fic: rewrite our story 1/4
MASTER POST
When Kris left Arkansas just two days after his college graduation, his mother told him that going back to Rue Falls wasn’t exactly a good career plan. And Kris agreed with her. He wasn’t going to Rue Falls to have a career. He was going there for some well-deserved vacation, or cheesy as it might sound, maybe some soul-searching. He really didn’t have an idea of what he wanted to do with his life just yet, but he knew that Rue Falls was the one place in the world where he could listen to himself, and that was a good time for him to be doing that.
So he packed his bags and guitar case, and took a flight to LA before getting on a bus to Rue Falls. Two hours later, he was standing on the bus stop, and he could feel the heat from the pavement through the soles of his sneakers. He was bone tired and hungry, with no idea where to get a room or a job. He thought it was kind of romantic when he didn’t really make plans. His mother would’ve killed him if she knew.
But that’s how he started working for The End, a small café just a few blocks away from the bus stop he got off from. He just went inside to have lunch and when the owner, an English guy named Matt took in the bags and guitar case at his feet, they got into a conversation and just hit it off. In the time that Kris managed to finish his sandwich in between snatches of conversation, Matt and his French wife Celine had offered him a job to help in the café’s kitchen, and a room at the basement of their house just a few blocks away.
Two years later, Kris is settled in. And he kind of loves it, if he’s being totally honest. Just like with any other job, there are crappy days, especially when there’s an influx of tourists and the café is particularly busy. But the fun he has while working in The End more than makes up for it. He’s in charge of the café’s menu now and he works on it with Andrew, one of Matt’s friends from the UK. They have Allison, a kid who just graduated from college working with them. Kris has discovered that he loves cooking, and The End’s kitchen is the perfect place for some experimentation. In the time that he’s worked there, he has never prepared the same menu two days in a row and that’s really helped business.
On the first Friday after his second summer in The End officially started, Kris wakes up exhausted from dreams full of the remembered smell of cooking food and suntan lotions, and the sounds of chatter and Matt’s open mic sets. For the past few days, he’s been working more and sleeping less. He feels like his brain is always riding high on the buzz of energy that won’t fade until he’s got to get up for work.
His stomach growls, having forgotten to grab a snack before bed because all he wanted was to go to sleep. He’s not surprised to find that he has run out of coffee and the two slices of bread in the fridge are now moldy. Between planning The End’s menu and his open mic sets, Kris has got a lot on his mind. So he just showers, puts on his jeans from the night before and a clean rumpled shirt before setting off to find some food.
He’s thinking of what to put on the dinner menu that day as he walks from his basement room to the café. The sun’s high in the sky and he can already feel how hot the day’s going to be with the morning air brushing over his face. He’s got a slight headache from the long night but he can’t let Andrew do all the work, especially with the lunch crowd all set to come in in just two hours.
“What are you doing here? You’re not supposed to come in until after lunch,” Andrew tells him as soon as Kris walks into the café’s backdoor.
“I can’t sleep, man. And there’s no food in my place,” he yawns as he grabs a piece of apple that Andrew’s slicing. “Better to be here than there.”
Allison laughs from where she’s stirring what Kris can smell is the curried chicken. “It’s like you don’t know Kris.” Kris nudges her shoulder.
Andrew shakes his head. “Go grab some bread. I thought we decided that if you’re doing the open mic nights, that you’ll stay out of this fucking kitchen until it’s way past noon?” He puts some coffee in a mug though, and hands it over to Kris.
Kris has been doing the open mic nights at The End for the past year. It was Matt’s idea to have it in the first place. In the beginning, it was just Matt and his percussionist friend Ali who played some songs every night. But later on, with Celine and Matt’s coaxing, Kris got on stage too, playing covers and some originals he’s written over the years. He plays every Thursday and Saturday nights, and he’s got a set of regulars coming by to see him. It’s not like the dreams he had when he was a kid of being a musician on the road, but he’s happy. He gets to play music, work in an amazing place, try new things and be with good friends.
