"Are you guys coming to Jake Dawson's party Saturday night?" Sophia asked us when she saw us in the bathroom. "What party?" I asked. "His 18th birthday party. The whole school is invited." she told us, applying mascara on her eyelashes. "Sure. It will be nice way to interact with new people. Right Em?" I asked her. "Umm.. I.." she looked nervous. "I haven't been to any party since.. Since.." "Since that Chloe bitch threatened her on a party two year back." Sophia commented. "Is it true?" I asked Emily and the corners of her lips turned downwards. "Yeah." she nodded. How can someone do such thing to her own sister? What a bitch! "We are going to this party Emily. We have to show her that she can't threaten you anymore." I said. "But Justin will be there too." she argued. "All the more reasons to go to that party." Sophia added. "But.." "Do you trust me?" I asked. She bobbed her head up and down, playing with the hem of her purple flowy shirt. "Then believe me, I won't let them do anything to you." I told her. After leaving the bathroom, we made our way to the School's library. I had to complete my biology assignment and Emily had to submit a paper by Friday. We sat down in a corner and started doing our respective work. It took me about half an hour to complete my assignment. Emily was still engrossed in her paper so I took this time to observe my surroundings. Most of the seats were unoccupied. Near the entrance, Mr. Thatcher, the librarian was slumped on his desk. His eyes were closed and his left arm was falling limply beside him. On the two seats beside his desk, a blonde guy was busy flirting with a brunette girl. I averted my eyes when I found him leaning closer to the girl as if he was about to kiss her. Rolling my eyes, I angled my neck to look towards the other corner of library. All the seats were empty in the back too except one. Adam. His back was towards me so I could not see his face. But only one boy in the school had such perfect brown messy hair. Besides, he was wearing the same jacket he wore yesterday so that made recognizing him a lot easier. Leaving Emily buried in her notebook, I stood up and tiptoed towards him. He still hadn't noticed my presence. He was writing the character analysis and by the heap of crumpled papers on the seat beside him, he was not doing a good job. Not to mention, he had to submit it by tomorrow. Great. "May I sit here?" I asked, pointing towards the empty seat beside him. "No." he said without looking at me. "Adam." I grunted and he turned to look at me. "Alicia." he said in a serious voice but listening my name from his mouth did something to my heart. Ugh. "Look, there is something I need to talk to you about." I sat down beside him, ignoring his threatening glare. "Fine. You have exactly one minute. Because after that, I will throw you out of this seat myself." he muttered lowly. I rolled my eyes at his rude words and sighed. "Look. I need you to tutor me." For a moment, his eyes widened but then a hint of smile appeared on his face. "And why do you think I would do that?" "Please Adam. Consider it a request. I got a D in my last Calculus test. I can't afford to get anything below D again. Just teach me the basics." I requested, looking into his deep grey eyes. "Your one minute is over. You can go now." he blurted dryly and turned his attention back to his notebook. "Please." I pouted. "Go away." he replied. "I'll return your favour." I said and he closed his notebook. "You will return my favour?" he cast a taunting look towards me and smirked. "Please tell me how do you intend to do that." "I can help you in Literature." I proposed. "I don't need your help." he answered. "You do." I challenged. "I don't." he countered. "Look, I know you have to submit the analysis by tomorrow. And you haven't done anything. Your grades can suffer because of this and don't forget that this is senior year. One subject can ruin your chances of attending Harvard forever." I said, pointing towards his empty page. "Do I look like I care?" he said bluntly. "Nobody takes four AP classes if he simply doesn't care." I mimicked his smirk. Adam's eyes bore into mine for a minute. His expressions didn't change but I could fee my own heartbeat skyrocketing. There was something about his eyes that held me captive. I could not move or even lower my eyes. After a long pause, he spoke, "Fine. My house, six in the evening, you will help me write the analysis." A huge smile broke on my face and I almost hugged him. Almost. But the killer look in his eyes stopped me. "Thanks." I said and made my way back to my seat. ... After exhaling deeply for the fifth time, I pressed the bell and waited for