Adopted by Mean Girls

Its All so Simple

**Comet's POV**

It turned out that my arm was not a worthy Get-out-of-School-Free excuse. But, Erika did agree to write a note to my PE teacher explaining why I would not play ultimate frisbee. Casper's minor concussion would get him out of the game, too, so we get to walk around the field and talk. But, PE was not for another few hours as school was yet to start.

"How're you feeling?" Casper asked, handing me his backpack to hold while he unpacked it into his locker.

I shrugged, "Been better, certainly been worse."

"I'll drink to that," he held up his water bottle and laughed.

"How did your dad take everything?"

Casper slung the strap of his binder over his shoulder and took his backpack from me, jamming it into his locker, "I don't know," he sighed, "He felt guilty for not being at the hospital with us and he was worried about you. He wanted to call Erika to check-in, but Milo and I convinced him not to because it was late. He said he wants to have you guys over for dinner sometime."

I handed him the straps of my pack and started unloading my papers and books, "That would be great," I managed to dig out the stack of books I had and Casper's shoulder immediately relaxed when The Hate U Give, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and The Great Gatsby - all hardcover - came out and were set in my locker.

"What were you doing with The Great Gatsby?" Casper asked.

"Reading it."

My friend rolled his eyes, "No kidding. What I meant was that's not usually your type of book."

I shrugged, "It's a classic and Kyle said it was good so I figured I'd give it a try."

"And was it?"

"It was awesome," I nodded, "Only nine chapters."

I closed my locker and Casper lead the way down the hall to the library, my notebooks and folders for our first and second classes hugged against my chest.

The first thing the librarian, Ms. Anders, asked me and Casper was, "What happened to you?" as she examined my bandaged arm and Casper's nose.

"We got jumped," Casper explained in a tone that made it sound like it happened every day, "No biggie."

"'No biggie'?" Ms. Anders repeated, "Yes biggie! Are you two okay?"

I shot Casper a glare and nodded, "We're fine, Ms. Anders. Just a few scrapes and bruises, nothing too bad. Casper's broken nose and my cut arm are the extent of our injuries."

"And this was yesterday?" Ms. Anders looked slightly horrified when I nodded. "What are you doing at school?" she asked, "You should be at home resting!"

Casper snorted and I nodded, "Agreed, Ms. Anders, agreed," I said, "I'll let my mom know that you think so, too."

"We still have time before the bell rings," Casper pointed out, "You can text her now."

We both ran out of the library and ducked around teachers and students alike to my locker. I dug my phone out of my backpack and flet Casper's breath on my neck as I texted Erika.

Hey, Mom, so... Ms. Anders thinks that I should be at home resting after yesterday. What'dya say?

The response was almost immediate.

Nice try, Meadowlark. School is important. Have a good day, I love you.

"Damnit," I shut off my phone and put it back in my locker.

"What about Taylor?" Casper asked, leaning against the wall beside me, "Do you think she'd come."

"Definately," I nodded, "But Mom has probably already told her and the entire cast not to come pick me up without ligitimate reason."

"That's excessive, don't you think?" Casper crossed his arms.

I nodded, "Probably. My mom's good at that kind of thing, though, and I'd rather have someone care about me enough to be overprotective rather than have them ignore me and not care what happens. I've had both and one is definately better than the other."

Happy August 1st. I don't know about you all, but for me school starts on the 17th and I'm not particularly looking forward to it. This chapter's word count was 666 for anyone who cares. I plan on releasing two more - "Three Years Later" and "Adulthood".

Stay safe and stay healthy,

-Spaceheater1