“How… how are you still not tired?” I wiped the sweat off my forehead and leaned on my knees for support as I caught my breath.

Adam just laughed and started walking in circles around me. “I’m just that good!” he chirped, earning a glare from me in return.

I can’t believe he’s still not tired after running all those laps. I even ran more than usual to try and tire him out, but here he was, laughing at me and mocking me while I was way out of breath.

I sighed and stood back up to stretch my arms. Now that I think about it, Adam is quite an odd one.

“Adam, you’re weird.”

He stopped his rounds before me and gave me an offended look. “How rude! Your face is weird!”

I pressed my lips together and stared at him as I processed what he said before giving his shoulder a soft push. “It’s not! And that’s not what I meant, you butt. Stop making fun of me.”

He giggled at my reaction and sat on the grass before the lake. “Right, what did you mean then?”

I shook my head at his cheekiness and leaned down again, stretching my legs this time. He’s been getting more comfortable lately, teasing me and getting cheekier by the day. “Well, I was just thinking… Timmy hasn’t approached me for a full week now.”

As Adam looked up at me with a raised eyebrow, I stood straight up and rested my hands on my side.

“Don’t get me wrong; I’m not complaining. It’s… quite nice.”

Adam only looked more confused at this. “What do you mean?”

“Well, he doesn’t usually stop that easily. Even with Juliet’s threats, he likes pestering me. Especially if I’ve pissed him off.”

“Is that so?” Adam’s eyes got dark as he raised his knee to get back up. “Maybe I should teach him a lesson-”

“Stop, no! It’s fine.” I quickly walked up to him and pushed him back by his shoulders. “How many times must I tell you? Stop worrying about it.”

Adam sat down with a sigh, though he soon glanced back at me. “What about the other two, though? The blonde pipsqueak and the one with glasses?”

“Oh, never seen them with Timmy before.” I sat down in front of Adam and crossed my legs. “Though I recognized the one with glasses. He’s from a different school, one on the other side of the village.”

Adam grimaced at recalling the events and laid down on his back. “Yeah, that one is a weirdo.”

“Good morning, Keira.”

I glanced behind Adam to see Juliet walking up to us with a pretty full handbag and waved excitedly at her. “Juliet, hii! Come sit next to us!”

As she walked towards me, she stepped in his arms instead of walking around Adam before laying a picnic blanket beside me.

“Ouch!” Adam cried out and sat up, pursing his lips together with puffed cheeks as he rubbed the sore spot. “What was that for?”

“Oh, whoops.” After putting down the bag, Juliet turned her head to him and smiled sinisterly. “I didn’t notice you there.”

I peeked in her bag and was quickly greeted with a pair of lunch boxes and snacks and drinks inside. “Julessss, you’ve brought so much food with you!”

Juliet looked back at me with a wide grin, pleased with my reaction. “Well, last Saturday, we only studied, and the week before, I could not attend.” She straightened her dress and sat down close to me. “It would only be natural to compensate for the missed picnics.”

Adam leaned closer and gave us a curious look. “Do you guys meet up here every weekend?”

“We do!” I straightened the picnic blanket and sorted out the food. “I take a job in the morning, Juliet comes here afterward, and then we have a picnic lunch!”

“Exactly. The two of us.” Juliet gave Adam a cold glance before folding the unpacked bag away.

“Well, now there’s three of us!” I said with a wide smile and took a snack, taking the first bite. “Hmmm… Yum!”

Juliet narrowed her eyes at me and stayed silent for a moment, clearly not liking the idea, though soon she sighed in defeat. “Fine.”

“Yes!” I patted the spot next to me. “Come sit with us, Adam!”

It didn’t take long before Adam sat in front of us with a bright smile again and joined our picnic.

“So, why are you two suddenly buddy-buddy now?” Juliet asked, poking me in my side until I moved away from her.

“Right.” I quickly swallowed my food to stop talking with my mouth full. “I mean, he’s alright.”

“I don’t like him.” She said with a straight face and took another sip of her drink.

I gave a small nod and took another bite of my sandwich. “Yeah. He’s annoying but not too bad to hang out with.”

Adam looked at us with big eyes, and his lips pursed. “I can hear everything, y’know?”

I looked back at Adam with squinted eyes and leaned in to poke him in the side, getting a high-pitched squeal and having him squirm away from me. “You bugged me until I couldn’t stop ignoring you, you butthead.” I moved onto my hands and knees to get closer to him and continued poking him, making him hug himself to try and protect himself.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“Stop! Ah- I’m sorry, I'm sorry!”

I giggled and sat back down, watching Adam lying on his back and rubbing his sides before turning my attention back to Juliet. “But that’s it.”

Adam peeked back up at us with tears in his eyes. “I- I saved you from Timmy and that guy with glasses, meanie.”

Juliet raised an eyebrow in surprise and looked up at me. “Did he now?”

Wait. I quickly felt my cheeks burn up. She doesn’t need to know that I didn’t beat Timmy. “No, he didn’t!”

“I did!”

I stood up and glared down at Adam. “Shut up, you!”

As I approached Adam, he rushed up to his feet and gave me a cheeky grin. “You can’t make me!”

I jumped at him and reached out to grab him, but he stepped away and started running away. “Hah! Catch me if you can!”

“Come back here, you butthead!” I placed my sandwich on the picnic blanket before running after him, but Adam just turned his head to me with his tongue stuck out. “You can’t catch me! You too slow.”

As we were running around on the grass field, Juliet stared at the lake in thought. “Interesting.” She took a sip of her drink and nodded in approval. “If Adam can take care of Timmy, I suppose he is alright.”

I stopped in my tracks and looked back at Juliet with a deep frown. No! I can beat Timmy, too, I swear!

