𝐟𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 | adam banks

thirty | apologies

foster gray

-dormitory gym
-team practice

    Coach had us all in the large gym here in the dorms. Practice was sort of awkward. People actually talked to me though.

    Adam told me about the meeting they had. I did feel sort of bad in a way. I didn't tell him about the Connie situation. I wasn't sure how he would react and I was genuinely scared of how he would.

    I knew I'd tell him when the time was right, but right now, it wasn't.

    Ken and I ran side by side on the treadmills. Beside Ken was Averman and Goldberg with Coach running behind Goldberg, which I could tell was making him very nervous.

   In front of us, working on the machines for their muscles, a shirtless Adam and a shirtless Luis stood there.

    For some reason, I couldn't take my eyes off of Adam, and Ken noticed.

    Every time I looked at Adam, I felt butterflies in my stomach. I didn't understand why. He was my best friend.

    "You like him, don't you?" Ken asked me, clearly out of breath. I looked at the boy confused and quickly shook my head.

    "Adam? No, I don't know what you're talking about. I don't like him," I rambled to Ken. He rolled his eyes at me.

    "If you didn't you would've just said no," he fired at me. I sighed but kept the same look of confusion on my face.

    "I don't like Adam. I swear! Adam is my best friend!" I defended. Ken grinned at me.

    "You keep repeating his name, and now you're defending yourself," he called me out. I felt my cheeks turn red. I looked down at my feet as I ran, "it's obvious you do. It's obvious he likes you too. Your face glows when you see him or even talk to him. His face glows too, and he talks about you nonstop. You even talk about him nonstop."

    "Ken," I started again. I shifted my gaze upwards, "I don't like him, and he doesn't like me."

    He rolled his eyes again. He stopped his treadmill once his timer went off. It was his turn to switch.

    "You like him, and you can't tell me any different. Your secret is safe with me," he smiled. He grabbed his towel and his water bottle from the side of the treadmill and started to walk away.

    "I do not like him!" I shouted back.

     Ken was soon out of sight. I sighed once more, turning back to my workout. Someone suddenly took Ken's place on the treadmill beside me. It was Dean. I gave him a small smile.

    I suddenly had a flashback of that night in the gym before the Iceland game when I completely shut Dean down. I frowned.

    "Portman, can I talk to you?" I asked him before he started. My timer suddenly went off. Perfect timing.

    Dean nodded his head, "yeah. I was going to go get a water bottle anyways. Come with me," he said. I smiled at him once again.

    I walked off of the treadmill and headed out of the gym with Dean. We walked down the hall to the vending machines.

    "I wanted to apologize," I started, looking down at my feet nervously and crossing my arms, "for that night in the gym awhile back... you were trying to talk to me and I was rude to you, and I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that."

     Dean stopped in his tracks and looked down at me. He placed his hands on my shoulders gently.

    "Don't stress, alright? If anything, I should be the one apologizing. I completely understand why you were the way you were. Honestly, you weren't even rude about it either," he sweetly said to me. I felt myself smile. He then removed his hands from my shoulders in disgust. I laughed.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I'm kind of sticky and sweaty from practice," I chuckled. Dean smiled again and shook his head. He pulled me in for a hug, not caring that I was sweaty and most likely smelled terrible.

"You're a great person, Foster, and I'm sorry I ever hurt you. You didn't deserve it," he whispered to me. My smile slowly started to fade but stayed at the same time. I held onto him tightly.

"Portman, I never got the chance to thank you or the boys for getting me new clothes for under all of my gear. That was really sweet of you and I never said thank you," I spoke softly. I pulled away from him and looked up.

He nodded his head, "yeah, of course. It wasn't right of Connie to do that at all. I just, I don't know what she ever had or has against you."

I shrugged my shoulders, placing my back against the wall.

"Jealousy," I admitted. Her words from earlier were repeating in my head over and over again. I still couldn't believe what happened had happened.

I couldn't believe I punched her, and I still feel bad about that. She had a huge shiner on her cheek, and while we were in the locker room getting changed for practice, everyone kept asking what it was from.

She refused to answer them, and she got angry that they even asked. Adam knew something was up with me, but he didn't bother asking me anything.

Of course, if I wanted him to know, I would've told him. I was just nervous.

Eventually, Dean and I headed back to the gym, going back to the workouts Coach had planned for all of us.

Practice was weird, but it was also great.

Maybe this was a start to a new beginning.