulled over off the road and slammed on the breaks. Putting it in park, she turned the car off. Joan leaned forward on the steering wheel, taking slow deep breaths trying to steady her heart rate. She saw Grace and Adam come flying out of the truck as she and Luke got out of the car. Glynis remained in the back seat, clinging to Friedman as he tried to calm her down. Joan began examining the car, still a little shaken. The car looked fine, thankfully they had been in the middle of nowhere, nothing to hit.
"Joan!" she turned around at the sound of her name. Joan could tell that Adam was close to tears and he was obviously upset because he had called her Joan. She threw her arms around his neck as he pulled her into his arms.
"Thank God," he held her tightly.
"We thought we'd damn near killed you!"
"Are you guys ok?" Grace asked, joining Luke.
"Yeah we're fine, the car's fine. Joan's just shaken up, are you guys ok?" Luke asked, putting a hand on Grace's shoulder.
"I'm ok, Adam will be. He saw you guys swerve and freaked out," she reached up and covered his hand with hers and squeezed it slightly. Luke could feel her trembling.
"What happened?" Joan asked as Grace and Luke joined them.
"One of our tied blew and Adam tried to get control of the truck by slowing down and pulling over," Grace explained.
"We should call for help and get this fixed," Adam said, his arm still around Joan's waist. He didn't want to let go. Next to the Ramsey experience, it was the scariest moment of his life. He had watched Joan nearly get killed for the second time in his life. That night when Ramsey had pulled a gun and she was there, Adam had gone home and cried. The thought of losing Joan was too much, even if he was mad at her. But twice was too much for him to handle, especially considering he had almost caused it.
"Who knows how long that will take. We're going to miss our first set," Luke explained. Everyone was silent for a moment, the reality setting in.
"No we're not," Joan said suddenly.
"What are you talking about! It's THERE and we're HERE," Grace explained.
"No, we need four to play a set. Here," Joan said, handing Grace the keys.
"What the hell are you doing Girardi?!" Grace demanded.
"You guys go ahead. Adam and I will wait here and call for help on my phone. Take my car, go and play the game and we'll get there as soon as we can."
"No way! I'm staying with you guys!"' Grace gave her back the keys.
"Grace! Someone has to drive and I'm telling you that I'm in no mood to right now. Go," Joan insisted putting the keys back in her hand.
"Here," Adam said, handing Grace a copy of the directions that he had written out on a napkin.
"We'll be fine. Call Lishek as soon as you get there and tell her what happened," Joan said as they got into the car. Grace nodded and Joan shut the door but before she could move away, Grace grabbed her arm through the open window.
"Be careful Girardi," for the first time, Joan saw fear and anxiety in Grace's eyes.
"Don't worry," Joan gave her a small smile.
"You too Rove," Grace added as Adam came up behind Joan.
"Drive carefully," he added. That was all they said to each other but Joan knew that there was more behind it. They had this kind of unspoken communication. They knew what the other wanted to say, without having to say it. They moved away and watched as Grace started the engine and pulled onto the road, disappearing into the distance.
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"How long's it been?" Joan asked.
"Ummm," Adam held up his watch.
"Four hours."
"I'm calling again."
"You've called three times already, I don't think once more is going to make a difference. The guy will come, don't worry."
* * * * * * *
"They're not coming are they," Grace said to Luke as they prepared to go into their first set.
" They'll be here," he assured her.
"I know they will."
* * * * * * *
"He's not coming is he," Adam sighed. The sky had turned an orangey haze. He and Joan were lying in the back of the pickup side by side on a blanket, staring up at the open sky.
"Phone's dead," Joan sighed, holding it up for him to see. The heat was exhausting, the air thick and sticky.
"I'm sorry about all this," Adam said.
'It's not your fault," she insisted.
"I just wish that someone would come because it's late and it's getting dark and…" Joan trailed off, not even wanting to entertain the idea.
"Hey," Adam reached over, taking her hand. Joan turned her head to look at him.
"You know I would never let anything happen to you."
"I know," she smiled at him. He suddenly sat up. The sun had fully set and the moon was now rising in the sky. Joan sat up too, her legs dangling over the back of the truck. Adam slid into the front seat and flicked on the radio, switching around until he found a station he liked. He turned it up and came back to Joan.
