The Way Back to You
Chapter 4
Adam looked at the clock in his room. It was almost time for his video chat with Fiona. He sat in front of his computer, watching the minutes tick by. He hated that they now had to have a schedule: 8 am wake up calls from him before he left for school in the morning, she would call at 10 every night to say goodnight. Every Wednesday at 7 they would chat on Skype.
Sometimes their schedules would be too busy for their Wednesday chat. There were some mornings he over slept and didn't have time to call her before he left the house to catch his bus, and there were a few times she had been too bogged down with homework to call him.
They'd both promised in emails to be home at 7 this Wednesday.
Adam watched as his computer clock hit seven. Then seven oh-one. Seven oh-two.
By the time seven ten rolled around, he sighed and moved his mouse to log out. Then he saw her screen name.
"Sorry I'm late," she said as she popped onto his screen.
He smiled. "It's alright. Better late than never."
"So, what have you been up to today?"
He shrugged. "School. Working out."
"Let's see the bicep."
He smiled, pushing his sleeve up and flexing his arm muscle.
"Looking good," she told him. He'd kept her updated on his progress since he began taking testosterone. So far, the most obvious change was his muscles. She knew that had nothing to do with the hormones. That was all Adam.
"When do I get to see the stomach?" she teased.
He sighed and slowly stood. He lifted his t-shirt to expose his stomach. She noticed a small six pack beginning to form, though his rather obvious curves took away from the effect he was going for.
"Someday it'll look better," he told her as he sat down again.
"It looks good now."
"Someday it'll look better," he said again.
"Good." She smiled. "I want you in tip-top shape for the wedding."
"I'll keep doing crunches then."
"Fiona!"
She smiled at the familiar voice as she walked toward her next class. She turned to find a boy from her art history class running towards her.
"Hey, Nate." She automatically pulled a notebook from her bag and handed it to him. "We've got to stop meeting like this."
Nate shrugged. "You're a life saver, Fi," he said gratefully as he took her notes.
"Maybe if you'd actually show up for class, you wouldn't need your life saved. We're only in the third week and you've already missed two classes." She reached up on instinct to brush some of his hair from his eyes.
He smiled, his light green eyes sparkling as he looked at her. "Good thing the class meets three times a week then. So, technically, I've been to three times as many classes as I've missed."
Fiona rolled her eyes, then smiled. "Copy them and give them back to me. I expect you to be in class on Friday," she told him sternly.
He nodded. "Yes, ma'am."
"I'm serious, Nate. If you keep missing class you're gonna fail. You're only allowed to miss three more sessions."
"Ok, ok," he laughed. "Chill. I'll be in class. Now, onto more important matters, how can I ever repay you for single-handedly saving my academic career?"
"I'm sure you'll think of something." She touched his shoulder gently as she walked away from him.
To be continued…