Puzzle

Chapter 3

"Hey, can I ask you something?" Tori asks when I sit down at the table for lunch.

"Yeah, you can ask me anything you want."

"I was just wondering, well, what do you think of Adam?" I'm not sure why she's asking me what I think of her boyfriend. Maybe she wants to make sure I like him.

"I think he seems nice and like he would make a good friend."

"Me too, and that's the thing, I feel like he makes a great friend, but he's just not someone I want to date, you know what I mean?" I had no idea she felt that way, but it's understandable since they've only been dating for a few days. They just don't seem like they would fit together very well because from what I've seen their personalities are similar.

"Have you talked to him about it?" If she feels like she wants to just be friends with Adam I feel like she needs to talk to him about it before he gets too close to her.

"Talk to who about what?" Tori and I both jump when we hear Adam say something. We all look at each other and he sits down, Tori looks at me as if saying "help me" and I just send her a gentle smile and nod my head towards him.

"Hey, Adam, we need to talk about something," Tori starts nervously. "You're a great person, and you make an amazing friend, but that's what I see you as. You're a friend to me, and I don't see you as anything more than that, I'm sorry." Tori looks nervous and Adam looks confused, while I'm awkwardly in the middle of their breakup. Couldn't she have done that in private?

"I understand that, and honestly I feel the same way as you." I breathe a sigh of relief that he understands and isn't upset or hurt by what Tori told him. This is the most calm breakup I've ever seen, and I'm grateful for it since I'm right in the middle.

"So everything is good, right?" I ask them. I want to make sure everything between them is fine before we move onto something else.

"Everything is perfect." Adam smiles at me and then starts eating. I'm not hungry, so I didn't get anything, I'm just watching Adam eat. Well, I might be staring at him. It's hard not to stare at him. He's attractive and he has a good heart.

"Aren't you going to eat something?" he asks.

"No, I'm not hungry right now. I don't usually eat lunch."

"You need to eat something because you'll get hungry later. Here," he says and hands me a bag of Doritos from his tray. I smile and take them from him, and I start eating. Tori smiles at me and continues to eat her food as well. We fall into a comfortable silence together.

As we're all eating, I see Duncan walking towards our table. I remember inviting him to breakfast, but not telling him where I sit at lunch. He probably just saw the three of us sitting by ourselves and decided to come over. He sits down right next to me, so closely I can feel the heat of his breath on my skin. It sends shivers down my body, but not the kind people desire.

None of us say anything, we all simply look at each other. A few minutes pass as we're eating and I feel Duncan's leg brush up against mine. I glance over at him and his eyes meet mine. I quickly look away and go back to my lunch. Another couple of minutes go by, and I feel Duncan's hand sliding over my upper thigh.

This is getting weird, Tara. You're uncomfortable, leave.

But I don't want to be rude.

Be rude, say something, leave.

"Adam, will you come with me to throw away my trash?" I ask him. I want to get away from here, but I'm scared to go by myself. I give him a pleading look hoping he'll get the message.

"Yeah, sure," he nods, giving me a worried look. I jump off my seat and grab my empty bag of chips. I'm going to tell him what happened under the table so I have someone to confide in.

As we get to the trash cans and no one is around he stops me. I spin around to face him and he asks "what's wrong? You look like you're about to cry and you were fine before he sat down next to you."

"I was just sitting there eating the chips you gave me and he kept pushing his leg up against mine so I kept moving it away and then I felt his hand start moving to my upper thigh and it was weird to me and I really wanted to get away from the table and it made me uncomfortable I'm sorry," I rush the words out in one huge breath. He looks back over at the table, and then he looks at me.

"Do you want me to say something to him?"

"I don't want to make a big deal out of it, I just needed to tell someone because I was uncomfortable and I felt like I was suffocating at the table." I don't want him to say anything about it, all I needed was a friend to vent to. I don't want to make a big deal out of nothing.

"I won't say anything since you don't want me to, but if it happens again, I want you to let me know. You don't need someone making you uncomfortable like that, and there's no reason you should have to deal with it. If he starts bothering you, I'll take care of him." He looks completely serious when he's telling me. I give him a grateful smile and nod my head.

"Thank you, I really appreciate that. Is it okay if I sit by you? I don't want to sit by him."

"Yeah, of course you can," he tells me. I smile at him, and we go back to the table together. I take my new seat next to Adam, and he shoots Duncan a glare. Tori sends us a weird look, but I shake my head. I'll tell her what happened later.

The bell rings signalling the end of lunch, and I go to third period with Tori. On the way there, I explained to her what happened with Duncan and how I told Adam and what he said to me. What Adam said to me was sweet and I really appreciate him offering to talk to Duncan for me. If anything else happens I'll be sure to tell him about it.

...

I come home from school and put on some clothes more comfortable than the ones I wore to school. As soon as I walk downstairs, I follow Adam on Instagram. Almost immediately, I get a follow request back and I send him a message.

Tara.bear: Hey

Adam15: Hey, how are you doing after today?

I smile at the message I read. The first thing he asks after messaging me is how I'm doing after the whole Duncan situation and that seems so sweet to me. It makes me feel like he genuinely cares about me and my wellbeing. He's a great person and it continues to show in every situation I've been in with him so far. I try to think of a response to his message and I'm really not sure how I feel.

Tara.bear: I'm fine, but I've been better. It was a weird day. How are you doing after being broken up with?

Adam15: Honestly? Good. It didn't affect me a lot because we were just starting to get to know each other.

Tara.bear: It's good to hear that.

Adam15: Hey, do you want to call me? I want to get to know you better, and I feel like it's hard to do that over text

Tara.bear: sure

Instagram: Incoming video chat from Adam15

"Hey," I laugh. I start blushing because I'm not used to calling people. I've always been more of a texting person, so this is out of my comfort zone. I look at my screen and notice his hair is wet. He must have just gotten out of the shower. I wish I was in the shower with him...

"You look nice with wet hair!" I blurt out. Why would I say that? Well, it's true. He really does look nice with wet hair.

He smiles at me with a beautiful smile. "Thank you." He laughs when I start blushing even more, and I love every second of it. We stay on the phone for a few hours, and we talk about all the different things we can think of. We talk about school, our families, our pets mostly. The call cheers me up, and makes me smile more than I have in the past few weeks.

When we hang up I start making dinner, and thinking about how much the people around me are changing. I'm changing too, but I enjoy being a little more outspoken with new people. I lose myself in cooking, and enjoy the rest of my day while texting Adam through it all.