"Common Jane," he took her hand, gently pulling her down off the truck.
"Adam," she whined.
"Common," he laughed.
"How often will we ever get to do this, dance under the stars in the middle of nowhere," Joan smiled as he pulled her closer. She closed her eyes and took in the essence that was Adam, burying her face in his t-shirt. Adam held her tighter, just enjoying Jane, his Jane.
Welcome to the planet
Welcome to existence
Everyone's here
Everyone's here
Everybody's watching you now
Everybody waits for you now
What happens next
What happens next
Joan pulled him closer, fearing that if she let him go, she'd lose him again.
I dare you to move
I dare you to move
I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor
I dare you to move
I dare you to move
Like today never happened
Today never happened before
Adam was a sea of mixed emotions. His mind was screaming to never let her go, to tell her everything, but he knew he couldn't push her.
Welcome to the fallout
Welcome to resistance
The tension is here
The tension is here
Between who you are and who you could be
Between how it is and how it should be, yeah
"Adam, look, about before-"
"It's ok Jane, don't worry about it."
"It's not what you think…I'm scared."
His voice came as a soft whisper in her ear.
"Just jump Joan, I'll be right here to catch you."
She pulled back slightly, their faces inches apart. Her gaze moved from his eyes to her lips and back again as she moved in closer.
"Promise?" her mouth hovered dangerously close to his.
"Forever," he whispered. That was all she needed to hear.
I dare you to move
I dare you to move
I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor
I dare you to move
I dare you to move
Like today never happened
Today never happened
Their lips met in the softest kiss either had ever experienced. It was agonizingly slow as Joan reached up, entangling her fingers in Adam's soft hair. They finally pulled apart and he rested his forehead against hers. They were both breathing heavily and Adam brought his hand up to cup her cheek. He brought his lips down on hers again, and Joan deepened the kiss, pulling him closer.
Maybe redemption has stories to tell
Maybe forgiveness is right where you fell
Where can you run to escape from yourself
Where you gonna go
Where you gonna go
Salvation is here
"I think you should make another one," Joan said when they finally separated.
"Another what?" Joan slowly opened her eyes and looked up at him.
"Sculpture. You can call this one 'Catching Jane'," Adam's face broke into a smile.
I dare you to move
I dare you to move
I dare you to lift yourself
To lift yourself up off the floor
Before he could say anything, two pairs of headlights appeared and pulled over. Grace and Luke jumped out of the car.
"Must I do everything?" Grace smirked as the repairman pulled in beside them.
"Not everything…" Joan grinned.
I dare you to move
I dare you to move
Like today never happened
Today never happened
Today never happened
Today never happened before
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Author's Note:
All right, I admit, I was a little bit harsh on the show. I was very emotionally high strung in the first place when I watched it, after seeing it the second time, I can appreciate it a little better. Iris had one point from me when she asked Joan if it was ok for her to go to the concert with Adam, but she lost 3 points when she flirted with him in front of her! So basically, she was in the hole again and I still hated her. And does anyone else LOVE Grace! She's awesome! She totally made fun of Iris through the whole thing and therefore, was my hero! And I love all of the random comments during chemistry and I think she's a bit pissed about the whole Luke situation. I had to appreciate the theme of burdens though. Anyone who has been there and walked that mile knows what I'm talking about. Seeing and living with someone in that much emotional pain is not a pleasant thing. You can't even really help them because they have to want the help. I thought it was done very tastefully and I could completely understand it because I have seen it first hand my whole life. However, the whole Iris and Adam thing was enough to ruin the rest of the show and send me into emotional hell, as if my day had not been bad enough. All in all, crappy weekend and week, that just topped it all off. I had a REACH competition last week, being the reason for the delay on this chapter. We did all right, but not fantastic, another reason why the week was so freaking horrible! Yeah, so, let's hope this week is better; I hope this chapter cheered some people up! AL, I feel your pain, but it can only get better! PLEASE don't stop writing, you rock! I hope everyone has a fantabulous week and REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! PLEASE!!!!!! Thanks!
*Arwen5* aka SkEtChY jAnE
P.S.- The chapter is sooooooooo much more effective if you read that one part with the song, while listening to the song! J