~ Adam ~

Adam's perturbation was growing with every word he printed hastily into one of many spiral notebooks. Blue ink was beginning to bleed, words blurring together on the page as Adam's weariness caused his right hand to tremble.

It was past three o'clock in the morning. His brunette strands were tangling into a thicket from the amount of times he'd run his hand through it, shaking as his heart tripped over itself in his chest.

The single light in Adam's bedroom cast a pale hue over the white sheets of his bed where Adam was currently sat cross-legged in the middle. Pens, highlighters and notepads were strewn around him in a chaotic mess, textbook lying open on the pillow.

Adam let out a low growl as the pen's ink ran in a thin stream again. He shook it roughly before returning the tip to the page and pressing harder. A solid dot of ink appeared before soldiering onto another bullet point outlining genetic processes.

Adam got five sentences in before his body emitted another growl, this one coming from his stomach. He'd only eaten some off brand granola bar this morning before hurrying across campus to his Advanced Bioprinting class.

From there, it had been straight onto three afternoon classes, tutoring, then work. Adam finally got home at two in the morning and had spent the last hour rushing to complete his last set of revision notes before class the next day. Hunger was nothing but a familiar yet tolerable ache in his gut.

Ignoring his body's demand for food, Adam stuck a highlighter between his teeth and skimmed through the next page of his textbook. He only had this page and two worksheets from another class to finish before meeting his pillow.

Two minutes of silence passed before Adam's stomach growled again. He let out a frustrated groan and tossed the pen aside, hand returning to his hair as he gripped it anxiously.

"Two more tasks," he chanted in mantra, eyes grazing over his daily planner. "Then I can focus on chapter revisions for the rest of the week."

Studying late wasn't normally an issue for Adam but his tutoring session with Cole that afternoon had set him back. He only preyed his neighbour didn't start his bullshit tonight because Adam could only deal with so much when he was hungry and sleep-deprived.

Thankfully, the house next door was silent. No car had been in the driveway when Adam rode up either.

Another frustrated sigh escaped Adam's lips as his pen's ink ran thin again. He threw it down on his page and slammed the textbook closed, tossing it to the side when a hint of colour beneath caught his attention.

Pulling out the purple folder from the corner of his pillow, Adam's hand smoothed over the cover of his Foundational Mathematics binder. He'd tossed it aside earlier and forgotten about it.

The binder was from his first year, when the unit had been mandatory. What he didn't understand was why Cole enrolled in the unit.

Political Science undertook a heavy workload but Foundational Mathematics was not part of the course's mandated units. Even if Cole was taking the class for extra credit, there were plenty of appealing options before one that wasn't part of his course outline.

Adam didn't linger on the thought very long. There were plenty of reasons Cole could be taking the class. It could benefit his main education in the long run, or maybe it was just genuine interest. Either way, it was none of Adam's business. His role was only to show up and assist.

The idea got Adam thinking. Maths was a complex subject but many of its concepts were simple enough in theory that people usually had a basic idea. That didn't seem to be the case with Cole.

Cole's tutor had given their class a set of worksheets in preparation for the unit. Adam and Cole blew through the equations with very little input from the former.

Adam briefly explained the process of logarithmic functions before breezing through quadratic equations. He didn't even mention algebraic processes as Cole's pen moved swiftly across the page before he could even begin the explanation.

Adam knew very little about Cole Decker outside of public gossip, but it was clear this boy was no stranger to high intellect. It made Adam wonder why he'd even needed a tutor.

As if the universe had a sense of humour, Adam's phone vibrated somewhere on the bed. He'd tossed it aside earlier where it had clearly become buried beneath piles of schoolwork.

He fished the device out from beneath his binder, pupils constricting as the screen lit up to present a text message.

Cole's name sat at the top of the notification, along with a time stamp of nearly an hour ago. Adam supposed the heavy load of books had been enough to stifle the vibration the first time.

At this time of the morning, Adam's brain was practically on auto-pilot. His sole concentration was on finishing his school work before winding down into a good three hours sleep. His eyes barely skimmed the message but his thoughts wondered freely.

To Adam's complete surprise, Cole's text wasn't about their next tutoring session. He was asking if Adam was attending the University bonfire on Friday.

