"Are you certain you don't want me walking you into school?" Oliver turned and looked at his fifteen year old daughter, Adeline.
Adeline rolled her eyes. "Dad. I'm in high school."
"Yes, but—"
"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine." She tossed her long auburn hair over her shoulder as she grabbed her backpack. Adeline kissed Oliver's cheek and hopped out out of the SUV. Oliver rolled the window down. "Do you need lunch money?"
"Dad! You're stalling!" Adeline laughed. Her voice turned slightly more serious. "You know, you worry about me too much."
"I'm sorry. You just remind me of your m—" Oliver paused. Adeline knew. He was going to say "your mother." Even though she didn't know her mother... even though she left them when Adeline was a baby, it still stung. For both of them.
"I'm not her, Dad." Adeline said simply.
"I know, Sweetheart." Oliver said. He cleared his throat as the first bell rang out. He looked back at her. "You better be on your way, Adeline. I love you. Have a wonderful first day."
"Love you too, Dad." Adeline waved before heading into East High. She grabbed her class itinerary out of her backpack. "Room 115." She muttered to herself before frowning. Students buzzed about and Adeline felt herself becoming overwhelmed. It was already bad enough she was starting a new school mid-year. And not only was it mid-year, they were entering the last quarter of the school year. Her dad was given an amazing opportunity for his job which is why they moved from Denver to DC. He had tried to postpone the move for as long as possible, at least until summer, but the officials in DC could no longer wait. They gave Oliver a pretty substantial sign on bonus, paid for all of their moving expenses, and even threw in extra paid time off, on top of everything he had already incurred. This was in addition to his promotion. Oliver and Adeline had only been in DC for only a few days and starting a new school was just the beginning of their lives in DC.
She took a deep breath before disappearing into the crowd of students. She found her locker, then her classroom, just in time for the homeroom bell to ring again.
"Ah, Ms. O'Toole." Mrs. Glover peered over her glasses. Adeline smiled awkwardly. "Welcome to East High. Ms. Adeline O'Toole hails from Denver. You can sit next to—" Mrs. Glover looked around the class. "Mackenzie."
The blonde girl whipped her head up and quickly stuffed her smartphone in her pocket.
"Ma'am?"
Mrs. Glover waved her to come to the front of the classroom. Mackenzie looked at the teacher warily.
"You've been assigned to be Adeline's buddy as she becomes acclimated to East High."
"Oh! Cool." Mackenzie smiled at Adeline who immediately felt at ease.
"Also, don't use your cell phone in class." Mrs. Glover raised her eyebrow.
"Yes ma'am."
Adeline followed Mackenzie back to their desks.
"She's nice but a stickler." Mackenzie whispered. They took their seats. "I'm Mackenzie. Mackenzie Marek."
"Adeline. But most people call me Addie."
The two were interrupted by an "ahem." Mrs. Glover was peering at them over her glasses again. Mackenzie shrugged before taking out her iPad. Adeline took out her notebook and pen and started taking notes. When class finished, Mackenzie waited for Adeline to gather her things.
"So where are you from?" MacKenzie asked.
"Denver. We just moved here last week for my dad's job."
"Whoa. That's, like, really far." MacKenzie said. "I've lived here pretty much my whole life." They started walking down the hall. "Oh, we have science next. Mr. Schmidt is pretty chill, I hear. His science experiments usually go a little crazy."
"Really? Wait—" Adeline stopped walking. "How'd you know where my next class is? I didn't even show you my class schedule."
Mackenzie grinned sheepishly. "I have my ways." She tapped her iPad. Adeline could read between the lines.
"You did not." Adeline's eyes grew wide.
"Look, I can just get into the school database roster and schedules. I can't figure out how to get further than that." MacKenzie shrugged. This time, MacKenzie's bright green eyes grew big as she realized what she had said out loud. And to a complete stranger no less. "You can't tell anyone. You've been sworn to secrecy."
"I promise. Just don't get in trouble." Adeline said as they continued walking across the high school campus.
