[Orophin] 𝑭𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑲𝒊𝒏𝒈

[ Reserved for orophin ]
[Began Writing: August 17, 2020]

The sun had already risen when Mai awoke, the sunlight shown through her window and brightened her bedroom. Her eyelids fluttered open and she sat up in her bed with a yawn, stretching out her arms. Wiping one of her eyes, the young woman got up, grabbed her uniform for school, as well as a towel, and quickly ran down the hallway to the bathroom. After taking a quick shower and drying off, she blow dried her hair and brushed it out as quickly as she could. Quickly skipping down the steps, Mai made her way into the kitchen, where she made a small breakfast of buttered toast, eggs, and a few slices of bacon with half a cup of chocolate milk. She scarfed down her delicious food and drink and made her way back up into the bathroom, where she brushed her teeth. Grabbing her things for school, she ran back downstairs and put her black shoes on.

Saying a quick goodbye to her father, who was probably asleep as it was his day off, she rushed outside and ran down the street. The day was warm and she gazed up at the blue sky, slowed down her run to a walk, and she looked up at the the white clouds, which were slowly drifting towards the left. As she continued on her way to school, her mind soon brightened the thoughts from the previous day and evening.

It was like any other early morning. Mai was on her way to school, walking with her best friend, Emma, when she received the text message that both surprised and annoyed her.

Randal: "Hey, Mai. Long time no chat! Haha. So... I was wondering, you wanna hang out sometime? It's been a long time since we last saw one another and well, I'm very popular now."

Mai had stopped in her tracks with a furrowed brow and Emma looked over at her with confusion.

"Hey, Mai, what's wrong?" Her friend asked, slowly walking back to stand beside her.

Mai replied with a shrug before stating, "I'm not really sure... It's Randal Cassaway. He sent me a text."

Emma's eyes widened in surprise. "What?? You mean Randal as in... middle school Randal?"

Mai nodded and Emma frowned before shaking her head, "You'd better just ignore him. There's been accounts of him trying to hit it up with girls he knew in the past. Now he's a gang leader--- Like, really dangerous. He actually hit a girl that wouldn't go out with him."

Mai's eyes widened at the unsettling news before continuing to walk down the sidewalk. "Wow... That's awful. I'll make sure to not pay any attention to his text--"

Another ting noise came from her phone and she gazed down at the new message on the screen.

Randal: "You got pretty as you got older."

"What the..." She murmured, feeling cold chills go up and down her spine. That message really creeped Mai out, making her wonder why Randal would say such a thing if they hadn't seen each other since middle school. Shaking off the uneasy feeling, she shoved her phone in her pocket and continued to school.

Later that evening, Mai got home and was about to go to bed, when her phone went off for the uptenth time that day. Groaning a bit, she looked down at her phone and opened the message folder....Only to find ten different messages from Randal. She skimmed through them, only reading a few.

Randal: "Hey, I understand if you're busy right now. It's probably why you aren't answering back."
2:30PM

Randal: "So, do you wanna hang out or no??"
3:54PM

Randal: "C'mon, Mai. It'll be fun."
6:45PM

Randal: "Hello? Mai?Are you there?"
7:40PM

Randal: "Seriously? Are you ignoring me? Haha..."
8:22PM


Panicking, Mai finally texted back;

"Sorry. I already have a boyfriend."
8:34PM

Randal: "Hahaha! That's funny. As if anybody would go out with YOU."
8:35PM

Randal: "I know' you're lying Mai. You'll have to gimme proof."
8:36PM


Soon after, Mai decided to do the smartest and stupidest thing ever; look up pictures of boyfriends online. Picking the first one she saw, she posted it on her social media and, just in case, updated her profile to being in a relationship. Sighing a bit proudly, she stood up and lay down in her bed, muttering to herself, "There's your proof, Randal... Leave me alone now..."



Mai's phone suddenly began singing all kinds of ping noises as it was being blown up by different messages on her social media account. They all were from other girls she'd seen at school, but never actually talked to. Most of the messages were asking "how she had done it, "if she could introduce someone to some boys," and "when she was going to reach school."

She finally received a shocking message from Emma once she reached her classroom.

Emma: "WHAT THE HECK WERE YOU THINKING?!?
FIND ME AS SOON AS YOU GET TO SCHOOL!"
7:25AM

As soon as Mai opened the classroom door, the room fell quiet and she was suddenly pulled to her seat by her best friend. "Mai, do you even know what you've done?!" The blonde demanded, her green orbs widened with shock and worry.

The young woman shook her head, her brown orbs confused. "I just... posted that I was in a relationship and used a random photo I found on the internet… It got Randal to leave me alone."

Emma let out a sigh as she rolled her eyes and ran a hand down her face. "Omigod, Mai..."

Mai's tone was desperate as the two girls glanced around and Mai didn't understand why she was being stared at, or why she was getting so much attention. "I wanted to make sure Randal wouldn't talk to me-! At least I don't have to worry about him bothering me anymore. Besides, I'm going to delete after a couple of days..." The brunette whispered a little loudly whilst placing her face in her hands.

Emma gripped the other girl's shoulders and looked her straight in the eyes as she whispered back, "The picture you used... was the leader of the Kings!!"

Mai's head immediately shot up and she squeaked out a shocked, "What?!"

No way.

There was no way that she had used the leader of the Kings gang as the photo of her fake boyfriend! Panicking, she pulled out her phone, the pad of her thumb tapped on the screen until the picture appeared in her gallery. A sense of dread filled her gut as she gazed down at the dark haired male seated so casually in a leather chair. He really did have a striking resemblance to the King, even if Mai hadn't seen or met him personally… It made sense why everyone was staring at her then.

"If he gets here after I leave, tell Mr. Tanique I'm going to the restroom…" Mai mumbled as she stood from her seat and the sudden movement made her chair squeak loudly.

Her hand snatched her smaller backpack, which had a few art supplies, a book she was reading, and her wallet, and the young woman took hurried steps to the exit. Then the door opened and a few of the Kingsmen could be seen standing on the other side of the doorframe. There was only one reason why the gang would be huddled outside of her classroom and she didn't want to admit even within her head. Blinking some in shock, Mai's lips pressed together and she spun on her heel and started to walk back towards her seat. Desperately hoping none of them saw her when it was obvious they'd all looked at her. Maybe they didn't know what she looked like and maybe they were looking for someone else who'd not paid them with their lunch money or something.

Yep.

That had to be it.

《°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°》

Adam had been working on breakfast for him and his grandmother whenever he got a call from Jacob, his number two. He quickly picked up the phone and said "Speak." in a deep monotone voice. A metallic clicking could be heard coming from the other end of the line, most likely from Jacob messing with his switchblade like usual. Jacob then said in a smug low voice "Yo Brother, you ain't gonna believe what I just saw..."

A moment later as as his Grandmother came down the stairs she heard a loud yell of "What!?" she was surprised and nearly stumbled down the last couple of stairs but caught herself in time and made it safely down the last few steps. She then looked towards the kitchen and asked "Adam, did something happen, are you alright in there?" Adam responded "I'm fine Gege. I'll be in there soon." He then lowered his voice and said "Get the boys together, and learn what y'all can 'bout this girl. I want to be told everything as soon as I get to the school."

After he hung up he quickly finished preparing breakfast and then brought his grandmother her food. After which he ate his own food before quickly getting ready for school. He wore black BDUs, black combat boots, and a white Godsmack shirt which he then through a black leather vest over it which said " The King of The Kings" on the back of it. He then ran downstairs and yelled "I'm out of here Gege." To which his grandmother replied "Goodbye sweetie, have a great day." Once he was outside he climbed into his old 1972 Dodge Demon and quickly headed towards school.

After about a half hour drive Adam arrived at school and quickly met the others from his gang. They wasted no time in filling him in on the situation and told him what they had found out about the girl who was claiming to be his girlfriend. They then all headed towards her first class. Jacob walked in front fallowed by Tobias and then Adam himself. Xavier and Fenix entered right after he had. Jacob threw the door open once they arrived at the class and the group found themselves staring at the very girl they were looking for. Tobias nodded his head in Mai's direction and then said "There's your girl, told ya she looked good, boss." in a slow, deep, almost sly sounding smooth voice.

Adam nodded and then quickly caught up to her as she tried to slip away. He wrapped his right had around her waist will holding her left wrist with his left hand. He wasn't holding her in a way that should've hurt her, but she also wouldn't be getting away from him easily. As he had grabbed her a wicked grin had appeared on his face as he said "Hello beautiful, it's good to see you this morning. How 'bout given your boy a little kiss." He then quickly spun her around pulled her in tight, pressing her up against his body as much as he could. As he did this his right hand had more or less stayed in place so that now it rested on her lower back right above her butt, while his left hand which he had used to spin her around in his arms had released her wrist and now found itself resting between her shoulders. He then took in a deep breath filling his nose up with her scent. While he looked down at her in mock anticipation of the aforementioned kiss he added " I got to say you're smelling all kids of nice this morning too. Makes me just want to eat you up sweet cheeks." She needed to know from the start just what she'd gotten herself into. Besides, she had no one to blame for what was happening other than herself. At least as far as Adam was concerned.

《°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°》

Mai hadn't even been able to reach half of the room before he felt a hand grip her left wrist and another slipped around her waist. Instantly, her muscles bunched together and her heart rate increased as she was pulled backwards. Sucking in a breath when the voice spoke up from behind her and she'd started to turn her head to confront the young man who had grabbed her. The room around her suddenly swirled in a blurred image, with blurred shadows of fellow students looking right at them when she tried to ask, "A w-what-?"

The brunette's head spun as she was turned to face the young man and her hands instantly pressed against his chest as she was pulled closer. Mai made a small noise of discomfort and flinched when the hand moved from her wrist to her back. Even with the force the male holding had against her, she still tried to push her body away and had one of her knees bent some as a means to keep what little distance they had between eachother. It didn't do much, though, and she'd stopped herself from actually slamming said knee into a particular sensitive area for most guys, thinking that it might not be the best course of action. Especially if it was against the terrifying, always angry leader of the Kings.

She couldn't suppress the cold shiver than ran over her form when he sniffed her and Mai somehwat regretted taking a shower earlier that morning. Goosebumps formed on her skin and her body tensed more as he spoke and she shut her eyes trying to calm her panicking nerves. When she opened her eyes, Mai wracked her brain for what she should do.

What the heck was someone supposed to do in that sort of situation?

How on earth was she supposed to respond?

Her brown orbs flicked from the door to her hands. Adam was patiently waiting for a kiss, something she really didn't want to do. Mai hadn't even had her first kiss yet and she certainly did not want to waste it on the brute in front of her! Jsut because the girl was soft spoken and somewhat shy did not mean she wouldn't stand up for herself-- even if she had gotten herself in the unfortunate situation. Inhaling a deep breath through her nose, she locked her eyes with the steely gaze that belong to the King himself and pressed her lips together. Shaking her head, she muttered out nervously, "I.... I don't think I will. There's... too many people around. Don't you think that a kiss should... should be private?"

《°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°》

Adam held tight onto Mai as she tried to push put more space between them. Obviously he wouldn't let her but the attempt was amusing him. The fact that she nearly kneed him hadn't gone unnoticed either. Based on how her leg had moved she seemed to think better about doing it but that didn't make it any better to him. Because the fact that she had considered it was unacceptable as far as he was concerned. But he would have to deal with that later on once he had her all to himself somewhere. He then smiled at her words and said "Come on, sweetheart, don't be so bashful about it. I'm sure that everyone already knows about us by now. You update on your profile has certainly taken care of that by now. So just let yourself go and enjoy the moment. Besides, I'm sure that these other girls would just love to know what kind of spell you used to get the wild, uncontrollable, and dangerous leader of The King's to be put under your spell. Wouldn't you agree?" As he said this a dark and threatening light seemed to almost become more visible as he spoke. As if to emphasize the point that he had made to her with his description of himself.

He then leaned his face close to her right ear and whispered "Besides, how would people react if they learned that not only did you lie about having a boyfriend, but you willingly picked someone like me to lie about being with in the first place. I mean, why would somebody actually want to lie about something like that? You could always try telling people it was an accident, and maybe some people would believe it. But how many do you think would just believe that you were lying again? I mean people lie about their lies all the time. Right? So I'd suggest you do whatever I say, and I mean whatever. At least until we can talk somewhere more privately about just what your going to have to do for me to keep the truth about this situation to myself. Now do what I said and kiss me, and you better do it like you mean it. I also don't care if you've ever kissed anyone before or not, and I don't care if your embarrassed to be watched by so many people. None of that matters to me. I just want to be able to enjoy our time together. So you better not disappoint me. Besides the only person you can blame for you being in this situation is yourself Princess."

As he stopped speaking he nipped at her earlobe lightly before pulling away showing his wicked smile to her one last time. He knew she was probably terrified and that just made him all to more excited for the situation that they were now in. He had all kinds of delicious ideas going through his mind about just what he could make her do for him, and she was probably dreading over ideas of her own at the same moment. As that thought ran through his mind he found himself amused by it. He usually didn't care about school, but know that this girl had fallen into his hands he just might have to make attending school a more important part of his life. Besides, it wasn't often that he was presented with such opportunities to provide him with continuous entertainment in the first place. As this had been going on the other members of his gang had been gathering around. To everyone else it would look like they were trying to keep people away from the couple. But their actual purpose was to keep people from getting in Adams way and to also keep Mai from trying to get away.

《°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°》

The smile on the young man's face made the hair on Mai's neck stand on end and it brought an unsettling feeling form in her twisting gut. There was no sincerity or any feeling remotely close to affection in his voice, expression, or eyes as he spoke and the muscles in the young woman's body tensed even more when he leaned down to whisper in her ear. Her lips pressed together in a small frown, her shoulders lifted some when warm breath tickled her ear and made a few strands of her hair flutter the tiniest bit. Mai's face flushed with a dark shade of pink and she'd tried to step backwards, but stopped when the heel of her shoe pushed against her bag, which had been dropped as she was twirled around to face Adam. Her breath hitched when she felt teeth graze over her earlobe and her head jerked away a little from the Adam's face.

This guy was....was.... evil!

He was evil making making her look like a villain and even though she did wrong him by accidentally using his photo on her profile, he still shouldn't treat her in such a way...! How was she supposed to know what the leader of the Kings gang looked like when she'd never met him face to face? On the other hand, he was right. Mai did get herself into that situation and she really didn't mean to cause trouble for anyone else. Unfortunately for her, she had somehow managed to make trouble find her and it always did, ever since she was little. Adam's threat didn't fall on deaf ears and Mai inhaled a deep breath when she finally came to a decision. If she did what she was told in the current situation, then maybe she could try to explain her reasoning for why she did what she did and maybe, just maybe, Adam might understand and let her go. The gut feeling told Mai otherwise, though...

