Jax POV

A week had passed since I'd seen Tara from the other side of the CHS fence. I'd crossed paths with her in the hallway, but she was still as distant as she'd been that first day of school. It was pretty obvious she was purposely avoiding me, but I was purposely trying to make it look like I didn't care.

The bell had rang for lunch to start, so I headed down the breezeway toward my locker. For the first time, Ope had beaten me there. He looked tired, leaning heavily against the cold metal barricade lining the hallway. I nodded at him as I opened my locker, roughly shoving the worn spiral and text book inside.

"You a'ight man?" I asked a little hesitantly. It was unusual to see any kind of emotion seep out of my giant of a friend.

Opie shrugged. "Yeah, I'm good. Just tired's all. Rough night at the Winston house." He didn't offer an explanation, so I didn't ask.

"Alright bro, just remember; you're always welcome to crash at our place," I reminded him as I slammed the locker door shut.

He hung his head and shoved his hands deep in his pockets. "Yeah, I know, man. I appreciate it." He stared at the floor for a second before shaking his head a little, like he was shaking some dark thought from his brain. "So I take it you haven't talked to Tara yet?" Ope asked, changing the subject.

I didn't really want to talk about Tara and the lack of progress I'd been making, but I took the bait hoping to give him a momentary reprieve from whatever was going on in his head.

"Naw, man. No luck yet. Pretty sure she's avoiding me on purpose. Every time I've seen her, she acts like she's having some important conversation with whoever's standing next to her. Plus, I don't think Kris would let me within five feet of her anyway". I paused with half of a laugh, running my fingers through my hair. "Tara will come around, I just need to get her attention without making a big deal about it" Easier said than done for sure.

"Kinda sounds like a big deal if you're trying not to make it a big deal" Ope laughed under his breath as we headed toward the cafeteria.

I shrugged. What could I say to that?

"Well, you better figure it out soon" Ope said as he swung open the cafeteria double doors and nodded toward the stack of cafeteria trays. "It looks like you may need to get in line".

I followed his line of sight and saw Tara standing with Kris, surrounded by a group of upper classmen. I got an uneasy feeling in my stomach at the sight; like she was a hanging piece of meat and a gang of horny hyenas were circling to pounce.

"You know anything about that?" I asked, trying to sound casual.

"What, you mean Tara?" asked Ryan who'd just walked up behind us. I silently cursed that he'd heard the inquiry. I'd been friends with Ryan forever but he wasn't great at keeping his mouth shut and he was still pretty friendly with Tara from what I'd seen.

"I was more curious about the douchebags she's hanging out with more than anything" I replied, trying to play it off.

Ryan laughed and I silently cursed him again. "Well, the dude in the jacket is Jason Wright and the one to his right is Eric Mason and they are kind of a douchebag," Ryan conceded. "But that tall one is Adam Woodley, you don't recognize him?" It took a second for recognition to finally set in. I did remember Adam. We had been best friends when we were kids, little league and all that shit. His dad had been a member of SAMCRO but got popped on some club business and had been murdered by some rivals while in federal prison. Rumor had it; his mom took it really hard, took to the bottle and sent Adam off to military school. He'd grown at least a foot and a half since then, lost his coke bottle glasses and grown damn near a full beard. If Ryan hadn't told me, I'd have never glanced his way.

"No shit" said Ope, more as a statement of awe than a question.

"I've seen the other guys around," Ryan added. "I think they play football and shit but they aren't goody goods. They don't hang out with the Hale's or anything. They don't mind ridin' a little dirty."

"Riding? Adam doesn't have a bike does he?" I was relieved Opie had asked the question as I thought it. After all, I didn't want to seem too interested in who Tara was talking to.

"Naw, no bike. He does have a sick ass old school Chevelle though; dark green, black leather interior. It's pretty fucking cool".

"Well, they don't really look like the kind of guys Tara should be talking to," Opie said gruffly.

"Aww, what's the matter? Big brother Ope doesn't want Tara talking to any troublemakers besides us? Afraid she might get in trouble again?" Ryan teased, putting Opie in a headlock, or at least trying to from his six inch shorter stature.

"Something like that," Ope laughed, reversing Ryan's hold until Ryan flailed like a helpless fish before releasing him. "Seriously though, there's something about them. I don't like the way they're looking at her" he said protectively.

Ryan chuckled. "Yeah, you're probably right. I know Tara's smart and all, but Jason and Eric don't have the best reputation. I heard they had some bet about how many girls in each grade they can sleep with before football season is over."

