Saturday and Sunday were the last days of freedom Ada had from all of this until graduation. There were still looks and snarky comments, but at least she could express her side of things at the coffee shop. At least she had allies.

One of whom was Crystal. She, for the first time, banned one of Ada's male classmates after he wouldn't leave her alone, asking her when she was going to do him like she did Mr. B. Since this was the only coffee shop that people went to, everyone shut up after that.

Where Crystal handled things from inside the coffee shop, Tom handled things on the outside. He'd purchased patio furniture that scarcely fit on his tiny balcony and spent the weekend doing paperwork outside.

At least, that's what Ada imagined he was doing out there. There were a handful of times she could hear the mocking before the door even opened, looked over and saw classmates were about to come in. Then they'd look behind them and left before they ever came in.

Not that Ada couldn't handle things herself, but there were only so many ways she could tell customers to fuck off without losing her job, though the likelihood of Crystal firing her was slim. Still, she left it up to the boss and drowned the rest of it out the best she could, knowing there was still plenty of fight she could join in on.

As soon as she slowed to a stop in the student traffic, she was desperate to take it as a sign to just drive off somewhere else. Unfortunately, she'd already missed tests last week and had no excuse this time.

The tests didn't feel as scary as they did a month ago, when she began cramming for them. Now that real life hit her in the face, the tests just felt like tests.

Ada circled around toward the back of the parking lot, and she noticed Britt leaning against her Jeep, sunglasses on, hair down and flowing in the wind and wearing her no nonsense cowboy boots that cost about as much as Ada's entire wardrobe. When she wore them, she looked, felt, and was treated like a badass.

Ada couldn't help but smile as she pulled in next to Britt's car, guessing she wore them for Ada's return. She killed the engine and grabbed her bookbag from the passenger seat, then hopped out of her car, setting the alarm. She'd spoken to Britt the day before, but she was out of town at her grandmother's all weekend.

"Holy. Fucking. Shit," Britt said, taking off her sunglasses and letting her mouth drop open. "What the hell did you do with my best friend?"

For a moment, Ada hadn't a clue what she was talking about. But then she remembered the new outfit she was wearing, a dark red dress with white polka dots, and remembered Britt hadn't yet seen her hair cut.

She gave Britt a wink before standing by her side and joining arms with her. "I gave her the day off. The good news is she lent you her no nonsense substitute. She looks just like your best friend, but doesn't take any shit from anyone."

Britt smiled at her and they walked toward the school. "Tell her I'm mad at her for giving me a run for my money in the 'sexy as hell' department."

"I will pass along that message."

Britt shot off a few glares as they walked, everyone's gaze settling on them but too intimidated to keep looking. "How's Mr. B? Did he come in last night or what?"

"He came in for a mocha to-go. I think he's trying to ease back into things without drawing attention to it. He called me when he saw me leave, though. I guess it worried him I'd take it personally or something."

"I thought you guys already talked about it."

Ada had to shoot off a couple of glares of her own when some guys catcalled her. Ada recognized one of them as the guy who Crystal kicked out and the other as the guy Britt tried to set her up with two weeks before.

"How many people on the school board did you have to suck off to get Bennet back, huh Ada?" her would-have-been date said to her from a few feet away as he sat on the flower bed.

If she wasn't so full of anger, Ada would have burst out into tears. But she was angry. She was downright pissed and then some.

"You're just jealous because she wouldn't go out on a date with you," Britt shot back, tightening their linked arms.

"Hey, I'm not jealous. If I'd known my grandpa was her type, I wouldn't have bothered." He turned his attention from Britt back to Ada. "I heard instead of fucking the whole football team like your little friend here, you fucked all the coaches in the district. That true?"

"Knock it off!"

She followed Tom's voice to the front door of the school, looking about as pissed off as she'd ever seen him. He started making his way over, but not toward Ada. Toward Jake.

Ada rushed over toward him, his rage looking like it was building up by the second. She was meant to keep her distance from him, especially in school, but if she did, then the threat of him losing his job was a guarantee.

"You have to stop."

Even with her next to him, he continued walking toward his target. "As soon as I beat the hell out of this guy."

There weren't many people out there, but everyone who wasn't paying attention to the spectacle before seemed to be now. Tom's professional demeanor just went to complete crap with that one comment, and he didn't seem to care at all.