Brown orbs met with the King's as the brunette looked at him and her lips pressed together in a thin line.

It was just one kiss. It didn't have to be too believable, even if she want entirely sure how to do it.

Mai's eyes flicked down to the pair of thin lips in front of her and she started seeing images of how actors kissed during different scenes from different movies.

She could do this.

It was just one kiss.

She could do this.

It would just be a peck then it was over.

She could do this.

The student's hands gripped the fabric of the gang leader's shirt, each clenched into fists, and Mai held her breath as she lifted herself a bit on his tip toes to get closer to him. With each millisecond that passed as she got closer, the more her ears flushed a much darker shade of pink and her heart thumped even more wildly in her chest. It was from an adrenaline mixed with nervousness, anticipation, and embarrassment. She stopped right as their noses touched and she could smell the cologne he wore and the touch from the young man's hands sent waves of warmth throughout her body. Mai blinked, shut her eyes, and brushed her cheek against his after she placed a quick peck on the right end of his lips. It wasn't really on his lips, only on the very edge, and her lips had mostly made contact with his cheek.

《°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°》

Adam enjoyed the sight of Mai as she seemed to consider her options. Then she looked at him. Her eyes locked with his, while her lips spread thin, and her cheeks which had already been flushed pink slowly grew a darker and darker shade of red. Her innocence in this type of situation was clear for him to see and he would've been lying if he had said that he wasn't amused by that fact by at least some small measure. She then kissed him, if you could call it that, and it was clear just how inexperienced she was. So he must've stolen her first kiss from her. Which he figured would likely be the case based on what his crew has told him about the younger girl. However what she had done was by no means a real kiss. He didn't know if the girl was truly that ignorant when it cake to matters of the flesh, or if she had simply decided that she wouldn't do what he had told her to do as some form of defiance. But whichever the case he wasn't happy with her at all. His body began to tremble light in anger. Not enough for others to see, but easily enough for her to feel through the contact of her cheek that still rested against his.

He then said on word "Insufficient!" The word had come out low and threatening, and the way he said it made the word almost sound like the hiss from a snake. He then moved unbelievable fast and the next thing Mai would notice was that they were full on kissing. His right hand had quickly slid down from her lower back and was now full on gripping her butt and managed to get a hold on both of her cheeks as he did so, and his left hand had moved up from between her shoulders to where he now held the back lower part of her head and the back upper part of her neck. His hands in their new position had increased the strength of their hold on her slightly and his left hand had somehow pulled her even closer into his body. He had then used his left hand to turn her head so that her lips slid properly into position over his own. As their lips had met he had opened his mouth and his tongue had quickly shot out and snaked its way into her mouth. The kiss that they now shared was deep and rough and was very likely to scare Mai. However if she didn't freak out, our at least didn't lose control of her senses then she would be surprised to notice something. Though his grip was hard and strong he wasn't hurting her in the slightest, and fierce though his kiss may have been there was in fact a heat like that of a comforting fire to it that could almost be believed to be passion. As they kissed you could hear the other King's cheer on their leader and it seemed like most of the girls in the room made gasped sounds and comments that made it clear they were not only impressed by the kiss but envious of the girl receiving it. It was obvious that no one had noticed the quick change from Mai's peck to Adams kiss.

Adam was sure that once the kiss had ended and Mai's head had a chance to clear she would likely be traumatized by the situation. But at the moment his main thoughts were on two things. First was the fact the he had definitely now taken her first kiss which made the kiss all the better in his own mind. Second was the fact that the situation had called for it to happen. Whether Mai knew it or not she had put both of them in an incredibly difficult situation. One that he would have to explain to her later. But he had to do something at least like he had done or it could've been dangerous for them both. If he hadn't done it then he would've risked his reputation which for someone like him was just asking for trouble. People could've started thinking that they could get away with doing or saying whatever they want when it involves his name and that nothing would happen to them. Or his gang could've lost faith in him which could cause trouble in the ranks and could also potentially cause trouble for people around the school of the King's decided to just start doing whatever they wanted. Or his enemies could've seen it as a sign of weakness and could've choose to attack him, his home, his school, or any other areas that were seen as his turf. As for Mai if he hadn't done what he did then others could've tried taking advantage of her, or even hurting her, in any number of ways just to try to find out what she had over Adam that allows her to seemingly do whatever she wanted when it came to the gang leader. So whether she knew it or not this was to some degree a way to keep her safe just as much as it was to preserve his own reputation.

As he considered all of these he slowly brought an end to the kiss. Which once again brought the fact that this had been her first back to his mind. As this occurred to him he then began to consider just how many other first he could possibly steal from her as time went on. Because they would have to keep this charade up for a while at least so that no one realized it was just that. A charade. Of course he knew that if he wanted to get more from her then he'd have to play it cautiously so that he could stretch things out for as long as possible. But by the end he intended to have broken her and have made her fall completely under his control in order for her to learn her lesson for what she had done. It was at this point after the kiss that he allowed her to pull away from him. He would watch for her reaction to what had happened and then he would say "There now. Wasn't that kiss worth being watched over. Even of you were a little embarrassed to do it in the begging. Anyways, I've got to head out now, but I want to see you during lunch. So come find me in the weight room then. I'm sure you won't have any trouble getting there, but just in case I'll send one of my boys out to get you if it seems like you can't find your way. So don't take to long getting there. And don't worry, we'll be all alone during lunch so no one will end up bothering us then. I'll see you then gorgeous." To anyone else what he said might've almost sounded like a boyfriend just being concerned for his girlfriend, but he knew that she would recognize it for the threat that it was. Adam then turned and left the room with the rest of his gang following him out. As the King's left the room and the door had separated them from those in the class Adam began to feel his anger rise up at himself. What he had just done had come to close to something he had swore never to do. He'd have to be careful about that. He couldn't end up like Him! He wouldn't let himself do that.

___________________________________________

Later Adam was in the weight room working out by himself. He had already done all of his reps that required someone else to be around in order to spot him. That way he wouldn't be disturbed once Mai arrived. Which should be any second now that he thought of it. He was wearing a pair of exercise shorts and that was pretty much it. His upper body was glistening with sweat, and his muscles stood out obvious for anyone to notice if they were to see him. He wasn't trying to impress Mai with his body, because he hadn't even considered that. He was just working out like he usually did. He then heard a knock on the door and Jacob stuck his head in and said "She's here." in his regular smug sounding voice. Adam simply said in a matter of fact way "Then let her in, and make sure we aren't disturbed." He then picked up the dumbbells and started doing rep sets with them as he waited for her to enter.

《°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°》

Mai flinched at the harshness of his tone and she felt the cold hand of fear grip at her heart. The coldness spread from her heart, to her chest, and all throughout her body as the realization of what would happen next filled her mind. The thoughts of panic running in every single direction came to a sudden halt when she was pulled flush against Adam and her eyes widened slightly when she registered where his right hand was. Her fingers spread apart and she was only able to barely start pulling her head away when she his other hand run up her neck and grip the back of her head, his fingers curled into her brown locks. Mai's knee had managed to rest between his legs, hoping it would keep some distance between them there, even if it was a little bit.

A noise came from her as her head was tilted in a certain direction, causing her lips to part slightly when a small, painful gasp. She didn't have any time to react properly when Adam's lips claimed her in a searingly hot embrace and despite being so close to him with her elbows bent, Mai's hands had barely moved up to press against the gang leader's upper pectorals, her fingers brushed against the tops of his shoulders. Her heart was beating so quickly against her chest that she was sure Adam would be able to feel it against his. Her face and the entirety of her ears were now a dark shade of red and a cold sweat had formed. Mai's nostrils flared as they inhaled deeply and another sound rose within her throat when she felt the young man's tongue force itself over her lips, teeth, and mouth.

The world around her slowly blurred, the voices of the other surrounding students seemed to sound like they were underwater and her mind went blank. A strange sense of warmth enveloped her form and settled in the pit of her stomach, yet the cold gripping at her chest still remained. It wasn't as intense as it had been and it seemed like the overwhelming warmth was melting it away to the point it was a single drop. Mai's eyes had screwed themselves shut and she tried to retaliate the only way she could; push her own tongue against his in a dance of dominance. One she unfortunately did not win. As the seconds passed by, her head had become filled with a strange cloud of fuzziness and her body relaxed a little.

Only a little.

When they finally broke from the kiss, Mai's expression held something else in it she'd never experienced before. Her chest heaved as she breathed heavily, her body trying to regain the lack of air she hadn't been able to get when she had been kissing Adam. Her eyelids slowly lifted and had focused on the pair of lips that were a mere few inches apart and her warm breath brushed against the front of his face. As her mind cleared, she blinked and a look of utter horror replaced the odd look she had before. Her eyes widened as her hands slapped themselves against her mouth, right beneath her nose, and her face burned such a dark shade of red she could have been mistaken for a tomato. Brown orbs met the leader of the King's eyes when he spoke and Mai could only nod her head up and down in response.

After he left, Emma had rushed to her side, along with all the other students in her class. They all started asking Mai questions, but she didn't hear them. She just scooped her bag up from the white, tiled floor and made her way back to her seat. As the teacher walked in and began teaching their course for history, the students all went back to their respective seats and Mai's fingers brushed against her lips as she thought about what had occurred moments before class began. She never thought that a kiss like that would make her feel so strange... And it didn't really mean anything, either! She thought lovers shared those types of kisses. Shaking her head a little, she started taking notes and focused her attention on the teacher. It was really difficult for the her to concentrate during her first three classes and as the end of her third class neared, Mai felt that same sense of dread form.

Then the bell rang, signaling it was time for lunch.

Panic rose in her when she looked up from her smaller bag to the pair of shoes that came to a stop beside her desk. Mai's brown orbs settled on the face of the raven haired thug that had been sent from the Kings gang and she let out a small whimper with her mouth closed. As she stood up, she pulled on her backpack and grabbed her spare bag and stood with her head held a little high. As she started to follow the male student out of the classroom, she felt a hand grip and pull her backwards by the bend of her elbow. Both Mai and the thug looked back a bit surprised to see Emma shooting a glare at the guy.

"Mai, you don't have to go--"

The thug cut her off, "Are ya dumb, or some shit? 'Course she has to go. The boss told her to. If she doesn't, shit will hit the fan pretty damn quick and you don't want him comin' all the way over here just to drag yer ass to the weights room. He'll get real mad and you don't wanna see him when he gets mad."

Mai looked from the Kings' gang member back to her friend and she removed Emma's hand from her elbow. "It... It's okay, Emma. I can handle myself."

Emma's eyes narrowed and she responded, "It didn't look like you could handle yourself earlier. That asshole--"

"Oi! Don't call the boss and asshole."

"That... guy could overpower you and take advantage of you any moment. Do you honestly think I'm going to just stand here let you leave to be alone with someone like that?" Emma asked and Mai let out a small sigh. Time was ticking and she really needed to go.

"Emma, I appreciate your worry for me, but I think I have a plan. I'm just going to talk to him and sort things out. Surely he'll understand once he hears my reasoning for doing what I did. Right?" She asked as he looked back at the thug with a hopefully gaze.

He forced a smile on his face and nodded, "Oh, yeah. There's no doubt about it. Now let's go 'fore he gets pissed for being made to wait."

Her hand was grabbed and Mai's body was tugged down the hallway. She waved back at Emma as they exited the building.


It took them a couple of minutes, but they made it. The raven haired boy escorted her into the room beside the school gymnasium and told her she could put her belongings down beside the door. When she asked if anyone would steal anything, he told her that hed look after her bag personally. Her lips pressed together and she slowly placed her two bags onto the tiled flooring and slowly walked further into the room. There was a single, metallic chair placed in the middle of the room and as she edged closer to it, Mai's eyes looked around and instantly they snapped to the back that faced her. Adam must work out quite a bit to have as many muscles as he did and they'd been hidden beneath his shirt earlier. No wonder Mai didn't stand a chance against him physically... Blinking a few times, she stood beside the chair, averted her gaze from his form, and she cleared her throat.

《°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°》

Adam could easily hear Mai as she entered the room. However, he continued with his reps with the dumbbells until she cleared her throat. At which time he turned to face her and saw that she was averting her eyes from him. He looked down and realized he didn't have his shirt on and just chuckled as her issue became instantly clear to him. He then put the weights down and walked over to her. He slid his right hand along the side of her face that was still turned away from him and then he said "There's no reason to be shy here. Just like I promised earlier nobody will be bother us here. No one can see us in here either. We could literally do anything in this room and not a single should would have any idea of what had transpired. So go ahead and look at me. It would be best if you got used to seeing me regardless of what I am, or am not, wearing."

He then used the two fingers of his right hand that still rested along her jawline and forced her to turn so that she could clearly see him. Once she was clearly looking at him he moved his right hand so that the fingertips, of the same two fingers he had used to turn her head earlier, now brushed lightly over her lips and then returned his hand to his side. He smiled with the dark pleasure one could only gain from knowing that they held all the power in a situation. His eyes glinted brightly as he looked her body up and down. Do so much like a predator eyeing it's prey. He then started speaking again "Maybe I should start by having you return the same type of kiss to me that I gave to you earlier. But I guess that can wait. It's clear how inexperienced you are in the area of matters of the flesh. But don't worry, we'll have plenty of to take care of that, and we'll start with kissing. So you'll have plenty of chances for you to get better. That way you don't end up making the same mistake you made with me earlier again. I meant all of that completely literally by the way. So please don't mistake it for some kind of joke. Because you've placed not only yourself, but also me, in a much more complicated situation than you even begin to realize. But we can get back to that later.

"Now, part of our arrangement will be that this lie of yours will have to continue until I decide that you've done enough for me to release you from my debt, and until I'm sure that no unexpected complications can arise from us 'ending our relationship', so you better keep that in mind. All of this clearly means that as far as anyone will know you're my girl from this point on. This part of our arrangement is nonnegotiable. As such there will be certain things you will have to get used to. Obviously as I've already expressed we will continue to kiss, and that includes in public. On top of this I expect you to be willing to initiate the kiss at least half of the time that we do so. I also don't want to have to tell you to do it either. So when I lean in for a kiss you will relent to me. Oh, while I'm thinking about it, that means no more using your arms or legs to try to keep distance between us when I pull you against me. You also need to get used to my touch, in general and regardless of where those touches may he located on you, because people in relationships tend to touch each other. Especially people around our ages. On top of this I expect you to do both of these whenever we are alone for at least half of the time. That way you will be able to gain experience without others watching you. Which will hopefully make you much more comfortable with this situation that you have put yourself into. Now, I'll gladly take you're inexperience into consideration, and I'll try not to push you to do things faster than you're willing to do them, but if you try to take things too slow then I will force you to take the next step. So you better take that into consideration when deciding how slow you want to go with me."

