Chapter 1.3

“If it isn’t the man we were just talking about.” Nate said as he noticed Adrian walking by.

“What do you want this time?” Adrian asked as he stopped walking.

“Stop it will you. Geez Nathaniel, no wonder dad is always yelling at you. Stop messing with Adrian, he hasn’t did anything to you. Do you know how uncomfortable it is being in class and the next thing you know someone comes up to you telling you something about your own brother? Of course you wouldn’t because you don’t have to deal with it.” An angelic voice rang out next to Nate.

That voice belonged to none other than Emilia, Nate’s sister. Adrian didn’t understand how these two could turn out so different, even though they were twins.

Nate smiled while he patted Emilia on the head softly. “Em, I was just playing around, Adrian knows that I wouldn’t do anything to hurt him. Right, Adrian?” Nate turned his head towards Adrian.

‘That creepy smile, stop it. Its weird as hell.’ Adrian couldn’t take that smile Nate was giving him, it seemed like he was sincere but Adrian knew otherwise. This was his famous lady killer smile that he often gave when he did something extraordinary or when he was in trouble. You could say that he had mastered this skill to utter perfection, it almost made Adrian believe the guy. However, would Adrian really believe it? Hell no.

“Playing around huh? Yeah… no, I don’t recall anything you’ve done to me as playing around.” Adrian answered.

Heck, he was already disliked by the guy, why not go against him while his sister is here.

Nate’s eyebrow twitched a little at Adrian’s answer. It seemed like Nate expected Adrian to agree with him. “What are you saying man? We get along as if we were brothers.”

“Bullshit! You shoved me in a locker for god's sake. Just earlier you said you would throw me in a dumpster, then you said you’ll kill me. I don’t think a brother would say something like that, now would he?”

“Nate… you did what?” Emilia questioned him.

“Em, he’s lying. This is how we play around, trust me Em.”

“Hpmh! Last time you shoved him in a locker you told me that he stole your stuff so I thought it would have been fine. I don’t like thieves, but if you are doing all this other stuff then i’ll… i’ll tell dad on you.” She said angrily.

Nate noticed that he wasn’t getting through to his sister, so he looked at her boyfriend for help. He was around six feet but one inch shorter. He was wearing a tight fitted white shirt that showed off his muscles along with some blue jeans. Nate looked him in his blue eyes and said, “Bryan, we’ve known each other for four years know. I know you believe me right?”

Bryan glanced down at Emilia who was looking back at him with her cheeks slightly puffed out. He smiled wryly at Nate. “Sorry man, but i’ve got to go with Em on this one.”

“I see how it is.” Nate coldly said as he turned around from them and walked away.

Adrian thought he heard Nate say something as he was leaving, but he could have been mistaken. Inside Adrian was jumping up and down, he finally bested Nate at something. Even if it wasn’t anything that was worth something to others, to him it was a huge boost. He felt like something was lifted off his shoulders.

‘Could it be? Is this the start of me finishing my day in an amazing way?’ Adrian thought to himself before he realized that Nate said they were talking about him. He wondered what it was about, since he was already here, he might as well ask.

“Hey.” Adrian said to Emilia.

“Hey.” She replied.

‘So… dry. Ah, my heart is in aching, why couldn’t you make a cute expression or something?’ He asked himself. “Did you need anything, or was Nate just stopping me for no reason?” He asked her.

Hearing what he said, she suddenly realized that she did ask her brother about him. “Oh yeah, well there are two things I wanted with you actually. First, you know it’s almost my dad's birthday right, but he's been so busy lately that he probably forgot his own birthday. We were getting together to throw him a party, I was wondering if you wanted to join in on it?” She asked him.

Adrian never expected that Emilia would want him for something like this. He had to take what was given, being closer to her meant he would have more chances to steal her away from Bryan. Of course he would jump at any chance if it meant he would be with her. “Sure, i’ll help.” He told her in a cool tone.

“Sweet, I knew you would join. You and my dad get along so well, there was no way you could refuse.” She said.

Adrian did get along with her dad, but that was only because one day her dad caught Adrian stealing something from the store. Him being in SWAT and what not, he wouldn’t let this slide so he took Adrian back to his house to talk to him about it. While they were discussing Adrian's little petty theft, her dad asked Adrian if he still likes his daughter. Adrian was stunned at first, wondering how he found out about his crush on Emilia, but he decided not to pursue it. Once they got to talking about Emilia, it led to them talking about Comics and other things. That's when Adrian found out that they had more in common than he thought. No one would think someone in SWAT would be into this stuff, usually one would think they were hardcore or something. With her dad though, things were different.

“And the other thing you needed?” He asked her trying to keep his cool.

“Mr. Johnson gave me a project and he put you in the same group as me. So I just wanted to tell you that.” She said sweetly

“Doesn’t it have to be people in your class?” He asked her.

“Nope, he just said a four man team. I kind of wish he let us pick our own teams.” She sounded upset. “Oh, but not because of you Adrian, but Nate’s in the group as well and I don’t think he will do any work. If anything he’ll just say he did something and take credit for it.”

Emilia and Nate in the same group as him, one was like an angel while the other was like a devil waiting to drag him down to the pits of hell. He would really hate it if the other person in the group turned out to be some douche like Nate, that would just make things even worse.

He glanced at Bryan and smiled on the inside. ‘No way this guy is in our group, I heard the teachers barely give him homework. There's no way they would give him a project, of course if they did the project had to be something like collect ten apples.’ Adrian said to himself. “So, who is the other member?”

She pointed her finger towards Bryan who was standing beside her all quiet. “Bryan’s the last member. Mr. Johnson said since the season is coming to an end, he needed to get score some big points in class to make up for the points he was losing out on. You know what I hate, those people who spread rumors about him saying the teachers barely give him homework or what not. That’s just the worst, they have no idea how hard he has to work to catch up to them at the end of the season just to pass his classes.” Emilia started going on and on, it really made Adrians heart feel like it was being torn apart. Just his luck, he’s in a group with one person he wants to see and two others he does not. He definitely doesn’t want to see his crush flirting around while this project is going on. Just thinking about it made him want to blow someone's head off, including his own.

“Em, just leave it alone.” Bryan told her as he wrapped his arm around her.

Emilia smiled at Bryan showing off her bright teeth. “If you say so, but still, it makes me unhappy.”

If her smile could kill, countless men would die before her. Comparing her smile to Nate's was like comparing a Yoda to Luke Skywalker. She would win hands down all the time, no questions asked.

“Anyways Adrian, I just wanted to let you know that. I tried to have Nate tell you, but he kept saying no, but then you came out shortly after. Oh, before I forget the project is about finding facts on the tenth planet.” Emilia said as she grabbed a sheet of paper from a folder in her hand and passed it to Adrian.

“Let’s meet up tonight to discuss this.”

“Can’t, Mr. Cole gave me detention, so some other time.” Adrian told her.

“It’s fine, Nate has basketball practice so dad isn’t picking us up till late anyways. Me and Bryan will just hang out here and wait for you two, not like we can do much more.” She told him as her and Bryan walked away.

‘Girl, you just don’t know how much more you can do in this school. Go to the other end of that hall where the camera is broken and the janitors closet… what am I thinking…’

Adrian walked to his locker and grabbed a few things, including his backpack. He had one more class he needed to go to before today ended, and that was Mr. Johnson's class. Tenth planet? What kind of facts were they suppose to find on that? Were there even facts in the world on that? This project seemed like it would difficult, and to be honest he really didn’t want to do it.

Closing his locker, Adrian walked towards his next class.