The Fine Line

CHAPTER TWO: Crazies and Promises

…

Dad walked down to them, to wait for the bus as well.

"Last day of school," Ada did a little jig, barely able to contain her excitement.

"Yeah, last day of school, Greg. Last chance to ask out Nancy Arbuckle," Keithie grinned, from his seat on a large rock. Ada sat down with him, ready to tease her twin. It was a hobby of hers; to team up with Keithie and tease Greg, if only because Greg enjoyed teasing her just as much. Keithie was the one who would come to Ada's defense more often than not, so she found herself often siding with him.

"Yeah, you know, the girl you looooove," Ada sang cheekily, an innocent expression on her face. "The girl who doesn't know you exist."

Ada would be surprised if it wasn't true. Nancy Arbuckle was the most popular girl at school. Blonde and lithe, she had almost all the guys after her. Personally, Ada would love for Greg to be the one to get her, but considering he was barely a blimp on her radar, Ada had to admit the odds weren't looking so good.

"Nancy Arbuckle?" Dad asked, bouncing a ball on Becky's helmet as she rode around him. "You like a girl? Is that why you've been taking those long showers?"

"Eewwww!" Ada complained. This morning's unintentional sightseeing was still too vivid in her mind to joke about that. A shudder ran down her back.

"No!" Greg said quickly, defending himself, "I, I'm conditioning my hair. That's all I do in the shower. Condition my hair."

It was one of those times Ada wished she and Greg weren't so in sync with each other, because she could hear the lie in his voice, better than anyone else. It was a weird twin connection; they often understood each other better than anyone else, and sometimes they even knew what the other was thinking. "Right," Ada scoffed.

"That's not what the deer told me," dad quipped, and Ada giggled. Her dad was the funniest man she knew.

"That deer's a liar!"

"Oh-oh-oh," dad laughed.

"I heard," Becky piped up, "that too much conditioning can make you go blind."

Ada's jaw dropped; Becky was too young to understand this conversation.

"What! Where'd you hear that?" Dad asked, his voice going high like it usually did when he knew he was either going to lie, stop himself from laughing, or make up a story.

"Higgins," Becky smiled.

"Of course," Ada rolled her eyes. Marcus Higgins was a favourite among the Feder children; he was a funny man, and it was almost always guaranteed that he'd provide some sort of amusement when he was around. "Who else?"

"Oh, I should kill him!" Dad laughed, not surprised at all.

Keithie stood up, pointing at Greg, "He's too chicken to ask her out, dad, because she's the hottest girl in school, and Greg is fugly." He stated it matter-of-fact.

"So what he's fugly? All the guys in our family are fugly. That don't stop us from getting the hot chicks. Look at me and look at your mother; I mean, that makes no sense, only like in a Hollywood movie or something."

Ada didn't think Greg was fugly. She didn't think any of the Feder men were fugly. But maybe she was missing something.

"All the guys at school like her, dad," Greg said, a hint of dismal acceptance entering his voice, and Ada felt bad for making fun of him. She hadn't realized he liked her so much to be quite so put out by his competition.

"And you'll be the guy who ends up with her, you know why? You're going to follow my three step program. Number one: make the girl smile. Number two: tell her she has a nice smile. Number three: say she has to go out with you that night," dad finished, listing them off on his fingers.

"Why that night?"

"Yeah, why that night?" Ada asked, genuinely curious now.

"Because it gives her less time to think about how fugly you are. Because you are fugly."

"Dad!" Ada admonished. Then she paused to think, "Does that actually work?"

"It worked on your mother," he answered.

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. And Keithie's right, I'm too chicken to even talk to her," Greg sighed, wrapping his hands around the strap of his backpack.

"Hey!" He raised his voice. "You're a Feder! And Feder's aren't afraid of women; that's not how I'm raising you."

Ada rolled her eyes, muttering, "Please."

Keithie went on to prove her point. "By the way, dad, did you ask mum if I can play football?"

"No! I was scared! I was afraid she was going to yell at me in that accent no one understands!"