He then turned away from her and headed over to where another seat rested by itself. He then grabbed this chair and carried it back over and placed it in front of the chair that Mai was still standing beside. He then sat down in the chair that he had received and afterwards motioned for her to sit in the chair that she was currently standing by. Once she had sat down and he was convinced that her concentration was adequately focused on him. His expression suddenly seemed to change from what could've been called playful, even if it had been in a very dark way, into an expression that could only be described as deathly serious. He then said "Now, aside from all that we also need to discuss the other things that you will be expected to do for me. But first things first." Adam took a deep sigh as he thought about the reactions he had seen on the other teens in the class room that morning. One still stood out clearly to him now just as it had earlier. It was a girl who had seemed very angry about what he had been doing and how he had treated Mia. He had found out the two were close and he was sure that she could potentially become real trouble for himself so he intended to take care of that here and now.

Once he had ended his sigh he said "That little girlfriend of yours. I'm sure she realizes the truth of the situation. So you better make sure to keep her on a tight leash. Because if she gets out of hand and starts causing trouble for me, or any of my crew, or if she gets in between this arrangement between me and you. Then I may just have to send one, or maybe all, of my boys to have some fun with her. Besides, my boys will already be jealous enough since I'll be the only one who gets to have any fun with this situation. So if she causes too much trouble the'll expect compensation, and who better to pay that compensation then the one causing the troubles in the first place. Wouldn't you agree. Now, I'll let that sink in before we get on with the rest of our business that we have to go over while we're here." He then waited to see what she would say, and possibly do, based on what he had already said. He would decide how to continue based upon Mai's general attitude to the whole situation. As he waited he found himself wondering if she had been bothered by what he had said earlier about her causing more trouble for the two of them than she could realize.

《°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°》

Mai's eyes stayed trained onto a large piece of equipment placed on a black, styrofoam mat to her far right. The sound of the weights being placed on the floor filled her hears, as did Adam's voice. With each footstep that echoed in the otherwise empty room, the girl's hands bunched the ends on her skirt and her shoulders
and arms squeezed closer to her body. The panicked adrenaline from earlier returned tenfold and a small frown formed on her face when she could practically feel the body heat radiate off the other room's occupant in waves. A hint of a snarl made its way onto the top of her nostrils and the edge of her lips and Mai held her breath when slender fingers slid over the left side of her face. She didn't have to look at him if she didn't want to, or so she thought.

She'd started to lean away from Adam, but fingers forced her to look him. At least, forced her face to turn towards him. She kept her brown orbs focused on the now, slightly blurred piece of equipment she'd been looking at moments prior. After a few moments, her eyes finally locked with Adam's and her body tensed when she felt his fingers softly rub over her lips. The look he gave her sent a cold chill up her spine and she hurriedly crossed her arms over her chest and looked away again when he took in her form. She suddenly felt exposed and didn't want him looking at her at all, even if she had layers upon layers of clothing on. When the King started speaking again and brought up all of the things he expected her do to, Mai's head snapped in his direction and her face visibly paled.

She hadn't even gotten to tell him why she'd used his photo in the first place and he was already acting like she would just roll over and do what he wanted like some trained, pet dog!

Her hands' grip on her forearms tightened the more he spoke. Even if she had caused a problem for him, this guy expected her to take part in things a couple would actually do... Why was he so fascinated by the problem she had brought on to the both of them? She answered her question mentally then. It was obvious. It was so obvious why he was interested. There could only be one reason why; to be entertained. So, she was supposed to act like some consort? It was clear that he didn't care why she did what she did, just that she had done it against him. Mai's lips pressed together and she focused her attention on the floor as Adam continued his neverending list of conditions.

As he walked away from her, Mai resisted the urge to just turn tail and bolt. She watched him drag the spare seat and sat down in it. Her hands slowly fell down to her sides as she glanced between the chair and the male seated somewhat in front of her. After giving him a dubious look, the girl took a step in front of the empty seat and sat down. The metal was cool against the back of her knees and caused goosebumps to form. The serious expression made her heart skip a beat the fear from earlier that day returned, gripped at her heart and caused her to stay still as a board. As he thought about what he was going to say next, Mai's eyes scanned over the front of his form, sizing him up in a way. Her gaze met his once he began speaking about her best friend and her cheeks were dusted with a red color with anger. Shebcoupd handle people giving her a hard time, however, nobody insulted or threatened her friends while she was around.

Brown brows knit together and a deep frown formed on her lips as she mustered up all of her courage, which was relatively easy with a wave of anger that hit her so suddenly, and she spat back, "If you or anyone hurts Emma, I'll--"

《°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°》

As Mai's voice raised Adams eyes instantly grew dark with his own rage. He then swiftly stood up, kicking his chair as he did so. The chair he had been sitting in went flying back away from him. It bounced hard off the ground a few times until it slammed into a piece of exercise equipment about ten feet away. As this happened he raised his own voice and snapped "You'll what?! Oh! Please! Go ahead and finish that statement! I'd truly love to hear what you think you could do, Princess." His anger was fierce and his body temperature quickly began to rise until it radiated off him. To anyone who had seen him at that point it may have seemed like he had just lost his composure and self control, but the truth would actually terrify most people even worse. The few people who knew Adam knew that he always controlled his anger and that when he felt it rise up he knew just how to use it in the way that would serve him the best in those situations. That was what he was doing here now. In all honesty he was impressed by her sudden showing of determination, strength, and fire. But on the other hand it was clear she had no idea about what she was doing. This was her anger, and if she let it control her then it could cause problems for the both of them. Especially so long as they had to associate with each other. He hoped his show of force would be enough to snap her back to her senses. Because what he would soon say would require a clear mind for her to properly consider his words. He knew that every decision needed to be considered before being acted upon and it was time Mai learned the same thing. Because if anything her reaction had definitely made it clear that she didn't understand that fact at all. He would have to show her just how powerless she was in this situation. That way she didn't risk committing a worse mistake if she ever found herself in a more dangerous situation. Which unfortunately could likely happen because of the situation she had gotten herself into by associating herself with him.

His anger didn't seem to drop at all as he walked towards her. He kept his eyes unblinkingly locked with hers until they stood face to face. Then he said "However, before you say something that you're likely to regret just let me remind you of a few things. First off, you are the one who got us all involved in this situation. So no matter who gets involved, or what happens to those involved, it's all your fault. Second off, since this situation involves me that means it involves my boys. So if it seems necessary they will get involved even if it is to hurt somebody. However, that is only likely to happen if I tell them to do so or if they see something that makes it clear that they need to do damage control. That's one of their jobs. So all of us should be able to happily keep everything nice and civil so long as we all play our parts accordingly. However, that friend of yours is a wild card. Which means that any problems are most likely to be caused by her. So that means that if she steps out of line then she will have to be dealt with and then that would just be one more thing that is your fault. Simply because you refused to make sure she understands how important it is that she doesn't get involved in things that don't concern her. So before you try threatening anyone who hurts your friend just remember one thing. That will only happen if you fail to keep her from causing trouble for any of us in this situation. The situation that you have created in the first place. In other words if she gets hurt the only person you'll truly have to blame is yourself. So consider that when you start thinking about who to punish and how your going to do so if something does end up happening to her."

《°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°》

As soon as Adam was his feet, Mai was on hers, her muscles bunched together due to the possible danger she may have put herself into. When he sent the chair across the room, it clattered to the floor with a loud series of clangs, the girl lifted her hand some as she flinched. Red flags of alarm filled her head and her body went into fight or flight mode and the fear in her chest grew. Her steps backwards and around the chair were quick as the angered gang leader took steady strides towards her and Mai's breath caught inner throat as she she finally stopped due to the back of one her feet having gotten caught on one of the back legs of the chair she had sat in moments prior. His blazing eyes locked with her widened ones and she found herself not able to look away, frozen in place even as he spoke.

What he was telling her was true.

A guilty expression replaced her anger and she glanced away for a few seconds as what he said started to sink in. Everything was her fault and if anyone got hurt, then it would be on her shoulders. So, if Emma got hurt or into trouble with the Kingsmen, then it would ultimately lead back to Mai failing to play her part, as Adam had just put it. Stuffing her shaking hands beneath her armpits, the brunette remained silent after he finished speaking and struggled to come up with an appropriate response.

If only she hadn't been dealing with Randal.
If only he hadn't been harassing her.
If only he left her alone.

Then she wouldn't even be in this horrible predicament and she wouldn't have made the male in front of her so angry, nor would she have brought him in the situation. If she had thought about what she was doing and not just chosen a random photo off the internet, then maybe things would have been normal. If she hadn't lied to Randal about having a boyfriend, then...

Mai's eyes flicked down to focus on her shoes and she pressed her lips together in a thin line. It wouldn't do her any good thinking of the what she could've done. She hated lying and had never been good at it. Everyone who knew her knew this fact. It always left a bitter taste in her mouth and she felt really guilty after doing it; even when she had the mere thought about lying. Inhaling a small breath through her nose and breathing out through her lips, Mai finally lifted her gaze to his too look at him with genuine guilt and pity. "...I'm sorry," she murmured in a small, voice. "I just...panicked."

She paused and decided that telling him what had happened then and there was a better time than any. "I know you probably won't care about this, but I'm still going to tell you." She stood a little taller and braced herself for any other angry comments he might shoot back at her. "This guy, Randal, was... harassing me for a couple of weeks, and I didn't know what else to do to get him to stop." Her head titled downwards some in a small nod and her thumb stuck out from its hiding spot to wave around once as she continued, "I finally had enough of it and told him I had a boyfriend," Mai made a small scowl at herself for being so stupid. "So, when he called me out on it, I went online, picked a random photo, and set it as my profile picture to get him to leave me alone."

She shuffled a step away from him and added, "I usually don't do stupid things like that, but... I just... got so frustrated and acted on impulse for once. So," her upper teeth gnawed at her lower lip and she pressed on. "I'm sorry I got you mixed up into this-- You and your gang. It was really, really dumb of me." Her eyes looked away from his eyes and focused on the upside down chair that was across the room and she spoke up again in a soft tone, "I understand why you're frustrated. I would be, too."

Blinking, the girl finally moved her gaze to dance across the young man's face and she added begrudgingly, "...I'll..." She fell silent for a second before she said, "I'll do my best to keep Emma in check, but I might not be really good for what you're asking of me... The other things..." She already knew he was going to protest to her small one, so she shook her head and spoke before Adam could, "But, I'll still try to act like a proper girlfriend. ...I've just never dated anyone before, so I honestly have no idea what to do with that type of stuff. Like you said, I'm inexperienced. So... I'll just... try to follow your lead as best as I can."

《°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°》

Adams eyes softened, his anger began to fade, and he could feel his bodies temperature begin to drop back to normal as Mai apologized to him. He then listened to her as she explained about Randal and why she had lied about the two of them being in a relationship. He felt sorry for her and angry at whoever this Randal guy was. But the thing that bothered him the most was that this girl who seemed so gentle and pure had inadvertently gotten herself into an even worse situation than the one she was already in simply because she had been scared and looking for a way out. Worse of all neither of them were to blame for how bad the the overall situation they found themselves in was. In fact the fault for that situation was because of someone who wasn't even around anymore. Adams own piece of trash father. With her explanation of what had happened Adam knew he would have to explain to her just how bad of a situation she was in but he wasn't sure where exactly to begin.

As she finished talking he let out a slow sigh and turned away from her. He then walked over in order to retrieve his chair from where it had finally stopped. He could see as he approached it that for the most part it was fine except for one of the legs being a little bent. So he picked it up and bent the leg back into place as good as he could. The leg groaning in resistance as it was fixed. He then walked back towards Mai and sat the chair back down where it had been before. Afterwards he turned to Mai and in a low voice said "You sweet, beautiful, ignorant girl. You have absolutely no idea why I'm so frustrated, as you put it. Nor do you understand just how bad of a situation you've gotten yourself caught up in." He then walked up to her, lightly grabbed her elbows, and gently move her so that she would once again be sitting in her chair. He then leaned forward and placed a long soft kiss on her forehead. As he pulled away he said simply "Your going to want to be seated for this."

He then returned to his own seat and took a long deep breath. In order to clear his mind and to settle on just what he was going to say. Once he had decided he looked at her again and he had a sad expression on his face. It almost looked like he could cry but no tears ever came. He then said "It's clear that you don't know anything about me, or at least anything about what the rumors around school claim about me. So I think it's best to start by explaining those first. People call me violent, and dangerous, because I've been in fights, I'm required to see a psychiatrist, and because I killed my father. All of that is true. But here's where things change. The rumors say I killed him in cold blood, but the truth is that it was in self defense. You see my father was absolute crap. He was a drunkard, an abusive asshole, and a drug addict. To make things worse that man was a total moron in all aspects of life. He was a lifetime criminal who was obsessed with gambling. He worked for one of the big time crime organizations but was a total zero himself. Usually he just sold drugs, but being an addict he had a problem with sampling his own products. So he was always short on cash. He was forced to help on heists but he didn't really have any useful skills so he always got small cuts which just had to go back to his bosses to pay off what he owed, but if course it was never enough. All of this considered my family never really had enough to support us. Especially once you added in the fact that my father felt it was vital to support his habits no matter how bad off we were. This lead him to eventually borrowing money from some very dangerous people. As you can probably guess he had come nowhere close to paying off his debts before he ended up dead at the hands of his own son. This didn't make any of the people he owed money to happy at all.

"So at the funeral for my parents I was introduced to some of my dad's co-worker. The told me about how my dad owed them and that meant I had to pay them back since he was now dead. The told me that if I didn't work to get them their money then they'd kill anyone I cared for. Starting with my grandmother who had taken me in. I was petrified, but even more than that I was furious. My bastard father was ruining my life even from the grave. I agreed to do what they wanted. They started me off with selling drugs like my old man. I soon realized how dangerous it was and I decided to do something my father had never been smart enough to do. I trained to be able to protect myself. After that I learned what I could about picking locks and pockets. The bosses loved it. I was getting them so much money that they eventually told me that if I could pay of my dad's debt and throw in a fair amount to cover the interests for having to wait then by the time I'd graduated they'd never bother me again. I agreed of course. It would've been stupid not to. When I was about to enter high school that's when I learned something else. The organization had children reps in basically all the schools in the city. But they had lost their link to our school a few years before I arrived. I was to set up a new foothold and they wanted me to gather some people to help me with solidifying my power at the school.

