Hello, guys! This one has been in the making for quite some time. I am having a lot of fun writing this one and I hope everyone is enjoying reading it. I like seeing multiple visitors on the traffic flow page; I wish I knew what some of you were thinking.
Personal thank yous to my reviewers: Plantasticphil and imdefinitelynotaserialkiller.
Remember, anyone can always review or PM me. I only own my OCs, which I will list at the bottom. Read and review!
Fifth grade starts for the crew soon enough. Fifth graders get two teachers. One is for science, math and social studies. The other is for language arts, reading and vocabulary. Their first teacher's name is Miss Morgan and their second teacher's name is Dr. Hugle.
It is soon Halloween week and this year's theme is cartoon idols. They are asked to dress like their favorite cartoon characters that mean something to them. Shane buys a black wig and grabs some nerdy glasses with the lenses poked out for a complete Mandark look. Joey comes in dressed like Beast Boy with even green face paint and hair. Felix buys an already-made costume so he can be Courage, and Zack has the most simplistic costume to be Bloo, the imaginary friend.
Marzia gets her hair in pigtails and uses an eyebrow pencil to make herself have a unibrow to look like Helga G. Pataki. PJ borrows some of Joey's green face paint (which he's basically got covering his whole body), and he does the same – minus the hair. He straightens his hair, though, and adds shades to complete the look of Ace D. Copular. Lucas comes in wearing a fake nose and a dopey baseball cap, resembling Billy from Grim Adventures.
Jamie comes in with his hair in a chip flip, wearing a duck on his green overalls. He is Phil Deville. Chris makes a spectacle of himself, dressing as the wannabe-human-alien Zim. Frankie, Dan and Phil, though, raise a lot of suspicion. Like last year, Dan and Phil have dressed like girls. This time, Frankie is joining them. Frankie has got himself looking mechanical with the help of his grandpa and younger sister. He is XJ9. Dan has gotten a long black wig and has come to school in an oversized long-sleeved green shirt that drapes over him like a dress.
He borrowed it from Joey's older sister Nicole. She is fourteen and a high school freshman. Dan is Numbah Three. Phil has tried dying his hair blonde, but it has come out as orange-red. He has instead gotten a blonde wig. His older brother Martyn is seventeen and a high school junior. He had to brush out Phil's wig hair and place it in a ponytail. Phil throws on a green girly top and a pair of khakis, and he is Cindy Vortex. Again, they are cut off from the rest of the school – though they are photographed for the yearbook.
Though this ostracizing lasts a while, it isn't completely long lasting. By the time they reach mid-November, Chris overhears Anthony and Ian talking about a rated R movie coming out. It is rated R for marijuana use, gang violence and language – but it is the hottest movie of the year. The sixth graders are sneaking in with some high schoolers and suddenly Chris has a brilliant plan.
"You want us, to sneak into that movie?" Felix hisses while riding on the bus.
"Yeah! It's supposed to be the coolest ever!"
"I think it's stupid. And a stupid idea." Zack crosses his arms.
"How do we even sneak in?" Jamie asks carefully.
"Easy." Chris smirks. "We buys tickets for that cat movie, and sneak through to the next theatre, and then the next one. That's where it's playing."
"I went to see Kitty Klueless with Allie. It's a musical about cats on a pirate ship. And it's really cheesy." Lucas comments. "Sudden Freedom sounds like a plan. I'm in."
"I am so in." Phil adds excitedly.
Dan and Shane agree. The rest just fall in with them. The kids go through Friday evening and Saturday as per normal. At four pm on Saturday, they head out to the theatre. Marzia's mom takes her, Felix, PJ and Joey. Zack's mom takes him, Frankie, Dan, Jamie and Lucas. Shane, Phil and Chris walk. Twelve tickets to Kitty Klueless and Zack grabs a lot of concessions. They settles in down front and off to the side. The previews are showing and the ushers are checking tickets. After the title is shown and a hoard of young children are singing along with the theme song, Chris signals the others. They drop to their hands and knees, and crawl behind the screen.