Mackenzie laughed. "My mom would tell me that 'Trouble' is my middle name." She glanced at Adeline and gave her a mischievous look. "Stick with me kid, I'm full of surprises." She winked. Adeline laughed. She wasn't too sure about this girl, but she was at least willing to be her friend. And for now, that was enough.
When the final bell of the day rang, Adeline sighed with relief. She and Mackenzie had different classes for their last two periods, but Mackenzie promised to meet her by the flagpole outside.
"Hey!" Mackenzie waved.
"Hi!" The girls started walking. "I'm really glad today's over. I've been dreading it since I found out my dad was being relocated."
"First day is always rough for anyone. On the first day of school, I lost my class schedule and then ended up spilling my lunch all over me. To be fair though, Ryan Jacobs, the quarterback, ran into me, literally. So it wasn't my fault."
"At least my day didn't go that way." Adeline laughed. "Do you live nearby?"
"Yeah! Over in Maple Ridge. It's about—"
"That's where we live! We're in the back of the neighborhood. On Lilac Lane."
"That's literally right around the corner! I could totally ride my bike to your house. We're on Pine Crescent. Hey, do you want to come over? My mom totally won't care. She loves meeting my friends."
"Um," Adeline said. She pulled out her cell phone and quickly sent a text. It buzzed a minute later with a "thumbs up" emoji. "Okay, my dad's cool with it." Adeline slipped her cell phone back in her backpack. "Surprising." She muttered. He must have been really busy because otherwise he probably would have called her.
"Is your dad pretty strict?" Mackenzie asked.
"You can say that. But aren't all parents?"
"Yeah, I guess."
"I mean— I don't blame my dad. I'm his only child. My—uh—" Adeline cleared her throat. She usually didn't talk about her mom to anyone, but Mackenzie seemed like a safe place. "My mom left us when I was a baby."
Mackenzie gasped. "Oh, Addie, that's awful." She frowned.
Adeline shrugged. "My dad hasn't told me the whole story, but he says when the timing is right, we'll talk about it."
Mackenzie gave her a sympathetic look. "I can't say I know exactly how you feel, but I kind of do. My dad died when I was five. He was some top secret agent for the government and his unit was ambushed. Or something like that."
"I'm so sorry, Mackenzie." Adeline said. "Do you still remember your dad?"
"It gets harder. My mom doesn't really like talking about it. I just remember he was gone— a lot. He did send lots of gifts to me and mom, but he never seemed to be home. And then, one day, he just never returned."
Adeline could feel her emotions rising to the surface. She felt terrible for her new friend. The loss of a parent seemed to have bonded the two girls for life. They were instant kindred spirits. "Anyways." Mackenzie blinked quickly. "We're here!" They approached a two story craftsman style house with a small porch overlooking the street. The girls walked up the paver brick path and up the steps of the front porch.
"I love your porch swing! It's so cute." Adeline said. She sat down. "My dad's the same way— he has a weird thing for porch swings too."
"Must be a thing with their generation." Mackenzie said. "Mom and I have great conversations on this swing."
"Yeah." Adeline said, following Mackenzie into the house. "Sounds like our parents would get along pretty well."
"Mom? Mo-om?" Mackenzie called out. They started to walk into the living room.
"In the kitchen!" A voice called out. The girls entered the kitchen. Mackenzie's mom was in the pantry as her back was towards them.
"Hey, Mom, this is Adeline." Mackenzie gestured towards Adeline. Her mom turned around and quickly smiled. "Hi, Adeline."
"Hi, Mrs. Marek." Adeline extended her hand. "It's nice to meet you."
"Oh, you can just call me Shane." She said.
NOTE: As you can tell, this story is set in a complete alternate universe. But don't worry... #trustthetiming right? So... what if Shane actually left after From Paris With Love? What if Holly and Oliver agreed to try to make their marriage work one more time during their "final" dinner together? What would have happened then? Since this is an alternate universe, Oliver wouldn't know Steve's last name and Shane would not have met Joe O'Toole. The rest of the story will unfold... and don't worry... we'll still have #ShOliver at the end. Also... anyone else like the Parent Trap? Because Adeline and Mackenzie LOVE the Parent Trap. ;) More to come.