"Are you ready?" Sid asked, putting on Adelaide's shirt as she walked into her own room from Adelaide's.
"Well," Adelaide said, hugging her pet frog close to her chest. "as long as I got Froggy 2 with me..."
"Sorry." Sid said, holding out her hand. "but no animals are allowed in Chavez Academy." a jolt of panic struck Adelaide, like a bolt of lightning striking close to a tired princess.
"But how am I going to survive without him?" Adelaide asked. "And where is he going to go?"
"He's going to have to come with me." Sid replied, and Froggy 2 reluctantly jumped onto her shoulder. "And don't worry, my friends are awesome! They have you covered."
"Ok..." Adelaide spoke slowly at that, like a newborn trying to figure out a new word. "So basically, I just have to keep my head low?"
Sid smiled widely at her. "Yep!"
Adelaide gulped, feeling a lump go down her throat.. "Well there are some things you should know-"
"How hard can it be to be a seven year old?" Sid asked. "Besides, this is your fault, remember?" Adelaide nodded, "anyway, time to go. Can't be late after all."
After breakfast of course. She was then greeted by Ronnie Anne when she opened the door. "Come on Sid! Let's go!" forcing her muscles into action, she followed Ronnie Anne down the stairs.
"So, you're still Adelaide right?" She asked quietly, and Adelaide nodded. "Ok, first me and Sid go to school together on the subway with your dad."
"Ok." Adelaide said, taking a deep breath in. "I can do this." They walked down the stairs to the outdoors. It felt so weird to have eyes above the railings than below. "So, who are Sid's friends besides you?"
"Nikki, Saymeer, Casey, and Laird." Ronnie Anne replied. "Though we do have more friends. I can catch you up as we head there."
"So..." Sid said quietly to Froggy 2 as she sat on the bus. "What does Adelaide do on her way to school?"
"Ribbit!" Froggy 2 replied, pointing to the window of the bus with one of his hands. "Ribbit, ribbit, ribbit!"
"Seriously? Look out the window? That's all she does?" Froggy 2 nodded. "Doesn't she talk to her friends?" Froggy 2 again shook his head. "Well, I'll make some." Sid decided. She then turned to the boy next to her. "Hello! Who are you?"
"You already know." he grumbled, turning his head away. He seemed to have skin that was only a shade or two darker than a 'normal white', with black hair.
Okay...Sid turned her head to the girls behind her. "Hello!" she said with a friendly smile. "What's your name?"
"Did you hit your head Adelaide?" one of the girls asked, giving Sid a concern. "You already know all of us."
Sid did a wide nervous grin. "Right, right." she said, sitting back down. "So is it always like this?" She asked Froggy 2, who nodded.
"Ribbit ribbit ribbit ribbit croak." He explained, before crossing his arms and giving Sid a look. "Croak ribbit."
"Well I'm not her," Sid replied. "I can make friends. Besides 'catch up'? I'm older than her by six years, what could I possibly learn?"
"Older by six years?" The boy next to her asked, turning his head. "What are you talking about Adelaide?"
"Nothing!" she said quickly, her eyes like ovals as her gaze flickered around the bus. "Just a dream I had!"
"Ugh, see?" one of the girls behind her said. "It's her Mom Genes. And now she's going to get all offended."
Well them accusing Adelaide of being predictable aside, "That's my Mom, you're insulting." She growled, turning around and peering at them from over the seat.
"Ribbit." Froggy 2 said, before the bus lurched and she found herself in the girls laps. Apparently having different ages was more than just size.
"Get off!" the girl shouted, shoving her off roughly onto the floor, her butt got a nice taste of the floor after the bus lurched forward.
"Adelaide Chang, no rough housing." Sid groaned as her head hit the ground. Now looking out the window seemed like the most appealing thing. Dragging herself to her feet, she sat back in her seat.
"Wait, so that's what happened in the cryptid?" Adelaide asked as they walked into the house. "Man, how did I not even know this was happening?"
"Don't know." Ronnie Anne replied before waving. "Hey guys!" she ran over to a small cluster of people, Adelaide followed. "Thank goodness you're all here. We have an emergency on our hands."
"What is it?" the redhead asked nervously, and Ronnie Anne looked around the halls, surveying for anyone.
"So the problem is that yesterday there was an explosion in Sid's apartment." they gasped, concern written all over their faces. That was the right meta-for right? "Si-Adelaide, why don't you explain?"