Once they make it to the correct movie, they crawl to an off row of seats, directly beneath the glow of the screen. Bullets fly fast as cuss words and insults, but Frankie, Marzia and PJ are bored. The former two are cracking jokes and making up witty banter, better than the script itself. The latter has already fallen asleep. Lucas keeps predicting what'll happen next but keeps getting it wrong. Jamie and Felix are scared, hiding behind the others and wanting to melt out of their seats.
Joey follows Zack back to Kitty Klueless, but the former returns shortly after. Dan is emulating the noises to scare Felix, while Chris and Phil are shouting at the screen – to tell the characters what they should be doing, ignoring other patrons' complaints. Shane is even egging on the mob boss. Soon though, before the movie ends, the complaints are too much. A couple ushers are called in, and thankfully, Joey notices. The kids drop to their hands and knees and sneak out of the movie. They bypass a romance movie and join Zack at the end of Kitty Klueless, where he is singing along.
The kids keep this sneak a secret to themselves – while they sing the catchy Kitty Klueless songs without even realizing it. KK becomes an ironic movie for all to watch. The songs become a big deal, especially for PJ. Once the music hits his mind, he will not shut up in singing along. It has gotten to the point that Felix and Phil will tackle him to the ground whenever he opens his mouth if cheesy music is nearby. Luckily, this subsides by December when the KK songs are replaced by holiday carols.
After the holiday break, Jamie has emerged as a bragger. His brother Clinton is seventeen and got a car for Christmas. His other brother Timmy is seven and got a battery-powered pedal car for Christmas. Jamie got an ATV. Felix and Frankie have no time for this, thrusting all their attention towards their schoolwork. Felix actually becomes aggressive toward those who keep him from doing his work, like when Chris wanted to show everyone the new desk he had woodcrafted with Marzia and Zack's help, for their clubhouse. Marzia is a tomboy and Zack keeps tackling people – primarily Frankie, attempting to get the latter to have fun.
By March, Lucas has begun whining over everything – due to no one paying him attention at home. His oldest sister, Maria, is nineteen and is arguing with their parents over whether she should be in college. The second oldest, Emily, is fourteen and is arguing with their parents over her right to date a boy who is half a year older. Stephanie is twelve and she thinks she deserves a later curfew than just eight o'clock. Lucas's younger sister Allie is seven and wants to go to a sleepover with her classmates – including boys. Amid it all, Kayla is only a year and needs constant attention. Lucas feels left out at home and he is becoming a burden on his friends.
Phil has started stealing things from other classmates – pencils, candy, and lunches – to please Lucas's bellyaching. Shane and Dan feel like they are living on the edge of the friend group the way everyone is changing so quickly. Joey is also pining for attention at his home since his fourteen-year-old sister Nicole has started collecting Barbie dolls. He is a little more aggressive in the manner though, ripping the dolls' heads off and switching them around. He keeps it at this medium, however, and never acts out toward his friends.
When April comes around, all the fifth graders are required to watch a sex education video. Their reactions come in variety and are interesting, to say the least. Felix and Marzia are barely watching, opting to instead work on their homework. Marzia is squirming though she and he already know this, because it makes her uncomfortable. She is subtler than Lucas, who spends the video making gagging noises. Shane, being bored, already knows this as well, manages to sneak out of the room, and eventually heads to the playground with the sixth graders.
Jamie, the ever curious, looks up to Ms. Cair, the audio-visual teacher and asks, "So, a clitoris? Do boys have that?"
Seated nearby, Ms. Cair also hears Chris's grumbled addition. "I thought babies came out of your tummy…"
She asks to speak to the two of them when the film is over. Dan and Joey are uncomfortable, squirming in their seats, while PJ and Frankie loudly voice their simultaneous opinions.
"What the heck was that? Who lied to me?"
After calming the class down, Ms. Cair returns with Jamie and Chris. "Does anyone else want to talk with me about what we just watched?"
All eyes divert toward Phil in the back, who is giggling. "That was weird."
At the end of May, Maria is set for college in the fall, and Emily is dating. Stephanie's curfew is extended to eight-twenty, and Allie is allowed to go to co-ed sleepovers if there are more girls than boys and they are all about the same age. Their dad Dave is rocking Kayla to sleep and their mom Molly finally has some one-on-one time with her only son Lucas.
"Do you feel butterflies in your tummy when he looks at you?"
