I'm back. Here's the next chapter. Sorry it took soo long to update! Anyway...Enjoy.
"So then Ashley totally flipped out because Mandy was talking to Ben." Hilary told the entire lunch table. Adam sat at her side holding her hand, trying not to hit her for sounding so dumb with the completely idiotic story she was telling. "So now, both of them have a whole weeks worth of detention."
"Oh thats terrible." Adam said, acting interested.
Hilary nodded. "Isn't it though." She said, resting her head on his shoulder. "I love that you actually listen to me."
"I do what I can." Adam lied, wishing he could some how punch himself in the head, knock himself out, and stop listening to her.
Hilary turned to Suzanne and Christine and began talking about the winter dance coming up...In about two months.Adam sat there, wondering if he had an excuse to leave at that moment in time.
Adam scanned the cafeteria for Charlie. He couldn't remember if they had practice today after school, and even though he didn't care...It was an excuse to get away from the group.
"Hey...I gotta go make a call." Adam lied once he couldn't find Charlie in the crowd. He kissed Hilary quickly and then stood up. "I'll see you after school." And before Hilary could even say anything about going with him, he was half way out of the dining hall.
Adam pushed through the doors leading to the courtyard. The winter weather was setting in. Adam folded his arms ashe walked out to the middle of the courtyard. There was a tree there that Adam would constantly go to; It was his place. The tree was big enough that he could climb it and just sit there for hours with no one ever really noticing. Sure, some people could see him there, especially in the winter when the leaves were gone. But no one ever bothered him. He liked it. It was one of the only places to escape to in the entire school.
Adam grabbed onto the lowest branch and kicked his legs onto the trunk. He climbed the branches until he got up to his little perch about ten feet off the ground. He sat there for a moment. Man it was cold. Not really that cold, but since he was only wearing a sweatshirt that wasn't that warm, and a short sheevle shirt under it, he was cold. He made a mental note to start to wear his winter jackets since it was November anyway.
Adam sat there looking at the school. How he hated the place. Everything about it. The teachers, the people...everything. If he could meet one person that wasn't hung up on looks, clothes, being a bad ass, and money...It would be a miracle. Yeah...there were the Ducks. But there was another reason why he didn't want to hang out with them anymore. (The secret!)
He sighed...wishing he had a cigerette. That would be awesome. He had smoked so many cigerettes while up in that tree when it was dark out and no one would be able to nark on him for doing it. He looked at his watch...Twenty five minutes left until 6th period. It was prefect...He had time to relax and be alone.
"What are you doing up there?" He heard a voice call from below.
"None of your business." Adam yelled back...Not even looking down to see who it was. It was a girl's voice, probably one of Hilary's enemies who was going to try to seduce him and cause drama between him and Hilary. Not like he cared...But he wanted the next twenty two minutes to himself.
"You look cold." The girl called a moment later. "Want a jacket?"
"I don't need a girl's jacket." Adam said, wanting nothing more than this stupid girl to go away.
"Your voice is shaking!" She pushed. "And its not a girl's jacket."
Adam rolled his eyes. "If you give me the jacket...will you go away?" He asked, quite annoyed.
"Yes." She said. "I'll bring it up to you."
Adam laughed. "You sure you want to do that?" He mocked. "You might break a nail."
A jacket was thrown right at his face, bounced off and right into his lap. It was a familar looking jacket...The same kind that the coachs wore at Mid-Town. But this one had "Adam" sewn into the right side.
"I don't care about my nails too much." The girl said as she climbed onto the branch next to him.
Adam looked over at the girl. His jaw dropped when he saw who it was...Riley.
Adam tried to force some words out of his mouth. But his mouth was incredibly dry and nothing was leaving his mouth. He was very hot and embarrassed too. The first time he was talking to Riley, and he was a complete jackass.
Riley looked at him. "Put it on." She said a moment later.
Adam nodded. And put it on. It fit prefectly, and it was pretty warm. "Th...Thanks." He finally forced out of his mouth.
"You're welcome." Riley said with her light smile. "I saw you the other day at the rink. But I didn't get a chance to introduce myself." She put her hand out. "I'm Riley Mason."
Adam shook her hand, not breaking his stone face. "Adam Banks." He said.
"I know." Riley admitted. "I did have to sew your name into the jacket after all."
Adam looked at it. "You did that?" He asked.
Riley nodded. "I do all of the embrodering (sp?) for the jackets. It saves the rink fifteen dollars on each of the jackets."
"Well...Thank you." Adam said again.
Riley smiled. "You're welcome. Just don't loose it...Or Beth just might kill you." She joked. "I'll let you get back to...Your alone time."
"You can stay if you want." Adam said as she started to climb down.
Riley looked at him. "Are you sure?"
Adam nodded. "I never met a girl who would climb a tree to make sure I was warm." He said. "Stay a minute."
"Okay." Riley said. "Its not like its a new thing for me to climb trees though."
Adam looked at her. "Really?" He asked.
