Intimacy

VI

"Mom, do you remember Adam?" I don't know why I broached the subject, not at first. My mom peered up at me over her demolished plate of spaghetti, sopping up the last bit of sauce with a hunk of Italian bread.

"You mean that nice boy you hung out with once and only once," she said, winking at me. She smirked at my incredulous expression. "I'm your mother. I notice you aren't here when I get home."

I let out my breath in a great big gush. "We've been seeing each other the past few months," I said. Mom merely raised her eyebrows, urging me to continue. "What do you think of him?"

Mom set her bread on the edge of her plate, clasping her hands together against her lips as she looked at me. After a moment of silence she spoke. "How do you feel about him, Riya?"

I bit my lip. A blush crept into my cheeks. "He makes me feel full of flutters," I said, shredding pieces off my napkin. "My heart beats faster, everything looks brighter, and all I want to do is see him smile again and again."

I finally looked back at my mother, who watched me with a dreamy grin on her face. "Sounds like young love. If he makes you happy Riya, that's all that matters. No matter who he is now," she said with a beatific expression. "Or who he was before."

Seriously nothing got past that woman but it warmed me inside and out, to know my mother cared for our happiness over anything else. Maybe more people thought the same, even if Adam couldn't see it yet.

**

The next day, Adam sat down next to me at the lunch table. He discomfort was obvious, but with one glance at my ecstatic face he forced himself to relax, nudging his shoulder against mine.

His former 'friends' gawked at him from their exclusive table. Mason's face was particularly dark, an ugly twisted sneer. I quickly looked away, refusing to indulge his hate. There was something seriously wrong with that kid. Jill was also staring at us, but her expression was confused more than hateful. As if she didn't know how to react to the sight of us.

I leaned over. "What's with thunder jock over there?"

Adam glanced up and made a face. "Oh him. Uh, well, we were kind of a thing before..." He shrugged, his expression intensely awkward. I took pity on him and patted his knee.

"Oh, sweetie, you can tell me. I'm not Mason so you can use big words and everything," I murmured for Adam's ears alone.

The jibe startled a laugh out of him. Mason couldn't hear us, but his sneer worsened, reflecting something so nasty it made me shiver. It was people like him that made Adam afraid to walk down the street holding my hand. Defiantly, I laced our hands together on top of the lunch table. Adam hesitated but gently squeezed my fingers.

Mason could stare daggers at us all he wanted. I resisted the urge to stick my tongue out him. I was somewhat mature. Jill was still watching us too, her expression unreadable but not hostile.

It was a start.

**

As usual, we planned to meet at the wood after school. Adam brushed his lips against the back of my hand on the way out of the cafeteria, leaving a goofy smile on my face for next period. That feeling dampened quickly beneath the stare of Captain Buzzkill. Of course my last class of the day would be with Mason. He sat down next to me, saying nothing until Mr. Garrity had to answer a call from the office.

"So, you're with that freak," he hissed at me through his teeth, spitting on my notebook.

I refused to rise to the bait but Mason wouldn't let it lie. "What's he like beneath all that padding? All squished up? Did you two bump uglies?"

I shot him a look of disgust. "You're calling him a freak? Pot meet kettle."

"What did you call me?" Mason snarled, grabbing my wrist. He wrenched it off the desk, squeezing until my bones creaked together.

"Let go, Mason," I snapped, digging my nails into his arm.

"Is there a problem?" Mr. Garrity stared at us. Mason released me, the picture of innocence.

"No sir," he said.

"Riya?" Mr. Garrity's eyes bore into me but I could feel Mason staring at me too. Ratting him out would only make him worse. Give him more fuel to lash out with. 

"It's nothing," I said. I didn't look at Mason again, unwilling to give him the satisfaction. I couldn't wait for the day to end so I could be with Adam in the safety of the woods.