To: Lij
Mate come on

It was 2 weeks after Grace and I talked about Adam and I hadn't spoken with him since. I ignored his texts, his calls, his waves in school, and especially the pool. The thought of him being dangerous made my head hurt. If the rumours were true, he'd beaten up countless innocent people just for the fun of it. Grace made him sound so nasty, and I felt stupid for trusting him.

I trusted him with my biggest secrets, and he acted like he cared. He acted like he was innocent and happy and carefree, but he wasn't. He was violent and selfish and manipulative. He was a bully, and the thought of me even speaking to him made me sick to my stomach.

To: Lij
Why are you avoiding me
What did I do

He'd asked those questions almost daily, so much so that I nearly felt sorry for him. Then I remembered his black and blue knuckles and my imagination went wild.

He punched a girl

He punched a guy

He did it for fun

Even through all the bad thoughts and things Grace said, I still wanted to talk to him. Every night, I passed by the pool and had to stop myself from hopping the fence and sliding down. I resisted the urge to pretend like I didn't know how dangerous Adam really was.

I didn't know how much I liked having him around until he was gone. I went back to holding things in, because who would listen? Blake didn't care much anymore, the guys would make fun of me, and I didn't want to show Grace that side of me. The only person I could trust anymore was Adam, and I pushed him away and convinced myself it was for my own safety.

I stared at my screen, my eyes tired burning from the bright light. I started tapping the keyboard before I thought what I was going to say through.

To: Adamn
what happened to your hands

To: Lij
What? my hands are fine?

To: Adamn
they're bruised

To: Lij
They're fine

To: Adamn
ill meet you at the pool in 5

Before I knew it, I was jogging the path like it was just another normal night. I forced myself to fall into a counting trance, numbering the breaths that came in puffs of cool air around my face. I always thought was refreshing to run in such cold weather, and England always provided.

When I arrived at the chain link fence I had become a pro at climbing, I stopped and stood still. I thought about jogging away and playing it safe, but then I thought about hopping into the musty pool and finally speaking to him again. I knew I wanted to go with the latter, but then a picture of Adam— his fist raised and his features scrunched together and bright red—popped into my head and made me rethink for what felt like the hundredth time that night.

But I didn't have time to rethink, because a familiar voice from behind me spoke up.

"Are we going in?" Adam asked.

A minute or so later, we were next to the rusty drain sitting so far apart I was afraid I'd have to speak up for him to hear me. There was no music to drown out the rustling bushes and the eerie whistles from the chilly wind. Instead, we were suffocated by awkward silence.

"What did I do?" He finally asked, causing me to let out a breath I didn't even know I was holding. There was a hint of desperation in his voice, like he'd been racking his mind for weeks. I felt a bit bad, but then the picture flashed into my mind again and I shook all thoughts of empathy out of my head.

"You hurt people."

He drew his brows together in confusion. "What are you on about?"

"Give me your hands."

"...what?"

"You're hands," I demanded.

Hesitantly, he placed his hands in my smaller ones. I brushed my thumb across his knuckles, and even in the dark I could see the discolouration. It wasn't as bad as the deep black and blue I'd first seen. Now it was more of a gross purple-yellow mix that didn't spread quite as wide. "Why are your hands bruised?" I asked, not really wanting to hear the answer.

His confused expression fell into something a lot sadder. "It's nothing."

"Who have you hurt?"

"No one."

"Adam, tell me the truth-"

"Fucking no one! Christ, Eli," he snapped, ripping his hands away from mine like they were scolding hot.

"Then why are your hands like this?"

"Fine! If you really need to know..." he took a long breath before dropping his voice and leaning in. "I punch things. I don't hurt people. I'm no bully if that's what you think. I don't hurt people for sport. I get angry and I punch shit like walls and tables and doors. Happy?"

I gave him a once over, unsure of whether to believe him or not. On one hand, he seemed quite genuine. He looked at me with confusion and hurt, like he couldn't believe I would ever think of him as the kind of guy who would do that. But I couldn't stop my eyes from drifting down to his banged up hands. Plus, I have to trust my girlfriend. Isn't that what relationships are all about? "Grace said you were suspended because you beat up a kid in year eight," I told him matter-of-factly.

He shook his head, furrowing his brows. "No. I wouldn't do that."

"Her friends said-" I stopped myself as it dawned on me how hypocritical I was being. Adam didn't seem to mind when I had my moments, so why was I so afraid of his?

I'm a real shitty guy

He didn't wait for me to finish before starting up again. "I don't hurt people. Why would you think that?"

"B-because Grace told me."

"So?"

Yeah, so?

I stood frozen.

He shook his head, clearly offended by my accusations. "We haven't known each other for very long, I know. But don't you think you would've known by now if I bullied people in my spare time?"

Again, I shrugged.

He dropped to the ground and leaned against the concrete wall. His fists were clenched. "Can you put on some music?" He mumbled.

I nodded and hurriedly dug my phone out of my pocket and pressed play. I had made an ongoing playlist with my favourite songs by the artists he suggested on the note and whatever he played when we met up. Oasis flowed out of my phone and filled the pool. I watched Adam relax, and his chest rise and fall much slower and smoother than it did a minute before. I stood awkwardly beside him, not wanting to interrupt whatever he was thinking about.

After a few minutes of silence that dragged on for what felt like hours, he spoke up. "You know all the photos on the walls in my house?"

I nodded. I noticed the art that was hung up in seemingly random places along every wall in their house the first time I went over. I hadn't asked about it as I thought it was just an odd decoration choice.

"When I get stressed out or angry or whatever, I need to let it out somehow. It's not like you where you can't feel what you're doing. I know how I'm reacting and I know how to channel it so I don't hurt anyone but myself. The pictures cover up the holes I made."

I swallowed a gasp that threatened to come out. "You made holes in your walls?"

"There aren't many. It doesn't happen very often and it's not like I do it everywhere, but when I get pissed off..." he trailed off and looked at the floor.

"You get pissed off. Right," I finished for him. "So Grace just heard a rumour? That's all?"

"That's all. I promise."

I nodded. "Sorry," I said, oversimplifying how terrible I felt.

"It's alright. I would be suspicious too, I guess."

He didn't seem very happy, so I dropped the subject and let the music replace the awkward silence where chatting wouldn't help. His tight lipped smile turned genuine and he started to finger drum along to the beat.

I watched him without realising it, letting a smile of my own make its way onto my lips. I loved seeing him happy. Whenever he shot me one of his cheeky grins or laughed so hard he couldn't speak without wheezing, my heart did this thing. I always passed it off as nerves— because, let's be honest, usually if I felt a bit off, it was nerves. But sitting on the floor of the pool at half past one in the morning, watching my best mate bop his head along to Oasis while the moonlight lit up his face, I wasn't nervous at all. But the off feeling was still there.

I ignored it, convincing myself it was nothing, and let the music take over.

<><><>
Chapter 16! Happy Saturday!

Opinions on this chapter? What are your thoughts on Adam and his whole thing? Do you trust him or Grace more? Tough choice for poor Eli.

I absolutely love Oasis. I was so happy putting this song in because it's been one of my favourites since I was a small kiddo. Any other Oasis fans out there? (Probably not on Wattpad, but you never know!)

Thanks so much for reading! It would be awesome if you could add this story to your library, vote, and leave a comment. I always love reading what everyone has to say and I try to respond the best I can!

~Teddy