✓ 𝐆𝐎𝐑𝐆𝐄𝐎𝐔𝐒, adam banks

11. high infidelity (pt. two)

❛ ━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━ ❜
chapter eleven: high infidelity (pt. two)

[a/n: honey, you've got an even bigger storm coming. this one's going to be a rollercoaster, guys. don't hate me. but hopefully the ending will be enough to distract you.]

tw(s): infidelity, as suggested by the title
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★ ━━━ RICK, HER RICK, with all his flaws and faults that she'd learned to tolerate. Rick, his white lies and his sharp green spite and his crimson passion. Her Rick, is kissing Mindy Pinkerton. On his car. The car they'd listened to The Smiths in on their very first date. The car they'd had their first kiss in. Now tainted with an ugly, gnarled stain of disloyalty.

Her mind is running a mile a minute, trying frantically to find its next course of action, in contrast to her mouth, which is practically glued shut. But she eventually settles for choking out one haunting word, barely noticeable. "No."

Rick pulls away from Mindy, whose eyes are darting from the shattered girl six feet away from them, and the boy she had been kissing three seconds prior. Rick shakes his head desperately, walking quickly towards his girlfriend. "Leslie, this is seriously not what you think."

And Leslie laughs. She laughs! "No. No, Rick, that cannot be your opening," Leslie breathes out shakily, stepping back away from him and pointing her finger at no one in particular. "I- I know what I saw. And I- oh God."

"Rick, what's going on?" Mindy asks, the puzzle pieces starting to click together behind her clear blue eyes. "Are you still with her?"

"Well, not anymore, Pinkerton," Leslie spits, wrapping her coat around her abdomen.

"Oh, my goodness, Rick Riley, you've got some gall," Mindy says icily, her eyes fixed on him. "I've gotta go. I'll walk back to campus or something. I'm sorry, Leslie, I didn't mean it. Honest to God, I didn't know." Mindy rushes away from them like a crime scene, and Leslie envies Mindy's ability to wash her hands of the blood. After all, the stain has only been there for one, two weeks? She doesn't know how long Rick's been lying to her.

Adam walks out into the parking lot, paper takeout bags in hand, freezing and surveying the mess he's created.

Leslie pauses. Adam had been facing the counter the whole time, so he must have seen them walk into the diner. That's why he'd been acting so strange, urging her to go out into the parking and bagging their food not even thirty minutes after they'd gotten it. But Adam was a sweet guy; he wouldn't do that to her. They had an alliance...a friendship.

"You," she forces out. "You wanted me to see this?"

Adam's face drops completely. "Leslie, I was helping you. This douchebag's been cheating on you for like, a week!"

Leslie's heart comes to a full stop, and tears prick at the back of her eyes, blurring her vision. "Oh, my God...Adam, you knew. You've known for a week, and this, this specific moment, is how you wanted me to find out? I'm pulling a Mindy, I'm getting the fuck out of here. I can't- I can't do this."

"Leslie, wait," Rick pleads, following her.

"Oh, Rick, don't come anywhere near me," Leslie breathes out, her voice cracking. This breaks the dam. "I loved you with all my heart, I would've done anything for you. I don't need someone who doesn't appreciate that. I don't want to talk to you, I don't want to look at you, and I don't want to see your face ever again. Do you hear me?" She continues walking out of the parking lot.

Adam, however, follows her. "Wait, Leslie!"

Leslie's footsteps quicken as she approaches her car, tears streaming down her face. She quickly wipes them away, just as new ones take their place. "Adam, leave me alone!" she shouts over her shoulder, not bothering to look at him.

"No, Leslie, I finally get it," Adam shouts after her, his voice struggling to be heard over the wind that sounds like it's roaring over their silence.

"Get what?"

"The book. Anna Karenina," Adam answers, trying to catch Leslie's attention.

"Well, good for you! I'm going to get a pizza. Since you wouldn't let me finish my food," Leslie says, muttering the last part.

"No, stop. Don't you get it?" Adam asks. "Vronsky," he points to himself. "Anna," he points to her. "Karenin," he points behind him at nothing.

"Adam..." Leslie says, realization dawning on her. "What are you saying? Please don't be saying what I think you're saying."

"I'm saying I like you. You understand me, and I like to think I understand you a little, too. And if I don't, I want to," Adam says.

Too much. This is too much at once. He likes her? How could he like her? She should have known he'd be trouble from the start.

"You don't understand me, Adam, I'm famous!" Leslie yells. She is beyond regaining her composure at this point. "It's not a snobbish thing to say, because it's true! I'm famous. I get invited to New York Fashion Week and I get signed cards from designers and I get stalked by paparazzi, and I wouldn't be surprised if they're lurking in the shadows right now, capturing every bit of my devastation. And you keep to yourself, Adam. I could never make you happy, do you get that? I'm doing you a favor."

"So screw doing me a favor! Make me unhappy!" Adam persists.

"And it's not just that, okay? You're inconsiderate. You wanted me to see it, even when you knew and you could have just told me. And you almost looked happy. I still can't believe that," Leslie says, her voice thick. "And it's selfish, and- and mean, to tell me you like me right after all of this. Because you don't, not when you'd do this to me. You are not on my side, and you made me believe that you were. So screw you, Adam."

★ ━━━ IT IS LATE in the night, and the city's asleep. The only sounds that can be heard are the chirping of the crickets, the hooting of the owls, and Louise Tucker's quiet footsteps up the stairs leading to the boys' dormitories. She wraps her arms around her torso to protect herself from the biting cold.

She makes her way through the hall lined with doors, approaching one on the end with a brass plaque reading Dormitory 161. She knocks tentatively. Three raps.

The lock clicks, and the door swings open. "Hey, Lou."

"Hey, Kenny."

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CLARA'S CORNER

two chapters in one day ahhh

kenny and louise are so delicate and king of my heart coded. that's why i added in the "late in the night, the city's asleep." i know they're so random but i thought they'd be cute. tell me your thoughts on them.

okay so nowww that all of the drama happened, how do you feel about it? do you agree with leslie's reaction? like honestly, tho, if you were here, would you feel screwed over if someone you thought was your friend knew that you were being cheated on and presented you with the worst possible way of finding out (seeing it firsthand).

even though we know that adam has the best of intentions, leslie doesn't really know that yet. and she won't know that for many chapters to come.