Among The Stars

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen

It's about midnight when we decide to leave. We would've stayed longer, but Tanya was getting really cranky and Danny was kind of drifting off. All of us wanted to stay, though, but we decided it was better for all of us.

Plus, I couldn't feel my body from the numbing cold of good, old Michigan.

Right before we leave the school, Danny gives me a huge hug. It surprises me a bit, but I don't object.

"Hey. What are you doing?" I ask, laughing a little.

"God, you're such a sweet girl. If I wasn't gay, I would so nail you, but sorry. Vaginas don't turn me on." he says, smiling playfully.

I laugh and nod. "It's all good. I wouldn't let you anyways."

"Hear that, Adam? You're girlfriend isn't into that kind of stuff," Danny teases, letting go of our short embrace.

I laugh uncomfortably and cross my arms, a chill suddenly washing over me.

"She's not my girlfriend," Adam laughs, punching Danny roughly in a way I think was meant to be playful.

"It's fine, Adam," I laugh.

Adam smiles and blushes a bit. I wave towards all of them and head out the school doors towards my car. Out of the corner of my eye, I think I see a shooting star, but I just ignore it, sliding into my car.

Suddenly, a hand is pressed against my passenger window. I sigh and roll down the window, a cold burst of wind hitting me right in the face.

"Hey," Adam says calmly from outside the car.

"Uh. I should be getting home," I say awkwardly.

"Yeah. It's, uh, really late," he says softly.

"Actually, I'm going to stop at McDonald's or something. I have an hour left on my curfew and I really don't want to waste it. You can come if you want," I offer.

He laughs and looks around the parking lot quickly.

"Normally, I wouldn't be caught dead in a fast food joint, but right now, I really don't care. I'll meet you there," he says.

Then, he trots off towards his car.

In this small town, we didn't have to specify which McDonald's we were going to. There was only one that people really cared to go to. There was another one a little closer, but the food there was crap and they had slow service. I'd only been there once and I had quickly realized it was a mistake.

When I get there, I realize Adam wasn't at the restaurant yet.

Instead of waiting outside in the cold weather, I just go inside the restaurant and get in line. There was only one other person there.

Some fries actually sounded really good.

As soon as I get to the register, Adam walks up to me, the door slamming behind him. We both wince a little at the large noise.

"Hey. What do you want?" I ask, "I'm paying."

"No, I have plenty of money. I can pay," Adam offers.

I laugh and shake my head, "This isn't a date, Adam. You don't have to pay."

"Yeah, but I want to," he replies.

I smirk and shake my head. "What do you want?"

He groans and looks over the menu quickly. The lady at the register is starting to look really pissed at us.

"You know, fries sound good right now," he thinks aloud.

"I know right!" I laugh and turn towards the cashier, "Two large fries, please."

She sighs and nods, telling me my total. I hand her my money and smile at Adam. He laughs and slips a five into a jar for cancer research.

"Holy crap. A five?" I ask him.

He shrugs. "You wouldn't let me pay, so I had to spend my money on something."

I laugh and shake my head. "Well, I didn't want you to pay, anyways."

"Okay," he shrugs, "Free fries for me."

I laugh and the cashier hands us our boxes of fries. I smile politely at the lady and she just shoots a nasty glare towards me. I smirk and walk away with Adam.

"Well, she doesn't look too happy with life," he observes.

We take our seat at the least greasy booth we can find.

"I wouldn't be if I was working at a fast food chain at midnight," I laugh, taking a bite out of one of my fries.

He shrugs and looks over his shoulder at her quickly.

"I mean, she's pretty and everything. She could get a better job than this if she tried," he points out.

Honestly, she was a really pretty girl. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a short ponytail and light freckles were dotted across her nose. She had dark brown eyes that were actually kind of complimented by her uniform, but she was a common sort of pretty. It was rare to actually find someone with that strange quality of beauty, like Mary. Those people tended to be the most gorgeous.

"Yeah, I guess, but I try and get a job, and here I am, stuck at a crappy downtown coffee shop on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays," I say, smiling a bit.

He nods. "Yeah. A good job is hard to get in this town, though."

"I guess so," I laugh.

One thing you need to know about Adam is that he always has at last one earbud in his ears. Some people joked that it was surgically implanted, but then, soon enough, people started to believe it. I wasn't that stupid, but it was amazing to me that Adam never actually listened to life without background music.

"So, what do you even listen to in those headphones of yours?" I ask.

He shrugs. "I don't know. Everything, I guess."

"Like, what genre I mean," I clarify.

"I like every genre," he says, "But mostly, I like the classics."

"Like, Beethoven and all that stuff?" I ask.

"Ha. No. Like, Van Halen and Journey," he laughs.

"And Madonna," I tease.

"Oh yeah. Of course. And Madonna," he smirks.

I smile and cock my head to the side a little. "So how many songs can you fit on that tiny iPod?"

"I have 3,500 songs. It's only a 16 gig iPod, so I don't have much more to go, so I'm just saving up my money for some really good songs.

"Holy crap. So when you said everything, you really meant everything," I laugh. "I'm impressed."

He shrugs as if its nothing much.

Adam was much more than I expected him to be. It was nice.

{really long chapter! Finally!! Please feel free to comment. *mwah*}