"Way to lead by example, dad," Ada said drily, standing up as well and dusting off her dress. She didn't bother pointing out that she knew what her mother said. Ada, like her siblings, was part Hispanic from their mother, which should mean they had an affinity for her language. But Ada was the only one to ask to be taught the language.

Which was a mistake, because it drew his attention, "You're not wearing that to school."

Ada didn't even glance down. By now, she was used to arguing with her dad about clothes, usually ending with her not changing at all. But she figured she'd humour him and his need to attempt to exert control over her, especially as she grew older and more independent. Ada didn't need her daddy as much anymore, and she knew it bothered him. Before, his biggest problem was making sure she was safe and happy. Now, it was keeping boys away from his little girl.

"Why not?" She sighed.

"It's about six feet too short."

"I'm not even six foot tall."

"That's beside the point," he grumped.

"I like it," Keithie shrugged.

"No one asked your opinion!" Dad shouted at him.

Bean Lamonsoff, a little blonde boy Becky's age, rode along on his bicycle, to go with Becky to school. "Dad, this is what I'm wearing. Please, give it a rest."

"Come on Becky!" Bean called. "It's eight o'clock, and school starts at eight-fifteen, which means we only have twenty five minutes to get there."

Keithie, Greg and Ada frowned at each other, confused. "Are you sure about that?" Ada asked the boy.

"Yes!"

Becky looked up at dad, "Daddy, you promise Mr. Gigglesworth will be better by bed time?"

Dad bent down and kissed her, "Will you stop worrying about him, he'll be fine, I love you. Have the best last day, okay?"

"Okay. Bye daddy, love you."

Becky and Bean took off down the road, and dad called after them, "And you read the street signs, okay? Don't let Bean… My god, riding their bikes to school. They could never do that in L.A. with all the nuts out there."

"Yeah, because thank god there's no crazy people out here," Keithie said sarcastically, just as the brakes on their bus squeaked as it pulled to a stop. The doors opened to reveal their very spaced looking bus driver, Nick.

"How you doing, Nick?"

"My wife's leaving me. After three weeks," he replied, sounding slightly constipated. Nick was, well…kind of weird. First, there was the hair; brown and large, sitting on his head, and reminding Ada of his brother's, Rob, toupee. Ada was truthfully confused as to how he managed to be married in the first place.

"Three weeks? That's not bad for you. What happened?" Dad nodded.

"She found me eating a banana." Ada frowned; how was that cause for separation? "With my butt." There it is.

"And she didn't like that?" Her dad asked.

"Yeah, she got really bummed out. But, you know, I shouldn't have done it at her mum's house."

Ada snorted a laugh, looking incredulously at Greg and Keithie.

"Yeah, you seem like you're a little extra out of it today, what's going on?" So, dad picked up on the spacey-ness too. Then again, it wasn't hard to miss.

"I'm a little medicated. I met a very reliable doctor at a concert and he floated me a couple pills just to feel better, you know?" He said. Then his voice got high, "But I don't feel better!", and then very low, "You feel worse!"

It was like there were three Nicks; the everyday one, the truthful one, and the dominant one.

Ada looked at him wide-eyed. "I'm leaning towards schizophrenia. Anyone else wanna hedge a bet?"

"I think you're right," Greg agreed.

They piled onto the bus, the first stop on the route to school, and dad took over driving the bus. Nick went to a set a couple rows back, and promptly fell asleep. It made Ada glad her dad was taking over, as embarrassing as it could end up for them. Ada took a seat towards the middle, and Greg sat behind her. Keithie sat further back.

The bus slowly filled with students. Donna Lamonsoff got on the bus not long after, wearing boots she'd obviously made herself; with flashing lights and stuck on objects. She waved at Ada in hello as she headed further back, sitting in the seat across the aisle from Keithie. Ada liked Donna, and the way she expressed herself without inhibitions, without a care as to anyone else's opinions. She was who she was, and Ada admired it.