Kris slathers a fresh piece of bread with some papaya jam that he made the previous week. He takes a bite before speaking. “It’s tourist season, I thought you could use a hand.”
Andrew’s about to say something when the door to the main room opens and a red-haired girl in a waitress uniform peeks in. Her eyebrows rise up when she sees Kris. “Well, thank god you’re here. People are starting to come in. It’s not even 11am!”
Kris smiles at her. “Well, thank you, Emma. At least someone’s happy to see me. Your boyfriend’s being grumpy.”
“I’m not grumpy,” Andrew huffs as Emma gives him a peck on the cheek.
“Then leave the dough alone and let me finish it,” Kris playfully punches Andrew’s side. He swallows the last of his breakfast and washes his hands before grabbing the green plaid apron hanging by the door.
The lunch menu Andrew and Kris decided on the day before is cold quinoa salad, an Ethiopian wrap called ingera, Thai curried chicken, seared lemon-drizzled salmon, and olive chicken spaghetti. The café can only seat 20 people at one time, and with the novelty of the ever-changing menu, it has become one of Rue Falls’s most popular places. The End doesn’t accept reservations so a queue outside is almost always present. This means that they have longer lunch hours than most, and while they close between 2 and 5 pm, working there is still pretty demanding.
The rush hour of lunch flies by quickly. Kris, Andrew and Allison work seamlessly as a team, carrying out the orders that Emma and the other servers, Megan and Brad, hand over to them. When the last table is emptied at about 2:30, Kris is ready to fall facedown on his bed, the previous night’s lack of sleep catching up with him. But he’s hungry and the quinoa salad Andrew made looks really good, so he grabs a bowl of that.
He sits between Brad and Megan on the long table at the corner of the café. He nudges Brad’s shoulder. “You look good.”
Brad dramatically turns to him and bats his eyelashes. “Are you turning a new leaf, Kristopher? Have you finally realized that we’re meant to be? Does that mean I can dress you up and make you all pretty?”
Kris smirks but before he can say anything, Emma pipes in. “He’s always liked dick, Cheeks.”
Celine laughs. “And he’s already pretty.” When Brad pouts, she says, “but you’re way prettier. Obviously.”
“Whatever. It doesn’t hurt to try,” Brad says without heat, like he’s done this every single day Kris has known him. Which he has.
Kris digs into his food as Brad picks up the story he’s been telling before Kris sat with them. Kris is vaguely listening, already daydreaming about his bed and cool sheets, but when Brad says, “so when they told me it’s Adam Lambert, I was all, ‘sign me up!’ I fucking love that bitch,” Kris sharply turns to look at him.
Megan sighs. “He’s so hot. Oh, maybe he’ll come here!”
“What about Adam Lambert?” Kris asks, trying to sound casual.
“You need to start paying attention to me, honey.” Brad kisses his cheek before saying, “he’s coming to Rue Falls next month! He’s the new Bachelor, haven’t you heard?”
“Um, well, not really,” Kris admits.
“Well, he is, and they’re shooting some stuff here. So they’re bringing Adam and his crew full of pretty boys here for some fun,” Brad explains. He brings a hand to his chest. “I’ve signed on to be a stagehand slash tour guide. Good money and I totally need it to buy a car.”
Matt pipes in. “It’s just weird that we never got wind of it. Big show and celebrities like this, I’d have thought the word would’ve spread faster.”
Megan nods. “I know, for businesses like us, anyway.”
Brad bites into his apple before speaking, “well, from what I’ve heard, they were supposed to go somewhere else but it fell through. Adam suggested Rue Falls. So yep, one month from now, once all the permits are done and whatever, he’ll be here.”
“Do you know how long he’s staying?” Andrew asks.
“They said it’s for at least two weeks, so that means, I’ll be working my ass off. My afternoon and evening social calendar will totally suffer.” Brad only works in the café during lunch hour, and spends the rest of the day running around and being, well, Brad.
