Middle School Heroes

Chapter 49 - Fight Club and First Dates

Over the next week, Skye was relieved to have the competition behind her and the dance to look forward to. She had to admit that Natasha was right about the dance being more exciting when she was going with someone special. She was also happy to discover that being Clint's girlfriend wasn't too much different from being his friend, except that they didn't have to spend half their time denying that it was anything more.

They weren't the only new couple though. Apparently Jack Rollins and Adrienne Frost had become an official couple in the days leading up to the dance. Skye wasn't quite sure how that happened, but they seemed happy enough and Brock didn't seem to be bothered by it, so Skye was happy for them, not that either of them would have cared.

Even though there were still three weeks of school left and exams to study for, everyone was getting excited for summer. Summer break was only seven weeks long, but Skye was really looking forward to it. They would be given a lot of free time, with the option of some interesting Special Interest-type classes mixed in. The pool would be open starting on the last day of school, and Arthur had already volunteered to teach swimming classes, which she fully planned to take advantage of.

The entire sixth grade class was taking a trip to the Colorado Mountains to visit a working ranch, where they would get to ride horses, go hiking in the mountains and try whitewater rafting, while learning about the settlement of the West. Clint laughed when Skye expressed her sadness in missing that trip last year.

"It was a fun trip, but having spent more time than I care to remember cleaning up after animals at the circus, you're not missing much there. Plus, the water in Colorado is freezing from all the snow run off."

"Oh, but seeing the mountains will be lovely, and I bet you can see so many stars at night!" Jemma, who was going on the trip before heading back to England to spend time with her family, gushed.

The seventh grade was taking a tour of East Coast to visit famous Revolutionary War sites. Skye had never been south of New York, so she was excited about getting to visit Williamsburg, Washington DC, Philadelphia and other cities on their tour. While they were not getting a long trip to the beach like the 8th grade was, they were going to spend a day at Virginia Beach, so that was something to look forward to.

In addition to the class trips, Skye was going on vacation with the Parkers and was excited when they chose to visit Niagara Falls and Canada. She and Peter were already plotting ways to send each other over the falls in a barrel, and Mr. Parker jokingly wondered loudly if he could send them both over together instead.

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She woke up Saturday morning and went running with Sam before showering and meeting Clint, Oliver and Felicity for breakfast and archery. Afterward, Skye and Clark tried to study for their science final exam but neither of them seemed to be able to concentrate because of all the dance excitement. They finally gave up and agreed to double their efforts on Monday. Instead, they both got roped into a game of Scrabble with Harleen and Floyd, while Clint played cards with a large group of kids.

Soon all the girls started leaving to get ready for the dance, and Sam once again couldn't hide the fact that he found this completely absurd when they stopped by to say goodbye before they left.

"Seriously. It is over three hours until dinner. It can't take you all that long to get ready," he shook his head in disbelief. "It takes us like 30-40 minutes maximum. Shower, get dressed, throw comb through our hair and maybe a little gel if you're inclined. I'm even being generous and adding 10 minutes for tying ties tonight."

"Not all of us are as naturally adorable as you are, Sam," Gamora playfully pinched his cheeks. "We have to do a little more."

"No you don't," he beamed at her.