Chapter Seven: She starts her day with coffee and a smoke…

Adam's POV

Before I met Tommy, I didn't notice how time passed. It seemed as if everything was mechanical, yet enjoyable and displeasing all the same. It was high school, you know? The same dramatic shit every day. Except now there was someone who changed that for me. True, I hadn't known him very long, but it seemed like time revolved around Tommy… Like he was… I don't know. I'm not making much sense right now.

But… When I was at home or in a class that Tommy wasn't it, time dragged on. It felt like everything took forever. And when I was around him or in the same class as him, time moved too quickly. I didn't get enough of it with him. True, it didn't exactly help that with the way our school worked that every other day our fourth periods changed. One day we'd have History together, the other day I'd have Theatre and he'd have gym. Our only classes together were English and History.

And lunch, but sometimes I still spent that alone.

It had been, what, two weeks since Tommy transferred. Already he'd been invited to parties and surrounded by all kinds of girls pressing their tits to his chest. The image was revolting, but I wasn't sure exactly how he himself took it. I tried not to let it sink into my head too much, but the ideas of him around girls made me wonder if he was actually straight; if he had a girlfriend; if this, if that. It bothered me when I knew that it shouldn't.

I sighed angrily, clenching my bag closer to my body and walking off to my second period class; Advanced Algebra. The nice thing about choir this morning is that, afterward, I was able to talk to my teacher about a solo for our Winter Concert he wanted me to do. I wondered, for the sake of the class, if it would be too much; if it would look as if I was showing off. He waved the issue away and said it would be fine. It just concerns me a little when he wants me to sing Silent Night and let the rest of the choir… listen.

Whatever.

I walked down the hallway, my headphones shoved deep into my ears. I saw a couple of football players, and I made quick work to mingle to the other side of the hall before I passed them. I didn't want to press my luck being around them. Sure, Tommy had managed to miraculously show up when they'd been around (which meant they left me alone a large portion of the time), but as far as I knew, he wasn't around in this general area of the school. I tried to ignore their glares as I walked by, and I pulled my bag closer, willing Jason Mraz's vocals to calm me down.

I wasn't thinking or paying attention when I bumped into him. I apologized quickly, looking at the stumbling figure before feeling my heart melt. It was Tommy, and he looked like a bit of a wreck. His hair was messy, hanging lazily along the side of his face. His eyes were bloodshot and he reeked of booze. I coughed into the crook of my elbow before grabbing his arm, helping him stand upright before pulling him to the side of the hallway. He leaned against the wall, looking like death.

"What the fuck, Tommy?" I hissed at him, and he slowly turned his head, his eyes looking right through me.

"Oh, hey, Ad'm…" He said with a lopsided, hung over grin, before wincing as someone's Nike's squealed on the floor. He raised his hand, pressing it to the left side of his head.

"What the— what did you do last night?" I growled, feeling my voice drop a few octaves. When I got angry or upset, my voice dropped. It was weird.

"Went to a party. Drank a loooot. But it was fun… Kinda." He mumbled, rubbing his eyes again. I sighed, running fingers through my hair before staring down the hallway. People passed by, whispering and laughing. Something like 'the new kid got wasted' and 'awesome'. Whatever. Fucking pushovers.

"Tommy, this kind of shit can get you fucking kicked out of school! What are you thinking?" I was on the verge of shouting at him, and the hall was clearing out. Class was going to start soon, but by the looks of my situation, I was either going to be really, really fucking late or just miss it all together. Neither were really on my list of priorities, but I needed to help Tommy.

He looked up at me, his eyes focusing for a moment and… He looked guilty. Like, extremely guilty. And ashamed. I sighed, wrapping an arm around his waist and helping him down the hallway. "Look, I'm gonna take you to the nurse and have you lay down. Maybe you can sleep this shit off…" I mumbled, awkwardly half-carrying Tommy towards the health center. His head lolled and rested against my shoulder, and he felt like dead weight.

Now, I'm not gonna lie. In the past two weeks, I've had all kinds of dreams about Tommy. Between kissing him and telling him I fucking want him. And there had even been dreams where, by some circumstance, I was holding him… A lot. But this wasn't among any of the dreams I'd had. I never imagined that I'd be helping him to a cot in a small, white room because he fucking drank too much.