Then they pulled up at the McKenzie's, and Andre and Charlotte got on, Charlotte sitting next to Donna, and Andre sitting next to Greg. Andre and Greg were Ada's best friends, and she turned in her seat so they could talk. Most of the time, they were an inseparable trio. Andre had brown skin, brown eyes and over the last three years he had shot up in height, so now he was slightly taller than Greg.

Greg nodded at him, "What's up, man?"

He grinned, "Mum forget their anniversary, and dad remembered."

Ada laughed, "Oh no! She's given your dad a free pass on just about anything!"

"Yeah, he's pretty psyched about it," Andre grinned. "What about you guys?"

"A deer got into the house because Becky left the door open for it," Greg rolled his eyes. It was such a Becky thing to do; she was a sweetie, and caring. Ada wouldn't be surprised if she ended up having a career in vet sciences.

"What?" Andre laughed.

"It was crazy, I swear," Ada promised. "But that's not the current issue."

"What is?" They both asked reluctantly, their voices deadpanned and somewhat anxious. They were too used to Ada to know that when she used terms along the lines of 'current issue', it usually ended with one or both of them either uncomfortable, embarrassed, or on the rare occasion, in hysterical fits of laughter.

"Greg has to man up and ask Nancy out. Finally. I don't know about you," Ada said to Andre, "but I am so sick of his pining from afar. He just about reeks of desperation, and I don't want it to rub off on me." Ada teased her twin.

Andre grinned, now that he knew he wasn't going to be the topic Ada insisted on addressing.

It was one of her traits that they said brought a degree of girly-ness to their group; needing to talk about things. Discuss the same thing from a million different angles. She was also the organized, intellectual, and more daring one. Having guys for best friends had made her bold; if she had had girl best friends, she was sure she would've ended up being extremely shy.

Greg was the sensible, responsible one; he knew what he could and could not handle, and he made decisions accordingly, often steering his more impetuous twin out of trouble through his common sense and judgment. He was also more reserved, content not to be one of the most popular boys in school.

Andre was the glue that kept Greg and Ada from butting heads or fighting often. He was like his dad; with a good sense of humour that was likely to at least get a smile, often commenting or responding to situations with a dry sort of humour. He was the honest one, often being more direct, and the active, participating in various sports. His favourite was basketball.

"She's hot," Andre shrugged, as if that was explanation enough.

Ada shook her head, "That's such a guy thing to say."

Andre and Greg looked at each other. "We are guys," they said.

Greg added, "Sometimes I think you forget that."

She just rolled her eyes, ignoring their comments, "But this obsession is going to drive me insane!"

"Well, we wouldn't want that," Greg snarked.

"Fine," Ada shrugged her shoulders. "I won't help you. You just keep doing what you're doing; staring at her like a stalker. Maybe she'll actually notice for once. And if she does, she'll peg you as a freak straight up. You're right, that's so much better."

Greg opened his mouth, most likely to apologise and beg for her help, but Ada shushed him, her gaze focused a couple seats back. A very large, overweight boy wearing a camoflauge jacket, and with shoulder length, surprisingly glossy hair, was picking on Donna, talking smack about her boots. His insult made no sense, but he laughed loudly and obnoxiously anyway. Keithie told him to leave her alone.

Then the large boy turned his attention to Keithie. He grabbed Keithie's shirt, pulling it up and saying threateningly, "What'd you say, Hollywood?"

Ada went to stand up, ready to defend her younger brother, but Greg pulled her back down. "Get off," she snapped at him, trying to shake free of his grip. "I've got some ass whooping to do."

His grasp didn't let up; he had, unfortunately for Ada, also grown muscles when he got taller, leaving Ada behind and meaning she was not a match for his strength anymore. "Don't," he said calmly.

"He's right," Andre agreed, and Ada glared fiercely at them. It was enough to cause them to back down; she may be small, but she could do some serious damage if she tried. And Ada was protective of Keithie, who was a non-confrontational kid. "Just… if you make a scene, you'll embarrass him. And he'll be angry with you."

"Angry because I stopped a guy punching him in the face?" Ada frowned incredulously. They nodded. "Boys are so weird. That doesn't even make sense."

