No Guidelines

Chapter 4

Oct. 7, 2015 Wed.

  "Alright guys! I'm super honored to have you all here in our club!" Audrey said to the small group of high school students in the class. Mr. Harris sat by his desk, looking at the time.
  "Ms. Perrin, I trust you and Parker will have the club under control, I have to attend the faculty meetings."
  "Yes Sir!" Adrian said, nodding to Mr. Harris. Audrey silently nodded along. Mr. Harris took his leave. 
  "You got this Dri?" Looz asked.
  "Of course," she reaffirmed.
Audrey sat in front of the group next to the whiteboard. Adrian sat next to her, taking role.
"Sam, Looz, Jacob, Emma, Natalie and Danielle," he mumbled to himself, writing the names on the list.
  "Oki doki, got everyone!"
  "Great, why don't we start by introducing ourselves," Audrey said. A big eager smile covered her face, her hands clasped together.
  "I'll start! My name is Audrey, I'm a senior, and I love to write romance," she announced to the class. She awkwardly motioned to Adrian.
  "Oh, it's my turn?" he asked, caught off guard. He stood up and announced himself. "Oh, well.. My name is Adrian, I'm also a senior, and I like to write horror and thrillers. One of my favorite authors is Stephen King."
He sat back down in his seat and it continued on to Danielle.
  "Hi, I'm Danielle. Most people call me Dani. I just kind of like reading short stories or fan fiction, so I thought I'd give this club a try."
  The introductions continued on this way, going down the list.
  "Hey, I'm Looz, I'm just the treasurer or something." Looz leaned back in her seat with her feet up on one of the tables.
"Hello, hello! I'm Samantha!. You can call me Sam! I don't know much about writing stories but I'm here to support my bestest friend ever!"
  They reached Natalie, Emma and Jacob, who throughout the whole time were giggling and mumbling quietly to each other.
  "J! It's your turn to introduce yourself," Looz shouted to him. A rolled up piece of paper launched from her hand directly at his head.
  "Audrey is the club Prez! Let her call me punk!" Jacob said. He threw the ball back at her.
  "Sorry! I did, a couple of times, I guess I was too quiet," Audrey said meekly.
  "My bad Dri," Jacob said. His face glowed with embarrassment. "My name is Jacob, and I like to play sports and stuff."
  Natalie and Emma found utter amusement in jacob.
  "How about you Natalie?" Audrey asked.
  "Oh me? Well, I'm Natalie, I'm sure you all knew that. You guys can call me Nat. And I like to party, have fun, go shopping, read magazines, go on my phone, take pictures. A lot of stuff really."
  "ME TOO! I also love being with my best friend Natalie!!" she said, hugging her.
Looz rolled her eyes at the spectacle.
  "Okay, great! Now that we all introduced ourselves, let's talk about what kind of activities we expect from the club." Audrey said.
  "Isn't that what we are supposed to tell them what we are doing," Adrian asked. 
  "I figured I'd ask them what they want to do, I don't want to force people to do things that I want to do."
  The room was silent. None of them had any clue on what they actually wanted from the club. Audrey looked to Sam and Looz, both of whom just shrugged.
  "Well I guess I mean just work on short stories, I guess," Danielle said.
  "That's what I thought we'd do. Maybe even read short stories," Adrian said.
  "Why don't we just use this as a chill, hangout kind of place," Emma said, "there's not many people here anyway for an actual club."
  "I definitely agree, I'd like to get to know the people here," Natalie said. Her eyes turned to Jacob almost immediately.
  "Yeah! Like Jacob is new here! We should get to know him better," Emma said.
  "Well, I kinda just want to do whatever Audrey wants to do," Jacob said.
  "Oh, well duh, of course it's her club," Natalie said.
Jacob focused on Audrey as she decided what the club should do. Natalie watched as he kept his undivided attention on this girl she had never even met before. A feeling unlike one she's ever felt before bothered her.

Natalie

  Mr. Harris came back and that signaled to the club that their activities were at an end.
  "Alright guys, it was a pleasure having you all," Mr. Harris said, shooing them out of his class.
  "Ms. Perrin, don't forget to keep up on your reading, you're going to have an essay due on the meaning of the book in a couple of weeks."
  "Yes Mr. Harris."
  Jacob, Sam and Looz, walked up to Audrey after. Without hesitation, Jacob grabbed Audrey and gave her a big bear hug.
  "CONGRATS ON A FIRST SUCCESSFUL CLUB MEETING!" Jacob exclaimed. She was a foot off the ground and running out of oxygen.
  "ugh! Thanks.. Jacob.." Audrey said, gasping for air.
  Natalie and Emma walked behind the rest of the group.
  "C'mon, Nat, let's go catch up with Jacob," she said, skipping ahead.
  "Hold on Em." Natalie said to her. "I just noticed that Club President Girl."
  Emma looked in the direction Natalie looked.
  "Oh that girl? Audrey, she's in my trig class, what about her?"  Emma asked.
  "Well they seem a little too close don't they?"
  "I mean I guess, I didn't really notice."
  "I think I need to find out more about Audrey.."