"Adelaide?" the tall blonde haired girl said, as Adelaide felt all eyes on her. She looked down where Froggy 2 normally was, but remember he wasn't there.
"Um…." she gulped. "Yesterday I was in Sid's room, looking around, when she cut Froggy 2's tongue." she scowled. "We fought over her dumb robot, and then it just had to have an explosion . Somehow, I ended up in her body, and she in mine." they stared at each other, then at her, then burst out laughing.
"Guys," Ronnie Anne said as Adelaide looked down on the ground. "I'm serious! I helped Sid clean up the ashes!"
"No." Adelaide whispered, grabbing her arm. "I don't want her to get laughed at for my mistake. Besides, I don't think I could prove it, we just met." Back to them. "Yes, we were joking."
"Thought so." the tall girl said, a warm smile on her face. "Though it is rare for you to pull a joke like that."
"Come on Sid, time for our first class with Mrs. Galiano. She hates note passing, so be sure to look through all your notes before we get in." Adelaide chuckled. Ronnie Anne was as subtle as Carl.
"Ok." Sid panted, forcing herself to her feet after being trampled by her classmates. At least she knew how Laird felt. "First class. Can't be that hard." she looked around. "Um...where is the class?"
"Ribbit." Froggy 2 pointed, and Sid followed. Walking through the halls, she soon found the door. The classroom itself was what you'd' expect from a second grade classroom. A reading area, tables to sit at, and a small book area in the back corner.
Letting the frog guild her to her seat, she sat down. The class was in the middle of learning math. "Ok class. What is two times three?"
"Six." Sid replied, leaning back in her chair. This was going to be easy, maybe she could focus on meeting Adelaide's classmates.
"Can you please write it out?" the teacher asked. Sid agreed and walked up to the front. She then wrote down: 2x3=6. "I said write it out." The teacher replied.
"But I did." Sid protested with a loud groan. It cannot be that hard. It's literally two times three!
"Fully." the teacher ordered. Sid stared at her before groaning at it. 3+3=6. "Now can you please do 7x5?" 7+7+7+7+7=35. "Thank you Adelaide."
That was annoying. Sid grumbled mentally as she headed to her seat.
"T-t-the timeline to the American revolution?" Adelaide asked nervously, and Mrs. Galino nodded. "W-well, didn't it start with taxes that led to the Boston Tea Party? T-t-then they went to war, before they won and founded America?"
"Yes, but what were the two inciting battles called?" Adelaide felt a flash of panic. She'd never learn this!
"The shot heard around the world?" the teacher narrowed her eyes, and Adelaide felt her heart beating faster. "Conquered?"
"Did you even study?" Adelaide lowered her head, and reluctantly shook her head. "Let's see how little you studied. Pop Quiz!" everyone groaned, and Adelaide felt like running away and hiding under a desk to avoid it. Instead she sat down, and tried to remember every non-animal or train fact she'd ever heard.
Sid had to admit, learning multiplication got boring in a hurry. But the other kids weren't really interested in talking to the 'weird kid with the frog'. Now she saw why Adelaide was so attached to Carl.
She was doomed. Not only did everyone hate her for giving them a pop quiz, but she had so bad on it she had to see the teacher after class! Was it really her fault for not knowing things like: who betrayed the revolution? All the names looked the same to her!
Besides, some questions were impossible to answer without having learned it. Such as: What was the name of the five people killed in the Boston Massacre? But still, she felt nervousness in every step as she walked up to the teacher. "Ok." she said. "First off, why did your handwriting change?" Crud. "But the important thing is, why the heck are your answers like a seven year old's?" Because I am a seven year old. "What are you talking about?" she froze. Crud. I said that out loud didn't I?
"I-I-I-It was a joke." she stammered. "I just completely blanked on studying and forgot the answers, it's not that I don't know them, it's just that I panicked and didn't have my frog."
"You know how little sense that makes?" she nodded. "You're going to have to stay after school with me." Adelaide nodded, and walked out…
Before realizing she had no idea where to go. She sighed, and decided to do a tried and true method of searching for the class by barging into every room.
"Ok, so she seriously plays with no one?" Sid asked, sitting in a tree with Froggy 2 in the pocket of her clothing.
