The Addie Alexander Challenge

⁕ 14| Oliver ⁕

After a week, I had ditched the Shop class guys and found a new clique: the group that called themselves The Cowboys. It was hard to get in with them because apparently, you had to be a cowboy to be with The Cowboys. Who knew? I got my way in saying I worked with my farmer uncle during the summers.

Joining the Cowboys catapulted me up several rungs of the high school popularity ladder. It was risky putting myself up that fast but people knew I was friends with Clay. This fact granted me a Fast Pass into the cliques.

I hung around their lockers instead of by mine because mine was near Kenneth's. In the few weeks since school started, Kenneth had made quite the fool out of himself. He hauled his massive backpack around and ate with the lunch ladies. He was becoming the laughing stock of Rutherford, courtesy of yours truly.

These Cowboys were some of the remaining groups that still swore around the school. And I happily joined in. When I came home from school, I was in edge because I thought for sure Hattie would find out but not yet.

"Y'all think I could get a date with Victoria?" Braxton asked, nudging my arm as she walked past.

"Never," I said with a laugh. "Your ugly mug will never get a date let alone with Tori."

The guys laughed and one of them pushed Braxton into the hall. He swore as he fell to his hands and knees.

"Whoa!" Braxton fell onto a girl's feet. Addie's feet.

She pulled him to his feet. "Thanks," he mumbled.

"No problem," she said with a smile. Then she leaned forward and whispered something in his ear. His ears burned red and he nodded. "Okay," he said. Addie smiled as he shuffled back to the group. "Bye, guys!" she said with a small wave. I watched her walk down the hall then turned to Braxton. "What did she say to you?"

His ears, if possible, got even redder. "She told me to not swear, at least while she's around."

Everyone laughed. "And you're gonna do what she says?" a kid we called Ugly Orem said.

"I guess," Braxton said, flustered.

Ahh. It makes sense why there was less swearing in the school now. People respect and like Addie. And even more as the school year wears on. And if she's asking for less swearing, less swearing she's going to get.

I tracked her down a few days later. I swear she was avoiding me, it took so long to find her.

"Addie!" I called down the hall. She stopped in front of the doors. I jogged to her with a smile. "How have you been?"

"Great," she did with her classic smile. "You?"

"Awesome. I wanted to ask you something. Do you tell people to watch their language often?"

Addie chuckled and looked at her feet. "Maybe a little. Why?"

"I don't know. Just wondering if that's why there wasn't as much cussing around here. Why no swearing? Does it bug you?"

Addie looked up. "You know, yeah. I mean, when you don't swear you just seem more... cultured? I don't know."

"Maybe swearing is a part of our culture."

"Goodness, I hope it isn't. What a culture we are if we can't think of more words to describe things. We'll just seem uneducated."

I raised an eyebrow. "What if you're excited and say something like, 'That's so da... darn awesome?'"

Addie laughed at my stutter. "Thanks, Oliver. I just think there are better ways to express yourself than using words that are overused and might be rude."

I thought about this and nodded. "How would you rephrase my sentence then?"

"I might try 'That was so fantastic!'"

I laughed at that but not in a mocking way. "I love it. Would you like me to stop swearing?"

She cocked her head. "You swear?"

"Yeah, I just never have around you."

"Honestly, if you want to cuss when I'm not around, go ahead. But keep it clean around me. 'Kay?"

"Deal."

I was impressed Addie could cause such a change at the school. In my whole school career, I had never heard of that happening. Maybe because no one ever tried.