"Hey. Thanks for picking me up." I said as I slid on the passenger seat.

"The pleasure is all mine babe." Sophia grinned and then started the car.

My car was not working properly and Dad had taken his car to the office. I considered asking Adam to give me a ride but I didn't want to appear clingy so I decided against it.

"So?" she looked at me with a mischievous smile on her face.

"So?" I asked innocently, having no clue about what she was asking.

"Did he finally deflower you last night?" Sophia said and I blushed deep red at her words.

"Sophia." I yelped, earning another grin from her. "Seriously, he just dropped me home."

"Yeah right." she chuckled and then turned her attention back to the road.

Soon, we were in front of Redwood High. Leaving her car, I looked around in the parking lot where I found Adam's bike in my sight. The memories of last night appeared in my mind, our conversation, him telling me the biggest secret of his life. A wave of sadness enveloped me and I mentally cursed Mr. Brown for what he did to Adam and his family.

"Come on." I walked towards the school, followed by Sophia. We had reached the corridor when we found Emily running towards us, her face sweaty and her hair turned into a mess.

"What happened Em?" I asked as soon as she stopped in front of me.

"Ad.. Adam." she was breathing hard.

"Adam? What about Adam?" I asked curiously.

"He.. Locker room.. He.." she tried to find the words but failed. "Just..just follow me."

She ran forwards while Sophia and I hurried behind her, my stomach churned in anxiety as my mind thoughts about him in any harm.

A gasp left my mouth as I saw him looking at his locker with a shocked face, many students gathered around him, laughing at him and whispering into each other's ears.

The reason being his locker which was decorated with many colorful charts, cutouts and post-it notes. But the thing that actually shook my insides was the words that were written over all those papers.

Bastard.

Mr. Brown's illigemate son.

Your mother was a slut.

One twin can't walk. The other one can't talk.

Son of a bitch.

The product of a drunken one night stand.

What else are you hiding Adam?

Shady bastard.

Mother was suicidal and the son is a temperamental dick. Crazy family!

You should be arrested by now.

Fucker.

Crooked.

Imagine Mr. Brown giving his mother detention for not giving a nice BJ.

These were only some of the chits I read. I couldn't read further without tearing the person who has done all this apart.

"Adam." I turned towards him, watching his face all red with anger and shame. His head was lowered to the ground, his eyes fixated on another large piece of chart dropped on the ground.

That's for spilling the juice on me on my very first day. Revenge is a dish best served cold.
Did you really think I'd
fall in love with a bastard like you?

A.

No. That's not possible.

"Adam." I gasped, feeling disoriented all of sudden.

That's when he realized my presence. Lifting his head, he looked at me, the hurt and anger in his eyes rendered me unable to speak. His once blank face was now contorted with rage, the veins of his neck were popped out and his jaw was clenched so tightly that I feared it would break.

I expected him to lash out on me, to curse me or throw the books in his hands at me. But he didn't do any of that. Instead, he just shook his head, as if he was disappointed in me, as if everything that had happened between us was somehow erased by these words.

"Ad-" I started but before I could say something, he turned around and made his way through the crowd of students, keeping his head high and his posture stiff.

"Ali." Sophia patted my shoulder.

"I didn't.." I hiccuped in between my words. "I swear I didn't do it. I would never do something like that."

"Sshh.." she pulled me away from the crowd and hugged me. "I know."

I heard Emily muttering consoling words from our side but at that moment, nothing in the world could make me feel better.

"I didn't.." I tried to say again but couldn't complete the sentence so I just stood there, hugging Sophia and allowing the tears to flow down my cheeks.

After few minutes, they took me inside the bathroom so I could freshen up. Splashing water on my face, I rubbed my eyes and ran fingers through my hair.

My thoughts were converged on Adam. I couldn't even imagine what he was going through. And the fact that he believed I did this must be hurting her even more. It took him every amount of courage to open up to me and then this happened.

"I need to talk to him." I said, standing straight.

"I don't think you should meet him now." Sophia said.

"No Soph. I need to know if he is alright." I added.

"But.."

"Thank you guys for being there for me and believing me. But I need to go." I said and exited the bathroom, making my way to the second floor.

I hope Adam would be in the same room in which I had found him many times before. Keeping my steps silent, I opened the door and peeked through the slit. My heart was drumming inside my chest and my hands were trembling. I was afraid of seeing the aloofness, the hatred in his eyes. But I needed to do this.

Just as I expected, he was there, standing against the window. He turned around when he heard my footsteps and my intestines tightened into knots on watching his swollen eyes and tear-stained cheeks.

He... He was crying.

"Adam." I whispered, unable to form a complete sentence on observing his condition.

"Get out." he said, his voice distant.

"I swear I didn't do it." I muttered again, walking towards him.

"Just get out Alicia. I don't want you anywhere near me." his voice echoed in the classroom and I flinched back.

"Ok.. I... I will get out." I said, tears pricked the back of my eyes. "Just.. Just be okay."

His face remained the same, laced with aversion. My heart ached to pacify him but I couldn't do anything, not when he was this upset so I just turned around and left the room, closing the door behind me.

...

"Mr. Brown is really something. He never let anyone know that he has an illegitimate son." a girl said who was sitting at the table behind me in the cafeteria.

"He probably gives Adam a lot of money to hide the truth." the other girl said.

"Wow. That's clever. I wonder if Adam gets his grades because of Mr. Brown's reference." the first girl said and I stabbed the sandwich in my plate.

"That's highly possible. How else would a weird guy like him get A in every test?" the second girl replied and I stood up in haste and turned around to watch them.

"First, he is not his illegitimate son." I growled, reaching their table. "Second, he gets his grades because he works hard for them, instead of gossiping about people in school cafeteria."

Both of the girls scooted back at my sharp tone and looked towards each other, acting as if I was the crazy one, not them.

"Miss. King." somebody called my name and turned around to face Miss. Cecilia. "Principal Brown wants to meet you in his office."

My face paled at her words. I didn't want to meet him, not because I was afraid of him but because I won't be able to stop myself from slapping his arrogant face.

Nodding, I walked past her and made my way to Principal's office. Loud voices could be heard from inside, one of them belonged to our respected principal and the other was Noah's.

He was speaking something on the lines of "How could you do that to Mom? To me?"

"You know nothing Noah." he replied in his signature tone.

"Fuck you." growled Noah, which was followed by the sudden bursting of door. His eyes met mine, there was pain in them, and then there was annoyance and hostility.

"Noah." I whispered, trying to understand what he was going through.

"Sorry Ali but I'm not in my right mind to talk." he said and left, leaving me pondering whether I should step inside or just turn around and run back.

_______________________________

Love, Mahum.