Adam’s laugh was contagious, and when he laughed, the defined muscles in his chest pressed against his tight black T-shirt. Causing me to stare.
An embarrassing amount of staring, actually.
Adam snorted. “Nah, he was able to twist his mom’s arm to make a special exception for me. I think he needed a friend, and I think his mom was eager to seem like she was doing something charitable by allowing a homeless and parentless guy into her school.”
“That seems like the kind of publicity stunt Marta would do,” I said.
I didn’t know much about Michael’s mother, but I knew enough to know that she was the kind of manipulative widow that would make a great movie villain. “Do you like it there at Lineage?”
He tilted his head to the side. “It’s alright. I mean, I’m way far behind in classes since I didn’t start when most of the other people started college, and they’re not really my people, if you know what I mean. It’s better than being on the streets, though. And, I get to see you again.”
I skipped over his last sentiment. “Actually, most people from the two colleges aren’t allowed to intermingle. I was surprised to see you at Goldshire.”
He quirked and eyebrow and I giggled. “All right, all right. I was surprised to see you again at all.”
He licked his lips. “That’s more like it.”
I hadn’t meant anything by that comment, only that I was genuinely surprised to have seen him again. He surprised me by leaning forward across the table and took my hand in his. His eyes looked serious and intent. “Lisette, I’m really sorry about what happened to your mother that night.”
“Thanks,” I said, and I hoped he caught my tone of voice that said “move past it now”.
There wasn’t any reason to say “thanks” to someone for apologizing for the death of someone unimportant to them. Still, it always just seemed like the easiest response to get people to move on to something else and end the awkwardness of an unnecessarily polite situation.
“I didn’t kill her,” Adam said as he continued to stare at me and press his hands around mine.
I blinked. “What? Why would you say that?”
His hands continued closing around mine. “Because I was there that night, too, and I just wanted you to know that I wasn’t the one who killed her.”
My mind started to race, and I felt my heartbeat pound against my ribs. Then, Adam spoke the words I had been dying for literally anyone else to say to me to confirm that I wasn’t crazy. “You think she was murdered too, don’t you?”
I leaned forward so that our faces were as close as they could get from across the table. “You don’t believe it was suicide, do you?”
“I didn’t say that,” he stumbled over his words. “I just meant that—”
Adam let go of my hands and pushed the chair back quickly with his legs to stand up. “I need to get to class,” he said, suddenly in a big hurry. “I’ll see you soon, though.”
“No!” I shouted as I ran to the door to block his way. “You know something about my mother’s death, don’t you? You have to tell me, Adam. Please!” I felt myself getting hysterical.
Adam shook his head at me. “No, I don’t know anything. I need to get to class.”
I wasn’t about to let him leave without giving me an answer. “If you don’t know anything, then why did you come back here to see me?”
“I came back here to see you because I’ve wanted to see you again ever since the night that I left,” he said.
And I was so completely stunned by what he said that I let him pass by me and leave. So, when I gained my wits about me again, I rushed out the door. I looked around, hoping and praying his conscience had talked him into staying.
However, when I looked out the door again, he was gone.
4
I didn’t tell Julian about Adam. I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it yet, and I didn’t want to get him all fired-up and into protective mode unnecessarily.
The next few days passed by uneventfully, though. I went to class, much to Julian’s surprise, and I then went to work. The rest of my time, I spent either hanging out with Julian or alone in my dorm room trying to piece together the fragmented thoughts in my mind. I had a journal that I wrote in sometimes, just to dump some of the thoughts out of my head and down onto a piece of paper where they would be safely stored away.
And I found that journal calling my name as I gravitated toward it.
I took the journal out from my dresser drawer and grabbed a pen out of my backpack. Then I plopped down on my bed and jotted down all the thoughts that I needed to get out. I must have fallen asleep with the journal in my hands, however, because when I woke up to the sound of something clattering at my window my fingers were still wrapped around the journal and the pen had leaked ink all over my jeans.
Then, I heard that sound again.
The sound of something clattering against the glass of my windowpane.
I peeked out the window to see what had been knocking against it, but all I saw was the big tree outside my dorm building swaying in the gusty breeze.
“Damn it,” I said out loud as I looked down at the giant ink spill on my pants. “These were my favorite jeans.”
I slid my jeans off and let them fall to my ankles before kicking them toward the corner of the room. I was getting ready to put pajama pants on and change my academy T-shirt, but the sound of someone in my room made me scream and fall backward onto my dresser. A hand grabbed me just before I knocked my head against the dresser corner, and when I looked up, I saw Adam holding onto the side of my arm.
“Easy,” he said as he helped me to my feet.
“What are you doing here?!” I screamed at him. “Get the hell out of my room!”
I grabbed the lamp off my dresser and pulled the cord from the wall, leaving only the light of the moon illuminating the room. I had no problem smashing his skull with the lamp if he tried to do anything to me.
“Lisette,” he said with a look of apology on his face. “Calm down, please. I’m not here to hurt you or freak you out or anything. I’m sorry I scared you.”