“At least you’ll be with a bunch of pretty boys, right?” Emma smirks.
Brad looks thoughtful for a minute then blurts out, “Well, I’m always with pretty boys now. There’s not going to be much difference.”
Kris laughs with them as they talk about Adam Lambert, the excitement obvious within the group. And it’s perfectly understandable. Adam’s Hollywood’s new It boy. He’s a hyphenate - model-jewelry designer-singer. And he’s everywhere - from magazine covers, product endorsements and red carpet events. He’s also a paparazzi target which makes his face a common sight at every news stand all over the country. The fact that he’s openly gay doesn’t make girls stop from throwing their panties at him. And they do, because apart from being charming, well spoken and really, really hot, he’s also got a voice to die for. The last bit of info Kris heard was that Adam went on a US-wide club tour to promote his debut album.
Kris knows Adam Lambert. He knows his songs and has them in his iPod - he’s even covered a few of them during his open mic nights - and he has read all about his life. Saw his pictures and interviews. Kris is definitely a fan.
But Kris also knows another Adam Lambert. Someone with blond hair instead of black. Someone with rounded cheeks instead of the chiseled angles of his face. Someone with still-unrealized dreams instead of concert tours and screaming fans. Someone he associates with warm summer nights, quiet mumbled songs and time capsules.
Matt’s voice stalls Kris’s train of thought. “Hey Kris, you spent your summers here when you were a kid, right?”
“Up until I was 16, yeah.” Kris had hoped no one really remembers that one little tidbit of info.
“Oh, apparently, Adam used to come a lot to Rue Falls when he was kid. You know, for summer, that’s why he wanted to come back,” Brad ponders.
Megan stares at Kris. “Didn’t you meet him or anything? I mean, it’s a pretty small town. It’s not like there were a lot of places where teenagers could hang out.”
Kris looks down and absently stirs the remaining quinoa salad on his bowl. He tries to sound casual when he says, “well yeah, I’ve met him.”
“Holy shit, and you didn’t even tell me?” Celine practically yells at him. She’s a huge Adam fan and Matt’s obviously trying to keep from laughing out loud at how excited she is.
Kris rubs the back of his neck. “I didn’t think it’s something that I need to tell everyone. Besides, I don’t even think he’ll remember me.”
Kris looks around the table to see his friends gaping at him. Only Brad’s smirking and Kris blushes. Brad says, “oh, interesting. There’s a story here.”
“There’s no story,” Kris protests and groans when they all start talking at the same time.
Emma’s voice rises above the chatter. “Kris honey, you wouldn’t have said that if there wasn’t a story.”
Kris knocks his forehead on the table and lets them talk over his head. This is the reason why he hasn’t told most people that he’s met Adam Lambert. He knows he can always say that it was just some random meeting, but he has a hard time controlling his reactions or how he says things. That’s the problem, really, because then they’d suspect and then they’d ask. And Kris would feel like a total moron because Adam wouldn’t even recognize him if they passed each other on the street.
He tells his friends this once they all quiet down and stop badgering him with questions. When Brad starts protesting again, Kris raises his right hand to shut him up and he says, “it’s nothing, really. We were just kids spending the summer here, we hung out a couple of times. It was totally way before he became famous.”
“It’s not nothing. You’re blushing,” Andrew observes and Kris has the urge to smack his pretty little face.
Allison just looks at her watch. “We’ve got two hours to kill before we start preparing for dinner. Just tell us. You know we’ll force it out of you, anyway.”
Kris glares at Allison, who just smiles at him unapologetically. He sighs and rubs his face with his hands. Allison’s right, though. So might as well give them the abridged version of his Adam Lambert encounter.
When he says, “ok fine,” Brad and Emma actually hug each other. Celine just pushes Megan away so she can sit beside Kris, like just by being closer she’d be closer to Adam Lambert. Allison and Andrew start hooting like the crazy people that they are. Matt’s the only one who sort of looks like he’s sorry for forcing the story out of Kris, but he’s also grinning like he can’t wait to hear it.