Lucas nods with a smile. She smiles as well.
"That's it then, you're in love."
"And, you're not upset?"
"Why would I be upset that my baby boy has already found a love?" She clicks her tongue.
He looks downcast. "Cause I didn't think boys were supposed to like boys like that."
"Honey, you can't helping liking who you like, and I won't ever give any reason not to. If you love this boy, then you love him. And I support you."
The kids separate over the next couple of months. Felix, Marzia and Frankie head to summer school. Shane, Jamie, Joey and Chris head to different camps. Phil and Lucas leave with Clinton, Martyn and Maria on a college road trip. This leaves Dan, Zack and PJ by themselves. They join a community summer baseball team, though Dan proves to not be very physical when it comes to sports. He doesn't make the team and mostly plays video games against a computer every day.
Soon, everyone is back and they are starting sixth grade. The sixth, seventh and eighth grades are in a separate building still on school grounds. There are many differences. First off, there are minischools within the grades – students are randomly chosen to be in either minischool A or B. Also, there are roughly twelve to fifteen total students in each minischool, as well as five classes each minischool goes to, along with a lunch break for each grade as a whole, and no recess for grades seven and eight.
In 6A, the teachers are Mr. Zan for science, Miss Hunt for history, Mr. Enten for math, Mr. Nave for linguistics and writing, and Miss Ray for rotation. In 6B, the teachers are Mr. Brandon for math, Mr. Hammett for linguistics and writing, Miss Witz for rotation, Mr. Derryberry for history, and Mrs. Millraney for science. Lunch is between their second and third classes, and recess is between their third and fourth classes. All the sixth graders stand off to the side and are called to either join Mr. Zan or Mr. Brandon for first class, including various people the group does not recognize.
Marzia, Felix and Jamie are called to Mr. Zan, and Lucas is the first to be called to Mr. Brandon. Chris is also in 6B, and PJ is in 6A. Two girls named Tiffany and Aisha are also called to 6A, while two boys named Cody and Link are called to 6B. Jarrell, Zoë and Rhett join 6A. Shane and Frankie, along with Brigit and would-be-seventh-grader Anthony are in 6B. Joey, Zack and a girl named Rachel who would rather be called RCL are in 6A. The rest of the students – Lisa, Cat, Dan and Phil – are brought into 6B.
The kids separate and attend to their respective first classes: science for 6A and math for 6B. In 6A, there is a seating arrangement by first name. Aisha and Felix share a double desk at the front of the room. Behind them are Jamie and Jarrell, and Joey and Marzia. Across the room from Aisha and Felix are PJ and RCL. Behind them are Rhett and Tiffany, followed by Zack and Zoë. Mr. Zan dives directly into the first lesson, about mitochondria.
Over in 6B, Mr. Brandon has them in a different seating arrangement: arranged by the amount of letters in their names – the names they go by. Up front is a circle group of Anthony, Frankie and Brigit. By the window is a circle group of Shane, Lucas and Chris. By the whiteboard is a circle group of Phil, Link and Lisa. Last, by the cupboards, is a circle group of Cody, Dan and Cat. He encourages the kids to work in groups to solve the problems to see how far along academically they are.
These seating arrangements are made the same for all classes. Marzia doesn't mind sharing a desk with Joey, but she feels lost in the new building. She stays quiet and opts for the corner whenever possible. Felix, on the other hand, wants to make as many new friends as possible in case he needs someone "to fall back on", as he puts it. In history, he turns to Aisha.
"So, do you read?"
She turns to him with a raised eyebrow. "What do you think I'm doing? Trying to count the years?"
He blushes. "No. I mean like, read? Like, do you like to read?"
"Do I like class? No, I'm not a nerd."
"Yeah, um, you don't look like one."
"Oh, and what do I look like, Mr. Stereotypical?"
"Uh, nothing. I'm sorry."
He returns to his book with a sigh. He has no idea how he will survive this year. Thankfully, lunch soon brings him from despair. There are two lunch lines – today line one has cheese pizza or jelly sandwiches, and line two has cheeseburgers or salads. They are told the lunches change daily. However, Jamie has brought his lunch and his grandpa has packed in about ten extra cosmic brownies. He loudly asks if anyone would like one. Lucas, who has also brought his lunch nabs two.
