Adam took a deep breath as he came to the last pause of their long run. He looked over at his friend Madison as she paused too, "You're slow today."
The young woman scoffed, "Just making sure you can keep up."
Adam laughed, taking a moment to think back over the last three years. Adam had met Madison his sophomore year in a Psychology of Criminals class. Adam was on the pre-Med track and Madison was on the pre-Law track. They had sat next to each other and paired up when the professor gave them an assignment on researching serial killers. While they worked, they found that they had a lot in common, especially their love of running.
Madison had come to the school on a track scholarship, but the coach who had now been fired, had destroyed her self-confidence by pushing her harder and harder, then making subtle comments about her weight, causing her to develop a borderline eating disorder. He didn't know it at the time because they weren't close, just classmates. He did notice though as she shifted from a happy and cheerful person, to sullen and downtrodden. She finally opened up when he asked one evening at the library, she broke down and spilled everything.
As she spilled everything, he learned that she really wasn't happy with the team. Adam found the weight stuff absurd; when they met, Madison's 5'6 frame weighed probably 115lbs of muscle, she was in single digits body fat, he was positive. She mentioned that she had seen a therapist on campus but hadn't shared much. He encouraged her to talk to the therapist and her parents. After doing both those things, Madison decided to quit the team and focus on her studies.
Over the next few months, their friendship continued to grow, and Adam saw a shift in Madison, her smile and cheerfulness returned. After the class ended, the two stayed friends and while they didn't have any more classes together, they studied together, hung out on weekends, and just enjoyed their time at school. As the year was coming to an end, Madison was heading off to med school at UCLA and Adam was heading off to Duke for law school, putting them on opposite sides of the country.
Graduation had come and gone, and as May ended, both of their leases were about up, and they would be heading their separate ways. They had decided to do one last run together before Madison' left the next morning. He was snapped from his thoughts by Madison asking, "Can I ask you something?"
He shook his head and looked at her, "Huh?"
"Earth to Adam, can I ask you a question?"
He rolled his eyes at her absurdity, "You know you can ask me anything."
She kicked the ground, and didn't look at him, then turned her focus back to the street. "Never mind."
As she started to step across the street, he gently gripped her arm, and with a chuckle said, "No, no, no, you don't get to do that. What do you want to ask?"
"This isn't a normal question."
Adam laughed and rolled his eyes again, "You drive to LA tomorrow, might as well get the weird out now since it's gonna be a while before we see each other." She looked at the ground and mumbled something, he looked up at the sky and sighed, "What was that Maddie?"
She glared at him, "You know I hate that!"
"Yep, now ask the damn question."
"Fine, is it true?"
He twisted his face in confusion, "Is what true?"
"The rumors?"
"What rumors?"
"You know..."
"Come on Madison, quit hemming and hawing around, ask the real question."
She sighed again and look him in the eye, "The rumors that you have a huge dick."
Adam's eyes exploded in size, "What?"
"See I told you!"
Adam wasn't sure what to do or say, his and Madison's friendship had never gone past the level of minor harmless flirting, they hadn't even danced together at bars or anything. Now here she was, asking about something incredibly personal. He paced briefly, then stopped as her eyes followed him, "What have you heard?"
"So, it is true?!"
"What have you heard?!"
She chuckled and shook her head, "Kate told me after the formal."
Adam rolled his eyes; at the beginning of April, he had agreed to go to the pre-med honor society formal with Madison's friend Kate after her boyfriend broke up with her. They had hit it off and after a few too many drinks, they ended up back at her apartment and had hooked up. That event had inadvertently exposed what he thought of as his "secret." He looked at Madison and asked, "What did she say?"
Madison made a motion with her two hands to show a length and then said, "She said pornstar big."
Adam closed his eyes, rubbed his temples, and sighed, "That's an exaggeration."
"Is it?"
He nodded, "Yeah."
"Then it's true, but how big is it?"
"Why do you want to know?"
As he debated in his head about how to answer, or what to say, he felt the air around him change and when he opened his eyes, he found Madison standing very close to him. She reached out and touched his arm and said, "Because I'm curious, and I'll be honest, I've always wondered why you didn't make a move."