Kris rolls his eyes and thinks why just a few hours ago, he actually felt like these people are the best friends anyone could ever have. He’s totally having second thoughts about that.
: : :
Kris sits on top of the rock cliff at the far side of the beach. From where he’s sitting, he can see the people coming and going. The cars are also slowly filling up the parking lot on the other side of the area where the sand meets the gravel on the roadside. It’s a typical mid-August day in Rue Falls, and as he breathes in the smell of the ocean, he can’t imagine having a more perfect time at a more perfect place.
He’s been going to Rue Falls since he was nine. Seven years later, he still loves it like a second home. His memories of summer are filled with California skies, instead of Arkansas landscapes. His family usually leaves Arkansas about two weeks after school ends, and then they head out to his Aunt Mildred’s place in one of Rue Falls’ beachside communities to usually stay for a couple of weeks. Kris uses that time to reacquaint himself with the charming little coastal town, finding new nooks and corners to discover.
This particular summer though, Kris prefers to head over to the beach with his guitar and play some songs. It’s a new hobby he got just the summer before, and he tinkered around with his dad’s old acoustic. He’s been learning a lot of new songs, and just recently, he’s started to write his own.
He’s been trying to play ‘Come Together’ for two hours when he hears someone yelp behind him, obviously in pain. He quickly turns around in surprise and sees a guy on all fours, looking at him sheepishly and blushing furiously.
Kris gets up and extends a hand to help the guy get up on his feet. Kris finds himself a little bit out of breath when he looks up to find the guy giving him an embarrassed smile. So naturally he says, “um, you’re tall.”
The guy laughs, the sound slightly drowned out by the splash of waves from beneath the cliff. Then he says, “yeah, I am? And I’m Adam, by the way.” He gives Kris another embarrassed grin. “Sorry, I didn’t see you were here. Didn’t mean to disturb you or anything.” He glances at the guitar strapped to Kris.
Kris shakes his head. “Oh no, it’s ok. You have to be careful though. The climb here is pretty steep.” When he doesn’t say anything more, Kris finds Adam looking at him expectantly and frowns a bit. He awkwardly holds out his hand. “Oh, I’m Kris. Sorry.”
“Hi Kris,” Adam shakes his hand just as awkwardly. “Thanks again for saving my fat ass. I never even climbed trees when I was a kid, I don’t even know why I think I should be more adventurous now.” He rolls his eyes. “Um, so it’s ok, if I stay?”
Kris finds himself nodding eagerly. A part of his brain’s thinking when it became so warm, but then Adam smiles back at him, and Kris stops wondering. He vaguely waves a hand towards the guitar. “I hope I don’t bug you though.”
Adam smiles brightly at him. “Are you kidding? I love music. I can talk about it for hours!”
“Yeah? I’m not any good though, just learning.”
“I wish I could say the same thing,” Adam says as he walks towards the small piece of rock under the shade of the tree. “My brother plays the piano and I tried learning, but I don’t know, maybe I’m too impatient. But I can sing.”
“Maybe you can sing while I play,” Kris says. Then he feels his face get all hot. “Um, you don’t have to. I mean…”
“We can do that!” Adam beams at him. “As long as you promise not to be mad at me for hijacking your little corner like this.”
Kris thinks how he probably should be a little annoyed. But he looks at Adam’s fluffy blond hair, clear blue eyes and bright smile, and thinks that it won’t hurt to have a new friend. It’s always a better alternative than hanging out with his family most of the summer.
So he sits beside Adam and says, “I’m actually learning how to play ‘Come Together’ but I’m kind of sick of it. Any other song you want to sing?”
: : :
“Oh my god, that is the most adorable thing I’ve heard in years!”
Adam winces as his assistant Steen practically squeals in his ear. They’re on their way to another meeting, and the traffic in LA is being unforgiving. Somehow he started talking about the summers he spent in Rue Falls, and of course, that led to him talking about Kris.
