The Way Back to You

Chapter 13

"Ow," Adam muttered when Clare reached up and pulled something off his chin as they walked down the hallway. He touched the spot where he'd felt a tiny tug. "What was that?"

She held a tiny brown hair between her thumb and forefinger. "Make a wish."

He smiled and blew the hair out of her hand then touched his cheek. Still smooth. He knew it was too early for his facial hair to begin growing regularly, but he had noticed his arms and legs growing thicker hair.

"You're gonna need to start shaving soon, dude," Eli said.

Adam shook his head. "I still have awhile before that happens," he said, his voice cracking on the last word. He cleared his throat.

"Uh oh," Eli laughed. "Someone hit puberty," he said, forcing his own voice to crack to imitate Adam's.

Adam playfully shoved his friend into nearby lockers.

"Hey, Adam," a voice suddenly said.

Adam looked up as a blond cheerleader walked by. "Hi, Marissa," he said, smiling politely.

His new body had spurred new interest from girls. His mother still didn't let him play sports, worried that his teammates would turn on him, and while he didn't quite match up to the football players and other athletes in muscle mass, he still had enough to impress.

He didn't pay much attention to the girls, however. He rarely looked at them twice. There were a few times he'd been asked out and he never accepted. Some girls, like Marissa, took this as a challenge. As if it was a competition to see what it would take for Adam to finally go on a date. There were some rumors that he didn't like girls after all.

Eli rolled his eyes and put one arm around his friend's shoulders. "Guys night tonight?"

Adam smiled and looked at Clare. "You guys don't have plans?"

Clare shook her head. "I'm going shopping with Alli."

"Halo night," Adam announced, bumping fists with Eli. "Sweet."

0o-0o-0o-0o

"You're getting better at this game," Eli commented as Adam blew away another member of the opposite team.

Adam simply nodded. "I've had a lot of free time to practice."

Suddenly, Eli paused the game and turned to Adam. "Talk to me, man."

Adam rolled his eyes and put his remote down. "About what?"

"Anything."

"Anything as long as it involves me and Fiona?"

Eli shrugged. "You hardly moved for almost a month. I thought I was gonna have to get you a bedpan."

Adam smiled sadly. "I'm fine."

"Yeah, now you are. Maybe… maybe it's time to move on though. You know, maybe you should go on a date."

Adam made a face. "With Marissa?" He shook his head. "No, man. She's nasty."

Eli laughed. "I'm not sure if nasty is a word I'd use to describe her."

"You've never talked to her," he said, grimacing at the memory of the one time he'd had something resembling a conversation with the cheerleader.

"She doesn't challenge you intellectually?" Eli asked, laughing again.

"You could say that."

"How about… physically?"

Adam shrugged. "I guess. I mean, she's alright. I prefer brunettes though."

To be continued…

AN: Just in case anybody's dazed and confused at the timeline here: the story began in late August with Fiona leaving for FIT, then her first visit was around the end of September/early October (she and Nate were in their third week of classes the chapter before she visited). The Twitter fight took place right after her visit, so September/October, then after they didn't talk for almost two weeks, so they broke up in October. And it's been over a month since the break up, so we're now in November.