Chapter Twelve

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~ Adam ~

"Ugh, sorry I'm late."

A stack of books came crashing down on the table as Piper swooped in to kiss Adam on the cheek. She took a seat opposite him. "Class ran overtime and then my professor wanted to speak privately about an assessment. Did you order yet?"

Adam slid a yellow mug across the table toward her. It was a spiced chai with a dash of almond milk. Piper's favourite. "Just this."

"Oh, you are a blessing." Piper cradled the mug in her hands and took a grateful sip. "I've been figuratively dying since noon."

"I can see that."

The blue-haired girl pointed a finger at Adam, attempting to tame her wind-blown tangle of curls with the other hand. "Don't say a word."

Adam held up his hands in defence and snickered. Piper rolled her eyes but left it alone. She took another sip of her coffee before asking, "So, plans this weekend?"

Adam ticked each item off on his fingers. "Revision sheets for Physics, chapter notes for Calc, then work from two onwards. I should also probably hit the grocery store since I haven't been in two weeks. Oh, and Sunday I have to reorganise my binder because Leo borrowed notes from last class and put them back in the red folder despite knowing damn well they're meant to be in the blue from Chapter Six onwards. Why, what are you doing?"

Piper stared at him.

Adam stared back. "What?"

"Your weekend plans are to organise your notes into colour-coded folders?"

Adam cocked his head. "Well, if Leo hadn't put them back in the wrong section than I wouldn't have to spend two to three hours recategorising them."

Piper blinked at him over the rim of her mug. "How are you even human?"

Adam sunk down in his chair, crossing his arms. "It's perfectly normal to categorise your notes by colour, subdivide them by study unit and then order them using the Dewey Decimal System."

Judging from his best friend's heavy gaze on him, Adam began to consider that maybe organising one's work by mathematical categorisation wasn't as typical as was lead on. He then began to ponder the idea that maybe a website called ColouringtheCompulsion.com hadn't had normalcy in mind when it popped up on his Pinterest board in seventh grade.

"So," Adam sheepishly pulled himself up to his original height in the chair. "Your plans?"

"Okay, this is going to sound weird, but Cole Decker texted me."

"Cole?" Adam frowned, thoughts quickly bouncing back to meeting the dark-haired boy in the cafe a few weeks ago. His black-on-black aesthetic reminded Adam of the drummer in his favourite rock band.  "Your boyfriend's Siamese twin? What did he want?"

"James is not my boyfriend." Piper said pointedly. Then, "He wants to hang out I guess. James is driving up to Lake Forest this weekend for a charity function at his family's estate. Cole's not going with him."

"Why isn't Gatsby taking him with?"

Piper shrugged. "He didn't really get into the details but something tells me a boy with that many tattoos doesn't blend into the aristocracy very quietly."

Adam nodded slowly, accepting that for what it was. "So, what were you guys planning on doing?"

"Cole says he has something in mind but won't tell me what."

"Summoning ritual in the university parking lot after nightfall?"

Piper made a face. "Very funny."

"Have you tried asking?"

"Of course I have. He won't budge. If I'm being honest, he's a pretty hard character to pin down. I can't get a read on him to know what he likes."

"Blood oaths and human sacrifices in the woods?"

"Knock it off, Grey. At least he doesn't spend his weekends organising his school work by colour dividers."

"Low blow, Enzo."

Piper smirked at him. Adam rolled his eyes and took a sip of his caramel mocha. 

"So, you're just going to get in a car with this guy and let him drive you to an unknown location? Pretty sure that's a serial killer vibe right there."

"I'm not going to be alone," Piper said, "because you're coming with us!"

"What? No, Pipe, that's not what I-"

"Oh, don't give me that." Piper mocked sweetly. "You haven't had a break in months! When's the last time you did something for yourself?"

"You know it's not that simple."

"Not always, but sometimes it can be. Adam, you've been working your ass off all year with barely any fun. You need to get out more."

"We're in college, Pipe. 'Fun' is not in our vocabulary."

"Are you joking?" Piper exclaimed. "This is the time we're supposed to be living our best life! That's what your twenties are for. Exploration! Adam, you work harder than anybody I know. You're allowed to do a little soul searching along the way, boo."

Adam sighed at the old nickname. Piper only used it when she was trying to rouse a reaction from him, usually when she was right about something. 

He shook his head. "Even if I wanted to, I can't. I'm working Saturday night."

"You finish at ten, don't you?"

Adam shrugged. He normally worked well past the hour of his scheduled shift to stay late and finish paperwork or get a head start for the day after. He was used to only getting home in the late hours of the morning. 

"I'll probably stay late."

Piper shook her head. "Oh no, not this time. It's one night. You don't even get paid the overtime. You're coming out with us."

"Piper, I-"

"I don't want to hear the excuses, Adam. You deserve a little fun every now and then too. More than the rest of us."

He sighed. "Have you even asked Cole about this?"

Piper shrugged. "He's my friend not a tyrant. I'm sure he won't mind. The more the merrier, right?"

"I don't know, Pipe."

"C'mon please? I'll make sure we do something fun."

"What about Leo? Did you ask him?"

