Chapter 34: Devil Adam
The Graduation Party
"Hey."
Adam's eyes moved between the two girls, settling a beat longer on Lauren.
He recognized both of them. Both were genuinely attractive. But where Jennifer had the kind of immediate, polished appeal that announced itself, Lauren — glasses, understated outfit, something slightly unfinished about her presentation — held his attention differently. There was something underneath the surface worth knowing.
He was aware this was not a particularly sophisticated observation. But it was an honest one.
"Are you here for the party?" he asked.
"We just moved in," Jennifer said, stepping forward slightly, positioning herself more squarely in his line of sight. She smiled with the ease of someone who'd been doing this successfully for years. "We start next semester. Looks like we'll be classmates, Adam."
"You know me?"
"We know Hard Candy," she said. "Everyone knows Hard Candy. You were incredible."
"Thanks." Adam noted privately that Juno's insistence on keeping the band going had been exactly right, and made a mental note to acknowledge that at some point.
"Hi! Emmett Williams, drummer and backup vocals."
Emmett had materialized beside Adam with the speed of someone who had been waiting for an opportunity. He extended a hand toward Jennifer with considerable style.
"Hi." Jennifer glanced at him pleasantly, then put her arm around Lauren's shoulder and angled her forward. "This is my best friend Lauren. You two should talk."
Emmett's redirect was so smooth he almost didn't notice it happening.
"We're about to start the next set," Adam said, before Emmett could recalibrate. He wasn't going to leave Jennifer annoyed this early in an acquaintance. He also wasn't going to let Emmett derail the evening. "We'll catch up after."
"Can't wait," Jennifer said warmly.
Adam pulled Emmett back toward the stage.
"She put me with the friend," Emmett said, low and outraged.
"I noticed," Adam said. "Play the set."
The set went well. It always did now — Hard Candy had enough history and enough reps that the performance came naturally, and the graduation crowd was exactly the right energy for it.
From the floor, Lauren watched Jennifer watch Adam, and felt something tighten in her chest that she'd learned to ignore and had never quite managed to.
"He seems like a player," she said.
"Probably," Jennifer said, swaying slightly to the music. "More interesting that way."
Lauren stood very still.
Jennifer is mine, said the completely irrational part of her brain that she'd also never managed to quiet. You're all terrible people.
"Bathroom," Lauren said abruptly, and grabbed Jennifer's hand.
"What? Right now?"
Lauren was already moving. Jennifer, caught off guard by the uncharacteristic firmness of Lauren's grip, followed.
In the bathroom, Lauren pushed open the window, checked the drop, and started climbing out.
"Lauren." Jennifer stared at her. "What are you doing?"
"Coming with me?"
"Absolutely not!" Jennifer stepped back. "You're insane. You've completely lost it."
She walked back out to the party. Lauren climbed back in through the window, straightened her glasses, and followed her.
The set ended. The room noise filled back in.
Jennifer materialized at the edge of the stage, right on cue.
"That was great," she said to Adam.
"Thanks." Adam signaled Emmett to take a break and stepped down. He looked around. "Where's Lauren?"
Jennifer's smile went briefly rigid. "She doesn't really do parties. She gets a little—" she made a small circular gesture near her temple "—you know. She's a sweet girl, but she can be a lot. Like just now, she literally dragged me into the bathroom and tried to climb out the window."
"Seriously?"
"I genuinely cannot explain it." Jennifer shook her head with the fond exasperation of someone delivering a carefully curated story about a friend.
Adam listened to this and felt two things simultaneously. The first was that Lauren sounded considerably more interesting than Jennifer was presenting her. The second was that whatever was actually going on between these two was complicated enough that walking into it without more information would be unwise.
He filed Lauren away. Not permanently. Just for now.
"So you fix cars?" he said, shifting direction.
Jennifer blinked. "What?"
"Earlier you mentioned — I'm guessing, actually. Everyone in Texas fixes their own car."
"A little, yeah." She laughed, surprised. "Why?"
"My dad has a truck that's been making a sound it shouldn't."
"Bring it by," Jennifer said, visibly delighted by the unexpected turn. "I'll look at it."
"Deal."
They talked easily after that, the conversation finding its own rhythm. Jennifer was sharp and funny when she wasn't performing, which Adam appreciated.
Across the room, Lauren stood alone, watching.
Adam's smile from this angle looked different than it had from close up. Easy, practiced, calibrated. She couldn't tell what was real in it and what wasn't.
She didn't like that.
On the stage, Juno sat in the corner with her bass across her lap, not playing, not talking to anyone. Her eyes tracked the conversation between Adam and Jennifer with an expression that was very quiet and very difficult to read.
End of Chapter 34
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