The Locker Wars

Adele had already planned her first attack.

“The word ‘attack’ seems brutal, doesn’t it?” Adele asked with worry in her eyes. She was showing the rest of her group the plans. “I mean, if I get caught again, I’m going to say I was making an attack?”

“Adele, just give us the plans,” Kirsten sighed.

“Oh.” Adele giggled. “Right. It’s at the beginning-of-the-year pep rally. So, Riley and Kirsten, you’re going to sit behind Mike and that new kid in the stands. I know they’ll be sitting together because Mike was assigned to be his buddy or something? Anyways, just sit behind them. Jason’s on the basketball team so he’ll be on the floor, and no doubt he’ll make William sit in the front for support.”

“Yeah, but what’s going to happen?” Diane questioned. “We get the seating already, and Siska is a nervous bitch who has to have his friend around. What else is new?”

“I’m getting to it,” Adele smiled a twisted smile. She pointed to her clip board. “It all says, right here, where every team and group is going to be seated.”

“How did you get those?” Riley asked.

“You know, if I keep being interrupted, I’m not going to tell you the plans!” Adele huffed. “And, I pulled a few strings with the people in the school band. And yeah, that’s what’s going to happen. One of the trumpet players, well I paid him, he’s gonna like scare the shit out of Siska. So we’re going to all bet that he accidentally trips into the principal, since Siska’s placed near the front of the gym, right beside a few kids. Ugh! I can’t explain it. He’s basically going to ruin the whole thing. Good enough?”

“That’s pretty big for a first move,” Kirsten noted. “That means... we’ll all have to think of better attacks. Beckett’s crew as well. Adele, you sure we’re all right for this year...?

“Would I bring you into this if I weren’t so sure?” Adele asked with a roll of her eyes. “Anyways, I hope Beckett’s not planning any attack on us. No, he probably won’t. He’s too much of a dick calling me a sissy to plan. Besides, I got Siska’s little brother on the inside.”

Adele smiled at the four other gaping mouths in the room. Finally, things were on a roll.

* * *

“You want in on the War, you’re having initiation,” William instructed. He, along with Jason, Mike and Adam, were walking down the road. Butcher was too busy doing homework, unfortunately not able to attend the initiation of a new crew member. Michael’s exchange-guardians were still skeptical of him hanging out with other kids.

“I... do I have to?” Adam asked quietly, rubbing his hands together nervously. He looked up at William, but only meeting his glare, he looked back down at the cement.

“Nothing too big, eh,” Jason nudged William. “He’s only fourteen.”

William glanced down at Adam. “He wants to roll with us. If he can’t handle it, he can’t. What am I supposed to do?”

“Right, right,” Jason nodded.

They came to a specific house, standing behind a car so that they wouldn’t be seen. The shades were all drawn, but it looked like a friendly house with flowers in the front and a small bench on the porch. A part of the house was visible from a window on the second floor, and it looked like a hallway with family portraits hanging on the yellow walls.

“Whose house—” Adam started, but William elbowed him in the stomach.

“Shut up,” he hissed. “That’s Adele Bradlee’s house. You’re going to go in there, and you’re going to take the first thing you see. And you’ll bring it back here. You have until...” William glanced at the watch on Mike’s wrist. “Six-thirty. Sharp.”

“That’s a long time,” Adam gulped, also glancing at Mike’s watch. It was only a quarter past five. “But she’s in there, right?”

“Yeah,” William scoffed. “You can be seen, or you can sneak in. Whichever you choose.”

“Is this safe?” Adam asked, but William cut him off with an intense glare that made him squeak. “Okay, okay, I’m, uh, going in. And, uh, I’ll be back.”

Adam hurried across the road, choosing to walk up the small path to the Bradlee residence. He rang the doorbell, which gave a cheerful tune, as opposed to Adam’s racing heart.

A tall woman answered the door. She wasn’t Adele, but Adam guessed it was her mom or something. “Can I help you?”

“Uhh, um,” Adam gulped. He twitched, and his eyes caught on a small cat near the woman. Shit, he was going to smuggle her cat out of the house? “I’m uh, William Beckett’s friend? He told me, to uh... can I speak to Adele?”

“Well,” the woman gave a worried look. “I’ll see if she’s available. She has other friends over, so why don’t you go on up to her room?”

“No!” Adam cried as the woman turned around. “I mean, uh, I just need to talk to her for one second.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” she raised an eyebrow, heading up the stairs.

When she was gone, Adam cooed to the cat. He had a cat at home, so it was easier than he thought to get the cat to crawl into his arms. He shut the door and sprinted across the street, to where William, Jason and Mike were hiding behind the same car.

“Not bad,” William noted, nodding at the cat. “Not bad at all. It’s something she cares about, so, I think we have this dude on our side.” William took the cat from Adam’s arms.

“Good job, dude,” Mike grinned.

Adam smiled with relief, but began to wonder whose side he was on. And then he wondered why he had wanted to get into this mess in the first place.