"Crap like that is just going to keep happening; every day, all day until graduation. If you beat him up, you lose your job and I lose an ally here that I need."

Tom slowed only a few steps away from Jake, and Ada could see his body shaking. She could also see the rage drift, just a little. He understood the repercussions that came with fighting a student. But the consequences of that, the ones she'd have to endure, seemed to be the one that stuck.

After he shook his head, Tom turned away from Jake. "We have to talk to the principal about this. This isn't okay, Ada."

"Bullying isn't a new thing," Britt said as she returned to Ada's side, fiddling with her phone. "Ada's just never done anything interesting enough to create a rumor out of."

Ada glared at Britt. "Watch it."

"Kinda true," Britt muttered with a shrug. "And the people who would have the power to stop the bullying are the ones doing it. I overheard Rayna talking some major shit on Friday and her and I got into it. The whole thing pisses me off too, because I thought these people were my friends, but they have no problem turning on their own. Fucking chimps."

Ada cocked her head to the side and gave Britt a puzzled look.

"They attack their own species," she explained. "What? I know some shit."

Tom shook his head, keeping his eyes on everything around him with a clenched jaw and clutched hands, ready to go to war. "Even then they don't attack their own group, only outsiders." Ada and Britt both gave him the same look Ada had given her only moments earlier. "I know some shit too."

Movement from the corner of her eye caught Ada's and Tom's attention and she braced herself to reach out to capture him if she had to. "Don't."

He remained in place while Jake and whatever-the-hell his name passed. "You don't deserve this," Tom said as he kept his eyes on the two until they disappeared into the building.

"Yeah, 'cause bullying only happens to people who deserve it. And I rode my unicorn to school today."

Tom crinkled his nose and shook his head back and forth as he snarled something under his breath. After a few moments, Tom took a few steps and let out a noise that was something between a grunt and a scream through his clenched jaw.

"In a perfect world, this shit would have gone away the second Mr. B got cleared. But this isn't a perfect world. They need something to talk about and as long as the in-crowd care enough to keep the rumor alive, it's not gonna go away." Britt shoved her phone back in her purse before crossing her arms just as the first bell rang, telling people it was time to get moving, which no one did.

"I'm still going to go talk to the principal," Tom announced as he paced. "There are laws to protect you from this."

"Unicorn," Britt sang out again, earning a hefty glare from Tom. "I'm sorry, but I don't know what the hell the school is going to do. These are the popular groups we're talking about, and they thrive on drama. The only way they are going to leave her alone is if something even more dramatic happens. That's how any rumor falls to the weigh side around here."

Britt's face filled with a quizzical look and she tilted her head back and looked up at the sky like she was reading something. Her face seemed to brighten, and she dashed into the school. Ada had to run to keep up with her pace. The door nearly shut behind her when Tom slipped in, but he kept a bit of distance.

Britt turned around to face Ada, her face again having changed into a scowl. "Ada, I can't believe you! I told you I was pregnant in confidence," Britt yelled, putting an emphasis on 'pregnant'.

Ada looked over at Tom, who leaned back against a locker and crossed his arms at he stared at the spectacle that was Brittney Hollowick. She returned her gaze to where Tom's fell. "I'm sorry?"

"You should be," Britt scolded dramatically. "I thought you were my friend, but I don't know if I can forgive you for this." She looked down and shook her head at Ada before stomping away.

Ada was in a daze until she was brought back to the sound of whispers following Britt down the hallway. She had never heard of someone starting such a horrid rumor about themselves and had never witnessed an act of friendship like this one. It was confusing as shit and the most selfless thing Britt had ever done in her life.

Her gaze turned back to Tom, who looked as she did, baffled by it.

*************

The rest of the day was filled with tests. Though Ada could still hear some snickers and whispers from a few of the guys, the teachers were keeping a close eye on her. She could only guess that had something to do with Tom, and Ada wasn't about to protest. Ordinarily she would want to take care of things on her own, but this was bigger than her and it was the school's job to protect her from this stuff. Tom was just making sure they did their job.

As the school board cleared Tom, many classmates were okay letting the rumor go so long as they had another one to fall back on.

With tests keeping her in the same room for a couple of hours at a time, Ada didn't get to see Tom in between classes like she could usually. She wondered if he was dealing with the same thing as she was, or if he was more protected by his position.