Steen fully turns to Adam with shining eyes. “So, do you know where he is right now? Have you kept in touch with him?”
Adam sighs. “Well, I e-mailed him twice but it bounced. So I tried writing him. Then I called but they were still in Rue Falls and we moved to LA a week later. I lost that piece of paper where all his details are.”
“That’s so unfortunate.” Steen pouts.
Adam nods because it really was. He sulked for weeks when he lost Kris’s contact info. “And I went back to Rue Falls the following year but he wasn’t around. I thought of going back again after just to see if he’d be around but then, there’s life.” He waved vaguely in the air between them. “Then I met Drake, so yeah.”
“Have you tried Facebook? Or Twitter! It’s easy to creep on people on the internet,” Steen seriously says.
Adam shoots her a look. “Of course I’ve googled him!” Steen cracks up. “He’s not on Facebook. Not on Twitter. Unless he’s using a different name.”
“And the last time you checked was…?”
“I don’t know… last year, I guess?” He shrugs. “He’s probably married now. With kids. And probably a dog, he loves them so much. You know, I’m just wondering if he married a woman.”
Steen looks at him with a fond expression and says, “he seems sweet. Who knows? Maybe you’ll meet him again.”
“Maybe. I hope he comes to one of the shows and talks to me!”
“Yeah, right. Like it’s so easy to talk to you,” Steen snorts. “Would you remember him, if he actually does?”
Adam thinks about the quirk of Kris’s smile, the way his nose scrunches up when he laughs. The way his hands grip the guitar, sure and confident despite fumbling the chords to every Beatles song he tried learning. Or the way his brown eyes grew warm and wide before Adam kissed him.
“I’ll definitely remember him, no question about that.” He wonders about what Kris probably thinks now that Adam’s kind of famous. Knowing that Kris knows what’s happened to him makes Adam want to see him more, see what he’s been up to for the past ten years. He can admit to being curious, more than anything.
“Maybe you’ll talk to someone in Rue Falls who’s heard from him,” Steen offers and Adam just nods, knows that it is highly unlikely.
He sets aside the thoughts of Kris and tells Steen, “I’m just so happy they let us go to Rue Falls. I’m due for a vacation.”
“You’re working when you get there, Adam.”
“Whatever. It’s not like I won’t have some hours off from doing the show.”
“You can go around with Doug and Ste.”
Adam rolls his eyes. “Please. Those two are in love with each other. They don’t give a fuck about me.” He signed on to be on the show way before his campaign for Armani and his album took off. But now, he’s trying to see why he thought it was a good idea. He’s all tied up, and well, a commitment’s a commitment, so he has no choice but to stick it out.
“What? No, I really think Doug’s into you,” Steen says but even she sounds unconvinced.
“Does it even matter? I’m going to pick him anyway, and you know, play boyfriends for a year.” He shakes his head. “Strictly business, though. I don’t want to mess with poor Ste’s head.”
Everybody knows The Bachelor is scripted. But Adam went into it with the mindset that at least he’d meet a lot of cute guys, and maybe one of them would stick. He’s been single ever since he broke up with Sauli two years ago. And he gets lonely too. His days of hooking up with random people have passed, and after coming off a long committed relationship, he finds that he’s the kind who really wants going home and building a life with someone.
Steen tells him about his schedule for the day. He’s going to shoot some scenes with Doug in the new pastry shop that everyone in LA seems to be talking about. There’s going to be some sappy scenes, and there might be some kissing - which Adam totally plans on being all chaste and PG-rated because he doesn’t want to get maimed when he goes on his date with Ste. The date with Ste is going to be in a bar later that night, and Adam hopes that once the scenes were shot, he’d be able to meet someone just to have a drink with.
He tells Steen this, and he gets a glare. “Don’t you even dare. Go find someone you trust. Fuck a friend or something.”
“You’re the most romantic girl I’ve ever known. Have I told you that?”
“Whatever. You know what I mean.” Steen glares at him one more time before looking at her iPad again.
