Chapter 1
"Teddy! We have to go. Grab your backpack and meet me outside."
My little brother was ten and it was my responsibility to make sure he got on the bus with me in the morning. He was dragging a bit since he wasn't feeling school today. My mom had to be at work early which meant she was out of the house by five in the morning and our bus came at seven.
"I'm coming, Sissy!" he yelled from inside the house.
He made it outside just in time as the bus pulled into our circle driveway. My grandfather owned two-hundred and fifty acres of land and on it was our tiny three bedroom home and theirs. They owned horses and several dogs that they allowed to roam the property. It was beautiful land, I just wished we had a nicer house to live in.
No one really talked to me on the bus. I normally just sat in the back by myself and listened to music until we arrived at school. When I got to school, I would just sit in the cafeteria until everyone else showed up before the first bell. Band was my first period of the day which I loved. At our tiny school of two hundred students, band wasn't popular unless you were popular sadly. The rest of us were just shunned as outcasts and me...well, I was more of an outcast than anyone.
Some of the popular kids in band would pick on me all of the time and would usually make me feel worthless. It was never fun and would hurt when no one would defend me. It sometimes made me think that my so called "friends" weren't really my friends, but more so to be nice. It wasn't just band preps either though. Some of the preppy guys in my class would harass me as well on field trips or in class. One time, they had fun shooting spit wads into my thick curly hair even after I asked them to stop. I couldn't wait until high school ended.
This sort of torture would continue until my junior year of high school. The only things that had changed were I had finally made it to second chair even though my band director wasn't pleased. He for some reason didn't like me either and would always laugh whenever I was being picked on by the band preps. Figures they would be his favorite.
Now that I was sixteen, I had filled out a little bit more and my clothes began to fit a bit differently. My mom was very conservative and would only buy me clothes that she approved of. If there was an over protective mom award, she would win for sure.
We were only two weeks into my junior year when we had a new student arrive to my school who was in my class. When he walked into my English class, I was shocked to see how handsome he was. His dark hair was a bit long that touched the back of his shirt collar and had long bangs. He was tall and slim but still had a muscular physique. I blushed whenever he glanced over at me staring at him with my mouth gaped open.
His name was Adam Shaw.
It didn't take long for him to become popular either. He was gorgeous and friendly with a white smile that even had an effect on our teachers. I'll admit that I grew a little crush on him, but no way was I telling anyone. Not like he would ever notice me anyways.
Three weeks later, I boarded my bus as usual but when I didn't see my brother on, I questioned the bus driver. She had no idea where he was and didn't see him waiting in line to board either. I was starting to panic when she told me to have a seat so she could leave. I immediately texted my mom to see if she had picked him up early from work. She texted back no and my anxiety grew into a tangled mess in my stomach.
I quickly stepped off the bus and ran inside to see if Teddy was home early without me. No one was home, however. I was really starting to worry when five minutes later a silver car pulled into my driveway. I ran outside to see who it was.
Teddy opened the passenger door just as the new guy from school stepped out of the driver seat. I was dumbfounded as to why he was with my little brother and why he missed the bus. Teddy saw me and ran over with a bloody nose.
"Oh my gosh, Teddy! What happened to your face?"
I leaned down to inspect him further.
"I'm okay. This cool dude helped me get home," he calmly said while turning to Adam.
"He had tripped in the parking lot as I was leaving so I stopped to help him up. He had missed the bus by the time we got something for his nose so I offered to take him home. His teacher seemed cool with it."
"See? I'm okay, Sissy."
"Okay," I said while sighing. "You need to be more careful."
"Well it looks like you've got everything under control so I'm going to take off."
"Thank you so much for bringing him home." I tucked a piece of hair behind my ear awkwardly smiling at him.
"It was no trouble, really." He turned to Teddy. "Bye, little dude."
"Wait! No, don't go!" Teddy yelled while running up to Adam. I was a little embarrassed. "Play with me for a bit. Then you can go."
"Teddy," I said while blushing. He was going to make me die of embarrassment.