She heard the rumor about Britt and listened in fascination and frustration as Britt's former friend pounced on the chance to turn on Britt just as they had turned on her. It shifted throughout the day, just as hers had. Some old guy had impregnated Britt at the bar, by her pastor and by her mother's boyfriend, it would seem. The closest version of the truth she'd heard was that Britt had made up the rumor because she was jealous of Ada's rumor getting so much attention.

As it had been with hers, no one outside of the highest social circles seemed to care.

By the time she'd finished the day, only a few of her former friends had made sex noises as she walked passed them. Most just glared at her, which was fine by Ada.

As soon as Ada heard the last bell and turned in the last test of the day, she was more than ready to leave this place behind. She would first have to check on Britt, who she had only seen once that day as she was still pretending to be pissed at Ada, which was better than the actual pissed she was the week before.

The moment she reached her locker was the moment the final student left Tom's classroom, followed by Tom himself.

He gave her a tired smile as he leaned against the doorway. He looked like he'd been through hell and back again and lived to tell the tale. "It's official, you're the only person I like anymore."

"Not Britt?" Ada questioned.

Tom shrugged. "I didn't like her that much before, so that one's hard to judge. I appreciate her sacrifice though."

It wasn't much of a secret that Tom wasn't a huge fan of Britt. They were the polar opposite as far as personalities went, and she wasn't an exceptional student or anything. "Well, my day would have been a crap ton worse if she hadn't done what she did."

Tom's eyes softened as he held her gaze. "Then I will always be in her debt." A comment that could sound sarcastic was completely heartfelt. "You working tonight?"

Ada ran her fingers through her hair before slamming her locker closed and walked toward Tom. She kept enough distance to avoid drawing attention, but was close enough that their conversation would remain private. "Not tonight. My mom has an appointment in Neuport, so they won't get back late tonight or tomorrow. So I have to go pick up Peter from school. Plus, at this point, I just don't fucking want to."

Tom Chuckled and rubbed at his face before leaning against the lockers. "Oh trust me, I get it."

"Oh, Mr. B!" A classmate, Jason, moaned out as he passed with his buddies. "I love it when you touch me just like that!"

"Eat a dick, Jason!" Ada shot back without thought.

The guy seemed surprised, but his smile only grew until Tom took a step toward him. The smile vanished with that one step, and he quickened his pace down the hall.

His friend, who Ada sort of recognized but didn't know his name, gave her a smile. "I like your hair cut." He looked nervous when he said it, and Ada could tell his compliment was genuine.

"Thanks," was all she could think to say.

He gave her a nod and kept walking with his group.

Ada's attention turned back to Tom, who's eyes were still following the guy who'd spoken to her. "I have to pick up Peter, so I should get going."

Tom sucked in a long breath through his mouth and released it through his nostrils. He looked like a defeated man, tired and worn from everything happening in his life. Compared to the man who was at her house only a few days before, this man was older, paler, more on edge.

Above all of that, Tom was angry. She could feel it inside of him, rising like boiling water ready to pour over. He held it in, maybe for her or maybe for the sake of his job or reputation. But that anger was in him and was building.

Ada took a few steps toward him so she could speak to him without the ears of passerby's listening in. She hadn't seen how stiff his body was until she witnessed it relax as she grew close enough to speak in confidence.

"I'm sorry," she said, her voice coming out as a helpless child. "If I hadn't asked to see your apartment, if I hadn't gone looking for you after my-"

Tom crossed his arms and leaned in. "If you hadn't asked to come over, I would have invited you. Against all better judgement, that shit would have happened either way. And if you hadn't been looking for me that day, we would have found each other regardless, because I was going crazy looking for you. This was our fate, Ada. Yours and mine. No matter how things had played out, we'd still find ourselves right here, and I don't regret that. Do you?"

Ada dipped her head, wanting to look away but forcing her eyes back up at him. She never felt like she regretted it, only that she would take it all back if it meant Tom could have everything back that he lost. "No."

"Good."

Ada took a step back, realizing the way they must have been looking at each other could be seen a dozen different ways, and most people passing would only focus on the ways that appeared more intimate.

"I need to-"

"Go pick up Peter," Tom finished with a nod as he returned to his position in the doorway. "Yeah."

She readjusted the strap of her book bag and gave Tom one last look. "I miss you," Ada admitted, before dashing away. 

Author's Note:

Chapter dedicated to BobbieLloyd, for getting me to 100k reads.