Adam sighs. He knows Steen’s right. But there’s nothing wrong with being a little bit in love. Or maybe a whole lot. Sometimes he wishes he weren’t such a romantic sap.
But at least there’s Rue Falls to look forward to. He can’t wait to see what the changes have been since he was last there. And he can’t wait to climb some rocks, look over the ocean and remember.
: : :
”So you’re moving to LA?” Kris props his chin on his guitar. The wind’s ruffling his hair and he’s wearing his glasses, and Adam wants to put him in his pocket and keep him.
He nods and smiles. “Just a few weeks after we go back home from here. I can’t wait to go out there, you know. Sing, maybe do some acting.”
“You’re going to be so amazing, I just know it,” Kris grins back at him and the warm tone of his voice makes Adam feel a bit giddy.
It’s been a week since he’s met Kris, and Adam can’t be more grateful. He’s been kind of dreading this summer, thinking that he’s outgrown Rue Falls. Plus Neil does his own thing now so he thought for sure that he’s not going to have anyone to hang out with. But since stumbling upon Kris on the rock cliff, they’ve hung out every afternoon. Sometimes they walk around the town side streets, checking the small stores and having some ice cream and smoothies. There was a day when they just sat in the den of Adam’s family’s vacation house and watched the Indiana Jones movies. But most of the time, they go to the top of the rock cliff (Adam’s starting to think of it as their rock puddle) and sing.
Kris always brings his guitar and after one afternoon where they thought they could write a song together, Adam started bringing a small notebook. They haven’t gotten round to finishing anything, but Kris has written some chord patterns there and some lines to a song he calls Land of Smiles. Adam just throws some of his own lines there, and Kris writes them down, saying that it could be the start of Adam’s first song. Adam can’t stop smiling every time he remembers it.
Especially when Kris looks at him in moments like this. Like he really believes that Adam’s going to be super successful, that his dreams are going to come true. Adam’s always believed it but having someone else see it too, is just the best feeling in the world.
So he smirks back at Kris and says, “well, you’re going to write my songs and sing them with me. We’re going to have a world tour together! And you’d have your pick of girlfriends!”
Adam tries so hard not to be charmed when Kris blushes. But he’s a lost cause so he just lets it go and flashes Kris a soft smile. Kris just blushes even more and Adam says, “oh, you like that, huh?”
“Well yeah… but um, not really?” Kris looks down at his toes buried in the sand. Then Adam’s heart beats faster when he hears Kris say, “Girls are ok, but boys are cool too.”
Adam feels his mouth open for about a second longer than is acceptable in this kind of situation, and he panics a bit when Kris’s shoulders hunch a bit. Kris is slowly turning away from Adam, face still red, when Adam reaches out to him. Kris turns back to him hesitantly and Adam doesn’t want this kind of uncertainty so he says, “boys are awesome. Totally way hotter than girls.”
When Kris’s eyes flick upward to look at him, Adam feels the breath catch in his throat. Somewhere in the back of his mind, something tells him that this is important, that he’s going to remember this forever. But all he can see right then is the lightness of Kris’s hair where the sun hits it, the brightness that suddenly fills his eyes when Adam reaches out to him. Mostly, Adam just thinks, so this is what it feels like.
Kris moves a little closer to him and Adam raises his arm to put around Kris’s shoulders. Kris is plucking out some tune on his guitar, and Adam hums absently. There are no words to the song just as yet. It’s something new. Something light. Adam makes a mental note to ask Kris to write the chords down on their notebook, but right now, this is perfect.
: : :
Kris is having a bad day. He has burnt a pot of maple sauce and Andrew has kicked him out of the kitchen. So now he’s standing beside Celine behind the cash register at the far end of the bar, watching all of their guests come in all excited. All because Adam Lambert’s doing some photo shoot right at the town center quad just a few blocks away from The End.
The thing is, Kris is nervous. He doesn’t even know why he is but he can’t help it. He doesn’t harbor any illusions that Adam would remember him. But just the fact that they’re in Rue Falls at the same time many years after they last saw each other is kind of mind-blowing, even to him.