"Ribbit." he agreed with a nod. "Ribbit croak croak croak." Sid chuckled at the Frog's remark.
"Seriously?" she asked, her eyes widening at that. "That's certainly an interesting incident."
"Ribbit ribbit ribbit." he confirmed. "Croak ribbit ribbit ribbit ribbit. Croak croak croak croak croak croak. Ribbit ribbit ribbit ribbit." And so Sid listened to the frog drone about his admittedly pretty cool dream.
Adelaide panted as she ducked under a flying ball before being smacked in the head by a new one. So far her new body hadn't been causing any trouble, it was still rather lean and fast, so she hadn't really noticed it. But the additional weight she was not used to, and found herself on the floor, head smacked against it. "Are you ok?" Ronnie Anne asked.
"I'm fine." Adelaide replied, though she might have what Mrs. Casagrande called a cun-cussion. Or would it be Sid having it because it was her body? Argh, whoever's head it was, it hurt right now.
"Are you ok Sid?" the tall girl Adelaide now knew was Nikki asked. "You seem a bit… off today. Between the joke,"
"Forgetting when and where class is, and arriving late." the redhead boy she knew was Laird added.
"And now this." the kid she wasn't sure if was bald or not whose name was Saymeer said. Adelaide shrugged. It wasn't her fault they didn't listen to her the first time.
Finally, finally, finally class was over. She ran all the way through the halls, and bumped into Ronnie Anne. "Hey Ronnie Anne! Where's Ad-" she caught herself. "Sid?"
"She had to stay behind with a teacher." She explained. "We had a surprise pop quiz about the American Revolution, and well..."
"Dang it." Sid grumbled. "History has always been one of her weakest subjects." she looked up. "We'll just have to go to the ring without her. Say that I was sick or something."
"I don't think that's a-" before Ronnie Anne could finish, Sid grabbed her hand and dragged her through the halls.
At the end of the halls, was the lucha libre fighting club. Bursting in, everything was set up and ready. The ring, the bots, everything. "Hey guys." Becky said, a bright smile on her face. "Which robot am I beating up today?"
"Mine." Ronnie Anne growled, picking up her remote. "And no, you're not going to win."
"I'll be the judge of that!" Becky barked, before blinking and looking around. "Where's Sid?"
"Ri-" Sid caught herself. "-Ight in extra help. She had trouble on a history test, and is getting extra help."
"That's weird, usually she does ok on those." Laird said, putting a whistle around his neck. "Oh well."
"Anway." Sid siad, dashing off, moving as fast as her legs could take her. "Where do we keep the records?"
"We?" Becky asked, raising an eyebrow. Froggy 2 angrily croaked at Sid. "I don't know you, who are you anyway?"
"I'm Adelaide, and I meant, where do you keep the records?" Sid replied, giving one of those big cheezy grins.
"You're related to Sid aren't you?" Laird asked, narrowing his eyes. "Your 'I'm lying smiles' are the exact same."
"I'm her little sister, Adelaide." Sid replied, managing to not add anything like 'annoying' or 'is responsible for this whole mess' or even 'she really likes to screw up my plans.' "Where do you keep the records of the participants and the bot fights?" she was already running there, she just needed to keep up appearances.
"Right there." Ronnie Anne said pointing. Sid picked it up, and immediately pulled out the month.
"Hey!" Becky shouted, her footsteps coming closer. "Those are club members only! Don't mess them up!"
"Let her go through it." Ronnie Anne replied, holding u[per her hand. "As long as she isn't messing anything up."
Looking through, it was normal, normal, normal, random mysterious one time transfer student, normal, nor-wait what?! She looked at the file again. "Did you find anything?"
"Someone by the name of Ails Doul." Sid said, holding up the file. "Remember? That weird transfer student!"
"Why is there a green capital L at the bottom of the page?" Laird asked, pointing. "Next to where the signature is." And indeed there was. A small green one, two in fact. LL, like a code.
"Well, that can mean several things." Sid said thoughtfully. "Either A. She's a leprechaun. B, it's just her symbol. Or C, Ails Doul is not her real name."
"Hold on," Becky said, holding out an arm. "You lost me. Sure Alis was a bit weird, but she wasn't mean or anything. And not just anyone can build a robot."
"I'll have to ask Lincoln about this later." Ronnie Anne replied. "I'm sure between his family, my family, and your family, we can cook something up from this."