"That's where the Kings began. I decided to gather the toughest guys I could. One of them I'd actually known when we were little but we'd lost touch over the years. The others had to be convinced. I also had to make sure they agreed to follow some rules that they didn't like. But I refused to have them crossing certain lines so long as they worked with me. It wasn't easy. In the end though I'd completely set up shop before the Christmas break my freshman year. Since then it's been constant work. Of course that means that I gained a reputation. One that I had to work to make sure it fit the image I wanted. Some things I hadn't intended did start to be believed by the students. I had turned down so many girls that people eventually believed that I was used to being with older woman and that girls just didn't have a shot with me. In some ways that was true and in others it was wrong. If you remember I'd said earlier that the people who contacted me told me they'd hurt whoever I cared for if I didn't deliver what they wanted. Because of this I had to break up with my first girlfriend, that I'd just gotten, because I didn't want her to get hurt. However I had to break her heart in order to get her to believe that I was serious because we had known each other for a long time. Luckily she ended up going to a different high school so I haven't seen her in years. But it was at that point I swore I'd never have another relationship until I was able to get away from the organization. Unfortunately they wanted to make me a man after they had grown to like my work I did for them. They'd take me to places they owned and would introduce me to women, or sometimes girls, that they basically owned and they force them to be with me. Neither of us had any choice in the matter. I had to 'be a real man' and they 'had a job to do'. The whole thing made me sick. It was only when I turned seventeen that the higher ups finally said I was old enough to make my own choices. I still have to go out with them if they feel like a celebration is called for. But at least now I don't have to associate with females that I couldn't care less about. One of the times I had been leaving a hotel with one of those women a group of kids from the school had seen me leave with her. The kids had been on their way home from some movie and just happened to notice me. The rumors from that traveled fast and crazy. Girls began to want me even more.that was about half way through my sophomore year.

"I was so happy when I was given back part of my freedom after I turned seventeen. I didn't want anything to do with anymore females until after I had graduated. That way they wouldn't put themselves in danger. But then I got a call about what you'd done this morning. You see while the higher ups like me because of how good my business is for them that doesn't mean they won't use a 'girlfriend' of mine against me if they feel they have to do so. In fact they'd gladly do that. On top of that any of the other groups like mine that work for the organization would happily use any advantage they could against me. Especially someone I supposedly care about. It's taken everything I have just to keep my grandmother safe. But now you'll be in their line of site as well." At that point Adam stood up and started to pace back and forth behind his chair. It was clear remembering and going over all this information wasn't something he enjoyed doing. He then looked at Mai and continued "Don't you see by doing what you did you've placed a target on your own back. Now my bosses and my enemies will be watching you. If we try to just remove you're update and call it a lie then they'll all be even more convinced that I care for you and that I'm just trying to protect you. Same thing if we try claiming that we just started a relationship and already wanted to end it. If any of them believed the truth of what's happened then I'd be seen as week. My enemies would try to attack my turf. Which involves the school and everyone here. My bosses would see it as me being weak and as being a bad reflection on them. They'd likely kill me, my grandmother, the King's, and you. All as an example of how nobody should ever make them look bad.

"Now you can't tell anybody any of this. Not even that friend of yours. As far as she goes I don't care what stories you make up. But she has to stay in line. You can paint me to be the human embodiment of the Devil if that's what it takes. But she simply can't cause too many waves. I'm sorry that you're in this situation. I'm sorry my worthless father ever started this situation. But theirs nothing that can be done about it now. I'll do my best to show you how to act properly when it comes to being my girlfriend. But this is basically new waters for us both. I may understand matters of the flesh well enough. But the heart is another story. I've had to lock mine away for
far too long. As compensation for everything you have to deal with now I'll gladly help with this creep Randal. Just tell me his full name and anything you now about him. I know it's not a fair trade but it's the best I can do. I know that none of this at all is fair to you in the slightest. Especially when you were just trying to get away from a bad situation. But this is the situation that you've found yourself in now. I'll understand however upset, angry, afraid, or whatever else you might become in reaction to all of this. I'll even understand if it's directed at me. But this is going to be part of your life now. And nothing can be done about that. At least not any time soon." As he finished talking he stopped walking and stood behind his chair. The look he gave her was completely serious. Showing that he hadn't been lying about anything he had said. But his eyes showed a tender compassion and honest regret over the fact that she was now involved with the insanity that comprised his life. As he watched her he waited for her reaction, half expecting her to try to run away screaming or for her to pass out from terror. But no matter what he was ready to deal with whatever emotions see let out, and also ready to catch her if need be. Regardless of whatever reason he had to catch her for.

《°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°》

Mai remained where she was as Adam walked away to retrieve his chair and she was relatively shocked when he spoke to her in such a calm tone of voice. It was vastly different from how he had spoken to her earlier. Flinching some when his hands softly gripped her elbows, the girl followed him and slowly moved to sit. Using her hands to press the back of her skirt beneath her butt, she finally placed her full body weight onto the chair and looked up in time to feel a pair of lips press a gentle kiss to her forehead.

She swallowed a lump down her throat while she waited for him to speak again, figuring that it would be best to not say anything. Her hands placed themselves on her knees as she waited patiently and when he began talking again, her eyes flicked up to his. Mai remained silent as he told his entire life's story, her expressions changed from shocked to sad and back to being shocked at a couple of things he spoke of. The guilt and panic that settled in her chest grew and by the time Adam had finished speaking, she had her head down so her brown orbs could focused entirely on the pattern of her uniform's skirt.

So, she really had gotten herself into some serious trouble... Not only her, but Adam, the Kings gang, Emma, and her own family, too. If any one of them got hurt, it worse, Mai would only be able to blame herself. The men that Adam was being forced to work with sounded absolutely horrible and she had no idea such people even existed in the world. Mai would have never guessed that he had gone through the things he did and it all made sense why he acted the way he was. How had he been able to live through such terrible things for so long? She was going to ask him why he'd chosen her to entertain when he could have any other woman, someone who was much more experienced than her and who knew what she was doing with the sort of thing, but he'd answered it during his explanation.

Eventually Mai's upper torso bent over some and she placed her head in the palms of her hands and her fingers could be seen poking out from beneath her brown locks.

She really was an idiot.

She really, really was a complete and utter idiot.

When Adam apologized to her and told her that he would help her with Randal, her head snapped up so she could look at him. The sudden movement caused her hair to bounce some and it pooled back over the tops of her shoulders. Her eyes could be seen peeking behind her spread fingers and Mai hurriedly placed them on her lap and straightened her posture some. One of her hands lifted so her fingers could play with a couple of strands of her hair and she shook her head, finally replying, "N-No, you really don't have to. I'll confront him face to face this time."

As she spoke, her eyes had moved to focus at a random spot on the tiled floor and her brows furrowed some at the thought. A small frown appeared and she tilted her head to the side to add with some hesitation, "...Well, maybe it might not be the best idea for me to go alone. He's in another gang- the Wolves I think it's called, so that could be problematic." Her head lifted to meet Adam's gaze and she placed her hand back into her lap, the fingers of her left hand curled around it as she did so, "He... Uhm... He's always after girls and some people told me that he's pretty dangerous if someone makes him angry." She let out a small, defeated sigh and squeezed her grip on her right hand. "I used to go to school with him, believe it or not. He was still a punk back then, but nearly as bad as he is now." Looking back at him, she raised one of her hands up in a surrendering fashion, "But since I've already caused you so much trouble, I won't ask you to do anything about him. I'll just... I'll figure something out. If he happens to try anything against me, then I'll call the police."

Even that sounded pretty stupid coming from her mouth. Where Randal was known to hang out, the police usually didn't do much of anything. Maybe it would be best if she asked him to come someplace else to meet her? Someplace the police would actually respond. Pulling herself from her thoughts, the brunette gazed back up at Adam and spoke up again, "Also, I'm so sorry you have to deal with people like that. I hope I can help you in any way I can. Even if you just need me to pretend to be your girlfriend. I'll do my best."

She fell silent a moment and started to feel a tad awkward and glanced about the room before resting her gaze on the young man's again, "So... How does this work, exactly? Where do we even begin? Do we walk around school together, or just hang out in here during lunch..?"

Her brows rose slightly and Mai perked up a bit suddenly and stood from her seat to rush back towards the exit. Kneeling down beside her bag, she zipped it open, pulled something out, and stood from her spot. Turning on her heel, she took quickened steps across the room, held the small, square object to her chest, and came to a halt in front of the chair Adam stood behind. Pulling her phone from her chest, she turned it on and tapped the thumb of her pad against the screen, pulling up a new contact info tab. "I, uhm, thought we should exchange numbers... Just in case." She mumbled as she held the device out to the male, her cheeks dusted a light pink in color.

《°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°》

Adam had considered many possible reactions that Mai may have had to his news, but the one she exhibited certainly hadn't been one of them. So when Mai's head shot up in response to Adam saying he would help her with Randal he couldn't help but think how cute she looked. The thought was only cemented more in his mind when she quickly pulled her hands away from her face and then placed them in her lap only to pull one of them back up in order to began playing with her hair the way that she did. It was unbelievably cute, and honestly kind of funny. The perfect definition of adorable as far as he could tell.

But then she said that he didn't have to help her with Randal and that she'd just handle it her self. He had to stop himself from reacting because he didn't want to risk frightening her. Because what she was saying was completely out of the question, for a number of reasons. He was about to tell her that when she continued speaking. What he heard made him even more against the idea of her dealing with the guy by herself though. In fact he had to concentrate not to yell that at her once he had realized who the creep that had been bothering her was. But he managed to maintain his composure in order to let her say what she wanted to.

When she mentioned calling the police if Randal tried anything Adam wanted to facepalm himself about her apparent level of ignorance again. Because the police wouldn't be able to help at all with that guy. He was about to point that fact out to her whenever she seemed to completely change the topics. She even did so in a way that could almost be described as airheaded. Once again he couldn't help but think how cute and funny she was. At this point though he decided that it would be best just to wait until it seemed like she was actually done talking before he considered trying to say something else again.

She was silent for a moment and he started to wonder if she was finally done talking, but he decided to wait just in case. It turned out to be a good idea because she started to ask him some questions about how there situation as a couple should be handled and what it would entail when they were out in public. Then she just stopped mid-sentence and seemed to perk up. Next thing he knew she was standing up and heading towards the exit. He hadn't moved this whole time from where he had stopped behind his chair earlier and once she headed for the exit he didn't move to stop her because he was too shocked. Especially after everything she had been saying.

He was about to ask her what she was doing when she seemed to squat down and start messing with something. It took him a moment to notice it was her bag and as he did she seems to find what she was looking for. At which point she stood and started to head back to him holding something close to her chest. Once she reached him she revealed that what she had retrieved was her phone and she offered it to him with a tab opened for him to put his contact info into it. He gently tool the phone she offered to him and said "That makes sense." He then quickly filled out the info and handed the phone back to her.

Afterwards he turned to head toward one of the far corners of the and started to walk towards it. As he walked he began to speak. It was loud enough for her to understand him clearly without him having to really raise his voice. He said "Look I respect your desire to try to handle the situation with Randal by yourself. However, I feel you may be wanting to do that just because you feel bad about the situation that we've gotten into." He stopped for a minute as he reached the corner he had been heading towards. Be then bent down to dig in his own bag, which was basically hidden from sight by weight gear. Once he stood he held his own phone in his hand.

He then turned back towards where she stood and once again started speaking as he walked. He continued "That's not a good idea. I know about the Wolves and if your talking about the Randal I think you are then I'm telling you he's more dangerous than you even know. He may be an insignificant little bug, but that doesn't mean he's not dangerous. Besides his gang is also under the control of the same organization I'm involved with. So him messing with my girl makes this second only to him trying to start a turf war with me. So I actually have to respond. Hopefully we can just scare him off with a warning since he hadn't been aware of the 'connection' between me and you. But if he tries to continue his advances on you then we'll have a real problem. But we can deal with that later. As for the police they wouldn't really be of any help no matter how you tried to use them so it's best to just forget that idea altogether"

He finished speaking a moment after reaching Mai. While he had been talking he opened his phone up so she could enter her information and so he now handed her his phone just like she had given him hers. While she entered her information he continued speaking saying "As for my situation you don't need to apologize for it. I truly do appreciate the sentiment but you had nothing to do with it. So you really don't have to apologize for it. If you want to help though then we can talk about it and see if we come up with anything. While we do that we can also discuss the finer details on just how we'll handle our relationship. But I think all of that should be handled somewhere a little more comfortable. So if you don't mind I'd like for you to come with me after school. We can either go to my house, or somewhere that you'd feel more comfortable if you prefer. Just so long as it's somewhere that we aren't likely to have too many people bothering us." By this time she was done with his phone and so he took it back from her as she offered it to him.

He then once again found himself inspecting the beautiful girl before him, this time out of curiosity, and couldn't help but to once again think about how cute she was. So he then gave a small nod of his head to himself, as if he'd just made a decision. He then placed his phone on his empty chair, looked back at Mai, and then said "This may seem out of nowhere to you, so I apologize for that, and I also in general apologize for this..." He then quickly closed the distance between them and once again kissed this girl that he barely knew. But it was different than the one from earlier. He had placed his hands lightly on her hips this time and had left space between them. As for his kiss it was gentle, warm, and caring. He knew that she could react bad to what he was doing but he was ok with taking that risk. Something about her had grabbed hold of him and he just couldn't resist it anymore. Is she wanted to get closer to him she could do so because that would be her choice, but if she wanted to push away that would be fine as well. That's why he had left the space for her. He wanted to let her choose. He also knew that she could end up hitting him, yelling and cussing at him, or who knew what else. But he's learned long ago that in life sometimes it's better to live in the moment rather than trying to worry about the consequences.

《°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°》

Mai's brown orbs followed Adam's form as he walked away and she physically deflated when the news about Randal being part of the organization he had to work with was thrown at her. That meant the guy must have been really dangerous and she would take Adam's word for it.

"Oh..."

Her eyes had focused in a bench press as Adam continued to speak and her hand rubbed her arm when he started to walk towards her. The pink in her cheeks didn't subside at the thought of being called his girl and how he still hadn't put a shirt on. Breathing out a silent huff, Mai returned her gaze to him when he came to a stop in front fo her to hand her his phone. As she took it from him, their fingers brushed against eachother a split second and the contact sent tingles of warmth up her hand and arm. Her thumbs typed on the screen and as the gang leader spoke, she nodded her head a couple of times in between his sentences. Eyes flicked up to meet his when he brought up wanting to meet somewhere and Mai bit her lower lip in thought. Titling her head to the side some, she saved her contact info and handed him the phone as she spoke up, "Well, I'm not... really sure my mother would approve of me bringing a guy home." She added with a small chuckle and smiled with a slight shake of her head, "Even if she's always teasing me about getting a boyfriend. She wouldn't leave us alone if she's home."

