I knock on Adam's door, panting as I place my hands on my knees. Maybe running at full speed wasn't my best idea. Adam comes out, kneeling down to my level.
“Dude, did you run here?” he asks as I place my hand on the doorway to support my panting self.
“Yeah.” I say, still panting heavily. “Sorry, I got caught up in something. Speaking of...”
I turn to see Angela trailing behind me, gasping for breath until she reaches us at the door. Running here at full speed was definitely not a good idea.
“You're fast.” she says, looking up at me.
I stand myself up to face Adam, gently placing my hand on Angela's shoulder.
“Adam, this is Angela.” I say before turning to Angela. “This is my best friend, Adam.”
Adam gives me a mischievous smirk before throwing his arm around my neck.
“Is this what I think it is, Cayne?” she says with a devious look in his eye. Adam clearly has his mind in the gutter again. Not that it ever wasn't.
Angela's face turns redder than ever as I elbow Adam in the gut.
“It's not like that. I just met her a little while ago.” I say as Adam pulls away from me.
Adam chuckles as he tosses his hair back.
“I'm just messing with you.” he says before offering his hand to Angela. “Nice to meet you.”
Angela cautiously takes Adam's hand, giving it a light shake before jerking it back to her side. Adam's eyes widen, but he laughs it off without worry. I think they're going to get along just fine.
“So, would you mind helping me unpack my things?” Adam asks.
“Sure, I don't mind at all.” Angela replies after nodding her head with a hum.
We get to work unloading Adam's boxes. Stacks of sketchpads and old drawings spill from his packages as we work to stash them away. He eventually settles for leaving some of his older drawings in their boxes, taking out the newer ones to be placed in the drawers of his desk. After a couple of hours of sorting through pages of old artwork, and placing sketchpads in drawers, the three of us finish up by carrying the boxes to the dumpster outside.
“Angela.” Adam says over his shoulder as he throws away the last box. “Thanks for helping us out.”
She turns to face me as the three of us walk to the entrance of the dormitory.
“Well, I felt like it was the least I could do.” she says, looking at me with gentle eyes. “Cayne helped me earlier, so I figured I should help him out with something.”
Angela smiles at me as my face turns warm again. Why does she have to be so cute? I'm never going to hear the end of this from Adam!
A smirk appears on Adam's face as he turns to me with a familiar glint in his eye.
“Oh, what did he help you with?” he asks as his smirk turns into a sly grin. He's in the gutter again.
Angela explains that I looked around the campus with her, since she's also new to the school. Adam moves to throw his arm around me as we walk into his dorm.
“That's Cayne for you,” he says, “always helping wherever he can.”
Adam's sly grin grows wider as he removes his arm. He's already trying to set me up. I've known him long enough to see what he's doing.
Angela suddenly jumps in surprise, releasing a short yelp.
“Oh my god!” she yells with wide eyes, “I have to go!”
“What's wrong?” I ask.
“I just remembered I was supposed to help my friend with her stuff earlier!”
She quickly runs towards the door before turning around, her straight brown hair whipping behind her back.
“It was nice to meet you Cayne.” she says, pulling me into another hug.
She dashes for the door after releasing me, looking over her shoulder as she steps through.
“I hope I see you around!” she says, winking at me before closing the door behind her.
I feel my cheeks turn hot again as Adam chuckles next to me.
“That's my boy.” he says giving me a few light punches on the shoulder.
“It's not like that.” I say, turning away.
Honestly, I know it could be, but I just met the girl. She can't like me in that way already. Can she?
“Sure it's not.” Adam says, rolling his eye in obvious sarcasm with a big smile.
“Well, I should get going.” I say turning towards the door. “My first class starts tomorrow morning.”
“Alright, see you later.” Adam says, his smile still plastered on his features.
I take a step out the door before Adam calls out to me.
“Remember, Cayne.” he says as his signature smirk makes another appearance. “Use protection.”
I feel my face turn red as I turn back through the door.
“Shut up!” I say as I slam the door behind me.
I walk into my own dorm, changing into a t-shirt and sweatpants before crawling in between my sheets. Adam's notion of Angela floats around in my head as I lay in bed.
Sure, she's really cute, but she does seem to be a little strange. Maybe she's just shy around new people. Either way, I think she's a decent girl.
I shut off the light before turning underneath my covers, and drifting to sleep.