𝐀𝐃𝐀𝐌 𝐖𝐀𝐈𝐓𝐒 𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐄 Rowan gets her things together, the engine running and radio blaring.
"You might want to turn that down," she says, climbing into the passenger's seat of the truck. "The whole block will hate us even more."
"The mountain is high, the valley is low!"
"Oh, I forgot. Free Ride is the most important thing in your life now. Who cares about the neighbors then?"
The boy smiles, his dimples present against his summer-tanned skin as he reaches over to turn down the stereo's volume. "Come on, Ro. Name a better time to blast music than right now--the first day of Senior year."
"Maybe when it's not seven in the morning?" she suggests. She squints her eye when a glare from the sun hits her in the face.
"So lame."
Rowan rolls her eyes in amusement and pulls the sun visor down, carefully painting on a coat of lipgloss. "What do you say about getting this show on the road? You know, before the neighbors show up with pitchforks--demanding our heads or something?"
"You look so pretty," he sounds, trying to soften her up. "I love you."
Ignoring her boyfriend--it was impossible. There was something about Adam Banks that made her think, no matter what he did really, he was the feeling of hot tea on a cold day. Adam Banks, if nothing else, was the feeling of coming home. Smiling lightly, a blush crept up to the apples of her cheeks–insulating her face with a warming burst of affection. "I love you, too."
"Atta girl," Adam grins cheekily, lazily patting her thigh as he put the truck in reverse, attentively backing out of the driveway onto North Hennepin Avenue.
"What's your hockey schedule like this season?"
Smoothly rolling to a halt at the stop sign, Adam glances over at the girl before again checking the road. Turning the wheel to the right with one hand, he answers with the two-hour practice time freshly scribbled into his daily calendar for the following few months. "Why? You wanna go on a date soon?"
The girl shrugs. She looks at the window, lightly biting down on her lower lip. "Just want to know when I'm going to be able to see my boyfriend who decided to become super busy this year with his Varsity schedule, AP classes, and job."
"Hey," he counters, his voice light. "I only took those APs because you told me to. And it's not my fault the rink needed me to take multiple sessions this year."
"Jesus, I was kidding," she laughs, planting a soft kiss to his hand as she lifts it off her leg and laces his fingers through her own. "You're like the town hero. Of course, you're going to be busy. I just want to make sure you're giving yourself a break. You don't have to move at full speed at all times."
"Rowan, teaching little kids how to skate is not the most demanding task in the world. I promise I'm not going to burn myself out. And even if I was, I know you'd stop me before I could, anyways."
"Yeah, well, it's my job," she says.
"And what about you?" asks Adam. "What's on your plate?"
"Not much for today. We still have a little while before we have to really start getting back in the rink. But I'm skating with Mabel and Harper at six tonight."
"Yeah?" he notes, flashing the blinker as he turned onto the Eden Hall campus. "What's going on with those two?"
"Beats me. Beats everyone, really," Rowan answers. "I'm not 100% sure that I'm third-wheeling but I think I am. I don't know. It's been like this since Mabel came out last year. They were friends before but there's that energy there now, you know?"
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𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬 | 𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐦 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬
Fanfiction"Tell me to stay and I will." He thinks for a long moment. If we were meant to stay in one place forever, we'd have roots rather than legs. "I think you should go," he says finally.
