This had to be the worst time in the history of libraries to pick up an extra shift at one. It's not that libraries are what you would call "exciting" places, but a library on the Friday night of a school dance was almost like one of those ghost towns you're forced to study about in school.  I never understood why Ms. Holliday insisted on staying open so late on Fridays, but she just always did. She never even cared that no one came in. At all. No one. So, I sat in one of my favorite spots in the back of the library, with my head buried deep in a romance novel.  I believe it was titled Burning Rose. Don't you dare judge me. I will not apologize for being a cheesy romantic. In fact, I'm proud of it. I embrace
my inner romantic as much as possible. Even though that basically just means I read romantic novels and watch Hallmark movies.

Mrs. Holliday had left a little while ago, and I was sort of lonely. It was my fault. I was the one who told her to take off. I told her that I would take care of it. It didn't help that all of my friends were at a school dance and I was all alone in the library. Don't get me wrong, I love the library. I love books and just the whole atmosphere but today, it kinda sucked. I missed them. I hated being alone. It would be so different if I was at home with wifi and Netflix and Sarah and even mom. But no. I was dumb enough to pick up an extra shift just for a few extra bucks. I eventually decided it would be best just to close early. Closing before eight wouldn't kill Mrs. Holliday. So I packed my things up and checked around everywhere.

Ever since the incident with Adam and the hooligans a few months ago, I was never the same when checking the library. I was always a bit more nervous and I always kept the flashlight tightly in my hand. No intruders today. It was funny, really, thinking about that night. It seems like it was so long ago. So much had happened since then. Everything's changed. I mean, everything. Things between Adam and I are... They're so much more complicated. Then, we were opposites and we stayed opposite one another. But that's different now. Now we're... I don't know what we are. I shook my head and made my final rounds, attempting to keep Adam out of my mind. Especially the fact that he's at the dance right now, with Charlotte, dancing, and having a great time.

Nope. Stop that Peni. Stop torturing yourself. I sighed, locking the door and walking to my bike. Biking in the dark was never fun to me. It was scary and it seemed to last forever. I didn't like it at all, I always felt like someone was following me or just watching me, even. It made a shiver run down my spine. Oh, nope. That may just be my phone. I raised an eyebrow and started sifting through my bag. I finally found it, and just in time. It was about to stop ringing;
"Hello?" I answered, seeing that it was Melody that had called. "Peni?! Peni, you need to get to the school right now." She mumbled something to someone and it was inaudible. I stopped what I was doing. "Mel... Mel, I can't. I'm not allowed to the dance. Look... I know you're having fun and I know it's great but..." She interrupted me. "No. Peni. You need to get here now. Like, now. Something's wrong with Adam..." I gulped and my eyes widened.

"He keeps calling for you Peni, that's the only thing he'll say. He just keeps saying he needs you. Get here now." My throat ran dry. He needed me. Something clicked in the back of my mind. "I'll be there in two minutes." I hung up. And immediately mounted my bike. I would get there faster if I had a freaking car, but noooo. I'm the idiot who just keeps a bike. I could feel my heart thumping against my chest. All I could think of were those words, "he needs you." Why would he need me? What was wrong with him? I kept seeing his face in my head, grinning from ear to ear. I probably looked like an idiot to any passers-by, but I absolutely did not care. Everything was about Adam now. I needed to get to him as soon as possible.

When I got to the school, I almost started panicking, searching for them. I didn't hear any music in the background when Mel called me, so I assumed they weren't in the dance anymore. It didn't take long to find them. I saw Adam before anyone, sitting on a bench at the back of the school and Dean, Melody, Jonas, and Charlotte were surrounding him. I almost took off in a sprint. "Hey." They all turned to look at me,except Adam, who seemed to have no clue what was going around him. "Fix him." Jonas looked almost wild with worry as he grabbed hold of me and pushed me towards Adam. I stood in front of him, his head hung at my stomach. Charlotte was fussing about something right next to us. I didn't care.

"Adam." I put my hand close to his neck and rubbed there softly. "Adam, what's wrong? It's me, it's Peni." At my name, his head slowly lifted up to reveal his green eyes filled with something completely unreadable. They were red and looked swollen, his whole disposition fell a little. "Peni..." I kneeled in front of him, making me scoot in between his legs. I could feel cold, icky dirt getting all over my jeans. I moved my hands to Adam's face and let him look right into my eyes. "Yeah, I'm here. I'm here, Adam." And all of a sudden, he seemed to collapse. His arms fell around me and he buried his face in my neck. I gasped lightly, surprised by his quick action. But, I slowly began to rub his back. I looked back at Mel, to tell her that we needed to be alone. But she seemed to understand before I could even fully rest my eyes on her. She scurried everyone away. Even Charlotte, surprisingly.

Adam was sobbing into my shoulder, he was crying. I just held him tightly, and kissed his hair softly every now and then, shushing him like a child. "Adam, it's gonna be okay. It's gonna be okay, Adam." I didn't even know what was wrong, but I knew it had to be serious. Not once had this boy broken down like this. Not once had he ever cracked in his bad boy facade. But now, it was like every wall, every barrier he ever built came crumbling down on top of him. "Hey." I whispered, letting my arms fall to rest on his biceps, lightly rubbing ovals on them. "Hey. Talk to me, please. Talk to me." Finally, he lifted his head to look at me, but he did not let his arms loosen. He just rested his forehead on mine and shut his eyes.

"You were the first person I thought of, Peni. Shit, you were the only person I thought of." His face was still wet, and I wiped his his cheeks with my thumbs. "Adam, when? What happened? Are you okay?" I lifted my head and looked at him, trying to see if there was anything wrong. But he seemed fine. He shook his head and took my face in both his hands. "I just, I just need you, okay? Peni, please." He shut his eyes again, and I could tell it was because tears were soon to be falling. I quickly wrapped my arms back around his torso and pulled him towards me. Adam Clifton was in my arms, crying. Adam Clifton needed me. "I can't, I don't know what to do, Peni." I wanted to understand so badly. I wanted to know what was wrong.

"I hated her. I hated her for so long, and she tried so hard to talk to me, but I'd never let her. Now... Now she's just gone. She's gone, Penelope. How am I supposed to live with myself?" His mother. She's dead. Oh my God. She's dead. "Oh, Adam. I'm so sorry, baby. It's not your fault. It's okay. You're okay." I tightened my grip and tried with all my might to pull myself as close as possible to him. "It's not your fault." I whispered and kissed Adam's cheek. We sat like that for who knows how long. I was so utterly absorbed with him. I was absorbed by him. He was just... He was everything in that moment. "God, Peni..." I sat back on my feet, reaching out to hold Adam's hand and allowing him to sit up slightly. "What?" I gave him a questioning look as he wiped his face with his free hand. "You can't keep doing this to me." I raised an eyebrow and moved to sit next to him on the short, cement bench. "Doing what?" He looked at our hands entangled and laughed shortly, "Making me fall in love with you."

❤️😋 love you darlings,
Lily