Reaching Out for You (8 page)

Kyle laughs
manically and I know he’s never going to let me go until he gets what he wants.
All of a sudden, I see Adam running toward us. “Adam!” I shout.

Kyle pushes me to
the ground and turns around to face Adam. I see his fists ball up tightly and
instantly panic. I don’t know what’s going to happen next. No! Adam can’t get
hurt. “This is none of your business Simpson.” He shouts angrily. “Back the
fuck away.”

I see Adam get
in Kyle’s face. I swiftly get up off the ground and run to Adam’s side. When I
grab his arm, he turns his head to look at me. He doesn’t say anything but I
know he’s glad to have me by his side. “She told you to leave Harrington.” Adam
points his finger into Kyle’s chest. “I suggest you back the fuck away from
her.” Adam stands in front of me and grabs my hand. He holds on tightly as I
place my cheek on his back.

Kyle smacks
Adam’s hand away. “What the fuck do you care asshole? She’s nothing but a fucking
cunt
ass bitch.”

Adam looks at me
and I know to get out of the way. I take a few steps back before he punches
Kyle in the face. I watch Kyle fall to the ground and see his menacing
expression. I immediately grab Adam’s left arm to pull him away. All of this
drama needs to stop. I can’t take it anymore. “Stop please,” I softly plead.
Kyle quickly gets up from the ground and looks at the both of us. “Oh I get it
now. You’re fucking this prick, aren’t you?”

Adam tries to
pull away from me but I hold him tighter. “Just leave Kyle.” I tell him.

Kyle points at
us, “This ain’t over.” He looks over at me before leaving. That dark look
leaves me trembling.
Why can’t he just
leave me alone?

We watch Kyle
walk away and I let out a sigh of relief. Adam pulls me close to his body and I
can feel his heart racing. I wrap my arms around him and I never want to let
go. We stay like this for a while before he lets me go and touches my face.
“You ok?”

I touch his
hand. “I’m ok now. Thank you for everything.” I see the smile on his face and I
melt,
my
smile.

“I’m glad you’re
ok.” His eyes don’t leave mine. I love the feel of his hands on my face. I feel
so much better. This is where I want to be.

“Always,” I put
my arms around his waist as I rest the side of my head to his chest. He’s a
good five inches taller than me and I feel his breathing quicken. I hold him
tighter letting him know I’m here to stay. I feel him resting his chin on top
of my head and putting his arms around me. This feels right and I smile thinking
that this is the start of us again.

The next few
days flew by. Adam and I were slowly getting back to the way things used to be.
He’s been spending more time with me in my room. We watched movies and caught
up on the past four years we’ve lost. He told me about
Boston
and how much fun he had. I loved sitting
there listening to him tell me all the great places he wanted to take me to. I
told him about my sessions with Dr. Taylor and that I felt better. He made me
laugh and it was like we never missed out on those years. I never got a chance
to ask why he came back and he didn’t asked about Kyle. Things truly were
starting to feel better. We haven’t talked about what happened between us and I
couldn’t bring myself to talk to him about it. I knew that it would be coming
soon and I prepared myself for that day. He tucked me in at night and
surprisingly, the nightmares haven’t returned. I should have taken the
initiative and told him how I felt but we haven’t had that perfect moment yet.
I wanted to make sure it would be something neither of us would forget. I
wished for that day to come soon.

* * * * * *

It’s Sunday
night and after hours of studying, I think it’s time for a break. I’m starving!
I put my books away and decide to text
Erin
so we can go out for the night. After
writing three essays, studying for a marketing test and reading about
entrepreneurs, I think I deserve a break.

Me: Can you please come to my room?

Erin
:
Yeah
np
.
U ok?

I don’t text her
back since she is going to be in here within a few seconds. I stare at my phone
again looking at Adam’s number. Before I can text him, Erin comes rushing in, “
Soph
! What’s wrong? I got here as soon as I could! You
aren’t a very good explainer in text messages you know! You left me hanging!”
Erin
’s out of breath as she falls at the end
of my bed.

 
I sit up. “I’m sorry honey,” I laugh. “Yeah’
I’m fine, just confused!” I fall back on my bed laughing.

Erin
lies on her side while looking at me,
“About what?”

I give her a
small smile and cover my face. “Adam’s been spending more time with me.”

Erin
’s face lights up. “Wow look at you!” She
comes over to my bed and I tell her how we’ve been. She listens to every word
and doesn’t hide her delight. It feels amazing telling her all of this. I’ve been
so happy these past few days and it feels right to be with Adam again. We have
a natural flow and it’s incredible to have these feelings. I’m smiling more and
my confidence is slowly coming back.

Erin and I lay
in my bed talking about random things when both of our stomachs grumble. “Well
I’m hungry for some sushi, so get your cute little booty up and let’s go!”
Erin
gets out of bed and puts on her jacket.

“Alright let’s
go!” I quickly throw on a pink hoodie, my black
Uggs
and loop my arm through
Erin
’s, “You’re the best.”

“Only for you
doll,” She gives me a kiss on the cheek and we laugh as we leave my dorm.

Erin
goes on about how she went on a date
with a guy named Brad but ended up leaving thirty minutes in because he was a
bore. I laughed as she talked and wondered when she’ll find someone who’ll make
her happy. As she continued to talk about her infamous hook-ups, Adam and
Connor appeared out of nowhere.

