Exactly ten minutes to five, Adam walks into the library wearing a retro Nirvana tshirt. I hide a giant grin behind the book in my hands so my supervisor doesn’t start in on me again.
“Go, be gone,” Felicia tells me, waving a hand through the air without even looking up. “I don’t want to spend the next ten minutes cleaning up your drool.”
I nudge her playfully before leaving to join Adam, my expression somber. “What’s this?” I point to his obviously new purchase.
“I was out grabbing a few groceries and it just kind of called to me. I figured you’d appreciate it. Too obvious?”
I cross my arms, pretending to be annoyed. “Name one of their songs.”
“It’s not like I’ve lived in a cave all my life. My buddies listened to them all the time. I remember a lot of screaming. I could pick them out on the radio.”
“Wrong answer,” I say. “You better go turn it inside out. You can’t be one of those posers who wears a band shirt just because they’re in fashion. I refuse to hang out with someone like that.”
His grin falters. “You’re serious?”
“The alternative is for you to immediately start listening to all their albums until you can appreciate why Dave Grohl is so epic, and why Kurt Cobain’s death was so tragic.”
I hook my arm through his when he doesn’t say anything more. “Don’t worry, they only recorded four albums. And you’re in luck, I just happen to have them all.”
Dumbfounded, he exits the library at my side. “This is your big plan for the night?”
“About that...” I look down at my feet before meeting his gaze again. “I think I’m gonna have to cancel. With finals coming up, I need to cram in some major studying.
This has been a crappy semester.”
He raises his eyebrows. “What are your classes?”
“Um, Musical Cultures, Cross-Cultural Psych, and History of Jazz, and English Lit.”
“I’m sensing a theme here. Are you sure you aren’t on track to become a music teacher?”
“I think it’s more my advisor’s way of telling me I’m lacking in culture because first off, I’m afraid of children. I once saw a toddler show her mom how to run her iPad. I’m telling you, their advanced intelligence is abnormal. And I’m pretty sure you have to be able to sing or play some kind of instrument to teach music. Trust me, you don’t want to hear me try either. I’m just trying to fill my generals until I find what it is I want to be when I grow up. If that ever happens.”
Adam runs a hand across the back of his neck, smirking. “I definitely don’t know anything about those classes except maybe English Lit, but is there any way I can help you study?”
Parked in a grassy lot on the edge of town, we alternate between Adam quizzing me on the relevant chapters, and me reading my latest assignment while he listens to Nirvana. At first I feared there’d be too much pressure parked together in a deserted place in the dark, but the time flies by. Before I know it, it’s nearly midnight and we’ve completed the final album.
“Well?” I ask, unplugging my phone. “What’s the verdict?”
Adam rubs at his chin. “The guy has a really interesting voice, and I can see why you think the drummer is so amazing.” He beams back at me against the dashboard’s glow. “Do I get to wear this shirt again?”
“Not so fast. Which song was your favorite?”
He taps his fingers on the steering wheel for a moment. “The one where he sang about having a new complaint, I guess. It had a wicked melody.”
I sigh, pretending it pains me to grant him the permission. “Okay, you’re allowed to wear the shirt now. Just don’t let me catch you again buying one from a band you know nothing about. Next time I won’t be quite as lenient.”
Over the next week, we fall into a familiar routine. Adam picks me up either at my dorm or the library. Most nights we grab supper on campus before going somewhere quiet where he helps me cram for finals. By our fourth night out, I ditch Kelly’s fashionable clothes for my comfy band t-shirts with hole-covered capris, cuff bracelets and favorite Vans. Adam’s eyes turn bright when he first sees me in my natural state, making my heart flutter even faster.
From our deep conversations between studying, I’m finally able to get a better overall sense of Adam. He tells me he was never overly athletic, though he does love a good game of ping pong or bowling. He knows movies the way I know music, and can quote a line from just about any one when challenged. He’s read as many books as I probably have over the years, preferring horror to any other genre. He sometimes volunteers at the Make a Wish Foundation in memory of his friend Zach, and he donates blood when Red Cross sponsors drives. He has a gaggle of little cousins he loves to watch play sports, though they live four hours away so it’s hard for him to catch their games. He’s always felt like he’s living in his brother’s shadow, even though he’s the oldest. He thinks his mom is incredibly shallow, and his dad is a big pushover.