Opie met my eyes knowingly. "Well, brother, looks like we better get in line" he said, putting both hands on my shoulders and playfully shoving me in the direction of the lunch line.

Xoxoxox

Tara POV

I leaned back against the wall as nonchalantly as possible as I waited for the line to move. Truth be told, I was trying to put as much space as possible between me and my new found admirers. It wasn't that I didn't like the attention. I was kind of flattered if I was truly honest with myself, but they were coming on a little strong for my taste and I didn't want to seem like an easy target. I'd heard the stories in the hallways about the stupid locker room bet the varsity guys had and I'd be damned if anyone thought they could get me that easily.

Adam leaned into me, talking as though he was simply whispering in my ear. I felt a small shudder roll down my spine as his breath grazed down my neck. I tried to pretend like I wasn't interested, but it was hard not to be. He'd grown up a lot in the last few years and definitely wasn't hard on the eyes. We took a few steps forward as the line moved and I heard Kris laughing at some joke Eric was telling. It was definitely a fake laugh but I think she found them slightly entertaining. Kris had never dated anyone we went to school with and I was certain she wasn't about to start. But CHS was already pretty boring so she might as well amuse herself.

Adam brought his head up to look in Kris' direction and then back down at me. "You guys should really come out with us this weekend, it'll be fun," he said smoothly, a sly grin on his face.

"I don't know" I replied truthfully. "I don't think my dad would go for that… riding in cars with older boys and all".

All three of them laughed. "Seriously? Come on, Tara. We've known each other forever. I'm sure your dad would remember me."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure he'd also remember you getting sent off to military reform school." I reminded him.

Adam jokingly crossed his hands over his heart as though I'd wounded him. "Exactly, I've been reformed, T," he laughed, his words draped in sarcasm.

"Reformed?" came a cool, raspy voice from behind us. "Don't tell me you let those bootcamp pussies make you change your ways!"

My eyes snapped up to meet those electric blues staring back at me before they moved to meet Adam's pale brown.

"Jackson fucking Teller!" Adam exclaimed, grabbing Jax' hand and pulling him to a hug. "How the hell are you man?"

I felt Kris press slightly to my side as I felt the wind silently leave my sail.

"I'm good man, I'm good. Ryan had to point you out to me. I didn't even recognize your ass! You remember Opie, right?" Jax replied warmly, gesturing toward Harry.

"Of course, bro" replied Adam, shaking hands with Ope and giving him a bro hug as well. "Ryan mentioned you guys were still running around Charming raising hell. What's it been? Three years?"

"Something like that, man. Too long whatever it is." Jax paused, surveying the group before turning back to Adam. "You should come by the club house bro, I know everyone would love to see you".

I let out a low breath in frustration. I couldn't tell if Jax was trying to cockblock Adam or if he was genuinely happy to see him. My gut told me it was probably a combination of the two. After all, we'd all grown up together and he and Adam had been inseparable until Adam's old man went away. Still, something told me this was more about Adam talking with me than about Adam himself.

Adam rubbed the back of his neck. I got the sense that he still struggled with his feelings about the club after everything that happened. "I don't know, man. It's been a long time. Not really sure I'd be welcome like I was back then."

I suddenly became conscious of Jason and Eric shifting nervously next to us. No doubt not being the center of attention was an unusual feeling for them.

"No way, bro. You should come out. It'll be just like old times. Better than old times; I bet you could get a crow eater to suck your dick now that you've got that car of yours" Ryan interjected like the pervert that he is.

Adam tried to laugh Ryan off; very much aware that two minutes ago he'd been trying to get me in that car for probably the exact same reason.

"Really, you should come by. Mom would love to see you" Jax said again.

"Ah, Gemma. Yeah," Adam said slightly reluctantly, "I'd hate for her to hear I was back and didn't want to see her." I could only imagine the memories he had of her that were guilting him in to going to visit her.

"Alright man, you convinced me. I'll roll by the garage after I get out of work tonight"

"Bad ass, man!" Ryan practically yelled, slapping Adam on the shoulder.

"Yeah man, bad ass." Jax replied, not even looking at me.

The boys continued their banter and I turned my back on the conversation, gliding through the line as quickly as possible. As I fumbled in my purse for cash, I heard Opie lean over beside me. "Why the rush? You don't want to stay and hang out with your new friends?"

I snorted. "I get it, Harry. You win this one but whatever you think is going to happen, it's not." I hissed back at him quietly.

Opie held his hands up in surrender. "I didn't say a word" he said as he grinned back mischievously.