I feel my
muscles clench and twist with desire at the sight of him. I just want him to
take me in his arms. His gorgeous eyes are on me and unexpectedly I forget how
to breathe, “Adam.” As I say his name, I feel my face grow hot.

I watch his eyes
looking up and down my body and I am shaking all over. I hope he doesn’t see
how pathetic I look at just the sight of him. “Hi
Soph
,
nice to see you again,” He says winking at me. Everything about him makes me
melt. It’s getting easier to be around him. I try not to sound too nervous.

“Good to see you
too.” Adam comes closer to me and wraps his arm around my shoulders. I put my
arm around his waist and smile.

Erin
steps next to me, “Adam? Hey! I don’t
know if you remember me from Science class but I’m
Erin
.”She
puts out her hand to him.

Adam takes her
hand. “Yeah I remember you. What happened? You were talking to me one day and
then completely ignored me,” he asked laughing.

I look away from
the both of them but see
Erin
’s scowl on her face. “Oh you know how it
is!” She eyes Connor and starts smiling. In all the years we’ve been friends,
I’ve never seen her smile that way to anyone. “So what’s your name?”

I look over at
Connor and smile reassuringly when I see him blushing. I remember how painfully
shy he is around girls, but never me.

“Connor,” he
quietly responds. He looks at me and I give him an encouraging smile.

Erin
moves away from me and walks over to
Connor. “Well it’s so nice to meet you Connor.” She says in a flirtatious way.
She turns around, winks at me then looks between them. “Are you guy’s hungry?”

I cautiously
look up at Adam and wonder what he wants to do. It’ll be nice to spend time
with both him and Connor but I don’t want him to feel obligated to go. “You
don’t have to come if you don’t want to.”

Adam smiles and
pulls me to his chest a little tighter. “It sounds like fun.” He looks over at
Connor and smirks. “Connor you down?” My heart is beating fast and doing flips.
The sharp pain I used to feel is going away and now the ache of wanting him to
be mine lurks its ugly head. I look over at
Erin
and can see the thrill on her face of
playing matchmaker.

I see Connor’s
lips start curving in that mischievous way, “Oh yeah I’m down.” He gives me a
wink and I can’t help but laugh. I miss him and his laughter so much.

“Perfect!”
Erin
claps her hands together. “I’ll drive.
Connor you can sit up front with me.”
Erin
loops her arm through Connor’s. “You’re cute you know.” I see Connor’s body
shoot straight up. I don’t know why he’s like this.

I watch as
Connor and Erin walk in front of us. I notice that Adam’s arm is still around
me. I slide my arm around his waist and hear his breath hitch. I feel alive and
awake. It’s as though I slept for millions of years and his touch was all I
needed to wake up. I want to be able to give him my heart and trust that he
won’t break it but I hold back just a little because I’m not sure what will
happen between us. I’m trying hard not to shake as I bite my lower lip and
think about what could be. Adam kisses the side of my head and pulls me in
more. “Stop thinking,” He quietly says, “Let’s just
have
fun tonight.”

“How do you know
I’m thinking?” I ask suspiciously.

“I know you
Soph
.” He squeezes my shoulders and I relax.

Erin and Connor
get in the car and when we get there I’m about to let go of Adam when he opens
the door for me. It’s been a while since someone did this for me. “Thank you,”
I say to Adam.

“You’re welcome
Soph
.”

As we all get in
and start driving, I look out the window as my mind runs wild. I see all the
Christmas lights throughout the trees and buildings. The night sky is full of
stars and it’s beautiful out. The burning sensation goes through me as Adam
takes my hand again and caresses it gently. The spark that ignites with each
touch sends me in
a frenzy
. I look over at him and see
a smile on his face. I feel vulnerable with him, but in a good way. I want to
share with him my heart and soul. His gestures show me that we’re ok but I
sense a part of him is holding back like I am. I want to hear the words from
him. I need to hear him tell me what he feels for me. I try to think about a
good time we can talk about what I’m feeling and hope he feels the same way.

“So Adam I hear
you’ve been friends with my BFF since forever.”
Erin
looks in the rearview mirror smiling. I
want to strangle her. My body tenses and this is exactly what I wanted to avoid
tonight.

Adam pulls his
free hand through his hair, “I’m sure
Soph
told you
we’ve known each other since we were in diapers,” he takes a deep breath in and
looks at me, “But you know guys can be assholes sometimes and things happened.”
He glances down at me and smiles.

“Did
Soph
tell you she sucker punched him in the face and he
ended up getting a nice bruise right under his eye,” Connor starts to say,
“Sophia thought she was invincible and went crazy on us,” he laughs.

Erin
’s hand flies up to her mouth to hold her
laugh. “Whoa what, Sophia you never told me that!” I sink low in my seat and
shake my head. I can’t look at anyone!

Connor starts to
explain, “Yep.
Soph
came over to the house smashed,
starts screaming at us and then boom right in the face. Adam drops to his knees
and she probably would have killed him if I didn’t pull the Hulk there off
him.”

I’m dreaming.
This is not happening. I want to just disappear. Adam’s laughing right along
with Connor as if that night didn’t matter.
How
could they laugh about what happened? Does this mean they forgive me and we can
be friends again?
I mentally hit myself because I sound like an idiot.

“Sophia Burns!
Why didn’t you ever tell me what happened?”
Erin
chuckles. I wince and try to let go of
Adam’s hand but he squeezes it tighter. I turn my head toward him and try to
figure out what he’s thinking. His beautiful face is happy and I softly laugh
to myself. This is what I’ve been missing out on-
happiness.