Her fingers grinned her chin as she wracked her brain for anywhere that might be private, but after a few seconds she let out a defeated sigh and slumped her shoulders. "I... I don't really know anywhere else that's really private... I don't, uhm, get out enough. My mom scolds me for that, too..."

So, that meant she'd have to go to his house. The mere thought made her feel nervous, especially with how he had acted in the classroom. Yet, her gut feeling kept telling her that it would safe and with how he was acting right then brought some form of comfort. She blinked and glanced up at him from her shoes to say, "So, I guess I'll go home with you." Mai then began to ramble in a slight panic, "I-I can't stay out too long though, because my mom would kill me and I have to get homework finished and make lunch for tomorrow and feed the dog and do household chores and-"

At Adam's apology, her head flicked up to ask him what he meant when she was pulled towards him and his lips were on hers a second time. Her body froze again, the color rushed to her cheeks and ears, and the palm of her hand instantly put itself against the young man's lower torso, while the other was left dangling away from them, holding her phone. Unlike the first kiss, there was no force and much more room for her to move. The mixed smells of his cologne and sweat filled her nostrils and the warmth that came off him hit her in waves, caused a small shiver to wrack over her body. No matter how embarrassed she was, she'd have to get used to it, to them kissing and holding hands in public and in general, if they had to pretend to be a real couple. That thought made her stay put for a few moments before she hesitantly pulled her face away.

When she realized how her hand had been touching Adam's abs, she hurriedly retracted it and lost what little cool headedness she had during the kiss. Fumbling over her words, she spun around and covered her eyes with her hand and phone, her face beet red, "I-I-I..! I'm so sorry-! I wasn't paying attention and-and I didn't mean to touch you to begin with!"

As she retracted her hands from her face, she turned her upper torso a bit to look at him, her teeth biting her lower lip again as a nervousness came over her. Hugging her phone some, the young woman blinked a couple of times before she finally met his gaze. "Sorry. I'll... It'll take some time for me to get used to this."

Glancing away again, she asked after clearing her throat some, "So... Would you like me to meet you here after school, or do you want to come get me at my class, or meet at the front entrance...? Whichever you'd prefer."

《°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°》

Adams body felt like it was on fire as he and Mai kissed. When she touched him with her hands he could feel sparks from their contact. He was honestly surprised by her reaction. She hadn't tried to hit him or acted anger by what he had done. Which was what he had expected her to do. Instead she almost seem to lose herself in the kiss. As the kiss stretched on he happily breathed in her scent. Everything from her hair products and soap she had used to bathe that morning to the perfume she had chosen to wear it all seemed to surround him and he could literally feel himself be even more drawn to her. He'd never been an addict but the way his body cried out that it wanted more of her reminded him of the descriptions he'd heard before of how an addict craved their next hit. The thought bothered him on one hand, but on the other hand all he wanted was to pull her I'm closer and to let himself get completely lost in her. He had to physically fight himself from pulling her tight against his body. He reminded himself that she was pure, innocent, and nothing like the women he'd been with before. It was those thoughts that where screaming at h from inside his mind whem she finally pulled away. He was a monster and he couldn't let himself forget that or else he could very well end up destroying this poor girl.

As she pulled her hand off of him he felt his body cry out for her touch to return but he quickly shoved the feeling away. He stared at the beautiful girl in front of him telling himself that to her this whole situation was a punishment. He reminded himself what kind of person he was because of the life he lived. He pointed out that someone like her would never want someone like him. What had he been thinking anyways? As the time seemed to slowly pass for him he watched as her embarrassment quickly took over her and then listened as she apologized for touching him. Their situation finally reminded him of something. It was the story of Beauty and the Beast. Sure there were plenty of differences but the main thing was the guy was a monster and the girl was a beauty who was forced to be with him. He let out a sigh at the thought and then accepted the realization that he wasn't in a story. Which meant that in the end there was no way that someone like him would ever have a chance at getting the girl. It may not have been what he wanted to think but it was the only thing that seemed logical as he thought over their situation.

He started to think over what she had said about her mother earlier. It was then he realized he hadn't responded to her about that yet. It was then that she asked how he wanted them to met up at the end of the school day. So he looked at her to respond but felt his blood begin to race once more. He quickly made himself move past the excitement though and chided himself as he thought how monsters don't get happy endings. He almost thought he could feel his heart break but he ignored it. Though he didn't know it that was wheb the light that had started to show in his eyes slowly began to fade away again. He then said "It would probably be best if you just meet me at my car. It's an old Dodge Demon and the only classic car that is in good shape in the student parking lot. I mean if I show up at your class again then your friend might cause a scene or try to follow us when we leave. Neither of which would likely be good situations. I'll make sure not to keep you out too late. Lord knows you don't need anymore trouble to come your way. In all honesty it's probably best that we don't go to your house, and that your mom doesn't meet me. I doubt she'd approve of me anyways, and nobody would blame her."

He then picked his phone back up and looked at the time. At which point he turned to walk back over to his bag looked continued saying 'Yoid better go so you can get back to class on time. I'm sure you'll feel better once you're away from here anyways." As he finished speaking he had reached his bag and was crouching down over it. The way he held himself would look like he had been drained. Like all the life had simply left him. It had been a long time since he'd looked like that. But he had just stopped himself from hoping for something good in his life and the last time something like that had happened was when he had met the men at his parents funeral that were now his bosses. He looked over his shoulder as he waited for Mai to leave and then returned his phone to his bag and dug around in it for what he needed. He then gathered his stuff up and headed to the locker rooms to clean up and change. The rest of the day was a blur. He remembered pretty much nothing about it. All he knew was eventually he was beside his car and was waiting for Mai to arrive so they could leave.

《°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°》

A hint of worry filled her gaze when he mentioned his car because the girl wasn't very intelligible about different types or brands of cars. She'd just look it up later, she decided, but if it was an old car, then surely it wouldn't be too hard to spot? Her fingers brushed against her cheeks some as they slid down from her face and they fell to her sides as Mai nodded in agreement with what Adam had said, "Oh, that is true... She would try to stop me again and we really don't need that, huh?"

When he told her that she should leave, her eyes looked down at her own phone to see what time it was and her eyes got as big as saucers, "Oh, shoot! Yeah, I'd better get going!" She'd turned on her heel, held her thumb against the power button of the small device, and she looked back at Adam's retreating form as she started to move.

"I'll, uhm, see you later, then?"

When he finally looked over at her, she sent him a small wave with her free hand before turned back around and running around the chair she sat in. Making sure her phone was powered off, she unzipped her small bag and stuffed it into the pocket she'd had it stowed away within earlier. Shutting the bag again, she grabbed the small bag of chocolates from her backpack, slipped the larger back onto her shoulders, picked the smaller bag and didn't wait for one of the thugs to open the door for her. As she rushed down the various hallways and avoided running into fellow students, who all seemed to look at her as she passed by, she was eating the delicious treats within the small bag as her lunch. Sure, it wasn't exactly the best thing to eat, but she just loved chocolate. That and it was quick to eat on her way to her fourth class. Once the bag was empty, she tossed it in a nearby trash in that was outside of the girl's restroom and rushed into the classroom that was only two doors away from it.

During the ten minute break between the previous class and her last class, Mai had told Emma that she didn't need to worry about her and she had it all figured out and she and Adam had made a deal of sorts, which wouldn't last very long. The other girl gave her a dubious look before sighing and nodding her head, told her that of she spotted anything out of the ordinary that she'd help her in a heartbeat. Mai had simply nodded before heading to her last class for the day. Once the final bell rang, she stuffed her books and notepads in her backpack and felt the familiar sense of dread form in her gut as she made her way to the exit. It wasn't nearly as bad as it had been earlier that day, but it was still there.

Images of the kisses filled her mind and she hurriedly smacked her face a couple of times, trying to get them out of her brain. "No, no, no, no! Don't think about them!"

Inhaling a calming breath, she still felt her face burn with a pink hue and came to a stop at the curb close to the parking lot. Her eyes scanned the lot with a furrowed brown brow and when she didn't really see any old looking cars, she pulled out her phone and pulled up Adam's number. Her thumb stopped right above the CALL option and her heart beat rapidly in her chest as she debated on whether or not to actually contact him. She'd never been good on the phone and that was part of the reason why she didn't want to call Randal to confront him about the harassment. Making a small, nervous sound, she gathered her courage and hit the option on the screen. With a shaking hand, she lifted the phone to her ear and waited as the tone began to ring.

《°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°》

While Adam waited for Mai to arrive he noticed that his stomach was beginning to rumble. It was then that he realized he hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. Then it occurred to him that he hadn't left anything prepared for his grandmothers lunch either. He'd been so distracted after the call he'd received that morning that it had completely slipped his mind. He knew there were leftovers that she could eat but knowing her she probably hadn't eaten anything actually filling and certainly nothing that was good for her. It then occurred to him that Mai had also missed her lunch because the two of them had been talking. He quickly gave himself a rather hard facepalm before slowly dragging his hand down his face.


He pulled out his wallet and checked how much money he had. He could easily pick something up from some drive through on the way home. On top of that he'd see if Mai wanted to stay for supper. That way she could get her homework out of the way before she headed home. He began thinking about what they had at home that he could cook and realized that he hadn't taken anything out that morning to defrost. So he had two options. He could either pick something up, or he could make breakfast. He thought about it for a moment and decided that he'd just see which idea sounded better to Mai.

It was at that moment he decided to look around and see if she was close to arriving yet and noticed that he didn't see her anywhere. He watched for a few minutes and she finally came out. She stopped at the curb and seemed to be looking for his car but it seemed like she didn't notice him or his car with all the people walking through the parking lot. So he climbed into his care and buckled up. He had already thrown his stuff in the backseat when he first arrived so it wouldn't be in Mais way, because he usually left it in his passenger seat. He then cranked the car and the engine roared to life making the students around him quickly move to get out of the car before it tried to leave. At the same time his phone began to ring and Avenged Sevenfolds Hail to the King began to play. He answered his phone and said "One second and I'll get you."

He then hung up his phone and turned his radio on. As he quickly backing up everyone could hear Motorheads King of Kings begin to blare out of his speakers since his windows had already been down. He then quickly sped around people and other vehicles as he made his way towards where Mai was standing. As he got closer he went into a drift barely missing a parked car and sliding into the lane next to the curb just as another car was driving by also just missing it. He then leaned over and threw open the passenger side door as he drove backwards and stopped right beside Mai. By this time he had already straightened himself back out in his seat and as he looked at Mai he gave a bit of a cocky smile and said "Your chariot awaits princess. Let's get out of here." As he waited for her to get in he revved his engine so that it roared out loud across the schoolyard while the song continued to play in the background. He wasn't sure how Mai would react to his driving but he needed the adrenaline. He hoped it would help keep him distracted from the girl why was about to climb into his car.

《°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°》

As the girl stood there with the phone pressed to her ear, she ignored the looks she received from the other students who walked past her. Something she had noticed since that morning was that everyone wouldn't really talk to her much about anything besides Adam and she had a feeling that it would be that way for a long, long time. It made her even more nervous because that meant she'd have to lie more. She mentally squealed in a panic because she really couldn't afford to screw the charade up.

Once the dial tone stopped, Mai opened her mouth to greet Adam, but she didn't have time because he told her to stay put and that he'd pick her up. Then the other line went dead and she blinked down at her phone with a small glare, feeling a little offended that she hadn't been able to say anything. Yet, at the same time, Mai was somewhat glad she didn't have to say anything because she would just end up stuttering over her words anyway. Letting out a sigh, she unzipped her small bag and put her phone into the pocket within it. A group of girls had walked out of the main entrance and as they walked to stand by one of the large windows, they sent her some dirty looks, which Mai took notice of. Most likely they were jealous of her and the brunette bit her lip and held her bag to her chest as a means of comfort.

The girlfriend of the leader of the Kings Gang was probably going to be feared and she'd make some enemies at school and that thought kind of terrified Mai. What if she started getting bullied or picked on because of it...? She'd never received so much attention from anyone other than Emma and a few of her friends in the school, but now that the entire school knew about and believed the lie, Mai wasn't so sure she'd be able to handle the glares and gossips that would undoubtedly be spread about her. Her eyes focused on her bag as another wave of guilt hit her suddenly. What about Adam? He was admired and feared by everyone. What if the students and teachers gave him a difficult time because he was "dating" a nobody like her. Even if it was fake, she couldn't stand the thought of someone else suffering because of her.

The sound of music blaring loudly filled her ears and Mai's attention was focused on the shiny, stylish car that slid into a parking place, the car door having been pushed open as it did so. While it had drifted into place, the burnette's eyes widened and she hopped backwards with her small bag clutched to her chest so tightly her knuckles nearly turned white, afraid that the vehicle might ram into her she didn't get a couple of steps away. The girls by the window all visibly swooned, while some guys rolled their eyes or admired the spunky gang leader, and Mai just stared at him a little bewildered. On one hand, she felt some relief wash over her, happy to be taken away by the stars the other students gave her. On the other, she found herself feeling oddly excited by being picked up in such a fashion. It was almost like something out of a movie or book. The feeling caused a small grin to form, one she hurriedly hid as she placed her two bags in the car, and she hesitantly climbed into the passenger seat.

Carefully placing her feet on either side of her backpack, she leaned her upper body out towards the passenger door, and her fingers curled around the door handle to shut the metallic door. Then she turned some to grip the fabric strap that was the seat belt and she fastened the buckle in the clasp attached the chair. Mai tried not to wince at the loud music and thought that it would tone down once the wind picked up when the car began to move. She blinked and looked up from her hands, which had settled themselves on her lap, to take in the interior of the old fashioned car. The smell of leather was ever prominent, as was Adam's cologne, and when she glanced behind her, she saw some of his belongings had been thrown in the back seat. Looking back ahead of her, she couldn't help the fast pace pounding her heart was doing in her chest. Lifting her right hand to tuck some hair behind her ear, she finally forced her eyes to look back at Adam and started to ask him something, but decided she shouldn't because she probably wouldn't be able to yell over the music.

《°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°》

Adam took a quick look around at the people staring at him, his car, and Mai, and then he looked around at the rest of the school area. Including the road between himself and the exit. As he had expected everybody was getting out of the way still. In fact there was nearly a clear exit between him and the main road in front of the school, and what little was in his way was quickly moving to get out of his way. He smiled as another idea occurred to him. He knew it might scare Mai a little bit but with what people expected fr him it would make the most sense to do it. He waited until she was in the car and completely strapped in. Once she looked at him he waited to see if she would ask him something but she didn't.

