Mary Jane can't sleep.

What did Adrian mean?

*

Adrian is a student at Ardenton College who's majoring in psychology. That's basically all Mary Jane knows about him.

Mary Jane leaves her father's office at ten in the morning, and she goes to the library to do some work on her final paper.

But the next thing she knows, she's searching him up on social media, and that's when Mary Jane realizes she doesn't even know what his last name is.

She sends him a text. What's your last name?

Adrian's reply comes fast. Checking to see if it suits your first? :)

Mary Jane's cheeks heat up. No, shut up. I just realized I didn't know what it was. You're really closed off, you know. I tried searching you up and you weren't anywhere, even on your school pages. Are you a ghost?

She can practically hear his grin in his reply. Stalker.

Please. I'm going on dates with a guy I barely know.

You know me. You've known me for the past weeks we've been texting and going out. That's me, MJ.

Her fingers falter on the screen. Surname?

A few minutes pass before Adrian replies. Flynn. And no, I'm not on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.

Mary Jane huffs and locks her phone, but another message from Adrian comes through. By the way, Mary Jane Flynn sounds hot.

Fuck off.

You're blushing, aren't you?

BYE.

Mary Jane refuses to acknowledge she's blushing.

*

A few hours before their third date, Adrian tells her he's at the arcade.

Mary Jane takes that chance to corner him.

"Why are you following me around?" Adrian says, laughing, as he inserts another coin into the claw machine. "What, you like me, too?"

"Don't get ahead of yourself, I'm here to ask about Seth."

"Again," Adrian mutters, exhaling deeply as he faces her. "We aren't on a date yet, beautiful. Couldn't wait until tonight?"

The ginger leans against the wall and watches him crouch down and take ahold of the joystick. He's too tall for the machine. "You're my only source of information. Literally no one else knows about him. Plus, I feel like you get annoyed whenever I ask about him during our dates."

"That was the deal, MJ, don't sweat it," he says with an even expression, keeping his eyes focused on the game. "I'm going to win you something in less than three tries. Hold on."

Mary Jane, despite everything, smiles. There's a crease between his eyebrows that appears whenever he's focused on something, and Mary Jane thinks it's adorable. "Those things are rigged."

"I'm getting you the orange dinosaur," Adrian tells her, completely ignoring what she said. "Reminds me of you."

She frowns. "My hair is not orange."

"There's nothing strawberry blonde here, babe, calm down."

"What do you mean dinosaurs remind you of me?"

Adrian, little cute shit he is, laughs again. "The plushies look cute. And they're feisty and strong."

Mary Jane blinks. "Oh."

Adrian's shoulders are broad, and there are muscles peeking out from the thin fabric of his shirt. Mary Jane knows she's seen them—hell, she's touched them, felt them up, but the sight makes her face feel hot.

"Shit," he mutters, just as the stuffed toy slips right out of the claw's clutches. "S'cool, I have two more tries."

There's a smile that curves against her lips. "Why did you even come to the arcade anyway?"

"I had time to kill before our date," Adrian says distractedly, pulling out his wallet again. "And like I said, I wanted to win you something. Now that you're here, this is actual motivation."

"I won't stop going on dates with you if you don't win it, you know."

Adrian freezes ever so slightly, and that's just when Mary Jane realizes her mistake.

"I mean, um," she says, clearing her throat as she regains her composure, "as long as you hold up your end of the deal. Yeah. I don't care about the dinosaur."

The boy's hair looks, again, like a mess. Mary Jane wants to reach out and run her hands through it.

Adrian fixes her with an easy smile and a shrug as he slots another coin into the machine. "Right. The fact. You want it now or later? We're going ice skating, so dress warm."

Mary Jane beams. "I love ice skating."

He nods. "I know. So, now or later?"

She tries to recall if she ever told Adrian she loves ice skating. "Now."

"Seth loved the scrambled eggs at Station Twelve."

Mary Jane rubs her forehead and shuts her eyes. "I knew that, too. That's what he told me to get the first time he texted me. Have you been there recently?"

Adrian's focus is on the plushie once more. "Haven't been back in a while," he mutters.

The ginger bites her lip. "Seth must've talked to you about it a lot, right? How do you guys know each other again?"

The boy suddenly stands straight and pumps his fist in the air, just as she saw that he won the dinosaur. There's a big grin on his face, and he turns around, picks Mary Jane up like she weighs nothing, and hugs her tight. "Ah, I did it! See, I told you I'd win you something."

Mary Jane's eyes are wide in Adrian's embrace. He smells good—and familiar. It feels warm and safe.

Just as quickly, Adrian pulls back and grabs the stuffed toy out of the machine. He thrusts it into Mary Jane's arms.

She smiles and hugs it to her chest. "Thank you. I'm not fond of plushies, but this is an exception. You kind of worked hard for it."

"Kind of?" Adrian repeats, scoffing. "That's an insult. Let's cancel our date."

"What? No, I'm just kidding—Adrian, come back!"

Mary Jane noticed—Adrian never answered her question.