Secrets of Adeline (Book 2)

Chapter 7: Recreation

Eventually, it was time to go home. We all loaded into Kat's van, Todd, Pheonix, Jordan, Zack, and Maya following close behind in Todd's van. The yellow lines in the road flashed between my eyes quickly, eventually leading us back to Swansville.

We could have stayed longer if Cody hadn't signed us up (unvolunterilly) for some summer recreational program at our school that most students attend even though it isn't required. We pulled up to the school parking lot, all of us flowing easily out of the vans. "Are we still allowed to go if we aren't technically students here?" Todd asked. "Of course you are! And if not then we will find something else to do." Kat shrugged. "Okay." Pheonix nodded, biting her lip.

A crowd of students blocked the entree way to the school. I made my way to them, tapping on the nearest shoulder. A familiar face met mine. "Excuse me, but what's the hold up?" I asked curiously. "A new student." The girl smiled with excitement. "Oh, okay." I mumbled.

A new student. Which meant war on social Pyramids, battling to win the status of friending with new flesh. Jocks, Preps, Nerds, Social rejects, everyone. All targeting the new face. Or what I thought what would be a new face.

I shoved my way through the crowd, spilling into a vacant hallway containing just two people, not counting myself. Chase was giving the new kid a tour, showing him all the dark corners of the school. The new kid was fidgeting with his locker combination, he wore a Hawaiian shirt and blue jeans with sneakers. He looked familiar. He was considerably short and had dark brown hair. His brown eyes met mine and suddenly that's when it clicked. Tucker. My ex step-brother. Paris's ex-boyfriend. My old bestfriend. I sat there intently, processing his newly defined facial features. It was odd to see him there, standing in the hallways he hasn't stepped foot in, in years. "Tucker." I spoke softly. He crossed the hallway to me, greeting me with a hug. "Adeline, it's nice to see you again." He spoke. I hugged back awkwardly. It was all so weird, it didn't feel real. Him being there, changes everything. Millions of thoughts whirred through my head, thoughts like how excited I was to introduce him to all of my new friends and reunite him with all of my old ones. How much I was looking forward to creating memories with him again and how easily he would slip into our friend circle. But that's not exactly how it went down.

Chase interrupted my thoughts, butting into mine and Tucker's conversation. "Tucker! Come on, lemme go introduce you to some of the guys. You'll fit in at our lunch table great!" Chase patted him on the back. All of the popular guys made a crowd around Tucker, some he knew and some who were complete strangers, pushing me out of the way. I groaned, realizing that maybe he wasn't going to fit in with my friends, maybe he would be a step higher in the pyramid than I thought. His status instantly bumped up to popul-ete. Something my friends and I had made up a while back. Popular elite. One of the highest social rankings there is. My friends and I rested some where in the middle of the ranking board, not really fitting in a specific category. We were too smart to be popular and not weird enough to be a nerd. I crossed over to my friends, breaking the sort of good news. They all seemed just as stoked as I was. The excitement shown through their face, not knowing that those faces might lead to disappointment.

We all signed in, the school deciding it was fine for Todd, Zack, Pheonix, and Jordan to be included as well, despite their permanent residence being in California. We all started filling out forms for the activities we wanted to participate in. Eventually, we all got back our summer schedules. Two days a week we would come to school and participate in fun activities and community service or projects. My first project was with Pheonix, Alaina, Kat, Paris, and two other girls, Fey and Rissy. Fey was short with long brown messy curly hair and eyes, Rissy tall with short blond hair and blue eyes. A guy walked Tucker over, as he named off the social clicks. He stopped at my friends and I, flashing us an evil glare. "And this, is another nerd group. You don't want to be associated with them." The taller, red haired boy exclaimed. I was astounded, biting my tongue from all the words that wanted to come out. Tucker just bit his lip, nodding with his eyebrows furrowed. My jaw dropped, as I waited for him to defend me. Tucker and I were supposed to be close! But he was just letting the boy insult my friends and I. He could've said something. I was deeply hurt that he didn't care enough about my friends and I to say something. If I were in his situation, I would've stuck up for him. But he didn't. The guy pointed across the room to a group of jocks. "There is where squad hangs out. That's where you fit in." He nudged Tucker. Tucker nodded in return. I grumbled as they walked off.

Rissy and Fey stopped in front of Kat, Paris, Alaina, Pheonix and I. We introduced ourselves. Although I felt as if I had lost a friend, Tucker, I had somehow managed to gain two in the process. Our assignment was to write a script and direct a mini-skit to present in front of the rest of the students participating in the summer activities. We began brainstorming right away as we sat knee to knee in a circle. I scribbled down words like they were the dependence of my existence. Writing came natural so this project was going to be a hit for sure. I wasn't even a little bit nervous.

Throughout the day, Tucker had only flashed a smile at Paris and nodded in my direction. He mainly hung out with the popular group of people, both girls and boys which gravely disappointed my friends and I, but we stayed positive, welcoming Fey and Rissy. Time passed quickly and eventually we all headed home. Kat and I crashed at her house after hours of writing words and acting out pieces of our skit. Sleep came fast and easy, exhaustion taking over. I hadn't gotten a good nights sleep in days, I felt drained. The darkness swallowed me effortlessly, my surrounding sounds and forms fading away, music drowning out by sleep.