"It's alright," Adam chuckled.
"Well...you're more than welcome to stay for a bit if you have the time. I can get us some drinks for this heat."
I was so nervous saying it, I was prepared to die right then and there.
"Please?" Teddy was practically begging him.
"Okay, little dude. Let's have some fun."
"Yes!"
Teddy was thrilled to have made a new friend and I was secretly dying inside. I went inside and left them alone for a bit while Adam threw the baseball back and forth for my brother. I prepared some iced tea for us and brought it outside for us to enjoy. A half hour later, and they were prepared to step out of the summer heat and take a break with me on our porch. Adam took the spot next to me on the top step and Teddy sat below us sipping on his drink.
"Thank you for doing this," I admitted to him.
He turned to me with a heartfelt smile. A smile that practically made my heart stop.
"It's no problem. I've always wanted a little brother so this just gives me the opportunity to see what it would've been like."
"Are you an only child?"
"Yeah. My dad died when I was little and my mom never remarried or had anymore children. Says I'm the only man she wants in her life right now."
"That's rough. I'm so sorry."
"It's okay. It was a long time ago." Adam and I watched Teddy go back out into the yard to play. "What about your parents?"
"My dad is out of the picture and my mom works two jobs just to support us so she's hardly home."
"Wow...that's got to be tough on you to help take care of your brother and still do stuff for school," he said surprised.
"It get's difficult sometimes, but he's a good kid and I'm all that my mom has since my grandparents aren't able to help out as much."
"Still, that's pretty amazing, Lilly."
"You know my name?" I asked dumbfounded.
He laughed light heartedly from my reaction making my face go red.
"Of course. We are in the same class and we have a lot of classes together."
As if that justified him knowing who I was, I thought.
"Yeah, but...you're still the new guy at school. I just didn't think you would know who I was so quickly," I said while fidgeting with a frayed piece of fabric on my jeans.
"Well, I had no idea you had a little brother."
He nudged me with his elbow smiling.
"Thank you again for bringing him home. I don't know what I would've done since I don't own a car."
"It's no problem."
He smiled really big making my heart flutter in my chest.
"Let's play some more," Teddy interrupted.
"Oh, Teddy. He has to go home now."
"No. Can you stay? Please?"
"Alright, little dude. Let's play."
Adam stayed over for another hour and a half tossing the ball with my brother. I stayed on the porch and watched for most of it. It was nice seeing him playing with my little brother. I really wished we had a good father figure in our lives for Teddy's sake, but Adam was being an older brother to him which I loved seeing.
After he left, Teddy couldn't stop asking when he was going to come back over to play with him again. I was honest with him and told him probably not ever again. Of course that brought on tears in which I compromised with him saying I would ask if Adam wouldn't mind coming back over in the future. Teddy constantly told our mom about his new friend who was sort of like an older brother to him.
"Mommy, can he please come back over to play with me? Please?"
"I don't see an issue with that as long as your sister is okay with asking him," our mom said over dinner.
"What?" I asked shocked.
"Please, Sissy. Ask him to come back."
I was finding it hard to say no to his sad little pleading eyes and I was honestly surprised that our mom would say yes to me having a boy over alone who was my age. I stared at both of them and then shoveled a large bite of spaghetti into my mouth so I wouldn't have to answer. All the while, I was still unsure of how I would even approach him at school. He was a part of the popular crowd and I was not even close.
"So...are you going to ask for Teddy?" Mom prodded.
I sighed heavily. My nerves were causing my stomach to do summersaults which was causing me to lose my appetite for dinner.
"I guess I could ask him."
"Yay!" Teddy yelled while throwing his hands in the air.
"But if he says no, don't blame me."
"Why would he say no?" Mom asked.
"I don't know." I played with my spaghetti on my fork before continuing. "He's popular and I'm...not?"
"Is he cute?"
"Mom!"
I dropped my fork in my plate and she busted out laughing causing my face to go completely red from embarrassment.
"I'll take that as a yes," she said grinning from ear to ear. "If he starts coming over more, I'll have to meet him."