He then leaned over towards her until his face was hidden next to her ear closest to him. He then began to speak load enough so that she could hear h but no one else would be able to. On top of this he made sure to breath on her next just enough that it would hopefully cause her to react in surprise which would make others think he was doing something to her that they would expect from him. He then said "We're going to have to kiss again. You need to actually grab onto me and pull me closer like you actually want it. It might be a good idea to wrap your arms around my neck, but I'll leave that up to you." He then moved his right hand behind her head and wrapped his fingers tightly in her hair. He tugged at it lightly, enough so she would react but not enough to hurt her, and as he did he turned her head so that there faces were right next to each other. He then began to kiss her in a way that seemed to almost mix both of the earlier kisses. He tried not to focus on what he was doing but he wanted to feel more of her so bad. Everything inside him told her that she probably didn't want this, that she probably could barely stand being around him, but he couldn't stop himself. He keep lightly breaking there kiss enough for them to take a breath only for him to go back in for another kiss again. He did this several times and the total time they kissed was easily longer than double the time of both of their previous times put together before he finally actually pulled away for the last time.

He found himself breathing hard as he looked at her with a burning fire and hunger for her 8n his eyes. He justed stared at her until she finally was looking at him as well. Once she did look at him that was when he made his move. He quickly kicked his car into drive and began to speed down the schools driveway. He then turned o to the main road without even slowing down a little and then speed off away from the school. The whole time he did this while he was in sight of the school he kept his eyes looked into Mais without looking away once. Once the school feel out of sight he finally turned his eyes to the road and started to focus on his driving. Not long after the song that had been playing ended and he quickly turned off his radio. He then shouted over the sounds of the engine and the wind and said "Sorry about all that. I hope you're ok. By the way. I know that you missed lunch because of us talking earlier. So I was wondering if you'd like to get something to eat? Maybe swing through a burger joint or something? Just tell me where you'd like to go. Come to think of it, you're not a vegetarian or a vegan are you?" He then remained silent as he waited for her to respond.

《°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°》

Mai's expression turned into that of innocent confusion and her shoulders lifted some while she leaned away from the male who got close to her. It didn't do her much good, however, because he could still easily reach her even if she had her entire back pressed against the door. When Adam's breath danced across the skin of her ear, neck, and jawline, the brunette turned her head a bit towards his own ear with slightly widened eyes.

"W-We do? ...Already?"

She sounded more nervous than distraught.

At his explanation of what she should do, the strange frisson from earlier returned and her fingers curled around the fabric of her skirt. Mai had finally convinced herself that she would only have to do some hand holding and hang out with Adam, but to kiss him again so soon? Honestly, it was going to be much harder than she thought it would be. She already doubted herself with her poor acting skills anyway, but having to force herself to do these things was just... Ah, it made her so nervous and embarrassed beyond repair..! The girl started to think of how she could even do such a thing, but she didn't have a chance to even muster the will power to do anything before Adam made a move.

Fingers were tangled in her short, brown locks and the slight tug at her hair caused her to make a small, annoyed noise mixed with a small gasp. Then she was pulled in for a third kiss and something about that one made a strange sensation of warmth spread throughout her body. Her breath hitched as it continued, her heart skipped a couple of beats, and her face was flushed a darker side of pink. When they pulled away, Mai assumed that would be the end of that, but she was surprised when his lips were claiming hers for a fourth time. Face burning a shade of red that would even make a tomato ashamed, the young woman slowly hovered her hands over Adam's shoulders and hesitated before sliding over them and awkwardly wrapped her arms around his neck like he'd told her to.

She'd closed her eyes, hoping, praying she was doing the right thing by leaning towards the gang leader. Mai heard a voice screaming in her head to stop what she was doing, but some unknown force kept pulling her towards Adam's form. The muaic had somehow sounded like it was being sunk underwater and everything around just blurred together. When they pulled away for a second time, her eyes glanced away from his intense gaze and then he was leaning towards her again. Her surprised expression left her and she let out a small sound when he was kissing her again and again and again. By the final kiss, Mai's head was spinning, her heart was thumping so loudly that not even the blaring music could reach her eardrums, and her lungs were desperate for more air than the short gasps she'd been able to inhale between each kiss.

Grateful and a little disappointed that the kiss had finally ended, Mai's mouth was left slightly agape as it sucked in air her body so desperately needed and her eyelids fluttered upwards so she could look at her "boyfriend" again. The strange daze had began to clear and she started to apologize and unwrap her arms around his neck when the car suddenly took off at a high speed. A startled cry rose within her throat and flew out of her mouth, her eyes having widened as big as saucers, and Mai clutched onto him in a desperate attempt to keep herself from being flung against the glove compartment and radio. Her brown orbs glanced from the blurred images of the school, foilage, other cars, and people to Adam's face and her stomach flipped when he drove all the while looking at her.

"Adam-! The road-! The road-!!" She screamed over the music in hysterics, her head snapped to the large windshield and back towards him as the car sped down the main road. In a panic, her nose was buried in the crook of his neck, her eyes shut tightly, the wind caused her hair to fly in all sorts of random directions, and her grip around his neck grew tighter as the car continued to drive down the road. Mai's heart felt like it would burst through her chest from the adrenaline and her seatbelt dug painfully against her ribs, upper stomach, and thighs. "Adam, please-- stooop-! I mean, watch the roooaaad-!!" Her whinpered cry was still somehow loud enough to fill the car.

Even after the music stopped playing, Mai's tight hold on him didn't loosen and she was left feeling breathless from the mixed feelings of fear, excitement, and anticipation, much like one would get while riding a roller coaster. Her fingers curled into the fabric of Adam's shirt and her shoulders had risen quite a bit as means to pathetically protect her neck and head from the whiplash. Then his voice filled her ears and her eyes snapped open and she finally pushed her face from his neck to shoot him a small glare, her lips pressed together in a small frown.

"Are-Are you looking at the road now..?! I won't answer your question until..."

She trailed off when she finally took notice that Adam was looking at the road and her fingers released their death like hold on his shirt so she could settle back into her seat. She held her reddened face in her hands and shook her head a little to try to clear the crazed thoughts running rampant in her mind and let out a huff. When she looked back up at him, she tugged at the seatbelt some to give her aching ribcage some slack from the painful tug it had on her moments prior.

Yelling back at him, she replied, "I'm not vegetarian and yes, I am hungry. A burger sounds nice. I could honestly eat anything right now..." Letting out another sigh, she looked outside and added in a mumble, "Please watch the road when you drive. That's very dangerous."

《°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°》

Adam was personally pretty amused by how Mai had acted to his driving. Now he wasn't going to admit that to her. Which was exactly the reason he wasn't laughing, or even smiling, although he really wanted to. In fact he could barely hold it in. He really needed a laugh. Then it occurred to him. He picked up his water that was next to him and drank it most of the way day. It had been in a fridge before he left the school so it was really cold. He hadn't left much in the bottle but it was still more than enough. Although he really hated the idea of wasting it he knew it was for a good reason.

He acted like he was stretching while the bottle was in his hand and then stated talking. "You know, you're way too tense. For a girl whose biggest problem in life, before today, was just putting up with some creepy guy she used to know who was now hooked on her, or at least as far as you knew, you're way to up tight. You need to pull that stick out your ass and just try to chill out." As he finished speaking he tipped the bottle over that was now just over her head as he expected the wind pushed the stream of water just enough so it kissed her hair and poured straight down her back right along her spine. He then brought the bottle back to him as he busted out laughing. He crushed the bottle and put it's lid back on quickly and then threw it in the back floorboard.

Afterwards he worked on catching his breath for a few moments before once again putting all his focus on the road. He then said "Besides, I was using my peripherals. Anybody can learn to do it. They just have to practice. I can use my peripherals so well that they're almost as good as my line of site vision by now. So don't sweat the small stuff." He then considered food options and said "I'd suggest that we go to Wendy's. That way you can have your pick, and I can still get something fairly healthy for my grandmother." He started thinking about what her reaction had been when he had said that they would need to kiss again and he felt his heart sink like it had earlier that day back in the weight room. But he knew he shouldn't have been surprised because she never really had wanted to be with him.

He then said, as he continued to watch the road "I'm sorry to disappoint you but we'll have have to continue kissing a fair amount while we are in public for the time being. Simply because of the fact that it was only just made known that we were together. People will either think that we just got together, or that we had just became comfortable enough to go public with our relationship. Either way they are going to be expecting a fair amount of PDA. I'm sure that's the last thing you want but it's the way it has to be. Hopefully they'll lose interest before too long and them we'll be able to do it much less. I'm sure that you'll be happy to hear that eventually we won't have to do it almost at all. Because we'll have become old news and most people won't even think about us anymore. Until then I hope you can just suffer through having to deal with me touching you. Again I'm sorry. I know this situation can't be something you want, and certainly isn't ideal. Maybe if you're lucky it'll be able to end sooner rather than later." He then decided he'd probably said enough and he'd wait until hearing what she said before saying anything else.

《°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°》

The burnette jumped, lifted her clenched hands up to hover in front of her chest, and a surprised yelp flew from her lips when she felt cold water suddenly run down the back of her form. Goosebumps instantly spread over skin and the cold feeling got worse as the wind flowed into the open areas of her shirt. Some droplets had stuck to her hair and side of her face from the wind and Mai was biting her tongue so hard to not snap something to Adam, who was busy laughing at her. Her hands reached backwards to feel the soaked areas of her shirt and a small, irritated frown had formed. A small puddle had formed in the seat and it had began to disappear as it soused into the fabric of her skirt. Now she had to walk around with her shirt and skirt sticking to her backside...

Letting out a silent huff, she leaned back and decided it would be best to not complain and deal with it. Once he'd calmed down, he spoke about being able to use his peripherals to see and she wouldn't admit it aloud, but that impressed her. Adam must have had a lot of training to be able to do all the things he could and it left Mai wondering just what other random skills he had. The girl had looked back outside, blinked and attempted to tuck some strands of her hair behind her ear, but it did nothing as the strands just whipped from their spots to flick around in a crazed way because of the harsh breeze flowing into the windows.

Upon hearing that they'd be headed to Wendy's, Mai's attention turned to the driver with a look of interest. "Wendy's is perfect," she began and her fingers gripped her chin in thought before she let her hand fall to her lap. "A chocolate frosty with fries sounds really good right now..." She muttered as she glanced outside to watch passersby cars and scenery. "Oh, right. You said you were living with your grandmother. She won't be upset you're bringing me over, will she...?" The passenger asked as she returned her attention to Adam's face.

When Adam brought up the kissing, Mai's eyes lowered to focus on her hands and she fidgeted in her seat. Once he finished talking, she nodded and replied, "I suppose you're right... There's really nothing we can do about it." Her brown orbs lifted to glance at Adam's in the rearview mirror a couple of times and she continued, "I'm sorry, also, for complaining about it. I'll, ah, try not to make a fuss from now on." She blinked and fell silent for a few beats, her eyes having focused on the red light they'd stopped at. Once it turned green, she continued, "I know it must be difficult for you to have to deal with this situation, also... and I'm sorry my stupidity had you have to deal with this in the first place."

Placing her forearm and elbow on the bottom rim of the open window, Mai lay her chin on top of it and closed her eyes. The breeze felt nice against her face and it calmed her down a bit. The sounds of cars driving past them, people talking, and music thumping loudly in other vehicles reached her ears and Mai remained silent for a couple of minutes. Before she could actually nod off to sleep, her eyes flicked open and she pushed herself away from the door to bend over to lift her small bag from the floorboard. Placing it on her lap, the girl unzipped it and pulled out her wallet and unwrapped the top strap from its form. Her first two fingers flitted through the green dollarbills as she counted how much money she had and she nodded to herself when she thought she had more than enough for a meal and a frosty. Looking towards Adam, she offered, "Let me get yours and your grandmother's dinner. It's the least I can do for you driving me around."

《°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°》

As they drove Adam listened intently to everything Mai had to say. Then he let out a sigh and said "Stop worrying about me. My overall situation won't really be changed all that much. It's you who's going to have things become more difficult in your life. You seem to have forgotten that I've been dealing with all of this for a little over the past four years. I'm used to all of this. It's you who's going to possibly have to face all types of new challenges coming your way. Also, please stop apologizing so much. You don't have to be scared of setting me off. I have no intention of harming you. Although I can understand your apprehension about being around me. So I don't blame you for how you feel, and I won't hold it against you." He looked to her for a second out of the corner of his eyes while he questioned himself. Wondering about, who could possibly blame her for being afraid off a monster like him?

So far the driving had been able to distract his attention from Mai for the most part, and the prank he had pulled on her had seemed to help as well. But that part was about to backfire on him. Because as he had been looking at her Mai had turned towards the window and laid her head on her own arm that was resting on the windows rim. As she did so her shirt had pulled tight across her back and he could clearly see her bra strap. At the same time her wet skirt had partially been trapped by her leges and the hot leather seat. This had caused her skirt to slide down a little when she bent towards the window as well so he could see the straps of her underwear as well as the upper curves of her hips that had been exposed. His heart began to race again and he could feel the desire to touch her once more rise up in himself. He imagined running his hands all over her, and sliding his hands between the wet cloth and her smooth skin. He thought about kissing her exposed flesh and nibbling gently on her. Then he imagined moving her clothing out of the way just enough to expose the skin that she usually kept hidden, but not enough to expose her most private parts, and how he'd then leave his mark on her showing she belonged to him. As these thoughts raced through his mind his hart began to beat faster and harder until he couldn't understand how she didn't hear it.

Although this had all ran through his mind and seemed like a long time to him it had in fact just been a short time. The spell over him broke as soon as quickly grabbed her bag and once more sat back in the chair. Her movements had been fast and had caused him to quickly snap back into reality. He quickly returned his full focus onto the road as she dug in her bag so that 9nce she had turned to talk to him there was no evidence that he'd ever been staring at her at all. He listened to what she had to say and said "I'm sorry, but no. First off this is a snack for all off us. Not anybodys dinner. On top of that your the one who is having to deal with the most changes in your life while having to also make a spectacle of yourself at school. So you won't be paying for anything so long as this is going on. At least not so long as we are actually together when you need to buy something. So put your money away. Since you brought up dinner though I was planning on inviting you to stay for dinner. I figured you could come up with some sort of story as to why you weren't home sooner for your mom, and then I could drive you home before it was too late. You can do any homework while I cook for all of us and then you won't need to worry about doing so much once you get home. I was thinking about making a homemade breakfast for dinner tonight. As for Gege, my grandmother, she won't have a problem with you being around. If anything she'll probably be delighted. She keeps telling me how I should find a good girl, and other things like that. So if anything she probably will want to ask you all kinds of questions and get to know you. But she'll leave us alone when we are actually talking. Especially if I tell her it's important that we aren't disturbed. Anyways, go ahead and decide what you want. That way I can order when we get to the drive-thrus speaker." He had picked his phone up and had opened it up to the Wendy's website menu while he been talking. So now he handed it to her as he finished speaking. At the same time he pulled into the restaurants parking lot before continuing on into the fairly long line that was currently backing up for the drive-thru section of the restaurant.