He blames Emma for putting this in his brain. After telling them about how he knows Adam, his friends just looked at him like he was some panda in a zoo. Or a circus, in Brad’s case. But when Emma said, “this means something. The universe is conspiring for true love to happen,” Kris was the only one who laughed at how ridiculous she was.
Because it is ridiculous. Even on the offhand chance that Adam recognizes him, Kris still thinks what they had when they were kids has sailed away. Summer romances and puppy loves don’t last forever. Everybody knows that, even an idealistic optimist like Kris. So they might say hi to each other, talk awkwardly for a few minutes. Then Adam would go back to his glamorous amazing life, and Kris would go back to his quiet but equally awesome life.
“Stop staring at the door like you’re waiting for someone,” Celine murmurs beside him. Kris shoots her a withering look and she laughs, “what?”
Emma chooses to approach them at that time; Kris is impressed with her timing. “Just go to the quad and say hi, Kristopher.”
Kris laughs. “Really? You think I could just go over there and they’d just let me near him?”
Emma nods. “When he sees who you are, he’s going to bring you to his hotel room…”
“Please don’t tell me you know where he’s staying.” Celine and Emma look at him like he’s mentally challenged so Kris just shuts up.
“Anyway,” Emma waves her hands in the air, “he’s so totally going to flip when he sees how you look now.”
Kris snorts because seriously. It’s sweet that Emma thinks that though, so he says, “thanks, Emma. But you know, the only difference between then and now is my hair. Oh, and I grew a few inches.”
“Oh honey, don’t even lie to us. I agree about the hair, though,” Celine says and Kris seriously thinks of re-evaluating his friendships.
“You’re totally hot. In case you haven’t noticed, everyone who’s met you has a crush on you,” Emma says it all matter of fact.
“Whatever,” he mumbles. “He’s a model. He’s met a lot of cute guys, I won’t be anything special.” When Celine and Emma start protesting, Kris just raises his hands and say, “ok, I’m going to admit that it’d be awesome to talk to him. But I’m not going to stalk him or anything. That’s just creepy.”
Celine turns to him with a smile. “Please tell me you’ll say hi to him at least, when you run into him or something. Oh, maybe if he comes to eat here.”
“Yeah, of course,” Kris says. Then he sits a bit straighter when he sees that Emma’s looking at him with narrowed eyes. “Don’t you dare tell him about me if he comes here! I’m going to end you. Every single one of you.”
Emma says, “You’re so paranoid. It’s not his fault that you lost his contact info.”
“For the record, it got stolen.” Kris remembers sulking for weeks after his wallet was stolen at the LA airport right before they boarded the plane. He’s still beating himself up for putting it in his mother’s purse instead of his backpack thinking it would be safer there. “Besides, he has my e-mail and address, and he didn’t write. Not even once. So you know, all of it wasn’t totally a big deal to him at all.”
“All the more that you need to talk about what happened!” Emma presses on.
Kris knows Emma and her propensity for crazy schemes. So he tries to sound pleading when he says, “come on, Emma. I’m going to be so embarrassed.”
It seems to have worked because Emma just nudges his shoulder and says, “we wouldn’t do that to you, come on. We love your perky little ass.” Then she kisses the top of his head before yelling for Andrew to hurry up.
“Don’t worry about it,” Celine tells him and Kris loves his friends again.
The last of the people who had lunch have left, and Kris feels like he could use a nap. So he yells goodbye to no one in particular, and walks out the front door to go home. But when he reaches the front of his house, he walks past it.
Five minutes later, he sees the small crowd gathered on the quad watching the photo shoot as it progresses. Most of them are tourists who are taking pictures from their cellphones and cameras. There are also a few locals, and Kris stops a bit to talk to Mrs. Harper who owns the sunflower garden at the end of the street. She tells him she hasn’t seen Adam yet, but that she’s met him once when he was a kid and he came to the garden with his parents.