"Please don't embarrass me," I grumbled.
"The only person who is going to embarrass you is yourself. Just let me know when he comes over and you both stay in the common areas. No bedrooms."
"Jesus. Mom. He's not my boyfriend. I doubt he even likes me in that way. There are a ton of other prettier girls at my school he's probably crushing over right now anyways. You do not have to worry about...that."
"What is Sissy talking about?"
"Nothing you need to know until you're older," Mom quickly replied.
For the next couple of days at school, I couldn't find the courage to go up and ask him. It was hard letting Teddy down, but I couldn't find a good opening to speak with him alone. What would the other preppy kids think if I singled him out? They probably would immediately assume I had a crush on him which I do, but I'm not ready for anyone to find out yet.
Friday rolled around sooner than I thought and I knew I needed to ask him before Teddy never forgave me. I talked myself up all day in the bathroom mirror trying to figure out how I would ask him. I knew the end of the day was rapidly ending and soon school would be out for the weekend. I swallowed my fear and walked up to him in the hall between the last two periods of the day when his friends walked off.
"Adam. Do you have a sec?" I asked nervously.
"Sure, what's up?"
I scanned the hall to see if anyone was watching. Everyone else seemed to be doing their own thing so I continued.
"Um...would you like to come back over to my house?" His eyes widened. "Not for me, but for Teddy. He keeps asking when you're coming back over." My voice trailed off at the end of my sentence. All I wanted to do was hide under a rock.
"Uh, sure. I don't mind. I'll bring my baseball glove over."
"Really?" I asked surprised. "Thanks. Now I don't have to see Teddy all upset that his new cool friend isn't coming over."
I felt like a weight had been lifted off my chest.
"Your brother is a cool kid. I don't mind coming over and spending time with him." My heart sank a little when he said him. "Besides, like I said before, it's nice being an older brother sometimes."
"Thank you, again, for agreeing to come by. Teddy will really enjoy it."
"Not a problem. See you later today?"
"Yes," I said softly, blushing.
"Cool. If you don't mind, I could give you and your brother a ride after school."
"That's really nice of you."
"See you later, Lilly."
He flashed me his dazzling smile before treading on to class. I stood in the middle of the hall looking dazed after him until I was jolted out of it by one of my friends. Monica had poked my sides as she leaned over my shoulder to surprise me.
"Boo. Who are we checking out? Ooh the new guy. He is hot."
"Monica! You scared the crap out of me."
My heart was racing and I practically jumped five feet in the air.
"And I wasn't checking him out."
"Mm-hmmm. Yeah cause that's believable. Don't worry, Liliana. Every girl at this school practically has a crush on him. Soon he'll be taken though."
She sighed when she said it.
"What do you mean?"
"Stephanie is planning on asking him out and she is drop dead gorgeous and one of the most popular girls in this school. There's no way he's denying her. No one ever has so he'll be taken off the market by the end of today."
"We're going to be late for class if we don't hurry."
"Don't fret. There's plenty of fish in the sea. Just need to get out of this hell-hole first."
"Thanks for the advice. I'll keep that in mind."
I continued on to class with Monica's words weighing heavy in my mind. I could barely concentrate during my last class of the day which was Chemistry. My teacher wasn't impressed with me with my head in the clouds, but I was too distracted to concentrate. When the bell rang, I slowly rose up from my desk and made my way out to the parking lot where I decided to go ahead and wait for my bus. Adam had offered us a ride home, but if Stephanie was asking him out and he accepted, I'm sure he wouldn't be coming over to my house.
"Lilly?"
His voice startled me from behind.
"Yes?"
I turned around to face him.
"We should hurry if we want to pick up Teddy before he gets on the bus," he said smiling.
The fluttering sensation in my chest returned.
"Okay."
He grabbed my wrist and began leading me out into the parking lot towards his car. I glanced around to see everyone staring at us and I attempted to hide my face. When I happened to look up, Adam was smiling back at me and his hand had moved down to mine. Was this a dream?