"Of course not. I used to climb the trees in our yard because my mother told me not to." Riley said with a light giggle. "I tore so many pairs of tights doing it."
Adam liked the sound of her voice, it was deeper than Hilary's...Basically it did not make him want to slam his head in a car door when she talked. He smiled when she laughed. He noticed that she was wearing just a little bit of make-up, instead of the gallons that Hilary wore. He noticed he was staring at her, and looked at the school again.
Riley looked at the school too. "I don't like it here." She said. "I don't think you do either."
"Is it that obvisous?" He asked. He adjusted a bit on the branch.
Riley laughed. "A little." She said. She pushed her hair out of her face. "You come here a lot." She noted.
Adam looked at her again. "Are you stalking me?" He teased.
"You wish." She teased back. "I just happen to walk through this courtyard a lot at the same time that you are trying to get away from your clique."
"I'm not trying..." He tried to say, but couldn't lie to her for some reason. "Okay...The girls are sometimes a bit much to be around."
Riley laughed. "You said it...Not me." She then shifted to look the other direction. "Look...The view isn't so bad this way." She said.
Adam turned and looked the opposite way of school. He felt the wind blow his face, and looked at the view of the city. For the first time that day...He forgot everything, Hilary, hockey, his failing grades, everything. He was waiting for the cheesy music to finished the moment off.
Riley seemed to be thinking the same thing. "Makes you forget about everything else, huh?" She asked.
"Sure does." Adam said. He was still uncomfortably hot. Why was he so nervous talking to her though?
Riley sighed a moment later and looked back at Adam. "You sure I'm not intruding on your alone time?" She asked.
Adam shook his head. "Nah. It's okay." He said, then sat there a moment trying to think about something to say to her. "How...Do...I mean...Can you..." He shook his head, as Riley sat there, wondering that he was trying to say. "Do you ever get nervous about being thrown in the air?"
Riley smiled and shook her head. "No way. It's fun." She said. "I mean, pairs skating is a high risk sport, but I am an adrenaline junkie. I love doing that sort of stuff."
Adam halfway smiled. "Me too." He said.
Riley shook her head and smiled. "I could tell."
"How so?" He asked, almost challenged.
"Let's see...Adam Banks, what don't you do? You play hockey, drive fast cars, climb trees, skip class...Should I continue?" She asked.
Adam just laughed. "No thanks. Thats enough right there." He then decided to put her on the spot for a moment. "Wait, how did you know all that stuff?"
Riley shrugged. "I just notice things." She said. "I guess thats what the unpopular kids do."
"You're not..." Adam began to say.
"You didn't even know who I was until my sister said something." Riley interupted.
Adam nodded. "I know." He then laughed. "Nothing gets passed you does it?"
"Nope." Riley assured him.
Adam looked at her for a moment. And then burst out laughing.
"What?" Riley asked.
Adam was laughing so hard he couldn't tell her. The look on her face a few seconds ago was the same look that Hilary gave to people after she was told she was wrong about something. For some reason he always thought it was so funny, but could never laugh at it.
"You're crazy." Riley said in attempt to make him stop. But failed. Adam just kept laughing. Little to her knowledge, but the more she gave him a look like he was crazy, the more she looked like Hilary, and the more he laughed.
Riley sat there, watching Adam laugh, and finally gave in and started laughing with him. Riley was laughing at Adam and Adam continued to laugh because she had no idea why he was laughing and she looked like Hilary.
Finally, after the huge giggle fit that Adam had, he slowly stopped laughing due to the fact that his side was hurting so much. Tears had been welling in his eyes and finally one rolled down his cheek. He shook his head and looked at Riley again. "I'm sorry." He said.
Riley had already stopped laughing. "No problem..." She said. "I won't ask what that was about."
"That look was just so funny." Adam told her.
Riley gave him another confused look. But then dropped the subject. The bell rang to signal the end of the lunch period.
"Time to go." Riley said. "It was nice talking to you." She said as she began to climb down the tree. Adam followed her, smiling. It had been a long time since he actually enjoyed a conversation with someone, despite the fact that he made a complete idiot out of himself.
They two jumped down from the tree and landed in unison. Adam almost fell backwards since his side still hurt, but Riley grabbed onto his hand and pulled him back up right. Adam looked down at her hand holding onto his and tried his hardest not to smile. Riley suddenly let go and flipped her hair back.
"I have to go." She told him. Adam looked at her and noticed that she was blushing. He smiled to himself.
"Yeah, me too." Adam said. "Um...Thanks for the jacket." He said.
"No problem." Riley said as she smiled at him. "I'll see you around."
"See ya." Adam said as he then turned around to leave.
"Adam!..." Riley called.
Adam quickly turned around. "Something wrong?" He asked.
Riley shook her head. "No...But..." She then walked over to him and brushed the tears off of his cheeks. "No need to ruin your tough guy image." She told him. "I'll see you later." And with that, Riley ran off back to the school.
