The Locker Wars

A few days later, Adele was flipping through her plans when suddenly, her mom burst through the door.

“Honey, the Beckett family’s going to be over for dinner tonight. All right? You don’t have to change into anything special. We’re just doing casual right now.” Her mom smiled before closing the door again.

Perfect. This would be just perfect, because after a day of investigating the poems and analyzing them (Adam later put the book back, much to a confused William), she thought that she’d figured out what it all meant. Which would be perfect for tonight.

After a few minutes of making sure her hair was okay and that she didn’t have any zits to cover up, Adele skipped down the stairs, gleefully awaiting dinnertime.

* * *

They were all eating awkwardly. Adele was playing with her food, her parents and William Beckett’s parents were chatting, and William wasn’t eating (figures, ‘cause he’s a stick, Adele thought). It was the usual, like, “We’re so proud of your marks” and, “So, what do you plan on doing in life,” and blah, blah, blah.

“William tells us that you’re the best student in the class,” Mrs. Beckett was going on. William only rolled his eyes and started to blush, shaking his head at her.

“Mom,” William muttered.

“I’m not,” Adele smiled, “He’s obviously the better student.” For now, she added in her head.

Mrs. Beckett seemed to take the bullshit. “What a lovely young lady! William, you thank her for her manners.”

“Thanks,” William muttered, his eyes not leaving the plate.

“Well, I’m done, if I could be excused,” Adele started getting up from her seat. William followed.

“You kids can go hang out, discuss what’s ‘hip’ and ‘cool’,” Mrs. Bradlee laughed, and it was Adele’s turn to blush. She only ignored her parents’ laughter as she and William headed into the kitchen.

Adele rolled her eyes and sighed when she was away from the adults’ laughter. Sometimes she hated that they were so grown up and thought that she was too because she was smart. But luckily, she knew of one person who she could talk to and be, well, not dumb, exactly, just... not too smart with. And luckily, he was in the room right now.

“Give me your plate,” Adele ordered to William, and he was scratching his head while looking out the backyard window. Adele snatched it from him and started to dump his leftovers in the garbage, “You never eat, you’re so skinny. Even skinner than me, I think.”

“It’s my tallness,” William replied. “I’m balanced.”

“Sure you are,” Adele scoffed. She started rinsing the two plates. “So, like, what’s new?”

“Nothing. You haven’t come up with something to beat me.”

Adele smirked to herself, and she was lucky that William hadn’t seen. He was too busy staring at places other than her, which was weird and kind of not a William thing to do, but whatever, because Adele was still proud of the plan she had in her head.

“I’m waiting for the right moment,” Adele grinned, and they started to go into the living room. She sat on the couch while he sat on the ground beside her.

“Right moment?” William questioned. “Jesus. You sound like a virgin.”

“That was so unnecessary!” Adele cried, smacking him on the back of the head with the TV remote. She turned the TV on. “I don’t even need to tell you anything about that kind of stuff.”

William turned around, “Oh, really?”

He narrowly avoided being smacked again with the remote.

“Yes really! God, you’re so immature. At least I don’t ask you questions like that.”

“Why don’t you?” William taunted.

“Fine,” Adele breathed. “You fucked a girl yet, or are you into dick?”

“You’re the rudest girl I’ve ever met, do you know that? How do you just ask someone a question like that?”

“It’s you,” Adele giggled, “So, you like girls, have you... what the fuck, never mind.”

William rolled his eyes at how stupidly playful she was being. He kind of liked it when there was no war to talk about, like times like these. But when would there ever be times where all they talked about wasn’t the war? It only made William feel a little worse.

“I like girls,” William muttered, gazing at the TV. He didn’t know why his throat was feeling all scratchy.

Luckily, the phone rang to save him from further embarrassment. He watched as Adele ran to pick it up, and run out of the room once she answered it. It was Kirsten, calling about something-or-other. He only really listened to the part where Adele complained about ‘all these stupid dinners with the enemy’. It only made William feel a lot worse.

“Okay, seeya tomorrow,” Adele put down the phone and entered the living room again. William was only a shadow then, being ignored when she sat beside him, unknowingly a little too close...

He’d probably go write a poem about that feeling later.