someone to open the door. Contrary to my expectations, it was Tiffany who opened the door. By the expressions on her face, she didn't expect me here. "Alicia? Come on in." she smiled and then made way for me. "Uh.. Actually, I needed some help in my studies so Adam invited me here. I hope you don't mind." I told her. "Adam? Invited you? Are you serious?" she looked quite surprised. "Umm.. Yeah." I said nervously. "Is there any issue?" "No sweetheart. Of course not." she exclaimed. "Adam will be in his room. It's the first one by the stairs." I thanked her and then slowly marched towards the direction she pointed. Their house was clearly smaller than ours so it didn't took me much time to reach the said room. I pushed the door lightly and it opened with a creak. I peeked through the door and find the room vacant. After contemplating for a moment, I tiptoed inside. Though I had seen his room many times from my window still it felt weirdly strange. It felt like I was stepping into his territory. The room was painted in beige color and was decorated with minimum furniture. It wasn't anything like those typical boy rooms where clothes are heaped everywhere and cans and pizza boxes can be seen lying on the floor. Instead, everything in the room was orderly placed in their particular positions. A small brown bed and a matching cupboard was occupying the front wall. A study table was placed beside the window. Different sized dumbbells were orderly settled againt the study table. With heavy steps, I reached the study table. A journal was placed on one side, the present year was scribbled on its front page. He writes a journal? "What are you doing?" A deep voice entered my ears and I had a mini heart-attack. I jumped on instinct and turned around, only to find Adam standing behind me with a big frown on his face. I exhaled when I realized it was only him. "Uh.. I.. Umm.." I stammered, not knowing what to say. "Tiffany sent me here." He was standing too close to me. Surprisingly, his proximity didn't irk me like Noah's. His eyes were blank, as if he was a ghost. After throwing daggers at me for almost a minute, he backed away. I instantly moved away from him and slouched down on his bed. "Who said you can sit on my bed?" he asked, crossing his arms in front of his chest. He was wearing a black T-shirt, looking handsome as always. The shirt hugged his toned body perfectly, highlighting the contour of his muscular front. "Oh for God's sake, stop being a dramatic sister and sit down." I said and his frown deepened. Picking up his notebook from his study table, he sat down beside me. "Show me what you have done so far." I asked and he lazily passed me the page. "It is empty." I said. "That's why you are here." he grumbled. I groaned at his rudeness and then pulled out my own notes. For the next hour, I dealt with his sour mood while helping him write the analysis. It was not an easy task because Adam was least interested in anything related to literature. Even though we were sitting on the same bed, he made sure to keep an arm's length from me. Not even a single time did his hand touched mine. "No. You can't use the word jerk here." I ordered when I noticed his next line. "Really? Watch me." he said dryly and wrote it. "Adam." I scolded. "Alicia." he mimicked my high-pitched voice. "Ughhh." I groaned again. "Stop whining." he taunted. After arguing with him for five more minutes, I finally forced him to cut the word from the paper. I heaved a sigh of relief when he wrote the last line. "Now?" I asked. "Same time. My house. Saturday." he replied. "No. I am going to Jake Dawson's party on Saturday." I told him. "Then tomorrow." he stated. "You aren't attending the party?" I looked at him in confusion. "I don't do parties." he replied in a serious tone and stood up. "An introvert. Huh?" I teased and he responded with his narrowed glare. "Fine Mr. Salty. I'm going anyways." I stood up to leave. "What did you say?" he asked in his signature tone. "Mr. Salty." I smirked. "Say it again." he stepped closer to me and asked. "M.. Mr. Salty." my voice faltered a bit. "Ahan?" he leaned towards me so that his face stood inches away from mine. "I dare you Alicia. Say it again." "Um.. I.. Uh.. I.." I stuttered, feeling a bit flustered. His eyes bore into mine and I lost my ability to speak. The corner of his lips turned upwards in a smirk and he pulled his face away. "Your daddy must be waiting for you Princess." he taunted in a low voice, stressing on the word Princess. "Go back to your perfect little life." He didn't wait for my response because in a second, he was out of the room, leaving me standing there alone. ______________________