“He was probably 19 at that time,” Mrs. Harper recalls. “All blond hair and blue eyes. Just graduated from high school, though.”
Kris is surprised to hear that Adam came back to Rue Falls the summer after they met. He didn’t go back that year because his Aunt Mildred sold her house, and his family went to Florida instead for the summer. Which at that time, he thought was for the best. He didn’t want to go back to Rue Falls knowing that Adam was probably living it up in LA, having forgotten about Kris. Or that Adam would be in Rue Falls but ignore Kris completely, something that he thought was entirely possible since Adam didn’t keep in touch.
But it doesn’t matter now, anyway. They may be in the same place for another summer, but they’re different people. Kris feels weird thinking about it, but still, he knows it’d be good to see Adam.
There’s a murmur in the crowd and Kris turns to see that they’ve drifted a bit closer to the shoot site. He stands on the edge of the crowd, just a few feet from behind the small table where the photographer puts his equipment. People are milling around the area, and right at the center of everything is Adam.
Kris’s heart beats faster as he takes in Adam’s face. He looks different, obviously. Kris has seen him on tv and he’s bought every magazine that had Adam on the cover, but nothing prepared him for how larger than life Adam seems now. Gone was the boy who hummed love-tinged melodies and laughed at Kris’s silly lyrics. Looking at Adam’s sharp eyes, glistening pout of his lips and the long lithe body, Kris isn’t entirely convinced that the boy whose kisses tasted like mango smoothies could be the same one.
Adam has his arm around a guy who looks like Kris’s age, with a sweet smile and the prettiest eyes. They’re laughing together, and Kris thinks he sees a little bit of the Adam he knows. It’s disconcerting, and yet, Kris can’t seem to take his eyes off Adam.
The photographer waves at the guy on Adam’s arm and calls him Doug. Kris remembers Brad telling him that the two remaining guys in the show with Adam are Doug and Ste. Brad seems to favor Ste, and when he sees the photographer call a gorgeous dark-haired guy with sharp features and a hot little smirk with that name, Kris can see why.
Adam, Doug and Ste’s makeup are being retouched so there’s a kind of lull in the shoot. Kris just watches Adam move around and talk to people. He still seems nice, and Kris hopes that Adam hasn’t turned into one of those Hollywood prima donnas. He thinks that it would probably be better if he doesn’t know about it. Well, he chides himself, he won’t have the opportunity to know in the first place.
The makeup people stand over to the side as Adam, Doug and Ste walk back to the center of the quad. There’s a wishing fountain there called Rainbow Rue. There’s a statue of a little girl called Rue holding a dolphin, the water flowing from the dolphin’s spout. The rainbow from the name stuck because when the sun hits the water coming out of the dolphin’s spout, it always looks like there’s a rainbow right under the statue.
Kris watches as Doug rests his head on Adam’s right shoulder and Ste lightly leans on Adam’s left side. They look comfortable moving together, and Kris thinks that it’s maybe because they’ve been spending a lot of time together. He lets himself wonder what it could be like to spend lazy afternoons with Adam now, if Adam would still sing as Kris plays his guitar. Or write half-finished lyrics.
He’s still entertaining that thought when Adam’s eyes meet his. Kris’s heart stutters, and he’s completely unprepared for the panic and anticipation he’s feeling. Kris sees Adam tilt his head a bit to the right, his eyes narrowed. But after another second, the photographer calls Adam’s name. Adam looks away, and Kris quickly looks down, his face flushing.
Kris tucks his shaking hands into the pockets of his jeans and starts to walk away. He swallows the uncalled for disappointment he’s feeling. He already knows that Adam won’t know him anymore, but he’s unprepared for how bummed he is now that he has confirmed it. He even laughs a little when he realizes how nervous he was. Obviously, there’s nothing to be worried about, what was he thinking.
Suddenly, he’s very tired. The heat’s getting to him and he’s got another hour before dinner shift starts. Time to stop going crazy. He better just take a nap.
Part Two