fine line, adam banks

F***ING BUTTERFLIES

adam banks walks into my life and makes a mess of my brain. i couldn't be any more confused with my feelings and i hate that. my head says i hate him and his stupid blue eyes, but the butterflies can't help but say otherwise. in the span of a minute, he can make me annoyed, happy and flustered. not to mention, he's the only one that makes my cheeks heat up. i'm praying he didn't see how pink my cheeks got when he put his sweatshirt was on my lap before leaving.

sliding the warrior hoodie over my torso, the smell of cologne overtakes my nose. and i don't mind it one bit. after a good minute of shamelessly breathing in Adam's cologne, i notice i'm alone. the bleachers where the boys once sat filled up quickly, but I noticed that ashlee hadn't came back.

the boys wouldn't be coming out onto the ice for at least twenty more minutes.

"do you mind saving my seat?", I ask the girl sitting beside me.

"I guess."

Ignoring the attitude, "Thank you so much."

I give her a grateful nod before running off towards the arena entrance. my goosebumps are immediately gone when I enter the warm air of the hallways.

after taking a quick peek around the lobby, i make my way towards the locker rooms, knowing that there's an old fire exit at the end of the hallway. to be honest, i should have just looked there first. as that was the place, most students and some teachers go to smoke. it's the place with no cameras, alarms and is facing an empty parking lot.

i passed the empty jv locker room and the quiet varsity one. eden hall academy spoils the varsity hockey team to the point where they have two locker rooms. one for practice and changing, the other is for pregame and the breaks between periods.

so it was a shock to hear quiet chuckles coming from inside their practice locker room. being the nosy bitch i am, i take it upon myself to go see who's inside the locker room.

i was shocked to say the least, when I saw ken, julie and russ with a tank full of liquid nitrogen. the whole locker room was covered, floor to ceiling in liquid nitrogen.

"nat?"

i turn to see all three of the ducks looking at me.

"hey jules."

"what are you doing in here?"

"i could ask you the same question.", i smile, "hello russ, ken."

they both mutter out a hello before looking down at the floor.

"why are you guys spraying their stuff with liquid nitrogen?"

"they ruined our clothes! they put every single piece in the showers, leaving us all in either our nasty ass hockey uniforms or soaking wet clothes."

ken takes a peek at me, "you're not gonna tell on us right?"

"no.", i chuckle, "varsity started it and you're just finishing it. this is the last prank right?"

"as long as they don't retaliate then sure. Anything for my favorite pale baby.", julie states.

"don't let averman hear otherwise we are gonna get a whiny boy for the rest of the month. i don't think i could stand that.", i smile but it drops when i see who's locker they were doing, "why did you do banks's locker? i thought you guys were friends?"

"well varsity obviously did this. and he is now on varsity."

"i hate to break it to you guys but he and scooter didn't have anything to do with this. i'm guessing when the whole varsity team left, this is what they came to do. adam and scooter stayed in their seats, you should have seen how confused he was."

"oh shit.", russ sighs, "we messed up."

"Back it up. Since when are you sticking up for him? I thought you hated him?"

"i do hate him but that doesn't mean i want him to lose all his friends because of a misunderstanding."

russ and julie seem to be okay with that answer as ken gives me a confused look.

"good. well not good. my life would be way easier if the love of my life and close friend would get along."

"amen to that, julie.", russ and her high five before turning the liquid nitrogen off.

"kenny and i'll come to the game with you guys. we just need to put the tank back into the chemistry building."

"ok, i'll meet you guys in the stands then.", i say, turning towards the fire escape.

"natalia, wait up!", I hear ken mumble, "is that adam's sweatshirt?"

i can feel a small amount of heat fill my cheeks as i realized somebody noticed.

"i'm taking that as a yes. i know you said you hated him but can i offer you some advice?"

i nod, wanting to know what ken's little mind was thinking about.

"there is a fine line between love and hate."

giving him a quick smile, i let him go off towards his friends. which leaves me to go find the twins, who have now been gone for more than an hour.

pushing the door open, the strong and immediate smell of weed fills the air.

"are you guys serious?", I ask, "you promised me, you would come to the game with me. but, here you are. Getting high."

ashlee just giggles when the boy picks his head up from his book, "um, excuse me. i'm not high. ash wouldn't leave and i couldn't just leave her here, high and by herself."

i recognize that boy as rick's younger brother, matthew. we used to be friends when we were younger but drifted. he was a sweet boy, and i knew that ash and him stayed close.

"do you mind taking her to our dorm?"

he nods, "i truly am sorry about this natalia."

i nod before quickly running towards the arena as i hear the varsity blake team enter.

i quickly find my three friends sitting in the seat I occupied once before, "hey guys. it took longer to find ash than i originally thought."

taking a seat below julie and leaning between her legs, "ash was high as fuck, so her friend took her to their dorm."

"i'm sorry ash.", julie plays with the ends of my hair, "i know how excited you were to come to the game with them."

"i just never see her anymore, despite living with her. it's stupid, i know. i just want her back."

"you know you're always welcome to hangout with us and the ducks.", ken smiles.

'yeah, the ducks are dying to see the girl Julie is in love with again. they miss you."

julie's slap on the back of russ's head blends in the growing noise in the arena. my head whips towards the warrior's walking towards the ice. for being just a high school, they have quite the fanbase. while the ducks beside me stay sitting, i stand up. they are my brothers after all. the seniors are the first to step onto the ice and rick is at the very front. obviously enjoying all the attention he is getting. the whole team is now on the ice, beginning their warmups.

my eyes almost immediately find #9 which is a new number, i look up to see it's my favorite blonde. and he is looking right back at me.

he shoots me a wink before focusing back on the ice.

those fucking butterrflies are killing my stomach.