𝐟𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 | adam banks

sixty five | awaited hugs

A D A M
B A N K S

-eden hall academy
-first day of freshman year

My eyes traveled around the crowded auditorium with humiliation. I was so embarrassed. I should've known Averman's stupid shortcut wasn't going to work. It just made us later than we already were, and the laughing stock of the school.

My eyes landed on Luis sitting at the end of the row. Was Foster here? I became a mix of humiliated and excited. I wanted to see her.

He suddenly pointed his thumb down the row. I saw her! My eyes met with her beautiful bright once's. I was beyond mesmerized. How could someone be so beautiful?

Her looks had changed, greatly, but to me, she was still the prettiest girl in the world. Aside from my mom of course.

Foster... her hair, it was darker than usual. It sat perfectly on her waist, and her waist, wow, she was stunning. Her hair, her body, her adorable smile, her beauty amazed me so much. It was like a ray of sunshine shined down on her and there was a halo on top of her head. A smile tugged onto my lips. How was she so perfect?

I gulped nervously. She sent me an excited wave, and I wanted to wave back, I really did, but I felt completely paralyzed from the amount of embarrassment I had.

    We definitely made an impression to the school. However, it wasn't a good one.

F O S T E R
G R A Y

   I felt frozen when the curtain was pulled off of the bunch fallen all over the stage. It was him. There Adam stood, or well, kneeled, on the stage surrounded by our teammates.

He was dressed in a pair of neatly pressed khakis, a crispy laundered button-down shirt and tie, with a blue pull over sweater.

"Uh oh," I heard Ken speak up. I glanced at him for a brief moment as he continued to talk, "Banks has a middle part. You know what that means..."

He trailed off. I shook my head confused.

"No," I responded. I truly didn't.

"It means he's a man," he said. A small smile tugged on my lips. I let out a small laugh before gazing back up at Adam.

   His dreamy bright blue eyes traveled around the room nervously before landing on me. He froze as well. I got mixed feelings in my stomach.

   I so bad wanted to get up and run to the boy, but I knew I couldn't.

   He was right when he said he looked different. He changed. He grew up. He looked... hot. A blush crept onto my cheeks and I suddenly became excited.

All I could say was.. wow. He grew up in the last few months. I remember him asking if I'd still like him, but now, I was wondering, would he still like me?

   "Hi," Charlie said from amongst the group on the stage. "We're the Ducks."

   Following the assembly, we were asked to report to Dean Buckley's office immediately. I didn't even have a chance to go up to them and hug them, when all I wanted to was to do so.

   I walked into the dean's posh office with Julie at my side. I gazed around the room admiringly. My eyes suddenly landed on the rest of the Ducks that were now changed out of their skates and pads.

   I saw Adam standing by a bookcase. My smile grew. Behind me, Luis pushed me forwards to the boy. Adam suddenly noticed me. A smile became visible on his face. He opened his arms.

   "Foster," he breathed out. I ran up to him, jumping into his comforting arms. I felt my feet being lifted from the ground. He was much taller. He held me tightly while my arms were wrapped around his neck. I buried my head in the crook of his neck smelling the familiar scent of cashmere.

    I missed his embrace. I missed the feeling of him. I missed him. I could feel his hot breath against my ear which sent chills up and down my body. The corners of my lips curled upwards into a smile.

"I really wanna kiss you," he whispered, "but were in the dean's office and I don't think that'd be respectful..," he trailed off. His voice had even gotten deeper.

I let out a small laugh, moving my head back so I could look at him. I gazed into his eyes, missing seeing them everyday. He was so handsome. He set me back on the ground. I removed my hands from his neck and wrapped them around his torso, resting my head on his chest. I felt him kiss the top of my head gently and quickly. My smile only grew.

I stayed silent. I didn't know what to say. I just stood there enjoying the embrace I desperately missed and needed. If felt amazing. It was a type of painkiller to me.

"Hey, check that out. Antsville..," Charlie spoke up grabbing everyone's attention. I forced myself to pull away from Adam. He pulled away from me. He stood beside me, our arms around each other's waist with butterflies in my stomach. We walked over behind Russ to a large aquarium in the middle of the room filled with ants. I looked at it in amazement.

"Look at 'em go," Fulton faintly said, his face close to the glass. Adam and I stayed back while a few others huddled around it.

At the door, Dean Buckley walked into the room. He pressed his face on the other side of the glass in front of me, startling the rest of our teammates.

"You can learn a lot from ants," he grinned. Everyone looked at him startled. I gazed at him nervously. We were probably going to be in a ton of trouble after the assembly. I hoped not. "Brazilian fire ants," he said as if he was answering a question. "Even more important, they can teach you a lot about successful societal structure." This guy was kind of nuts. How'd he know all of this about simple ants? "There is one queen and the rest are dedicated worker ants. Everyone pulls her weight. Nobody complains and there is harmony and growth. The same is true here at Eden Hall. You," he said, "are the workers, the backbone."

My eyes traveled to Russ in front of Adam and I with a small grin. I was waiting for his sarcastic response.

"And are you the queen?" He cracked.

I was happy to be back in Minnesota, and that in fact, was a fact.