The Locker Wars

The girls all gathered at Adele’s house after a hectic first day of school. After finishing plans over a few juice boxes and bags of chips, it was time to go home and do homework. Everyone liked to keep up and get good marks, as nerdy as that sounded. So Adele settled on the couch with her math problems and a calculator, and got to working.

“Knock, knock.”

Adele looked up from her books to see William standing in her doorway. She rolled her eyes.

“Get out of my house.”

“I’m helping your mom with the groceries. Maybe you should help her.” William informed her with a smug grin on his face. He held up a grocery bag.

“I said, get the fuck out of my house!”

“Adele! Don’t be rude to William.” Adele’s mother stepped into the house. Adele rolled her eyes at the both of them.

Once Adele’s mother was in the kitchen, William spoke up. “Doing math work to cover up the plans you’re scheming against me?”

“No,” Adele groaned, setting her pen down. “Seriously. I need to get a head-start if I want to have the highest average.”

“Nobody can beat my ninety-eight,” William gloated.

“My ninety-seven point six isn’t that far behind,” Adele growled.

William laughed. “Wow! A growl! I guess you are serious. Oh well, Keep on studying then.” He saluted her jokingly and closed the front door behind him on his way out.

Adele sighed. She hated this ‘family friend’ thing. And with her parents always traveling, she hated that William’s parents checked in on her as well. As if that didn’t add to more stress.

But today wasn’t concentrating on how much William bugged her. Or how he swung his locker door so open that it covered her locker. Okay, well, that did bother her a lot. And it was only the first day of school. Who else knew what the hell William Beckett was planning for the year?

She needed an inside to William Beckett’s crew, even though that own fact was against at least five rules. The only exception was through family friends. Brothers who wanted to join Beckett’s crew...

Adele sat up. She had an idea.

* * *

The next day, Adele arrived at school early. She skipped through the front doors, careful that her mini-skirt didn’t accidentally flash anyone else.

“Good morning Miss Bradlee!” the principal greeted her as he stepped into her view. Adele skidded to a halt.

“Morning, Principal,” she smiled. As much as she liked the principal, she found him slightly creepy, and tried to avoid him. Which was hard, because she was almost the smartest person at Barrington High.

“I see that you greet school with a smiling face,” the principal observed. “If only every student could greet the day like you. Are you planning on overthrowing Mr. Beckett for best marks?”

“Of course,” Adele shrugged. “Anyways. I think I have to go see something.” She pointed a thumb in the direction of a row of lockers.

“Helping some freshmen around the school? You are probably Barrington’s best student,” the principal sighed as he walked away. Adele backed away slowly before heading towards the lockers.

It didn’t take her long to find who she was looking for. Straightening her shirt, she called across the hallway, “Hey, Adam!”

A short boy in a basketball jersey turned away from his small group of friends. His eyes widened when he saw who was talking to him, and his jaw even dropped when Adele started to walk towards him.

“H-How do you know me?” Adam asked, his bottom lip trembling. His friends were quick to walk away.

“I know your brother, Jason,” Adele sighed, twirling her hair around her finger. “Anyways. I heard you got kind of lost yesterday. I wouldn’t mind helping you around the school, that is, if your brother isn’t already helping.”

Adele felt sort of ashamed. The second day of school—the second day of war—and she was already playing dirty.

“Yeah, I mean, my brother won’t show me around,” Adam admitted quietly. “I got, like, really lost yesterday.”

“I could help you, you know,” Adele gave her best smile. “Come and walk with me and I’ll show you around real quick.”

Adam nodded, and followed closely behind Adele.

They continued around the school as Adele pointed out specific places. The library, the gym, the cafeteria, some of the science rooms, where her locker was in case he ever needed to talk to her.

“So, I heard you wanted to join in the war,” she casually mentioned as they passed some English and math classes. She could hear Adam gulp loudly.

“Uh, yeah.”

“Well, we have this rule that both the leaders have to agree,” Adele explained. If that wasn’t already a rule, well, it was now. “I think you’d be pretty good for it. But, you know, since you’re only a freshman, there’s only so much William and I can do about that. We’re not even sure if this year, we’ll play clean.”

“Oh,” was all Adam could say.

Adele continued, “But, if you’re going to join, I kind of want a favor. If I convince William to let you in on it, because you know that this isn’t just a game, this is totally serious, then I want you on the inside for me. All I want is just a brief outline of their plans each week.”

“Is... Isn’t that against some rules?” Adam raised an eyebrow.

“Like I said, this year, we’re not sure if we’re playing clean,” Adele pursed her lips. “So, are you in?”

“W-Well, wouldn’t they get like, really mad at me—”

“Look, kid, I honestly don’t care if they rip your balls off,” she snapped. Breathing deeply, she regained her composure. “I mean, never mind that. This game is serious to me. You will always have three more years of high school life. I’ve had all my school years ruined. You don’t know how badly I want William Beckett’s head on a plaque hanging in my living room. He is the definition of living shit. I know he’s playing by his own rules this year, so I’ll play by mine.”

Adam looked taken aback.

“Okay, okay fine.” Adele threw her hands up. “Be on his side.”

“N-No!” Adam stopped her. “I’ll help. I’ll do what you asked. Um... how much do I get paid?”

Adele patted him on the shoulder. “If I got paid for what I’ve been doing most of my life, I’d be a fucking millionaire.”