《°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°》

Mai's brows lifted some when he informed her that driving thru Wendy's wasn't their dinner and instead a snack. Her eyes sparkled a bit in delight when Adam told her that he would be cooking breakfast and she glanced out the window in thought. Maybe she could stay for dinner because breakfast sounded amazing, well pretty much anything sounded good to her because she was hungry. She would just have to explain to her mother why she would be coming home a little later than usual and that's where the problem was. Usually Mai would ask her mother if she could hang out with friends a week prior and her suddenly telling her that she wouldn't be home at her usual time would raise a few questions in her mother's mind. "Oh, well, I guess I better got get too much to eat, then-- if you're going to be cooking," she finally replied, moreso talking to herself than Adam.

When he said his grandmother's nickname, a small smile stretched her lips she stifled the chuckle she wanted to let out. However, her eyes and thoughts were full of amusement. Even the toughest, meanest people would have a cute nickname for their grandmothers. Turning her head from the passenger side window, Mai's eyes glanced down at the phone with the menu and she hesitated before slipping it from Adam's fingers. She already knew what she wanted, but she didn't want to seem rude and refuse, as well as not touch him too much more because her heart was already beating so fast from the nervousness. Blinking, she pretended to gaze through the menu for a few moments and lifted her head to ask, "What do you think your grandmother would like? Does she like sweet things...?"

As they pulled into the drive thru line, Mai quickly placed the small device back into his hand, her fingers brushed against his palm and the contact sent some tingles of warmth up her hand and arm. A cold chill wracked throughout her body and she shivered. It must have been from the water stains on her back and thinking about them, she leaned forward, towards the glove compartment, and hurriedly readjusted her shirt and skirt before pressing her back against the leather chair again. Clearing her throat, the brunette spoke up again, "Could I please have a chocolate frosty and some fries? It can be a small since we'll be eating... I don't want to ruin my appetite and waste your food when you, ah, cook."

《°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°》

Adam thought about Mais questions about his grandmother. Then he listened to what she said she wanted to eat and her reason as to why she didn't want much. The he replied "Gege has a giant sweet tooth. That's the problem. If she's left to her own devices she won't eat the things she's supposed to at all. I didn't get to prep her lunch this morning so I don't want to even think about what she decided to eat. Although she probably didn't even eat that much with whatever she did end up having. So shell need something more. Also don't worry about not being hungry later. It's not even four o'clock yet and I won't be even starting to cook until six. I know that I've not ate since breakfast and I'm guessing you haven't either, and if you have it probably wasn't much. So you should really get more food. Besides leftovers aren't exactly a bad thing.

"Anyways, I'll be getting Gege an apple pecan chicken salad, a grilled asiago ranch chicken club, and a large sweet tea. If you're not all that hungry then I can get the feed the family meal. It comes with two spicy chickens, two junior bacon cheeseburgers, and four small fries. Then I can get you a large frosty and you can have one or two of the fries, and one or both of the junior bacon cheeseburgers. I'll just eat whatever's left. Because I'm really hungry. I know I'm going to be getting my own large soda, a large chocolate vanilla mixed frosty-ccino, and a large chocolate vanilla mixed regular frosty. I'll also probably get some extra regular food items as well. Just wait till you see what I make for dinner as well." As he mentioned her waiting to see what he cooked he had looked at her and his eyes had sparkled a little devilishly at her.

He then looked back ahead of him as the line creeped and he followed along with it. He then continued saying "Since we aren't at school anymore, you could probably talk to that friend of yours who knows your situation and tell her that you need a cover story for your mom. I'm sure she'll freak out when you tell her your with me but she should be willing to cover for you I would think. Just tell her that your going to tell your mom that the two of you, and maybe some other friends are studying together and your going to be eating afterwards. Hopefully that should put her mind at ease and she won't as too many more questions." He would've said her friends name. But he still didn't know it and it would feel weird asking for it now.

《°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°》

When Adam told her what he was going to get for both himself and his grandmother, her brows lifted and fell before she finally let out a soft chuckle. Her right hand had lifted to cover her mouth some in a loose fist and her eyes had closed as the chuckle increased to a low fit of giggles. Quickly turning her head to look out the window, Mai mumbled in between giggles, "That's so much food..! I guess it makes sense you'd be really hungry because you worked out earlier today."

She blinked a couple of times as she calmed down and when she turned her head to look back at Adam, her eyes still held the twinkle of amusement. Ghost of a smile still on her face didn't last long, though. The girl suddenly became uncomfortable thinking about what type of food she'd actually want and the first thing that came to her mind was one of the nigget meals, but she'd already told Adam a burger sounded good to eat earlier... Her right hand moved up so her thumb could twirl some hair around her forefinger and she bit her lip for the umpteenth time that day. Inhaling, she finally moved gaze from a couple walking to their car back towards Adam and forced herself to speak up again, "...Could I get a nugget meal with a small, chocolate frosty, instead?"

Once Adam gave her the idea of contacting Emma, her lips pursed together and she let out a small sigh. It was almost like he could read her mind or something and that thought made Mai shudder a bit. Was she really so easy to read? Maybe she was... Her mother and friends could always tell when something was bothering and most had told Mai that she was an open book when it came to her feelings and thoughts. Nodding to the driver, she returned her attention to her purse, put her wallet back into its pocket, and pulled out her phone. While the car slowly inched forward in the line, her thumbs were busy typing message after message as she asked Emma to cover for her. The other girl was far from happy about finding out her best friend was still with the leader of the Kings and a cold sweat came over Mai as she desperately tried to explain things to her without actually telling her what had happened.

Eventually, the other girl agreed to help her and only because she trusted Mai and hoped that she was doing the right thing. Once that was settled, the brunette tapped on the messages between she and her mother and informed her that she would be going to a study group with Emma after school. When she apologized for springing it on her suddenly, Mai's mother responded, told her that it was fine and to have fun and be safe getting home after dark. Her right forefinger pressed the tiny button on the side of her phone and the device's screen turned black with a soft click. Shutting her eyes, the passenger let out a long sigh and tried to ignore the growing guilt of her lying to her mother.

Then an awkward silence fell within the car, aside from the traffic close by of customers driving in and out of the parking lot and the car in front of them moved closer to the check out window. Glancing outside, Mai lay her phone and left hand on her lap and her fingers rubbed the rim of her skirt as she tried to think of what to say without sounding like a terrified idiot. Swallowing a lump down her throat, the brunette glanced at the other student in the car and spoke up as the car moved closer to the small buildboard with a built in menu and microphone, "So... What, ah... What do you do for fun?"

《°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°》

Adam turned back to watch Mai as she started laughing...at him. On the one hand he was kinds taken aback by the fact that she was openly laughing at him, but on the other hand the glow it gave her just made her look all the more beautiful. So he didn't really mind it all that much. Once she had stopped laughing at him and finished making her response he said "Well first off, chuckle butt, Gege will probably only either eat her salad or her chicken sandwich today and then will save the other for tomorrow. Which is fine because their both healthy and having the food already for her is a good thing. As for my food I eat what I'm supposed. Especially when you add together the facts that I'm a male, a teenager, have a high metabolism, and how much I physically exert myself on a regular day. You on the other hand seem like you might not eat enough. If your order is any way to judge. But I'll wait until you eat supper before I can be completely sure about that." His response had been a combination of sarcasm and seriousness but he wasn't sure if she'd pick up on that fact or not.

He considered the order she had asked for and came up with an idea about it. But then a question occurred to him and he decided that they needed to be asked as well. So he nodded his head in acknowledgement and then said "That will be fine. I'll get what you've asked for. But what size nugget and fry do you want? Also if you were to get a burger would you rather have a jr cheeseburger, or a jr bacon cheeseburger? Just humor me." The last part was said just to make sure she didn't try to tell him she didn't want it or something like that. He then considered her last question and replied "Honestly, if truth be told, I haven't actually had fun since before the night my parents lives were ended. Even before that though fun wasn't exactly something I was able to really experience all that often and sometimes it fells like I might not have ever experienced it at all." He was sure that wasn't the answer she wanted. But unfortunately it was the truth. Everything he'd done since the funeral had been done with a purpose in mind. That hadn't changed until today when everything happened with the situation with Mai. But he wasn't about to say that to her.

《°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°》

Did... Did he just call me Chuckle Butt?

That was a name Mai had never heard of before and she had to keep the smile from forming on her face at the mention of it. As he spoke, the young woman nodded and scratched a spot that suddenly began to itcb on her right thigh. Pressing her lips together, she replied, "Oh, uhm, could I have an six count for the nuggies--" Mai's mouth clamped shut for a split second when she realized what she'd just said and quickly corrected herself, "I-I mean nuggets, and a small for the frosty?"

When Adam asked her about which type of burger she wanted, Mai flashed him a look of confusion, but answered anyway, "It really depends on my mood, but I think I'd go for the one with bacon." Her hands lifted to cradle her and she grinned in a loving manner, "I really like bacon.." When Adam told her that he hadn't really done anything for fun, the grin left her face and she looked down at her hands, which had fallen back into her lap. "Oh..." Blinking, she looked back up at him with a nervous smile, "W-Well, I like to read books for fun, so... Other than that, I don't really do much. I've never really gone out with friends, unless it was to go to study groups and sometimes Emma would take me and a couple of other friends to the movie theater, but that's about it."

Straightening her posture, another cold chill ran up her spine and she mentally glared at the wet spots on her clothes. Even though Mai had understood that the wet fabric was going to be stuck to her skin, but that didn't mean it didn't annoy her any less. At least she had some spare clothes for gym class in her back pack. Maybe she could change when they got to Adam's house. Would that bother him, though? Make him upset that some random chick needed to change? Fidgeting in her seat some, Mai's heart rate increased as the nervousness grew while she tried to make herself ask if it was alright and after a few, agonizingly long seconds, she returned her attention to the male and blurted out, "Would it be alright if I used your restroom when we get to your house? I, uhm, I'd like to change clothes because I'm starting to get a little cold from the water you split on me."

Well, she didn't have to add the last detail, but she panicked. Mai had wonderful social skills, didn't she?

《°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°》

Adam couldn't help glancing at Mai when she called the nuggets by nuggies instead. He'd heard the term from small children before, and he knew it had been used is a few memes, but it was still surprising to here it come from her. He didn't say anything but instead waited as she confirmed the sizes she wanted, noticing that she had once again said she wanted a small frosty rather than answering about the fries which probably had been a slip up, and then listening as she continued by saying which burger she would prefer and her reason why.

He was going to reply but she started talking about the kinds of things she did for fun and the few other things she'd gone out to do with a girl named Emma, who he guessed was the friend that she had been with when he had first met Mai that morning, and the few other friends who would go with them. She then was quite for a little bit before she suddenly asked if it would be alright to use his bathroom to change when she got to his house. It was sort of funny to him that she had asked that. Because he had been planning on telling her to get a shower when they got to his house. He then glanced back to her and said "I'm presuming that you meant a small fry because you'd already told me what size frosty you wanted, and I'll make sure to remember how much you like bacon. As for using my bathroom, I was actually going to suggest that you get a shower after you eat and we get to my house. That way I can clean your clothes and your mother hopefully won't realize that anything had happened. I doubt it would be a good thing if you had to come up with a story about why you were going home in your spare clothes. Especially of there something like gym clothes. In fact, if you'd prefer I could clean your spare clothes as well, and you could wear some of my mom's old clothes. Gege still has a good bit of my mom's clothes hanging in her old room. Well it's my room now, but still."

After he'd finished talking it occurred to him just how creepy some of what he'd just said could possibly be taken. He mentally kicked himself because he had literally just asked a girl he didn't really know to let a guy she didn't know wash her clothes, and on top of that to possibly wear his dead mothers clothes. The he realized he'd also suggested that she get a shower. First, she could think that he was trying to imply that she smelled bad, which wasn't the case by any means. Second, he was suggesting that she put herself in one of the most compromising and vulnerable positions by getting a shower. He was sure she'd be uncomfortable now. He then chastised himself because she had only wanted to change not get naked and completely expose herself in his house. Unfortunately, as he thought of this he began to picture her doing just that and almost instantly he imagined himself with her. His mind quickly filled with all kinds of thoughts and images that he was sure would embarrass and possibly disturb Mai. So he quickly pushed them away. He was a straight teen male so thoughts like he was having weren't a new occurrence but the frequency and the amount of details was definitely a new thing to deal with. He also wasn't sure why it was happening all of a sudden now and why it was only with Mai. But he pushed those thoughts away as well as he decided to bring up sometime else in order to get his mind away from such thoughts completely.

So he looked back at Mai and said "At least you've had some fun. I mean those sound like some pretty normal things for a teenager to do. Aren't they? Besides, since we both seem to not really do much we'll have to figure out some things we can do together. Since couples are supposed to go out and have fun. But, who knows, maybe along the way we'll be able to find some ways to have fun with each other when were by ourselves as well." He did it again. How did he actually manage to do it again. He thought about them being alone in the weight room earlier and the things he had said then and compared them to what he had just said and instantly more images flooded his mind. Images of them clinging to each other enjoying the pleasure of each other's company while hidden away from everyone else. Once again he pushed his own thoughts away and said "Not that I'm implying that we would be doing anything like that. I wouldn't force you to do something like that at all. I'm not a voyeur, so it's not like people would be watching us and needing proof of that as well. I'm sure not one either..." He was starting to ramble and to panic. Why did he feel like this? It had been an honest mistake. Surely she would understand that and not hold it against him. Why did she make him feel and act like this? It was starting to drive him crazy.

Luckily he was saved from his embarrassment because they reached the menu and speaker at that moment. Once the worker started to asked for their order he immediately turned his full attention to ordering. Thankfully for the easy escape from the awkward position he had just put them in. He ordered the food and tea for his grandmother, and then order all of the drinks he had described to Mai earlier. The soda came with his son of baconator large meal that he ordered. He then ordered another son of baconator by itself and got a two for five deal which he chose to pick two spicy chicken sandwiches as his options. Lastly he ordered Mai a four for four jr bacon cheeseburger meal with her drink replaced by a frosty and an extra four piece nugget on the side, since she had asked for a total of six nuggets and the meal only came with four. When they asked what sauce he wanted he slowly looked for her and waited for her response before relaying what she said. Then once the order was finished he pulled away from the speak the one car length he could and then just keep his eyes in front of him as his heart seemed to beat out of control in the silence that now surrounded them. He wasn't sure how she would react. But he was prepared for her to start yelling at him about how disgusting he was and how she couldn't believe he would say such things. He figured she probably do more than that as well, but he'd just have to wait and see how things played out in order for him to actually be sure. God he dreaded what he was sure was coming.