"Jamie, right?" Jarrell asks as he grabs one and takes a seat at the table.
"Yeah. Um, Jarrell?"
"Yep."
Tiffany and Rhett from his classes also grab one each and take seats. Link, Cody, Cat and Lisa from the other class each grab one and take the remaining seats. Anthony grabs the remaining brownie and thunks Jamie's head. Jamie sits down a little upset that the brownies are gone, when Lucas brandishes the second one.
"Saved you one."
"Thanks." Jamie smiles, taking the treat.
Though Lucas is sat beside Jamie, he feels left out since his friend is busy with the others due to his snack choice.
"You're adorable."
"Huh?" A lightly toned girl sitting across from him lifts Lucas from his solitary pity party. "Adorable?"
She giggles. "You got the cosmic all over your chin. I'm Lisa by the way."
"Lucas. We're in the same class."
Chris is sitting at a nearby table with PJ, Shane, Marzia, Felix, Joey and two other girls: Brigit and Zoë. He is shamelessly flirting with the latter, hoping to have a girlfriend this year. The others catch up, while Brigit keeps to herself, writing in a secret journal of sorts. The remainder of the sixth graders are sitting at a small circle table. Dan and Phil go over the classes they've experienced, hoping to prep the other for later. Aisha picks at her salad, glaring at the "popular table." RCL is painting her nails rather than eat any lunch. Zack and Frankie are likewise going over their classes, the former not willing to find anything out about the people he doesn't know.
Lunch is over far too soon and PJ discovers a hidden talent in variable mathematics. He is having a lot of fun. Joey tries to get mathematically popular as well, but his attitude gets the better of him. He gets frustrated when PJ can easily correct him on whiteboard problems and eventually, Joey just gives up. He slumps over his desk in a huff.
"What an emo." He hears Jarrell cough under his breath.
Joey just wants to sink lower and disappear. In 6B, rotation is in art. Shane is antsy and loudly complains that he does not do art, that he has never been good in art.
"Mr. Dawson," Miss Witz reprimands him. "One more outburst, and you are looking at a detention on your first day."
"Good!" He shouts, knocking over an easel.
True to her word, she assigns him a detention and informs him he will not be having recess today either. This doesn't bother him and he sits inside while the rest of his class joins the other outside. He is left under the eye of the detention overseer: Coach Eleiber. Outside, Zack joins Rhett, Jarrell, Anthony, Link and Cody in a game of warfare. Warfare is a kickball modification for shortness of players, in which the ball must be caught and the kicker must be tackled by the catcher, to be out. Frankie, Dan and Phil are visibly upset by this after he had said just hours ago that he had no intentions of joining any other friend groups.
Frankie decides he should form his own extra friend group due to this. He heads for the monkey bars where Zoë and Brigit are hanging upside down. He climbs up and joins them, relating almost instantly. Lucas is hanging out with Lisa, Marzia is reading under a tree, Jamie is sitting on the bridge banister with Tiffany, Felix and Chris are separately watching the game, Joey is sulking in the tunnel, and PJ is hanging out with RCL, Aisha and Cat by playing HORSE. Left out of their once-tight friend group, Dan and Phil take the unattended swings and hang out with each other.
As they swing, Dan starts moving sideways and purposely crashes into Phil. The boy with the black hair gives out a yelp of surprise falling out of the swing and Dan only laughs as he falls out as well. Phil gets his revenge quickly, tackling Dan to tickle him until Dan screams out that Phil has won. Recess is over much too soon and groups are broken as the kids file into their respective minischools and head to their next classes: Linguistics and Writing for 6A and History for 6B.
Back in their groups, Cody leans in and grabs Dan's shirt. "Hey, dude. You gay?"
"Huh?" This question has surprised him.
"When you were rolling around with that emo freak," Dan winces at Phil being called a freak. "You looked like more than friends. You gay?"
"No." He winces. "He's just my best friend."
"You sure?" He raises an eyebrow.
Cat smacks his arm. "Cut it out, Cody. If he says he's not gay, he's probably not gay."
"Thanks." Dan mutters.