Adam noticed my change in behavior and walked up to me, poking my now-red cheeks with a wide grin. “Awwe, look who’s a little embarrassed.”

I felt my shoulders tense up. “I… am not embarrassed.”

“Don’t worry! You don’t need to deny it. It’s surprisingly cut-”

I balled my hands into fists and clenched my teeth as I turned back to Adam and punched him. “I. Am. Not!” I hit his cheek, causing Adam to stumble before falling.

Adam trembled in pain and stayed quiet for a moment before turning onto his back, revealing the bright red bruise on his cheek and tears forming in the corner of his eyes. “That… that hurt.”

Juliet had stood up and patted my back to help me calm down. “You should have seen that coming,” she said, glancing down at Adam, who forced a small smile and closed his eyes.

“Sorry.”

After cleaning up the picnic, we started to walk out of the park. Juliet sighed and looked at me with a hint of frustration. “I don’t get how you find taking a run every morning fun.”

I rubbed the back of my head with a wide grin. “I need to work out to get stronger. Plus, I find it refreshing!”

Juliet sighed once again and shook her head. “You’re only a kid. You don’t need to work out.”

“As if you’re not a kid.” I heard Adam growl behind us.

“Exactly!” I huffed and held my head up high. “And I do what I want! Hearing you say that makes you sound not like a kid.”

Juliet snickered at my frustration. “I could not help it.” She stayed quiet for a moment and stared off into the distance before she spoke up again. “This boy with glasses that was with Timmy. Tell me about him.”

“Ah-” I dropped my arms again and looked back at Juliet. “How… do you know about him?”

“I overheard you talking with Adam earlier.”

“Oh.”

I looked back in front of me and rubbed my arm as I tried to remember what he looked like. “Yeah, I think he’s from that other school. He looked older than us, though.”

“From the other school, huh?” I could hear her voice tremble from tension. Was that anger?

I looked back at Juliet. Yes, she has murder in her eyes. I stepped in front of Juliet and forced a smile. “H- he’s been taken care of, though! I haven’t seen him for days! No need to worry about it. Hah-hah.”

As I tried to calm Juliet down, Adam started walking beside her. “He’s a real creep.” He grumbled as he held the bags he was made to carry. “Next time I see him, I’m gonna punch his lights out!”

“Oh?” Juliet looked back at Adam with a sinister look in her eyes. “Please, enlighten me.”

I shot Adam a glare and shook my head quickly, trying to signal him, but he was utterly oblivious to me as he told Juliet what had happened.

“Flynn, was it?” Juliet hummed in thought and nodded to herself. “Thank you for telling me, Adam. I will personally make sure to take care of him.”

Adam’s face lit up, eyes sparkling as a proud grin grew across his face. “Anytime!”

I stopped at the park entrance and looked at Juliet in concern. “Juliet, just… don’t cause too much trouble.”

My friend turned to me and gave me a small smile. “Don’t worry. I will not bring any harm to myself.”

“I’m not worried about you. I’m worried about Flynn.” I watched as Adam returned Juliet her bag with an eyebrow raised.

“I would be concerned about him too.” She lifted the bag on her shoulder and exchanged glances between us. “I hope that you enjoyed the food.”

Her eyes wandered to Adam, looking him up and down before finally giving him a polite nod. “I will be seeing you Monday at school again, Adam.” She turned around and started walking back home.

“Bye, Jules, see you at school!” I waved her goodbye before turning the other way to walk back home. “Let’s go home! I wanna play some games.” As I started walking back home, I noticed Adam wasn’t walking with me and looked behind me. He still didn’t budge from the forest’s entrance.

I walked back and scratched the back of my head. Adam slightly squinted his eyes as he peered into the distance. What was he looking at? Trying to get him out of his trance, I tugged his sleeve. “Come one. I’m going to leave without you if you don’t move.”

Adam blinked a few times and looked down at me with surprise but quickly replaced this with a cheeky grin. “Sorry, sorry. Got distracted.”

“You’re such a weirdo.” I shook my head and started walking.

Adam seemed uneasy when we got to our ‘meeting point’. Constantly glancing around him and fidgeting with his sleeves. He even jumped when I spoke up.

“Right, I'll be going this way then.” I turned away from him and started walking off.

“Wait.”

I stopped mid-step and turned back to Adam, crossing my arms. Is he finally going to say what’s wrong?

“Just…” Adam played with his sleeves in thought before shaking his head and giving me a soft smile. “See you on Monday.”

“Ah, yea.” I waved at him. “See you on Monday” I started walking back home again, glancing at Adam before I turned around the corner. What was that about? Did he suddenly get shy or something?

I entered a narrow alleyway and scratched the back of my head in thought. Maybe the way Juliet treated him made him uncomfortable. I know she can be cold to people sometimes, but it’s not like she dislikes everyone. Perhaps I need to talk to him about it next time.

The sound of footsteps came from behind me. “Oh, Adam!” I turned around with a soft smile. “About Julie-”

A firm hand grabbed me by the jaw and forced the back of my head against the wall, effectively cutting me off mid-sentence and silencing me. In front of me stood a tall boy with dark blonde hair and mischievous, yellow-glowing eyes.

“Yes, do tell me all about Juliet.” He chirped with a wide grin.

It took me a second to recognize him without glasses, but the boy standing in front of me was Flynn.

I clenched my hands into fists and glared at him, though I was soon forced to relax as I felt the aching in the back of my head from the impact.

“Oh, sorry. That must’ve hurt.” Flynn purred. “I’ll keep it short: I wouldn’t put too much trust in Adam.” He leaned into my ear and continued in a whisper.

“He’s not who you think he is.”

I opened my eyes again, his hand was off me, and Flynn had seemingly disappeared.