But Ada stayed in her seat, turning her venomous glare onto the bully. Turned out, Ada didn't need to step in; their dad did. His voice came over the bus speakers, "Attention Kmart shoppers, uh, let's find a seat please, yes you in the camouflage jacket and the Mariah Carey hairdo, yeah, just pop a squat. Thank you."

The bully didn't take a seat, and instead gave Keithie another threat. Dad's voice came over the speakers again, "Beanbag with arms and legs, seriously, take a seat, or seats, before someone gets hurt."

And that someone would be the bully, if Ada had anything to do with it. Students laughed, and the bully backed up. Ada couldn't quite find it in herself to talk to her dad about sensitivity; she was still pissed that he'd gone after Keithie.

The school was only another two minutes away; everything was close in this town. Dad pulled up in time for Ada to see the principal, in his typical too-short shirt, open his car door only to have blue paint spill out. Ada smirked; Ben and Adam were up to their old tricks. Then again, they'd never stopped them – they'd just gotten better at not getting caught.

As kids piled off the bus, dad stood by the door, saying farewells to various students, in particular, he called the bully 'rapunzel'. Ada let Greg and Andre go in front of her so she could speak to Keithie.

"Are you okay?"

He did an odd shrug, head shake, lopsided grin thing, that utterly confused Ada. "I'm fine," he nodded then. She wasn't entirely convinced, but she let it go for now, turning back around to get off the bus.

Dad grabbed onto Greg and Andre when they reached the bottom step, holding other's up behind them, and Ada sighed. "You'll remove the eyes of any guy who looks below her neck, for me, right?" He gestured in Ada's direction.

"Sure dad," Greg said sarcastically. "Not. I don't have a death wish; she'll remove my eyes if I scare off any guy interested in her."

It was partially true. She'd probably try to break something before she tried to remove his eyes.

"Well, you need to make a decision: who are you more afraid of?" Dad raised an eyebrow. Greg looked at him, then glanced back at Ada's impatient and irritated expression.

"Her," he gestured his head in Ada's direction, before getting off the bus.

"Andre, man, you'll help me out, right?" Dad tried pathetically, causing Ada to roll her eyes.

"Sorry, Mr. Feder, but Ada can do some serious damage," Andre echoed her earlier thoughts before hurrying after Greg.

Ada got off the bus, grinning at her dad. "Don't worry dad. It's not like I'm going to get pregnant," she said, like the idea was laughable.

His shoulders relaxed a little, her words making him feel a bit better about the length of her dress, which, really, was longer than some other girl's dresses, or shorts or skirts. There was nothing wrong with it. She teasingly winked at him, causing his shoulders to tense back up again, "I'll make sure the next guy who do's me in the girl's toilet's is wearing protection."

"You'd better be kidding."

"About the protection? Of course not. Dad, that's just irresponsible. You raised me better than that," Ada said innocently.

He yelled after her as she darted off to catch up with Greg and Andre, "Ada! Tell me you're kidding!"

She just threw a smile over her shoulder, pushing in between Greg and Andre as they walked. She nudged them with her elbows, "You're lucky you didn't agree. At least now, you get to keep your eyes."

She didn't see her dad grab Keithie, beginning with, "Keithie, my man, I need you to do some recon for me…" and ending with Keithie agreeing, "Okay."

Hey guys, thanks so much for reading!

I'm not one of those authors who hold chapters for ransom, I'd just love it if you could leave me a review!

So, here are the replies from the last chapter. Thanks so much you guys!

Koryandrs: Thanks so much for being my first reviewer! It means a lot to me! I'm so stoked you thought the first chapter looked good, and that you're interested in reading more. A lot of this story will be dialogue, I think, so hopefully that doesn't get too irritating! Thanks again :D I hope you enjoyed this latest update.

Awake until day drake: Aw, thank you! I'm so glad you like, and liked it enough to add to your favourites list! That's so sweet! Thank you so much for taking the time to review my story! It means a lot to me! Hopefully, you enjoyed this chappie :D

Guest: Thanks for taking the time to review, and I'm glad you seem interested in reading more! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!