The Locker Wars

It was late again when the bright stars lured Adele out of her bedroom and on the cool streets outside. She wandered away from her house in a housecoat and pajama pants, choosing the direction of the school. School made her feel safe and secure, because she always knew what school was about. Grades were permanent and didn’t require much else other than tests and studying.

Until she heard her name in the distance.

“... Little brother? ... Seen him hanging out with Adele Bradlee.”

Adele felt her stomach drop. Little brother must have meant Adam Siska, Jason Siska’s little brother. And she couldn’t mistake that voice. It had to be William Beckett, because... well, what other choices were there? Jason Siska’s voice was a lot more squeaky, and he wouldn’t talk about his brother in that context. Mike Carden’s voice was lower, and Michael had an Australian accent. And it was definitely just... not Butcher’s.

She made her way closer to see William Beckett’s crew staggering about in the middle of the road, the moon casting tall silhouettes in front of them. In hand, they all had some form of alcohol, which disgusted Adele, but whatever. It wasn’t her choice of what they did to de-stress. In fact, Adele preferred knitting, sometimes.

She heard them all laugh and slap each other like whatever boys did, Adele didn’t really care. She just wanted to know if they already knew that she had Adam spying on them, and if they were giving him false information or anything like that. And if they did... well then she was really fucked over, wasn’t she?

If Beckett really knew what was going on and Adele knew as well, then it’d be all over. The Locker Wars would be finished. Done. And none of them would really have to be annoyed anymore, because Adele would find a way to minimize locker stops as much as possible, or even wait for him to be done at his locker before going to hers. It wouldn’t be quite Heaven, but it was only a few more months... a lot more months...

Was it all finished?

Adele didn’t know. She really wanted to stop all this anxiety she’d been having. Her cat was gone, grades needed to be higher than Beckett’s, she really needed to find someone to marry so that she could get rid of her awful last name (that wasn’t really a priority, but it was getting there).

“No, dude, what a bitch,” she heard someone say. They were approaching her, but she was sheltered behind a bush. She didn’t know what to do.

So she made the impulse decision to hop out in front of them.

Mike noticed her first. “Holy shit, Adele appeared out of nowhere!”

They all laughed drunkenly, and the whole group reeked of alcohol. But Adele only rolled her eyes. She just didn’t like people doing that, drinking excessively in front of her. Old, drunk men used to hit on her at random parties with her parents, and that gave sour memories.

“Well, Adele,” Jason grinned. “What brings you out on the streets so late at night?”

“Taking a walk,” Adele replied carelessly. Her hair was messy from when she unpinned it, and she had no makeup on. “It’s like, kinda nice out, so I figured.”

“Why so sad?” Butcher asked. “Missing your kitty?”

Adele definitely took that one hard. “Yeah,” she shrugged, but didn’t go any further. “Look, I’m here on my own, but I’ve got a new truce proposal for the war.”

“Really?” It was William who spoke up this time. “Truce, huh? Let’s hear it then.”

“I’ll let you win and you’ll give me my fucking cat back,” Adele folded her arms. “I’m not wasting senior year playing stupid pranks on you. I’ve got my average to look after; I’ve got schools to apply to... You’re basically just not worth my time, William Beckett.”

Everyone except for William made a low ‘ooh’-ing sound, but William only narrowed his eyes into slits.

“So, ‘I’m not worth your time,’ is it, Adele Bradlee?” William questioned. “I’m n-not worth the... almost—almost twelve f-fuckin’ years you’ve p-put into this? What—what was that worth?”

“I wasted my life on you,” Adele huffed.

“And what’s your group gotta say about that?” William folded his arms, mirroring her.

“They don’t. I’m pretty sure that they’re... they’re... they’ll be happy about my decision. No more running about, trying to beat you guys to the next step. No more planning. We can go to Dairy Queen and have happy memories instead of planning attacks.” Adele listed off the things from her head. “As leader, I’ll do what’s best for them. And I don’t want to put them through hell when it’s the most important year in high school.”

“You’d never sacrifice anything for the good of your team,” William laughed, but it was a mocking tone that shot Adele right through the heart. “You’re not even a good leader. You can’t make d-decisions for the better—better; they always t-t-turn out for the worse. Just... just face it.”

“I didn’t come here to have you judge my leadership skills, Beckett,” Adele choked. “Besides, I don’t care what you think. So, truce or no truce? I want my damn cat back and I’ll seriously tell my mother who’ll tell your mother, so you might as well hand him over to me before I even get the cops involved.”

“Cops? Are you serious?” William leaned forward. “You don’t have the guts. You think y-you’re all high and m-mighty and im-im-important and smart, but you don’t know a... a thing, Adele. Not a single thing.”

“I’m going to go home if you’re going to be a stupid drunk ass,” Adele spat as she shook her head in disgust. “Just think of it as over, okay? Then we can live regular lives as I go off into university.”

“You’re bluffing,” William remarked as she started to walk away. “You don’t wanna end this. Why would you?”

“Because!” Adele exploded. “Can you not get it? Not everyone wants to follow your rules, or play a pointless game, or worship at your feet! You scare innocent people. You’re... you’re just not worth it. Why don’t you attack anyone else in my group, personally? Is it because you know I’ll plan something better? Is it because you know that I’m vulnerable?”

“Bluffing,” William mouthed, grinning. “I’ll seeya tomorrow then.”

So Adele spun around on her heel and started stomping home. The night hid her eyes forming tears, and her sniffles were drowned out by drunken laughter behind her.