Someone Like Adam

13. Project "Biology"

It has been a whole week since I last interacted with Adam. The whole time, he ignored me like a plague. Neither did I try to cross his path. Emily was with her grandma so that explains why I was sitting in one corner of cafeteria, silently chugging the orange juice down my throat.

I looked around the place and my eyes landed on Chloe who was busy sucking the soul out of Justin. Beside them was settled Noah, who was running his fingers up and down a blonde's milky white arm.

"Where is Emily?" Sophia said as she walked towards me and sat down.

"She is on leave for three days." I told her and made space for her.

"Is everything alright? You seem off." she asked with a kind smile.

"Uh... Nothing important." I shrugged.

We sat there silently, observing our environment. One thing that I observed about Sophia was that she didn't have many friends. Although I was sure many girls would want to be her friend, considering she is the captain of cheerleading squad. Still, she chose to wander alone.

"Hey Adam!" she called someone, more precisely Adam and never in my life did I turn my head so fast. There stood Adam, holding a sandwich in his hand and a book. In other. He was wearing a black T-shirt that hugged her muscular body perfectly. His hair was a disheveled mess and I so desperately wanted to run my fingers through them.

Wait. Do they both know each other?

"Hey Soph." Adam smiled, more like one corner of his lip lifted a little and a strange pang of jealousy whorled through me.

Soph? Are they on nickname basis?

"Come on. Sit with us." she offered and Adam's frown returned when he noticed me.

"No thanks. Miss. King needs to stay away from me." he gritted. His words hurt me very deeply and I felt my insides clench with grief. Without casting another glance towards me, he left the cafeteria. My hunger died down and I pushed the glass of juice away.

"What was that?" Sophia asked in confusion.

"Nothing." I shook my head and forced a smile on my face. "How do you two know each other?"

"Adam used to babysit my brother two years back." she answered and my eyes widened in surprise.

"Babysitting? Adam doesn't look like someone who would be interested in babysitting." I said.

"Well, that's a fact." she chuckled. "I guess you have heard those rumors."

I nodded.

"Not every thing they say is true Alicia." she spoke softly. "It's highschool. They are all a bunch of liars."

...

The next day, I flopped down on the seat beside Adam in Biology class. He didn't look much pleased with me when I greeted him with a weak "hello".

"There are other unoccupied seats. You don't need to sit with me." he said without looking at me.

"But I want to." I muttered under my breath and by the look of surprise, I was sure he had heard me.

He would have retorted back but Mr. Walter entered the class on time and we both turned our heads towards him. He started his boring lecture on Thyroid gland and I stiffled a yawn.

"So class, you all do know about the upcoming project on Endocrine system?" he asked and everyone shouted No.

"Well, all of you will divide into pairs and each pair will have to submit a model showing the location and function of each gland within one week." he announced.