She says something else, but Dan doesn't hear her. He looks away from both his table and Phil, staring at the board instead. He isn't paying attention to the teacher, though. He has something on his mind that has never crossed his mind before. 'Am I gay?' Before last class of the day starts, a strong arm grabs Phil from the hallway and drags him into the bathroom. A couple of older boys leer at him, thrusting him against the wall.
"Who are you? What do you want?"
"Relax, kid. I'm Antonius. This here is my brother Vijay."
"Sup, New Meat?"
"Uh, hi. I'm"
"Phil." Antonius interrupts. "We know. What we want to know is, are you gay?"
"Gay?" He repeats. "As in, do I like like boys? No."
Vijay eyes him suspiciously. "Alright, c'mere."
He then drags Phil into the handicapped stall. Antonius follows and locks the door. There is so much smoke in said stall, Phil's eyes water. There is a fan on the wall where most of the smoke is filtering out, but it is definitely still there. Another older boy is slouching over the barely visible toilet, holding a joint. Phil's eyes widen and he attempts to make a break for the door. Unfortunately, Antonius is taller and stronger. He shoves Phil against the wall, his lower back hitting one of the handicap bars. When Phil cries out in pain, Antonius jams a joint in Phil's mouth, clamping it shut and plugging the younger boy's nose with one hand.
Phil inevitably is forced to breathe via the joint. He nearly collapses, inhaling the smoke. Antonius holds him in place as he ingests another two large puffs. The older boy finally lets go with a harsh laugh and Phil falls to the floor. His legs are weak and his back is in pain. He is unable to move. When the bullies leave, the other boy finally speaks up.
"I'm Melvin."
"Why are you here?" Phil coughs. "You look like their age."
"I am." He wheezes. "They found out that I'm gay and they brought me in here during lunch."
"You've been here since then?"
"Yeah." He coughs again. "You a sixth grader?"
"Yeah."
"Welcome to junior hell."
A couple months pass, and things remain like this. Zack has jock status and Shane rarely gains a recess due to his attitude. Chris is now dating Zoë, and Lucas is dating Lisa. Dan plays on the playground with Phil, but oftentimes his mind is elsewhere or he'll want to awkwardly join in with RCL and Cat. PJ and Aisha are usually off somewhere. Phil is bullied regularly, but he never speaks up about it.
In November, the kids are given group assignments on what they would bring with them to a deserted island if they could only have one thing. In 6A, Felix lets Aisha talk and Jamie would take moisturizer. Joey and Marzia argue over flash grenades or a really good book series. RCL agrees with PJ's choice of a multi-tool Swiss army knife. Rhett says he'd bring his friend Link, causing Tiffany to yell at him for wasting space. While Zoë agrees with Zack's choice of ice cream, she reprimands him about having nowhere to put it – to which he replies they would bury it.
In 6B, Anthony, Brigit and Frankie can easily agree on a battery-powered mini refrigerator on wheels. Shane, Lucas and Chris – on the other hand – all have different ideas. Chris would take an airplane, and Lucas would take a cell phone. Shane cuts them down because Chris didn't mention a pilot and there would be no cell service on a deserted island. He would take Disneyland. Phil demands to his group that they need a yacht. Dan and Cat agree on a boat full of food – Cody is asleep.
In December, before vacation, the junior high division counselors come around. As a breaking ground, they are to ask the students, "What are you afraid of that other people might think is silly?"
This question often gains quite a few strange responses, the most common one being vacuum cleaners. When it comes to the sixth graders, there are some extra interesting answers. Rhett, Tiffany, Link, Lisa, RCL, Zoë and Aisha share the common vacuum phobia, Brigit changing it slightly by saying the pool cleaner vacuum. Marzia is scared of oatmeal simply because it looks like someone threw up in the bowl. Other strange responses include Zack's phobia of red ant, Frankie's phobia of rusty pennies, Joey's phobia of the color neon orange and Felix's phobia of high school dictionaries.
Jamie is scared of being in the kitchen while the dishwasher is loading for the same reason Cat is scared to be in the utilities room while the washing machine is running. Phil is afraid to keep a diary, Dan is scared of Spongebob Squarepants, and Shane has a fear of tall people. Jarrell and Chris are scared of fictional candies and flavors of ice cream. Lucas and Cody have deep-rooted fears of certain baked forms of vegetables. Anthony gets smart and says 'your face', whereas PJ is actually afraid of the pencil sharpeners on the wall, because they might accidentally grind his clothes, hair or fingers.
