Burning Out Bright

“So…um…is it a deal?”

She nods. “Sure. You really don’t have to make such a big deal about it though.”

“Are you kidding?” Shaun stares at Natalia for a few seconds before shaking his head, incredulously. “You haven’t forgotten that I had one terrible date with you thanks to that overprotective ‘friend’ of yours, have you? If I don’t make big deal out this, I’m sure he’ll kick my ass.”

She tries to smile nonchalantly at this but is rather certain that she has failed. Sure, Adam had saved her from that unwanted date but nothing ever came out of it and maybe, just maybe, she was tired of simply being his best friend. Still, she cannot afford to let the world and his friends know that she is suffering from a severe case of unrequited love. Her pride-and concern of the aftermath if such a thing happened-would not allow it.

“Shaun, I’m only pretending to be your girlfriend, alright? I’m sure Adam wouldn’t mind.”

Shaun laughs loudly. “Yeah right, I’m so sure he wouldn’t care.”

Natalia shrugs but inside, she wonders… Would Adam even have any reaction at all?
***
“You’re WHAT?” His gaze is accusing and burning hot.

Natalia replies, guiltily feeling a small thrill of pleasure that she had elicited such a response from Adam, “I’m Shaun’s girlfriend.”

Adam tries to reconcile the Shaun he knew to one that his best friend seemed so eager to date. Unfortunately, he thinks that his brain would just explode from the effort. “You guys aren’t, um, serious are you?”

“God no.” In Briarwood, being serious meant that the couple had already gone to second base and beyond. Natalia is unable to control her shuddering from the awful thought. Shaun and her…? It’s better to stop the thought cold rather than actually think about it.

He laughs, feeling the unmistakable gush of relief. Odd though, that he should feel calmer having this information. Shaun and Natalia were still a new couple. Wait, a new couple? “Have you guys kissed?”

“That’s none of your business.” Her cheeks flush from embarrassment and she turns away from him, afraid that he would see the truth in her eyes—that she had absolutely no interest in Shaun. “Anyway, I don’t think you really want to know.”

Adam stops himself from arguing with her because, honestly, did he really want to know?
But before he can complete that thought, Natalia suddenly stands and smiles widely. He follows her gaze and finds that her obvious delight is because of her boyfriend.

He bangs his head against the table. Even the word ‘boyfriend’ seems to have a sarcastic, irritating tone to it.
***
Peyton catches the ball with ease and raises an eyebrow at Adam. “Is there trouble in paradise?”

He shrugs, choosing to take a swig of water than to reply. Somehow, it felt strange to discuss Natalia. Maybe it’s because he has never done it before. Usually, he would be able to figure out her behaviour but this is something he’s never encountered before. Perhaps getting a girl’s advice would be-

No. What is he thinking? Peyton was almost like a guy, how would she know anything about Natalia? Was it even fair to ask her this type of thing or would it be awkward?

“Dude, if you’re not eating those cookies, can I have them?” Peyton eyes the container of cookies that Bella Greene had passed to Adam in the morning with great interest.

Adam nods absentmindedly and she opens the container quickly. Oh, to heck with it. There is nothing wrong with a simple question. “What would you do if you like someone?”

Peyton chokes on the cookie and swallows it with some difficulty, taking a few gulps from her own bottle to calm herself down. She suddenly finds it difficult to meet Adam’s eyes and eventually stammers a reply, “Um…I guess I would…uh...hmm… I don’t rightly know.”

Adam runs a head through his hair in frustration.

“Oh, um, Adam? Did someone say something to you, something about me, I mean?”
He watches her nervous expression curiously. Why is she acting so jumpy? Had his question really made her that uneasy? “No…Why’d you ask?”

“…oh, nothing really.” She plays with her bottle, tossing the bottle from hand to hand. Then she quickly changes the subject before her anxiety becomes too obvious. “You didn’t answer my question, by the way. What’s up with Natalia and you? You guys would usually be attached at the hip or something.”

“She has a boyfriend.”

Raising her eyebrows at this interesting development, Peyton asks, sharply, “What does that have to do with you, again?”

What does she mean by this? Of course it has to do with him. He’s her best friend for crying out loud. When he speaks, his tone matches her sharp one, “She’s my best friend. You can’t expect me to just-”

“To just what? You’re her best friend, Adam. You’re not her boyfriend or bodyguard.”

He stares at her. Peyton was right, of course, but there was just something in her words that he dislikes. He hadn’t realised when the line between friend and protector blurred but it is seriously affecting his judgment of the situation. If Natalia really liked Shaun, he could not do anything about it. Nodding his head with more decisiveness than he felt, he said, “You’re right. I need to let her go.”

“Hmmm…can I have all the cookies?”

Adam smiles wanly. How typical of Peyton to be distracted by food. “Sure. Help yourself.”

His mind is clearer than before thanks to Peyton but he still has one last thing to figure out. How exactly is he going to let Natalia Greene go?
***
“So, is it a yes? Are all four of us going on a date?”

Still in shock, Natalia has no idea what Adam has just said. Why is that her carefully laid out plans-pretending to date Shaun for a while, making Adam jealous in the process and swinging back in time for a Happily Ever After-is spiralling out of control? How can it be that Adam is dating Peyton?

Having seen enough to know that Adam has lost, Peyton nudges Adam and whispers, “I don’t want anything to do with your twisted little-”

Tearing his eyes away from Natalia’s visibly flustered form, he looks at her. “Relax. It’s just one date. I promise I won’t bite.”

Her cheeks flush, her mind conjures up strange images at the word bite. But Adam barely notices this, too busy studying Natalia. He has not realised the events that he has set in motion for Peyton is nursing a crush on Adam Kingston. A crush that has gone completely unnoticed.

A crush that would end up hurting all of them.

Natalia finds her voice and meets Adam’s expectant gaze. She doesn’t know what she is going to say, only that she needs to say something before he becomes suspicious. “Okay. It’ll be fun.”
***
“What’s wrong?”

She closes her eyes, afraid to breathe and unsure of what to say. She should’ve known that he would ask, of course, especially with the way she had spaced out, thus causing the ball which Alex had been trying to pass to her to hit her on the head.

Alex should be here, if only because it would make things easier. But her annoying best friend had cheerfully volunteered Adam (who had mysteriously became her boyfriend) to accompany her to the nurse to get a cold compress. Alex was so stupidly insightful.

“Adam...the thing is...” Peyton stalls. Should she really tell him now? They were already going on a date, though a fake one. But what would happen if she ended up liking him even more because of the date? Would it be fair to him to not know about how she really felt? Taking a deep breath, she tells herself that if she ever wanted an answer to those questions, she had to tell him first. “The thing is... I really like you.”

There is a pause and Peyton cringes from the awkwardness. She is too afraid of his reaction to look at him, so she continues to sit with her eyes closed.

In stunned tones, Adam goes, “You don’t mean that you...”

“I do.” She knows that it had been the wrong thing to say now. It is the day where they were supposed to go the double date with Natalia and Shaun Sullivan and now she gone and spoilt their date...which they probably could’ve gone as platonic friends if she hadn’t gone and stuck her foot in her mouth-

“Okay.”

Uncertain of his tone or what he even means by that simple reply, her eyes open and she turns towards him, opening her mouth to demand an explanation but a single, gentle gesture from Adam stops her thoughts cold.

He pushes a strand of her hair away her face, nodding thoughtfully. “Okay.”
***