"Thanks." Adam called after her. He watched her run off and smiled. She was so...completely different from Hilary and all the other girls he hung out with.
Adam slowly walked into the building again. He took off the jacket and folded it over his arm. It would make a nice pillow for his next class.
The rest of the day went on as usual, he sat in class, went to hockey, and then hung out with Hilary and his friends until midnight. The only thing different was that instead of silently wishing that he could get away from the life he head, he kept thinking about Riley. He couldn't wait to go and see her at the rink or possibly at school.
Adam woke up on Saturday morning and hurried to the rink. He walked into the rink at 8:55, a half hour earlier than he was supposed to be there. He couldn't sleep the night before. All week he had been thinking about Riley and coulsn't wait to actually see and maybe talk to her.The whole weekwas weird for him. He wasn't thinking about how much he hated his life or wanting to bash his head into a wall every time he was with Hilary and her friends. Instead he just thought about Riley and what he could possibly talk to her about on Saturday morning.
Adam looked around the arena. There were a lot of figure skaters walking around. One thing he never quite understood about figure skaters was why the girls always had to wear sparkly pink dresses all the time. Nothing had changed that at all. He saw three girls in pink dresses within the two seconds he looked through the arena. As usual there was a shortage of boys wearing figure skates. Adam shook his head as he thought about Shane and walked though the door to the coach's room. He opened the door and looked at the person sitting on the bench that he had been hoping to see. Riley.
Riley just looked up and smiled. "Hey Adam." She said.
Adam walked and set his bag on the bench across from her. He hoped he wasn't blushing, but had a feeling that he was. "Hi Riley." He said. He looked at her and her outfit. The exact opposite of all the little girls in the rink. She had on black aerobic pants and a blue sports bra tank top like thing. It was cute, and it didn't sparkle. He liked it.
"How are you?" Riley asked with her usual smile. "I didn't get a chance to talk to you again all week."
"I know." Adam thought. But instead he said, "I've been...good."
"Thats great." She said. "What are you doing here so earlier?" She asked a moment later.
"I couldn't sleep...I thought I might as well just come in a little early. Since I was late last week and all." He said, afterall it was sort of the truth. He just left out the part of wanting to be there to see her.
"Gotcha." She said. "Well...I was just about to go to the rink to practice...So...I'll see you later."
"Okay." Adam said, not knowing anything else to say. "See you then." And then started to aimlessly look through his bag.
Riley stood at the door with her hand on it. Adam couldn't help but wonder what she was thinking. She then turned around and looked at her."Why don't you come with me?" She asked him.
"Huh?" Adam said aloud, that made Riley laugh.
"To practice I mean." Riley clarifed as she stood there.
"I can't do jumps and stuff." He said. "I'd feel out of place."
Riley shrugged. "Just hang with me." She said. "We can race or something. You know how to dodge other people on the ice don't you?"
"Yeah..." He said.
"So just throw on your skates and meet me at the barrier." She suggested.
Adam hesistated a moment. He didn't want to go out on the ice with all those figure skaters and have to avoid them. But at the same time, it was a chance to hang out with Riley. He stared at the floor a minute. "Sure." He said finally. Adam looked at Riley, who's smile was bigger than usual. He tried to use every ounce of self control to not smile back.
"Okay. Awesome." Riley said, still smiling. "Just meet me at the barrier."
Adam nodded. "See you then." Adam then watched as Riley left the coach's room. He then grabbed his skates out of his bag and put them on quickly. He sat there a second. Why was Riley being so nice to him? He basically ignored her the back three and half years years.
Adam brushed the thought out of his head. He didn't care. He waited all week to see Riley. Now he got to spend time with her...He wasn't going to spoil that. Not even Shane being on the ice could make him upset.
Adam pushed open the doors to the rink. He then walked around to the barrier. He scaned the ice; thankfully Shane was no where in sight. He saw Riley in the middle of the ice doing a sit spin. He stood at the barrier watching her. He stood there, as the other skaters looked at him like "What the hell are you doing here?" But he didn't care.
Riley looked up and smiled over at him. She skated towards Adam as he stepped onto the ice to meet her. She skated really fast towards him, but then stopped and sprayed him with ice. "Hey." She said in a flirtly voice.
"I knew you were going to do that." Adam teased her. He himself did that to everyone he went skating with. He had done that trick for years and scared the hell out of a ton of people while doing it. He smiled to himself at the thought of her flirting with him though.
"Oh really?" She asked. "Well come on Hockey Boy. Lets see how well you can skate."
Adam smirked. "Fine little miss Ice Princess." He said. "Oh and by the way..." He then smacked her shoulder. "Tag...your it!" He said as he then darted away from her. He looked back to see Riley laughed as she chased him around the rink.
Oo lala. Riley and Adam are now talking. What happens? And...what is the secret? (I stand by my word...This is not a Mary Sue story...and the secret will be revealed...Soon. Promise!) Anyway...I'll update soon. But while I'm gone...Leave comment and love. haha. Later.