Over the break, the kids are going on a road trip. Martyn insists on it, able to drive the Lester family van. They don't really go anywhere, just driving wherever, for a week before the holidays. Despite not really being close friends at the time, the word reaches out to all twelve members. Frankie decides to sit up front and choose the music. In the first middle row sits Lucas, Felix and Marzia. The former two almost immediately fall asleep, whereas the latter spends most of the time on the road, reading.
In the second middle row sits Jamie, Zack, Shane and Chris. The first two are playing roadtrip games, Shane complains, and Chris is reading. In back sits Joey, PJ, Dan and Phil. Joey and PJ are enjoying the games with the others. Dan and Phil crawl under the back seats, to sit in the trunk area. They need to talk.
"What is with you?"
"Me?" Phil is offended. "You keep wanting to bring RCL or Cat into our games. Or you want to go play with them."
"You keep ditching science class." Dan hisses. "And then you don't even get on the bus home. But if you do come to class or get on the bus, you smell like air freshener. Like you took a bath in it."
"So what?" Phil huffs. "That proves nothing. Why don't you wanna hang out with me anymore?"
"You stopped hanging out with me first." Dan accuses.
"What?" Phil hisses back, quieter this time. "You think I want to keep going to the big stall instead of class? Have you even met me?"
"Big stall?"
"Forget it." Phil starts crawling back under the seat.
"Phil, what do you mean?" Dan's voice is quieter now, with concern.
Phil hesitates. He wants to tell someone, but he also wants to wait until the bullies graduate, so they can't come after anyone.
"Just forget it." He answers. "Please?"
Dan bites his lip. He really wants to know what is wrong with Phil, but since his friend has basically asked him to trust him, which is what he wants to do.
"Okay." Dan nods, crawling back. "For now."
When break is over, the kids are once again confronted by the counselors. This time, they want to know something that could be good and could be bad. They ask, "What is one thing you don't think your life would be the same without?"
Several students – Rhett, Tiffany, Link, Lisa, RCL, Zoë, Anthony and Jarrell – act smart and say 'air'. Marzia says books, and Felix picks a similar answer: writing. Jamie says 'cats' and Phil says 'dogs'. Dan chooses science fiction, Shane has a wider approach with TV shows, and Cat has an intelligent answer with satellites. Lucas says fresh flowers and Brigit goes into a long spiel about shopping malls. Aisha says cheerleading, PJ says fairy lights, and Chris picks art class. Cody and Frankie say the same thing with photography, and Joey picks fashion. Without putting much thought before his words, Zack says 'kissing Frankie'.
He shuts his mouth after saying it and runs out before the counselor has another thing to say. He bogards his minischool and heads straight into 6B, in the middle of the history lesson. He has had some time to think about this, and he runs in. He grabs Frankie's arm, yelling to the teacher that he needs to 'see the tattoo dragon now' – being the first thing thought of. He drags Frankie into an abandoned seventh grade rotation classroom. Before Frankie can even ask what is happening, Zack closes the door, leans Frankie against it and kisses him.
"Zack?" He gasps.
"I'm sorry." He pulls away. "I just had to do it. I just, it's weird but I, I just"
"Do you wanna go on a date after graduation?"
"And I, a date?"
Frankie smiles. "We can go to the mall, and the amusement park that's opening up. If you want, we can all go and no one has to know it's a date."
"Okay." Zack smiles then. "Sounds like a plan."
Frankie leans up and kisses Zack again. "Sounds like a date."
A few months later, it is May. They are about to have a little graduation ceremony to celebrate moving from sixth to seventh grade. Though they will still be in the same school, they will be losing recess, and adding another class and lockers. Dan and Phil are on better terms and Zack and Frankie are closer. Zack is still a jock and Phil is still getting bullied, but on both instances, it is less frequent. Lucas is no longer dating Lisa, after spotting her kissing Rhett. Aisha and Tiffany are in a constant feud, as well as Marzia's silent anger toward Brigit – who goes on and on about shopping, only to stop to insult someone about almost anything. The sixth graders are on their way to graduate when Brigit pulls Marzia aside.
