The Locker Wars

After lunch, Skyler slipped a note to Adele. He winked, and Kirsten and Riley started giggling. Adele could barely hide the red on her cheeks.

The note told her to meet him behind the school after she had finished her classes, and Adele could only grin widely. Kirsten nudged her side.

“You know, this could be your next step.”

“Next step to what?” Adele was dumbfounded when it came to relationship lingo like that.

Riley laughed. “Well, he might want to take your relationship further. How long has it been, like, a few weeks? Yeah, he should be thinking about that.”

“Well, like, he could just want to meet me,” Adele reasoned. Both Riley and Kirsten scoffed, and they went off to their classes.

On the way to her locker, Adele passed Adam in the halls. He gave her a funny look, and then went back to talking with his friends.

The days of the Locker Wars were almost behind her. The past was the past, and she’d rather have forgotten about it. Forgetting would be easy, because she didn’t have to deal with any more war plans. If anything, her time revolved around Skyler.

Her mom had gotten mad that she’d come home late. She’d been neglecting her studies. Her last mark on a test was an eighty-nine, not quite good enough. But she’d convinced her mom that there was always next time, and that there’d be other tests.

Besides, she didn’t really need to worry. Everything was all right.

Though, there was something missing. There was an awful void in her heart, something that couldn’t be fixed. Since she was spending her time with Skyler, maybe her relationship with her books and notes was slowly crumbling to bits. Oh well.

And it was scary. She’d never gotten low marks before. She’d never wanted to get low marks before, though it gave her a sense of freedom. Breaking the rules. Being free.

Adele stared at the clock all through class, and when the bell rang, she darted outside.

* * *

Skyler was leaning against the building, smoking a cigarette. Adele frowned. She’d never seen him smoke before.

“Hey,” he greeted her. Adele smiled and pecked a kiss onto his thin, pink lips. She pulled her coat tighter around herself, wondering how the hell Skyler could stand out in the freezing cold in only a sweater.

“Hey,” she smiled back, leaning into his body. “What’s up? Wait, are you okay?”

Skyler moved back a little, to stare into her eyes. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Well, it’s just that you weren’t World History Class.” Adele bit her lip.

“Oh.” Skyler threw his head back, laughing at Adele’s confused face. “That class. That class is a big fucking joke. Don’t know about the teacher, either.”

“Big fucking joke,” Adele echoed after him.

“Yup.” Skyler nodded. “Anyways, you want a ride?”

Adele nodded and they started walking back towards his car. On the way, Skyler offered her his pack of cigarettes. She anxiously thought over it in her mind, how many risks, how many chemicals... But she took one anyways. She coughed when they both reached his car.

“Oh,” Skyler raised an eyebrow. “You’ve never had one before?”

“No.” Adele wasn’t used to lying. Still, Skyler flashed a million dollar smile, and the world was suddenly good.

Adele got into the passenger’s seat, and Skyler was already in the car, pulling his seatbelt til it clicked. He turned on the heater, and the car rumbled to life.

“Still cold,” Adele shook her head. “Anyways.”

Skyler leaned over and pressed his lips to hers. He tasted like smoke, but Adele couldn’t complain, because the taste of the cigarette lingered on her tongue. She winced, but kissed him back anyways.

“Warmed up?” Skyler asked. Adele nodded feebly, staring out the window. Outside of the car, William Beckett trudged away into the snow. “He’s a weird kid.”

Adele turned her head towards her boyfriend. “No he’s—I mean, I don’t know, I respect him for being smart.”

“He’s not smart. If anything, the guy’s a phony.” Skyler took out another cigarette and lit it, in the car. “I heard him exchanging money for his homework done. And I saw his mark in World History, it’s a big fucking joke, like I said.”

“What do you mean?” Adele certainly was shocked at this news. She hadn’t heard anything about William behaving like that.

“I saw Mr. Callaway’s paper. Fifty-nine on the last quiz. I bet he guessed. Didn’t sound like the smartest kid to me.” Skyler cranked his window down to blow smoke outside. “See, babe, at least I know who the smartest kid is.” He winked.

Adele only shrunk back in her seat, taking another cigarette.

* * *

The phone hadn’t left Adele’s hands since she’d come home from being with Skyler. Her mother noted the cigarette scent, but Adele only told her to mind her own business, while Adele headed off to her room.

She’d never told her mother to do that. But her mother only gave her daughter a sad look before heading off into the kitchen.

“I swear, Riley,” Adele’s voice trembled on the phone, “I’ve never seen him so bad before. I mean, okay, it’s not all bad.”

She stopped, leaned out the window, and pulled out a pack of cigarettes that Skyler had given to her. She lit one with his lighter, and exhaled the smoke outside. “Riles. Riley?”

“Yeah,” Riley sighed. “You know, I don’t know what you’re going through. So I’m sorry if I can’t sympathize with you, Adele. If you don’t like the way he’s behaving, then dump his ass.”

“No!” Adele bit her lip, leaning out of the window. She took another puff. “No, it’s okay. So I better go now. Kay, bye and thanks again, Riles.”

Adele ended the call and tossed the phone onto her bed. She plopped down beside it, wondering what to do now.