I um, "bought" the rights to Recess from the Hustler Kid. Okay, sorry! That was a joke. Gosh, turn me into King Joe and King Paul why-don't-cha. But seriously don't. Please. I own nothing.
Chapter One : The News.
(T.J.'s POV)
Today was a day like any other. It was the week before the end of school and the gang was eagerly telling each other their plans for the summer. Yep, life as a fifth grader had served me well, despite a few obstacles along the way, like the trouble with the B.O.E. and the secret fifth and sixth graders club, I managed to soften King Freddie II up though. Of course, next year at
Third Street I was gonna be a sixth grader and was a shoe-in for king. King T.J. Has a nice ring to it, I thought as my friends talked over each other. Vince was going to sports camp, Gretchen was going to a bunch of science conferences, Mikey was going to spend most of the summer at a college poetry course, Gus' dad signed him up for military camp…
"And as for me," Spinelli said over all her friends voices, "I'm just gonna spend the summer on my couch watching good ol' wrestling."
Vince looked over at me with a grin. "Hey, what are doing over the summer Teej?"
A smile spread a crossed my face. "Me? Well, there's a whole lot of stuff to do before the fall, but for now I'm spending my time in front of the T.V. or with Señor Fusion. Of course, Mom does have some kind of surprise for me when I get home today." The others looked up at me with a raised eyebrow and I explained how this morning Mom and Dad smiled at me saying they wanted to call a family meeting when they got home.
And that 'family meeting' was only a little while away. The gang made its way to my house and said their goodbyes as I unlocked the door.
"And I expect to hear what this 'surprise' is tomorrow Teej," Spinelli called after me as she walked backward to her house.
. . .
"We're what!" I said in total disbelief.
"Moving. Now I know you're upset but this is a really great opportunity for your father. Plus you'll make new friends at your new school. You've always been good at that honey." Mom sounded so calm as she explained the rest of it. The city was an hour away, the house had already been bought and I would be starting at the new school in September. "This is a good thing T.J., trust me."
"But mom, we can't move! What about my friends, what about sixth grade? This is going to completely ruin my life!" I almost never yelled at my parents, but this? This was the worst thing I could imagine.
"Now look here, young man! Just because you'll miss your little friends does not give you permission to yell at us. With the bills for Becky's college, we need this, so you'll just have to accept it." My dad frowned down at me, but my mom stepped in.
"Now honey, I know you'll miss it here, but our family needs this. Besides, you'll be closer to your grandparents. Won't that be great?" I must've still seemed down, because she said, "It'll turn out better than you think, I promise."
"I need some time to think." My mom tried to hug me, but I walked away from her.
Without a word went up to my room. As I passed my parent's bedroom, I noticed a few boxes in the corner of it. How long have they been planning this? I flopped onto my bed and just stared at the ceiling. I wondered if there was some plan, something I could do to convince my parents to stay. This wasn't serious enough to call for something like locking myself in my room; I only pulled stunts like that for my fellow kid. I was pretty much powerless.
I knew this town like the back of my hand after eleven years of living here, and just like that it wouldn't matter anymore. I picked up the picture frame that sat on my dresser. After six long, glorious years the gang would be split up. "Nah, it's got to be on a prank or something. In a few minutes Mom's gonna walk into my room and tell me 'I can't believe you fell for that'." Staring at the picture, though, I knew it wasn't true, no matter how I much I wanted to believe it.
. . .
"So, tell us! What's the news?" Vince had been hammering me all day, along with Spinelli and the rest of the gang.
"I'll tell you later, I promise! Now's just not the right time." We walked out to the playground as the recess bell rang.
Spinelli stared at me, looking for some give-away, just one little clue. "If something's wrong Teej, now's as good a time as any."
Looking out at the field, I realized she was right. It was the second last day of school and if I didn't tell them soon, it would only get worse.
"I'm moving," I said with a shrug trying to make it seem like it was nothing as I kept walking toward the kickball field.
The rest, however, stopped dead in their tracks. "I'm sorry, for a minute there I thought you said you were moving." Vince said as he stared at my back.
I kept my eyes focused on the kickball game going on. "I am, over the summer. I'll be starting at a new school in September."
"What? Teej! Who's gonna lead us on all adventures?" Spinelli cried.
"Who's going to fill our childhood with folly and mischief?" Mikey said with shining eyes.
"Who's going to encourage each and every one of our unique abilities?" Gretchen asked.
"Who's going to bail me out of trouble?" Gus exclaimed.
"Who's going to lead us?" Vince finished off.
As each one made their point, something inside me grew. Anger? Disappointment? Heartache? I'm not sure, but whatever it was it made me feel worse and worse. "I don't know! Okay! I can't fix it this time! I just can't. There's no plan this time guys. Just me wishing I was more to you guys than just a leader." I frowned and walked off, and not one of the guys stopped me.
. . .
I ended up running home to avoid the others. I couldn't take it. Seeing the disappointment in their faces was something I was not ready for.
I was mostly quiet through dinner, but then again none of us said much. In my room, I just sat on my bed, thinking. Could this news really be bad enough that I couldn't do anything to fix it? A week ago I wouldn't have thought twice about thinking up a plan to fix any challenge thrown at us. Now, it was like no matter how much I tried I just couldn't think of anything. It seems this move is costing me everything. My school, my strategizing skills… and my friends. I was right about what I said to Mom. In one day, this stupid move was costing me everything.
. . .
(Third person)
"Oh, how fair is foul and foul is fair!" Mikey said, partly out of habit.
"Shut up, Mikey! This is beyond fair being foul. We're losing T.J.!" Spinelli said in a dejected voice that wasn't like her at all.
"And the worst part is, Teej thinks we only care about him because he's our leader." And Vince? He looked like he had just been told he could never play sports again.
"But that's not fair! T.J. should know how much he means to me! I mean…us. We all wanted to be his best friend for that essay, remember?" Spinelli was trying to be angry. It was better than being sad.
"Oh, woe is me! Lost leader, how will we ever get along without you?"
"Mikey, if you don't cut it out, I swear I'm gonna pound you!" Spinelli had a fist raised threateningly, and might have actually made good on her threat, when Vince cut in.
"Guys, knock it off. Here we're feeling sorry for ourselves, and T.J.'s the one moving. As much as this whomps for us, it whomps that much harder for him. We should do something."
Gretchen started scratching her head thoughtfully. "Perhaps we can, Vince. T.J. is the most popular kid on the playground. We might not be able to stop him from moving, but we can make his last day at Third Street one for the history books."
"I'm kinda lost at where you're going with this Gretchen." Gus said as the others got that oh-so-common mischievous glint in their eyes.
. . . . .
Author's note. Whoo! First Chapter out! Please R & R, and if you have any suggestions definitely post them. I'd love to hear your opinions. Oh and a special thank to my sister for helping me out.