Truthfully, Adam had no intention of going to the bonfire, or any event that wasn't mandated by the university for that matter. He didn't have the time to fraternise with the writhing crowds of college students who took the latter part of 'work and play' far too seriously to indulge his nine-to-five and then some studying regime. One time had been enough.

In their first year, Piper had dragged Adam to every event kicking and screaming. She wanted to be sure he got the full college experience, which she'd have to settle for cramming all into one year since Adam had made it clear that history would not be repeating itself in the following years to come.

First it had been the Annual University Bonfire Rager, then the First-Year Mixer, then the Foam Party in the quad to celebrate the end of semester hosted by Student Council.

Adam Grey covered in glitter and confetti was one thing. Adam Grey drenched in foam with a giggling Piper hanging off his shoulders was a whole new level of danger to fear.

At his declaration, Piper had simply laughed, kissed his cheek and promised the next year would be even more fun. In the meantime, she'd settle for live music and drunken poetry slams. Adam hadn't taken her seriously then, but now this wasn't Piper asking.

Adam stared at the text for a long while. His fingers hovered over the keyboard in anticipation to type a simple no and be done with it. Yet for some reason, his brain wasn't cooperating.

Right before he fell down the rabbit hole of self-analysis at three-thirty in the morning, a distant screech startled him from his thoughts.

This time the growl came from outside. There was only one thing in the entire neighbourhood that could make that sound.

Adam listened as the car engine roared through dark suburbia, growing louder in the night as it turned onto his street and approached the last set of houses at the end of the block.

Glass panes shook in their frame until eventually the sound was right outside his window. The noise shut off a moment later, followed by the slam of a car door that echoed in the soundless night.

Adam couldn't see his neighbour's driveway from his bedroom window but there was no mistaking the ownership of that sound. No one else on the block could afford such a luxury.

Holding his breath, Adam waited inevitably for the dreadful music to cut on. His shades were mostly drawn, a small crack of light appearing through the curtain from his neighbour's upstairs window. What came next surprised him.

Music began to play from the house opposite but it wasn't some horrendous EDM mix like usual. In fact, Adam thought maybe the sound was acoustic.

His phone dropped from his hand as Adam craned his neck to listen, not entirely believing. He couldn't be hearing right. Not after the endless months of screeching bass.

Adam figures his plan had somewhat worked. Since giving the guy a taste of his own medicine, his neighbour had culled the near-nightly routine of bleeding Adam's ears dry. Whether it was taking a hint or for some other reason, Adam would never know. But not tonight.

Accrediting his actions to his brain still being on auto-pilot, Adam swung his legs onto the floor and crept over to the window. He moved the curtain an inch to slide the panel open and listened carefully.

Adam had been right. The song was acoustic with lead vocals. What startled him the most was how peaceful the music sounded.

"You've felt this way for far too long, waiting for a change to come, you know you're not the only one."

Adam crouched below the window, straining his ear further. He couldn't tell if he was dreaming or not.

"And life, passes you by, don't be wasting your time on your own,"

What did it mean? Adam didn't know. Was his neighbour ill? If the lyrics were anything to go off by - or the fact that there were lyrics - then Adam was sure he'd found himself stumbling nonsensically through a parallel universe.

The music wasn't loud. In fact, it felt harmonious, as though it was the kind of song you'd find yourself adrift under, floating blissfully in a tranquil sea.

Adam was too in shock to realise his phone was buzzing until a minute later. The notification was only a reminder to pay a bill, but it brought him back to reality.

Piper had been begging Adam to accompany her and Leo to the bonfire for the past three weeks. Adam had shot her down each time with claims of work and studying but all of a sudden he wasn't sure.

Adam didn't believe in signs from the universe, but the combined shock of his neighbour's behavioural shift and severe exhaustion left his brain fuddled.

Without further thought, he found himself typing a message before the tide inevitably pulled him back under. Just for a second, Adam allowed himself to wonder what it would feel like to float.

He was still crouched below the window as his eyes read over the message. His neighbour was still playing soft music. It would only be a moment, but it was enough for Adam to hit Send.

***
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