《°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°》

As soon as the words "gym clothes" came from Adam's mouth, Mai's face contorted into a creeped out type of disbelief. Her lips were into a thin frown and her eyes had slightly widened. Her head moved so she could look down at the backpack set between her legs and one of her knees brushed against the metallic handle on the top. Honestly, the boy kept saying things that she had literally been thinking not even two seconds prior to them talking and it was so insane! Mai usually left her gym uniform in her locker for only a day because it would stink up the small, metallic space. That and she didn't like wearing the same clothes when they were covered in sweat, dirt, and other sorts of germs.

Her head snapped up to meet Adam's gaze when he continued talking, telling her that he didn't mind washing her clothes for her and that sort of threw Mai off. Adam, this strong, terrifying guy who'd literally threatened her earlier that morning was offering to wash her clothes and let her barrow some of his mother's clothing as well? The thought of even taking a shower in some stranger's house did bring up a few worries in her head, but he was living with his grandmother. So maybe it wouldn't be as bad...? Mai had taken a bath and shower at one of Emma's friends houses before, so maybe it seemed like a normal thing to do during highschool...

She noticed the driver had looked away from her and Mai leanded a bit towards the glove compartment to try to look at his face. When he looked back at her, Mai hurriedly leaned back into her chair and listened to him as he started saying how they could try new things since they were pretending to be a couple. It only made sense and she found herself not dreading the thought of being alone with him-- only a little, though. The girl nodded at his question and confusion caused her brow to crease at his rambled words. Mai opened her mouth to speak once he'd finished talking, but she quickly closed it when he started to order their food. Her brow rose a moment when he ordered her both a burger and a four count nugget and she turned her torso some to look outside. The stop light had turned green, so the traffic on the opposite side of them had started to move.

She'd looked back at him when the man on the other side of the radio asked what sauce he wanted and when Adam looked to her for an answer, she lifted her hands up and shook her head. Once he'd finished ordering, Mai sat in silence as she thought over the things he'd said right before ordering and another crease formed on her brow in confusion. Blinking as the car moved further down the line, the brunette gripped her chin some and looked back at the driver, who had his eyes on the road and car in front of him.

"Uhm... About what you said before you ordered the food..." She tilted her head to the side and moved her hands so her fingers could grip her knees as she continued, "So... We don't have hang out and do things together while we're alone? Won't your employers be keeping tabs on us or something? If we don't, won't you get into trouble?"

Her chin lifted some as she glanced outside to peek at the clouds floating in the blue sky above them. "It just seems like you've contradicted yourself... Saying that it would be fun to spend time together and then say that you weren't implying that we should. It's a little confusing to me and I appreciate you not forcing me to hang out with you, but I don't want you getting into any trouble." Blinking, she looked back at Adam's face and asked, "And I, ah... I'm not sure what a 'voyeur' is... You'd think with me reading as many books as I have, I'd have seen that term somewhere."

A small, huff of a chuckle came from her and she smiled awkwardly at him. "I don't know why you're so nervous because you're the one who told me we needed to act like a couple in the first place. Maybe we can go to the movie theater, or the park, or roller skate? I've never had the chance to use roller skates before and maybe you'd rather not do it. I'm just listing off things my other friends have told me they'd done with their boyfriends... I'd rather just go to the library and read, but that's probably not something a couple would do, is it?"

Mai blinked a couple of times and glanced down at her knees and mumbled in a bashful manner, "Honestly, I've always wondered it would be like to go on a midnight picnic... Someplace with a pretty view and I can gaze up at the stars." As if remembering who she was talking to, Mai's face lit up pink and she lifted her hands in a defensive manner, shook her head some, "I, uh, I mean we-we don't have to do that at all. I was just..." She gripped her upper arm and looked outside again to mumble, "I-I don't know... Someone told me that was a really dumb idea, so... Maybe it's best if I just act like I didn't say it..."

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Whenever Mai started to speak Adam feared what she would say, and possibly do. Then her words started to sink in and he couldn't help but to look back at her in obvious disbelief. He'd said it, and thought it, before multiple times, but she really was completely innocent and ignorant of how things worked between boys and girls. As if to prove his thoughts correct she told him that she'd never heard to word voyeur before. He looked forward and dropped his head against his steering wheel as he let out a low audible groan. Now he'd have to explain what he was talking about and why he'd started to freak out. How could she honestly not know about all of this. He took in a deep cleansing breath and then let it out as a sigh while he straightened up and let his car move forward with the line.

He continued to listen to the rest of what she had to say and then once she finished he decided to reply. But he chose to skip around the things that she said so that he could address them in an order that would hopefully make the situation a little easier to handle. He then started saying "So, about the food I got you, you don't have to eat it all. In fact if you have leftovers to bring home it might even be something that can help support your cover story with your mom. Also, I wasn't saying that we shouldn't hang out. But I'll come back to that in a bit. As for going to the movies, the park, and going skating they all would be perfectly fine to do together. Even the library would be ok. But for that one we'd have to pick out the books together, even if only one of us was reading them, and then we'd have to read them at home. That's the only way that couples really read together.

"As for the idea about a picnic. It actually is a very good idea. It's romantic, is completely something a couple would do, and actually sounds quite relaxing and enjoyable. The only thing about the idea that seems like it could be a problem, at least to me, is that it sounds like it's your dream date. If that's the case then I wouldn't want to spoil it for you by making you waste it on a guy you don't even really want to be around." As he said that he looked back to the car in front of them again as it finally pulled away and they reached the restaurants window. He paid for the food and then passed everything out so that it could be placed safely around the car. Once he and Mai had everything situated he pulled away from the window and made his way back into the street.

He waited a second as he drove down the main road and then drank a little of his root beer to settle his nerves. Once he was a little more calm he let out a slight sigh and then said "Back to your earlier confusion. I wasn't talking about us not hanging out. Now, before I say anything else, you have to understand that I didn't mean what I said in this way at all so please don't take it that way. However, the things I said earlier about us having fun while we were alone would've been taken by most people to mean that I was suggesting we should have...sex. I didn't mean it that way, and it didn't occur to me that it could be taken that way until after I said. Hence my reaction. Now as I said I would never make you do that. Because everything I've told you we needed to do up to this point are only things that people would expect us to do in public and I'd said we should do them in private only in order to help you be more comfortable with them when in front of other people. However, sex isn't something that anybody would see us doing. So I'd never make you go that far with me because it's not necessary, and it wouldn't be fair to expect you to go that far just to keep up appearances for a fake relationship that you won't no part of in the first place.

"Anyways, when it comes to being a voyeur, well that's a person who likes either watching people have sex literally in front of them, or else likes to have people watch them while they having sex. And, like I figured, you clearly aren't one if you didn't know what it was." Adams heart was going crazy inside his chest. He wouldn't look at Mai at all while he spoke. Instead he only glanced at her out of his peripherals in order to watch her reaction to what he had said, and to be prepared for the incoming slap that she was sure to give him once she understood the mistake he'd made. It had to come, right? I mean what reason could a sweet girl like her possibly have for not hitting him after what he just admitted to her.

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At Adam's reaction to her speaking, Mai jumped and her hands hovered over his shoulder as she visibly panicked. "We-We really don't have to do anything if it bothers you this much...! I-I shouldn't have said anything and I'm--" Then he groaned rather loudly and a sound rose from her throat she hurriedly stuffed her hands in her lap and waited for him to give her that same threatening look he'd given her in the weights room. Her body tensed up she focused her eyes on her knuckles, too afraid to look up at him. That is, until he spoke, "So, about the food I got you..."

The girl's hair bobbed a bit on top of her shoulders as she looked up at him. Remaining quite as he spoke, when he told her about the books her expression changed from panicked to the nervous one she'd had a second prior. Nodding, she replied with a small, "Oh..." She blinked at him in surprise when he brought up that the idea about the picnic wasn't a bad one and she felt a flutter of hope rise in her chest. However, it was soon squashed to nothing when Adam told her that they probably wouldn't do it since she didn't want to be with him. It made sense, but she wasn't sure why she felt a little disappointed that she wouldn't get to do it after all. A flash of regret formed over her features as she thought about the last guy she'd told about her idea for the date and, well, it hadn't gone as well as it had with Adam. At least Adam was turning her down nicely.

Then they got their food and Mai helped the driver put the bags in different spots, as well as the frosties and various drinks in the cup holders. Holding her own frosty in between her thighs, her mind wondered if it would be alright for her to eat in the car, but she decided against it. She didn't want to be responsible for ruining the interior of his car if he decided to drive like crazy again. Letting out a silent sigh, she instead stuck a hand in one of the paper bags, pulled out a french fry and plucked it in her mouth. The taste of salt crashed over her tastebuds and she enjoyed the taste for as long as she could. The action also caused her stomach to growl loudly, which made her glare down at it in embarrassment. When the driver spoke up again, Mai had put another fry in her mouth, swallowed, and turned her attention towards him as he did so.

One of her brows furrowed slightly and she asked, "You weren't? Then what...?"

She trailed off as he explained to her what he'd meant and her brows had both lifted slightly, her eyes had widened, and her lips had pressed together. Soon enough, images of things she'd imagined while reading certain scenes in books started to flood to the forefront of her mind. Mai let out a small, nervous whine when her face turned into three different shades of red and a nervous sweat came over her as she whispered, "You... You were talking... about... t-that...?"

She blinked and hurriedly turned her face away from him to focus on something else outside, anything, trying to push not so innocent images into the back of her mind. Mai couldn't think of anything to say, so she just blurted out, "Thank-Thank you for not pushing that sort of thing on... me..."

Then he went on to explain what a voyeur was and she placed her reddened face in her hands and her elbows on top of her thighs. "How-How-How could someone watch something-- something so private like-like that...?!" She managed out through another embarrassed whine and she turned her head a little to peek through her fingers at him and asked, "How... Do-Do I look like someone who does that....? I would-would die of embarrassment if I even think about it...! Why... would you think...?"

Mai trailed off again and shut her eyes beneath her fingers and shook her head. She didn't even notice that Adam had been glancing towards her, too focused on finding out that people actually watched other while performing intercourse. She bent over so much that her nose was grazing the lid of the cup of her frosty and the coolness felt good against her skin, which felt like it was on fire. Her ears were far from the pale vanilla color they'd been previously and were possibly even more red than her face.

"I-I hadn't even kissed someone before today, much less do anything else like..." She squeaked out, her breath caused one of the water droplets on the side of the cup to slide down and soak into the fabric of her skirt. When she'd calmed down a little, she asked in a soft whisper, "I don't have to....worry about doing that with you...?"

It was like she hadn't even heard him answer the question already, which she had, but she needed to hear him say it again to help her internal struggle. When she finally lifted her head from her lap, her hands hung from her jaw and chin, and her fingers still loosely clung to the areas beneath her eyes. Mai's brown orbs weren't widened anymore and instead her lids had drooped a little while she focused her attention on a random spot on the Adam's shirt. "We.." She inhaled through her nose and tried to calm the fast paced beat of her heart, "We just have to hug, hold hands, and-and kiss, right...?"

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Mai kept not reacting the way he thought she would. It was really weird to him if Adam was being completely honest about it. He listened to her as she seemed to stumble through everything that she was trying to ask and say. He also noticed her stomach growling and how saw her look of longing at her frosty. He let out a soft sigh and the said "You can eat any of your food that you won't, and you can drink your frosty too. Just please try to be careful with them."

He then looked over at her for a moment and inspected the seemingly terrified and confused girl before saying "I think you misunderstood some of what I said. I wasn't talking about sex. However my choice of wording was poor and other people would've assumed that I was talking about sex when I wasn't. I also said I didn't think you were a voyeur. As in you wouldn't do that sort of thing. Which is what I said more than once. I'm not going to make you have sex with me. Why would I do that. I'm not going to ruin your perfect date by having you spoil it on somebody like me, who you don't even want to be with. So why would I make you give me your virginity. I may be a monster, but I'm not evil."

They were coming up on a road he needed to get on. So he carefully slowed and turned in a way that would make sure nothing spilled in his car. Then he started to speak again "And no, you won't have to do anything more with me than hold my hand, hug me, and kiss me. Now I will have to, at least sometimes, touch you similar to how I did when I kissed you this morning in class. However, that doesn't mean you have to touch me that way. Also, as I told you earlier, once we get where we don't have to do it as much you'll be the first to know. That way you won't have to worry about your skin crawling as much from me touching you. I'm sure you'll be happy when that time arrives. Until then, just try to do what you can to make yourself not show how much you don't want me to touch you. Otherwise everybody will figure it out." As he had talked about how much he was sure she didn't want to be with him a little bit of his anger at what he was convinced was reality managed to show without his knowing. He wanted to claim her as his own. He could feel it inside him. But he refused to accept the feelings instead once again pushing them away and saying to stop thinking about it. Because it was impossible that it would ever happen.

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"Oh..." The young woman let out a small sigh of relief and placed her hands on her thighs as she listened to him. When Adam brought up him having to touch her, the feeling of his hand on her butt and their shared smooches filled her head and caused her cheeks to burn and her heart to race. Quickly looking outside, Mai tried to push the unwanted feelings away and calm her beating heart. "I'll, uhm," she cleared her throat some, still struggling to calm herself down and a little confused as to why she had a strange hand of warmth gripping her heart in excitement. "I'll still try not to... to panic like I did earlier. Like I said before," Mai turned her head to look at the driver as they passed by a bulky man on a motorcycle. "It might take me some time get used to..."

A panic rose in her when he started speaking as they turned down a separate road. Her mouth clamped shut and a cold sweat formed on her body when she realized he was angry. Was he angry because she accused him of wanting to do it with her? Was he upset because she misunderstood him? Her hands lifted in surrender and she quickly apologized in a panicked manner, "I-I-I'm sorry for misunderstanding what you meant! I'll try not to do it again and... and... and I won't panic next time we-we have to kiss or do anything!"

Just please don't hurt me...!

She silently added in her head as she let out a small whine and gripped the bottom of her skirt, her fingers curling into the black fabric. The various dark looks on Adam's face filled her mind and she blinked before focusing all of her attention outside.

He's so scary when he's angry. How in the world did I think I can handle being near him when he loses his temper over a misunderstanding..?! I'll just have to put on a brave front and try not to get scared, but that's going to be so hard! He's so scaryyyyyy!

Inhaling a deep breath to calm her nerves, the brunette slowly turned her upper body to look at the angered driver and forced herself to speak up more than a squeak. "S-So... How much further until we reach your house?" Any conversation was better than silence, no matter how frightened she was.