"He's not answering my texts and he wasn't in class this morning. It's just the three of us."

Adam gazed at her hopelessly. Piper grinned at him. They held their stares in silence for one minute before Adam pointed a single finger. "I'm not making any promises, but if I can-"

He'd barely finished speaking before Piper squealed and lunged across the table. Adam scrambled to save the cups from being thrown to the floor as Piper curled her arms around his neck. "Yes! Thankyou! You are not going to regret this!"

Adam was one-hundred percent going to regret this. 

***

That night, Adam wheeled his bike up his deserted driveway. His hoodie was soaked with rain as he'd stupidly forgotten to bring a rain coat and gotten caught in the downpour on the way home. To make matters worse, the chain on his bike had broken six blocks back and forced Adam to walk the rest of the way home. 

It was somewhere after two o'clock in the morning when he had finished work. Marty had set aside two services to be completed that afternoon. When one of the cars turned out to need a timing belt replacement on top of everything else, Adam knew he was in for a long night. 

The street was dark and empty as usual. Most of Adam's neighbours were old folks who'd be asleep by nine. Only the houses at the end of the block were newer models to attract young home owners. Unfortunately, that was just Adam and his dipshit neighbour as the rest of the block hadn't been built yet.

A streetlight had blown months ago, creating a dark shadow over Adam's driveway. With his hood drawn up to block out the rain, Adam easily blended into the darkness. 

He paused briefly to check his mailbox and noticed his shoe lace had become untied. Leaning his bike against the front fence, he crouched down to fix it.

Rain was still trickling down on the pavement but the storm had passed an hour ago. A surge of thunder suddenly had Adam's head snapping up to peer through the dark haze. 

It wasn't thunder at all. A flash of white followed by the rumble of a V8 engine somewhere in the near distance said Adam's neighbour was awake. 

The fog left in the aftermath of the storm made it hard to tell exactly where his neighbour's car was. One minute it was quiet and the next bright headlights flashed on the road before Adam, who was still crouched down on the pavement with his head bent over his shoes.

It happened very quickly. Adam had known his neighbour was a dick for a while but he hadn't realised the extent of his barbarianism until the white beast came speeding down the road, sloshed through a particularly large puddle and sent water raining down on the sidewalk all over Adam, who was drenched immediately. 

Adam gasped as he was knocked over. Cold water soaked right through to his bones and his teeth began to chatter. He snapped his head around. "Hey!" Adam yelled but it was no use. His voice was lost in the rain and roar of the engine as the white car turned the corner and sped off into the night and out of sight. 

Adam sat, staring after the car in horror as he processed what had just happened. His hood had protected most of his face from the onslaught but the rest of him wasn't that lucky. 

Mud stains were settling into his jeans. His backpack, which laid on the sidewalk next to his knee, had taken most of the brunt. Adam's palms had scraped along the concrete when he'd fallen back but the angry red cuts lining his skin were the least of his concerns.

"No," Adam muttered in horror as the realisation slowly dawned on him. He sat up quickly. "No no no!"

He dived for his backpack, scrambling to unzip it and paw through the contents inside. The sound that came out of his mouth was wounded and horrified as he pulled out his drenched binder and damp notebooks. 

"Fuck!" Adam yelled as he dug through the rest of his bag but it was no use. Everything, right down to his Student I.D card, had been saturated. His old laptop had thankfully been in a case but even that had water stains across the front.

Adam threw his ruined books down on the sidewalk and fell back on his knees. Tearing his hood off, he gripped his hair tightly and closed his eyes, muttering a hopeless "Fuck fuck fuck" under his breath.

Adam wasn't one to spiral out of control. He couldn't afford to be. He was always calm and collected and in control even when the situation was worse for worse. This though, this was worse than anything Adam could've imagined. 

A whole semester of work had been ruined. Yes, he had online backups. Yes, he had Leo's notes. But this wasn't something that could be reforged. Not the time spent making all of this happen. 

Adam poured his heart and soul into his work because if he didn't, it would all be for nothing. All the jokes made and the taunts thrown his way just to see him fail would ring true. It would mean Adam sacrificed everything for nothing. It would mean he didn't have what it takes. It would mean his parents were right about him.

It wasn't the ruined work that horrified Adam the most. It was the hours spent pouring every inch of himself into even the smallest of things just to get the tiniest bit closer to greatness because he had to succeed and he had to do it right. If he didn't, what was he living for? What was any of this for?

Adam let out noise of utter defeat as he collapsed on the pavement. He was cold and wet but his body was shaking with rage. What started out as grief slowly morphed into a momentary ugly twist of pure, black hatred. And Adam allowed himself to thrive in it.

Turning his head very slowly, Adam gazed down the now-empty street in the direction his neighbour's car had gone.

Adam was done. His neighbour could have his sleep. He could have his anger. He could have his exhaustion. But he couldn't have this. He couldn't have Adam. Not when it was the only thing he had left standing. 

Eyes blazing into the night, Adam inhaled deeply. Slowly. Vengefully. 

"I'm going to get you," he seethed beneath the ice of his breath. "Even if it's the last thing I do."

***

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