"This is so cool, am I right?"
"Yeah, it's" She starts.
"I mean, we're essentially moving up and, ew. Nerd alert!" She nudges Marzia, gesturing toward Felix. "Who brings a book to graduation?"
"Enough!" Marzia growls, stepping up to Brigit. "I hope Satan burns you in hell."
Brigit frowns as Marzia storms off, but she recovers quickly and moves on to annoy Zoë. The sixth graders are randomly split in half by two board of education advisors, asking everyone the same question: "Where do you see yourself in ten years?"
One advisor has the full group. PJ says he will be in a church getting married. Frankie thinks he'll be getting married too, while Zack says he'll be traveling the world. Dan expects to have a girlfriend, though he repeats the word 'boyfriend' in his head as he says it. Jamie expects to be making his own family. Felix plans to be head of his own company, and Chris and Joey plan on being ninjas/ninja assassins. Lucas simply says college and Shane causes the woman to step back after saying he'll be a gravedigger. She looks over at the remaining two.
"What about you?"
"I'm gonna be a shrink like my Aunt Maggie." Marzia declares proudly.
"A shrink at age twenty-two. Okay." She jots it down. "And you, Mr. Lester?"
"Easy. I'm gonna be watching anime and living in Japan! That's where I wanna go to college, you know."
"Fascinating."
An hour before graduating, the eighth graders are having their ceremony and the twelve group is enjoying some last minutes on the playground. Despite being dressed aside from the cap, Zack jumps in the puddles and Phil is eating an ice cream cone. Marzia tries some of the sand, just to say she's ate some, and Lucas gets into a fight with Shane over Lisa's intentions. It is a sore subject for Lucas, but it was mentioned and Dan is dragged into the fight. It ends abruptly though, when Phil smushes his ice cream into Lucas's face. He starts laughing and the fight is forgotten.
Joey gives Phil a friendly kiss on the cheek for stopping the fight before it goes out of hand. Catching this fleeting moment, Dan begins to speculate whether any of his friends are gay. He's still not sure if he is. Jamie wishes he could just leave school and not come back, but Frankie talks him out of the craziness. PJ has been acting as lookout and calls for his friends when he spies the principal. It is time for them to be in the auditorium. In the commotion, Felix falls off the swing and Chris falls off the slide. They laugh it off and dust off one another. They grab their caps off the table and take their seats for graduation.
A week after graduation, Frankie and Zack are on their date. When Dan seems to only think about how Phil looks as he sleeps while Martyn drives them to the amusement park, he comes to the realization that not only is he gay, but he may possibly be in love with his best friend. He decides not to say anything, however, and just enjoy being close friends again. When they arrive, and after Martyn has paid for admission, the gang splits up – promising to meet their ride at the front gate for check-in after three hours.
Shane and Felix immediately take lead toward the biggest coasters. Chris and Phil are the most excited, followed by Lucas, Joey and Dan. Frankie and Zack peel away and go have fun on the Ferris Wheel. Jamie and Peej would rather not touch the bigger ones, while Marzia complains about the lack of safety features. Shane and Felix soon ditch the rides to have a race through the mazes. Jamie and Lucas head for the food and game booths set up, while Marzia, Joey, PJ and Chris have fun on the weird rides. Zack and Dan pick the scariest rides for the same reason – Frankie and Phil to hold. Frankie and Zack are keeping their date a secret and Dan is keeping his crush a secret from even Phil.
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Alright! Wow. That was SO much longer than I had anticipated.
OC List:
Fifth Grade
Miss Morgan (teacher 1)
Dr. Hugle (teacher 2)
Clinton Crew (Jamie's older brother)
Timmy Crew (Jamie's younger brother)
Ms. Cair (audio visual teacher)
Sixth Grade
6A teachers
6B teachers
Aisha (bitchy classmate)
Jarrell (classic jerk jock)
Tiffany (bitchy classmate)
Brigit (irritating classmate)
Cody (clueless classmate)
Lisa (flirty classmate)
Coach Eleiber (detention instructor)
Melvin (8th grader bully victim)
I hope you liked it! I loved writing it.
