Page 63 of Forever Summer

Rory shrugged. “Did it impress you?”

“NO! It was hideous,” I said, continuing to laugh. “Listen, Rory, if any girl wants to be with you based on the balance of your ATM receipt or what kind of car you drive then, seriously, they’re not worth it. And just so you know, if any girl settles for anything less than being treated like she is worthy of a man’s respect, well, I just hope those girls don’t get lured by the bad boys and fast cars.”

“Look, just please accept my apology and know that I will never do anything stupid like that again.”

I picked up my bag, slinging it over my shoulder.

“I hope you’re right, I really do.”

I left Rory at the table, sitting there, watching on, and hopefully at least retaining something, and, sure, there was no hair flick, or Diva music playing in the background, but I sure as hell felt like an utter badass.

If I said I didn’t want anything to change then that was kind of a lie. I welcomed change; the new normal was most certainly different. I rang Adam every night on my commute home from work, and he rang me back before bed. Our conversations were as effortless and random as they ever were throughout our lives, but there was one very obvious difference. I lived to hear his voice, for him to tell me about his day, or for him to text me random, mental things throughout the day like ‘Who would win a fight between a crocodile and a shark?’ So yeah, usual Adam stuff. And then there were the later calls, the kind of calls that had me smiling and yawning throughout the daytime as I recalled Adam telling me what he wanted to do to me the next time he saw me; yeah, those kind of calls.

“Okay, enough; seriously, I don’t want to know,” declared Tess. I could just imagine the look of horror spread across her face.

“What?” I laughed.

“Look, I am all for you and Adam but I seriously don’t need to know about my two best friends having phone sex every night of the week.”

“It’s not every night of the week; besides, don’t knock it if you haven’t tried it.”

The line went silent, long, guilt-ridden silence.

“Tess McGee, well, I never.”

“I’ve gotta go, talk to you tomorrow.” The phone went dead.

I laughed, hearing the dial tone. “Well, well, well, you think you know someone.”

Thursday night meant many things. It was the eve of my mum’s visit so it would be my last chance to have some real privacy before the weekend, and as much as it would be nice to have Mum stay, all I could think about was Adam, and how easy it would have been to head back to Onslow for the weekend and sneak up the back fire escape into his room. I might even use that as a possible storyline for our late-night phone call as I dialled Adam’s number with a goofy grin on my face.

“Hey,” he answered. It was amazing how well you really knew someone that you could tell so much from one simple word. He sounded flat, really not Adam.

“Is everything okay?” I asked.

“Yeah, why wouldn’t it be?” he snapped.

Geez, attitude much?

“How’s your mum?”

“Yeah, she’s good.”

“You sound really tired, maybe our late-night phone calls are wearing you out?” I joked, trying to lighten the mood.

“Yeah, maybe.”

Oh God, what was with him tonight?

Anxiety swirled in the pit of my stomach. Who was I talking to? It was like I was on the phone to a stranger; this was the kind of conversation you would expect from Chris, not Adam, never Adam. What was wrong with him?

“So, what are you up to on the weekend?”

Was I really resorting myself to small talk? What was next? Talking about the weather?

Adam sighed; he sounded tired, maybe that’s all it was. Maybe helping Chris at the Onslow was wearing him down, that and the added pressure of his mum’s health. I could be patient, of course I could.

“I think I’ll head out with the boys and go camping for the weekend.”

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