CHAPTER TWO: KEEP YOUR ENEMIES CLOSE

Adam's POV

I walked down the busy sidewalk with Eli who was going on and on about some new rock band that was topping the charts. Or maybe he was talking about how well the driving lessons were going with Clare.

I honestly wasn't listening.

No, I was too busy thinking about the scene I'd had with Bianca over the weekend. Now it was Monday, and I'd seen her just about everywhere I went.

She'd been there this morning, she'd been at The Dot at lunch, she was there stalking me with her eyes in History, and she'd been there smirking at me in the hall at the end of the day.

I didn't really know what to make of the way Bianca was acting. She'd been acting a little weird about me ever since the incident on the stairs at Saturday school. I couldn't blame her. I also found it slightly uncomfortable around her knowing that she'd tried to mack all over me on a staircase.

"Dude, are you listening? You look dead."

My thoughts came to a stop, and I looked over at my green-eyed friend. His hair was looking especially floppy today.

"Gee, thanks. It's nice to know that I look pale and icky at the beginning of September."

Eli smirked at my sarcasm and I stated, "I'm just tired of all these exams at the beginning of the school year. What's your excuse?"

He didn't respond while he wore his signature smirk on his now smug face. My grin grew wider as I turned to walk into The Dot. Clare sat at the bar while talking to some girl with red-brown hair.

Eli seemed happier as he approached her and surprised her with a hug from behind. She squealed at the sudden contact with someone else, but she seemed happy when she saw that it was her boyfriend.

"Hey, you," she greeted him in one of those cheesy voices. I rolled my eyes and took a seat at one of the tables in the more deserted areas.

Eli and Clare sent me apologetic glances, but I gave them both hopeful smiles so that they wouldn't feel too bad about making me the third wheel.

I glanced down at my iPhone, and suddenly a happy thought came to my head. I quickly dialed her number and waited while the phone ringed repetitively.

I was just about to call it quits and hang up when her sweet voice greeted me on the other end.

"Bonjour," Fiona greeted in a faux French accent. "How can I help Mr. Torres today?"

I laughed lightly. "It's nice to know that your French is still flawless. How's NYU?"

"Fantastic," she paused momentarily, "and horrible without you. I miss you. Your voice, your laugh, your scent. Everything."

I chewed on my bottom lip while I replied, "I miss you too. When can you come visit?"

"The quickest I'll be back in Toronto won't be until Christmas break. I'm sorry I can't be there with you sooner," she apologized.

I brought the phone away from my face far enough so that I could let out a small and annoyed sigh. The phone had just reached breathing distance again when I caught sight of Bianca on the other side of The Dot. She was sitting with some townies, although she didn't look very interested in what they had to say.

My eyes ran up and down her exquisite figure before answering to Fiona.

"It's fine. Really. But you'd better have an awesome present for making me wait that long," I joked while laughing.

Fiona returned the laugh. "You only get the best from me, babe. How's Degrassi? Should I be worried about any girls falling for my boyfriend?"

"Not at all," I answered. "I've been doing my best to avoid any girls that stalk me everywhere I go." Bianca was the first girl to come to mind. Her brown eyes were focused on me from her table now.

I cast my blue eyes down at the table. Suddenly a male voice was heard through Fiona's phone. My eyes squinted into a curious glare when a surge of jealousy shot through me.

"Who was that?" I asked over her girly laughs.

"Oh, no one," she answered casually. "Just an old friend from New York. I've got to go now. This test is tomorrow, and I have to get this studying done now. I'll talk to you tonight, okay?"

My jaw set as Bianca stood from her seat and began sauntering over to my table. I stayed silent as Bianca sat down at the table and moved her seat over beside mine. She rested her chin on her hands and watched me hold the phone to my ear in silence.

Fiona's voice rang from the other side, and I knew that Bianca had heard her. I swallowed slowly. "Yeah, I'll call you tonight. I love you."

"Love you too," she answered cheerily before hanging up while that same guy kept laughing in the background.

I inhaled and set the phone down before looking over at Bianca. She spoke to me first.

"We have to keep running into each other like this. Was that the princess?" she asked in a teasing voice.

I glared and said, "What's it to you?"

Her eyebrows rose and she leaned back in her seat almost out of defeat. "Wow, friendly are we? I was just trying to be friendly. Excuse me."

"And why do you suddenly feel the urge to have a heart?"

"I don't know," she stated. "People change, Adam."

I rolled my eyes and muttered a quiet sure to her. I suddenly felt something on my thigh and looked down to see her hand was resting just in the middle of my thigh, rubbing up and down in a coaxing manner.

My eyes glared and rose up to meet her eyes. Bianca's face was dangerously close to mine now. I gulped as silently as possible while she licked her lips and whispered, "I say we ditch this place and go have some fun. What do you say?"

I sent her waves of anger from my blue eyes. "I say no, Bianca. I have a girlfriend. You know that right?"

She rolled her eyes and went back to leaning in her seat. Her brown eyes focused on the ceiling while she said, "Yeah, I know you have a girlfriend who is living in New York and probably cheating on you. What she doesn't know won't hurt her."

Bianca leaned forward and made another move to touch me again. I winced and pushed her away gently. "Fiona isn't cheating on me. She loves me and I love her."

She rolled her eyes for about the third time and sighed, "Here we go. Look, do whatever you want. I was just trying to be nice. I just figured you would've noticed how I feel about you by now."

My brows stayed furrowed over my nose while I watched her rise out of the seat and walk out of The Dot with annoyed footfalls.

I could tell she was angry about me rejecting her. But did she really expect me to be like every other guy and just cheat on Fiona? Somehow in the end Fiona would find out about what I was doing, and I'd be sitting there feeling like an idiot.

I just couldn't be like all the other guys who I ranted about constantly when the topic of cheating rose to the table. Because then I'd be a hypocrite just like Drew.

My eyes rose up, and I saw Eli and Clare walking to my table with concerned looks in their eyes.

"What did she want?" Clare asked first. Eli sat next to her with his pale hand placed over hers protectively.

I looked over their shoulders in the direction Bianca had just walked out of The Dot. I quickly glanced back down so I wouldn't worry my two friends.

"Nothing," I lied. "She's probably just trying to stir up some more problems with Drew."

Eli cocked and eyebrow and said, "Adam, you really are a horrible liar. You can start telling us what Bianca really wanted now."

I grumbled and placed my palms against the table.

"Bianca's been trying to come on to me ever since Saturday school. She tried to kiss me on the staircase, but I pushed her away. Just now she offered to take me someplace else to have some 'fun'."

Both Clare and Eli's jaws had hit the table by the time I finished with my explanation.

"She tried to get you to cheat on Fiona with her?" Clare asked in exasperation.

Eli looked annoyed when he said, "That sounds just like classic Bianca. You haven't done anything with her, right?"

"No," I answered, "and I don't plan on it. I just hope she drops the subject soon."

Clare and Eli shared a look while my eyes wandered back to Bianca in my head. The hint of a smile was on my lips when I thought of the last words she'd said to me.

So she did have some kind of feelings for me. Whether they were strong or just subtle feelings of lust. Either way, it felt pretty good to know that under all of those insults, she'd had some kind of hidden guilty liking for me.