Of June

23- Cloudy Question Marks

I glance to my right and find a baby gummy smiling at me from a pram, right next to a chair on which her mother sits. I flash a counter beam, pivoting my neck back to the front with a deadpan look as soon as my face meets his.

"Are you done?" I fling Adam another bored expression, slouching back in my seat while crossing arms over my green argyle sweater.

He keeps staring at me in amazement, wide-eyes that slowly blink once every minute like a child observing his new grand robotic toy. This questionable act of him has been going on ever since I arrived at the table he'd earlier reserved for both of us. "You're so. . .small. . ."

I press my lips in a thin line and inch forward, resting my forearms upon the glass table. "No offense but you're the one who's a giant now." I stress, the table spreading a cold sensation beneath my skin despite the heated restaurant interior and my wooly attire. Thanks to our brief encounter last night, we were already past that initial awkward stage of a reunion.

The moment I succumbed in front of him under the clear night sky, it didn't take long for Adam to rush over and offer help. While I wondered if my abrupt weakness was emotional or physical, he insisted driving me home as long as I was fine with giving him the directions. Granted, we didn't speak at all during the entire ride. It almost felt like we weren't related in any possible way, and he was just helping a random girl like me out of pure decency.

It was only once we halted beside my destination that he cracked the icy layer of silence inside his car. He explained forgetting his hotel room keys as the reason he was forced to return to the park, which lead to him finding my diary first. He had to flip open the first page to search for the owner's name, and that's when the Polaroids decided to flutter their way out of the book's grasp. After that, all that was left for him to do was put two and two together and figure out who the fan he'd met earlier actually was.

I kept nodding and humming yeah's and I see's from the passenger seat, feeling all kinds of flustered because of getting caught lying point-blank. It seemed like he didn't mind the lies, though, since the only request he'd made as I stepped out of the car was to catch up at a restaurant, which I consented to with a fuzzy mind.

"I guess the park is where we're always supposed to meet, isn't it?" He states, bringing me back to the present. A pinch of amusement binds his tone. "Honestly, I still can't get used to it. I always used to imagine that you'd be my age in case we ever happen to. . .run into each other like this. So according to the laws of nature you should've been twenty five, at the very least."

"Well according to the laws of science, I should be fifteen at the very most." I snap back with a fake smile, pick up the menu booklet and skim my eyes over the dish names.

'Can't say I'm disappointed, though." He admits, leaning forward with another grin. "You were too much to deal with even as a fifteen year old, so I wasn't sure if I'd be able to handle your autocratic antics as an adult. Not to mention you can't boss me around anymore for being the younger one." He crosses his arms and rests back, sticking his nose up in the air.

"Wow. . ." I say in a sarcastic awe. "You sure have collected a handful of audacity growing up. You know, when I used to watch your interviews online, I assumed you'd be the sweetest guy to ever talk to in real life. Guess I was all wrong, huh?"

He clears his throat, hiding a smirk behind a hand. "So you do admit you liked watching my interviews?"

"Keyword: used to. Now I sure do regret every second spent on those videos."

He faces down briefly to chuckle, before looking back up. "What about you? Do you still go around giving death threats to everyone?"

With a small pout, I shuffle in my seat. For some reason I can't bring myself to mind all the silly insults he's been drowning me in. "You really recall all that about me? It's been over ten years."