I Hate you More Than Tacos on Thursday

6: I Get Invited

A/N: I'm sorry the last chapter was so short, I just feel like it was a good place to cut it off. Anyway, things are getting saucy, eh? *suggestively wriggles eyebrows* ;) I hope you guys are enjoying the story, I know I am. ANYWAY IM GOING NOW SO YOU CAN READ BYEEEEE

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I sigh as I grip the strap of my backpack, heading to the  parking lot after school. I'm halfway through the area when someone taps me on the shoulder. I flinch, surprised by the touch, but a familiar voice eases my fear.

"Hey, sorry. Did I scare you?" Adam asks as I turn to look at him. He still has that same crooked smile on his face as he always does, and I feel like taking a picture.

Ugh, there it goes again; the strange thoughts.

"Yes, you twat!" I yell, shrugging his hand off of me.

"Geez, you don't have to get all mad." He says, walking past me, brushing my shoulder.

I don't tell him the reason that I got so scared is because I always think my father is going to creep up on me. I don't tell him that my heart skipped a beat when he touched my shoulder and all the blood drained from my face in the seconds before he apologized. I don't tell him for those few seconds I was thinking oh god he's found me. I don't tell him anything except, "Whatever," as I jog to catch up to him.

"You okay?" Adam asks, looking at me confusedly.

I almost spill all my secrets in the lengthy pause that seems to separate the space between us. However, I swallow them down and trap them inside my esophagus and think that if I spend one more moment with this boy I might just die. "Perfectly fine." I answer, nodding head head curtly as I curse my voice for wavering.

Adam's dark blue eyes tell me he doesn't believe me. They tell me his mind is asking a million 'whys' and he doesn't trust what I'm saying. But all he says is, "Alright then, I guess we should get to Taco Bell then."

And I begin to think this semi-friendship is built on lies.

All I can do is brush it off while we walk to what I'm beginning to call our Headquarters. 

The door opens, and Marissa greets us at the counter. "Hey, James." She smiles a cute smile, waving.

"Hey." I smile, waving back. 

"So is this the guy you mentioned?" She asks, and my mind flashes back to when I told her about what was happening with me and Adam. I don't quite remember how the topic came up, but I didn't mind telling her. 

I blush, nodding. 

"I was mentioned?" Adam asks, raising an eyebrow smugly.

"Shut up!" I say, pushing his chest to our regular seat. "Go sit."

"Why so flustered, Tomato Face?" He asks, not budging as I continue to shove him. He crosses his arms. "Don't tell me you're embarrassed." He teases, smirking at me as his blue eyes glint with amusement.

My face grows redder. "Fucking-- Just go sit and contemplate your exponentially inflated ego!" I yell, but try to do it quietly as to not disturb the customers. 

"As you wish, Your Majesty." He says as he rolls his eyes and sits down, back to me.

I turn back to Marissa who has a knowing look in her eyes as she bites her lip, chuckling.

"What?" I ask, narrowing my eyes. 

"Oh, nothing." She says, smirking, and goes back to working, ignoring me.

I roll my eyes and go sit down in front of Adam.

"You done throwing a hissy fit?" He asks, propping his head smugly on top of his hands.

I scowl and clench my hoodie sleeves in my fists. "Fuck you."

Adam raises an eyebrow. "You've got quite the vocabulary today."

"Oh, I've got a few more up my sleeve. Keep talking if you wanna hear them." I say, and give him a shit-eating grin. 

Adam rolls his eyes. "Right. So, you have any news about girls?" He asks, drawing a pattern in some spilled salt.

"Other than Charlie, no. You?" I ask, sighing and rubbing my eyes. I didn't get much sleep last night because for some reason I kept thinking that my father would drag me out of the bed and use me as an outlet for his anger. He was angry when I came home, and I tried my best to avoid him and successfully did, however that only added to my anxiety.

"I have some numbers, but no one I'm really interested in." He studies me for a moment. "Are you sure you're okay? You look exhausted."

"Thanks." I say sarcastically, then yawn. "I didn't get a lot of sleep last night... my father, he, um, kept me up last night because he had the television on really loud." It wasn't a complete lie.

"Oh." Adam says. "You can go home, y'know, and take a nap." He shrugs.

I tense at the suggestion. "No!" I clear my throat after realizing I said that too loud and too suddenly. "I mean, no it- it's fine."

He gives me a strange look. "O...kay. I guess if you're not doing anything we could go to my house."

My eyes widen, my heart skipping a beat. I had never been invited to someone's house before. "W-wait. Really?" It confused me how he actually wanted to have me in his house. Oh, god, what if his parents were home? I couldn't make a good impression on parents. I couldn't make a good impression on anyone.

Adam, oblivious to my breakdown, nods. "Yeah, you can meet my sister. A.K.A the reason we're in this mess." He teases, but it falls flat as I continue having a theoretical seizure. 

"Y-yeah." I nod, feeling terror clamp is angry maw around my heart.

"You okay?" He asks, looking concerned.

I look up at him timidly and feel a light blush paint my cheeks. "I- I don't know... you wouldn't want me at your house. I'm terrible at first impressions. I- I mean I've never met any of my friends parents before--"

Adam cuts off my rambling with a smug: "Friends?"

My blush deepens. "I-I mean--"

He laughs, putting his hand over mine. I stare at it incredulously for a few moments before he speaks. "Shh. James," He says my name like a laugh and my heart squeezes at the sound. "I'm happy to be your friend."

I look into his blue eyes. They're so earnest and deep, and my head says don't trust his words but my heart says you've wanted a friend for so long.

Adam makes the decision for me by grabbing my hand and pulling me up out of my seat.

"W-wait! What are you doing? Adam!" I yell as I get dragged through the front door. When we make it through, I realize it's pouring.

Adam only laughs, stretching out his arms and spinning in a circle, sticking his tongue out to only hope to get a taste of the rain. And there, standing in the pouring rain, for the first time I think to myself:

so this is what happiness looks like.