Exciti

Chapter 9 (Adam)

Four days later, Adam emerged from his room, backpack in hand, to find his mother waiting for him in the hall. "Good morning, sweetie. Did you sleep well? How do you feel? Are you hungry? Are you excited about going back to school? Have you told Liam you are going back?" his mother bombarded him with questions. She did that whenever she was nervous.

Multiple answers swarmed his head, and all of them would've made her worry. So, he faked a bright smile, "Yeah, I can't wait!"

It worked; his mother seemed pleased with his answer. "Perfect. Sit and eat, I'm going to get my keys."

As soon as she turned her back, Adam took a deep, quiet breath and rubbed his face. The constant acting was so exhausting. He put his hand in his pocket and touched the Barber coin, reminding himself of the bigger picture.

Ever since the hospital incident, Adam had been reenacting every sign of recovery he found online. It was simple, in fact. Every time he was asked, Adam denied that Tam and Ms. White had ever existed and insisted that he didn't know why he ever thought that they did. The results were quick. The doctors believed him, stopped asking his mother to take him back to the hospital, and he was allowed to go back to school. Even his mother had stopped crying, although she seemed to always be on the verge of tears nowadays.

He let his mother do all the talking on the short ride to school, trying hard to answer with the appropriate nods, yesses, and hmms, but his mind was somewhere else. The next stage in his plan was to get to the knickknacks store and find Dr. Little and Lucy. No one else remembered Tam and Adam was certain they knew more than he did. A short search online showed only one store that fit the description, and the address of Mercury Antiques was now scribbled on a piece of paper somewhere in his backpack. Adam glanced at his mom, he was going to have to wait until classes ended today, skipping his first day back might land him back in the hospital.

When they arrived at the school, Adam jumped out of the car with a quick and cheerful, "Bye!" He didn't fail to notice that his mother's car didn't move until he passed the school gate, but he expected as much.

The first thing he noticed were the Halloween decorations that filled the school halls. Is it Halloween already? He did a quick calculation in his head. Halloween was Thursday. He had lost three, no four, weeks of school.

He pushed the idea aside and attempted to refill his head with his afternoon plans. A flash of red dismantled all his thoughts again.

He stood rooted in place, breathing the word, "Lucy!?"

She looked like she was waiting for him. "Heeey," she walked toward him, "Are you always late for school? The first bell has already rung."

"What are you doing here? Where is Dr. Little?" Adam looked around for the tall, dark man.

She rolled her eyes. "He isn't here. An adult wouldn't fit well in the school. Stranger danger and all that."

Adam repeated his question. "Why are you here?"

"Because I have been given the delightful job of being your bodyguard!"

Adam's confused expression seemed to annoy Lucy. She groaned, "Please tell me that your pea-sized brain has figured out by now that your life is in danger!?"

Adam took a deep breath. This is backward, all of it. "I'm FINE! It is Tam that you guys should be looking for!"

Her brows shot up. "What makes you think we aren't looking?!"

Adam stood his ground. "Well, you are here!"

She stepped forward until Adam had to cross his eyes to look at her and hissed, "Listen to me, you ungrateful dolt. You are FINE because a bunch of us have been watching over you and your mother at all hours since that night at the hospital. Believe me, if it were up to me, I would be out there, looking for Tamara and not stuck here, babysitting her whiny baby brother!"

He truly hated her! "Then GO! I don't want your protection!" he growled back.

She stepped back and smirked, looking pleased to have made him mad. "No can do! Boss's orders. Besides, with the people who are after you being the ones who took Tamara, you are the closest thing we have to a clue."

Adam still wanted to argue, she was insufferable! "You say we a lot. Who are you?"

She shrugged, "Can't tell you about that either."

Adam bit his tongue, getting angry wasn't going to help. "Fine, suit yourself. I already know where your store is, anyway. One way or another, I will get my answers today."

Lucy frowned when he mentioned the store, then narrowed her eyes, "Perhaps your brain isn't pea-sized after all," she tilted her head like she was measuring him, "Sesame sized, maybe? What makes you think you are welcome there?"

He groaned and stomped away. Does she have to be rude ALL the time?

She started keeping pace with him, so he whipped around to face her. "You're not going to stalk me all day, are you?!"

"Why not?"

"I don't know, maybe because the teachers will notice a strange girl following me to class!"

Her brilliant smile was alarming. "Naw, they will think it is nice of you to show the newest student at Sault's Academy around."

Is she for real?! Adam opened his mouth to say something like 'heck no!' When he noticed Liam standing near the school gate, staring at them. The terror in his face made Adam's chest ache. He grabbed Lucy's arm and steered her away as the second bell rang for the first class.