Way to go, Tommy.

"I'm reeeaaal sorry, Ad'm…" He mumbled, his eyes half closed. I sighed, pulling him closer to me.

"It's fine, just don't do it again." I told him, though I doubted he would remember much of this. I wouldn't know, I've never been drunk or hung over.

"'Kay…" He said softly. I held him against the wall while opening the health center door with my other hand. It swung wide and I pulled Tommy inside. The nurse, Ms. Tomlanovich, sat at her desk. She looked up, smiling first at me before seeing Tommy. The smile dropped into confusion and worry and she stood quickly from her chair, rushing over to help me keep Tommy in an upright position.

"Okay, Adam, tell me what's going on here." She said, her voice soft and smooth, motherly, even.

"Party." I said simply. She made an 'ahh' sound before helping Tommy into the next room, down on the cot. She tucked a pillow beneath his head and a small yet thick blanket over his frame. I stared down at him from the doorway, my arms crossed over my chest as she kept a trash can near and a glass of water on a low side table that stood beside the cot. Tommy pulled the blanket closer around him, and I got a real, good look at his face. Dark circles lined the undersides of his eyes, his skin was pale and ashy. He looked sick. I wondered if he'd thrown up at some point…

"Alrighty then…" She said, shutting off the light and closing the door. I pulled my bag higher up on my shoulder, staring at the closed door for a moment before looking over at her again. "I'll keep him in here today, we'll let him just sleep it off. When he wakes up later, I'll give him some Advil and send him home. I imagine you've already given him the 'don't do it again' talk?" I nodded and she smiled.

"I can always count on you, Adam." She turned, heading back to her desk.

"Uhm, Ms. Tomlanovich?"

"Honey, call me Anne. You know that." I smiled slightly.

"Yeah, I know… but… Can you, like, let me know, when he wakes up?" I asked her. She turned her head over her shoulder, looking at me for a second. Her eyes narrowed slightly and she turned in her chair, facing me fully.

"You like him." She said. My face flushed and I looked away, my eyebrows knitting together and a shy smile playing at my lips.

"What makes you say that?" I asked her.

"I've seen that look before, Adam. You like him." I swallowed the lump in my throat before looking away again. Yeah, okay. I liked him, so? Who didn't in this fucking school? But I wondered how much she thought I liked him…

"Well, yeah, I like him. He's my friend. What other reason do I need?" I asked her, feeling my face burn with embarrassment. That was the thing about Anne. She knew me way too damn well. As she should, she'd known me since I first started high school.

But Anne just smiled and shook her head, before waving me off. "Get to class, Adam. I'll talk to your teacher about it later." She told me. I frowned, pulling my bag closer and slipping out of the room. I closed the door behind me quietly, shaking my head a little bit and smiling slightly to myself. Anne confused me sometimes. She was an intelligent woman with a lot of opinions about people and things, especially friendships and relationships. I guess that was one of the nice things about her. She wasn't just the health nurse. She was also one of the counselors.

I hurried down the hallway, heading to Algebra and hoping to Rah that my tardiness wouldn't be too much of an issue. But I couldn't get my mind off Tommy and what Anne had said. I was worried about him because he was, in a sense, sick… And I didn't want to see him like that. And I was wondering what Anne's smile was about, when she said I liked him… I mean… Yeah, I liked him. I really liked him…

I didn't know. It was all so confusing.

I turned down another hallway, pulling open a door and slipping into my class. My teacher looked up, shaking his head and smiling a little before continuing. I frowned apologetically, taking my seat. Thankfully only the entire class looked over at me. No big deal. Fuck. I pulled my binder and math notebook out, praying that I hadn't missed to much. But by looking on the board I was safe to assume that I hadn't.

Even still… As much as I liked math. I couldn't concentrate. Just… Tommy… And what the hell was Anne thinking? I sighed, running fingers through my hair and scribbling down notes as fast as I could before my teacher erased them. While copying the notes, I thought about how lunch would be coming up after English. Should I take food to Tommy? See if he's awake by then? I sighed.

When the hell did I start revolving my world around one person?