"I hate you. You tricked me," said Marceline, gettting out of the car and closing the door behind her. Marshall got out of the front seat and closed his car door as well.
"Bye, kids!" yelled their mom out the window.
"Bye!" Marshall and Marceline called back in unison. Then they turned to face the school, Marceline glaring at her brother.
"Anyway, as I was saying, I ha-"
Marshall waved his hand dismissively. "Yeah, yeah, you hate me. The bet stands." He shrugged and stood in front of his sister, looking at her. "But, I suppose, if you want to call this whole thing off, you can just...oh, I don't know, admit defeat and give me the 20 dollars."
"I don't have any money on me," Marceline snapped back.
Marshall put a hand to his ear., "Oh, I'm sorry, what's that? You don't have any money on you? Well, then, I will accept payment later if you want to call it quits. So, what's it gonna be, sis?" He smiled down at her.
Marceline gave her brother an annoyed look for a moment, then walked past him to the school.
Marshall caught up to her. "That's what I thought," he said smugly. He opened the door and gestured for her to go through. She sighed and walked in.
They went to the front office.
"Do ya need my help?" asked Marshall.
"No, but I want it," said Marceline.
"Okay."
They walked into the office and went right up to the desk,
"Hi, I'm here with my sister, Marceline Abadeer," he informed the lady. "It's her first day of high school."
"Hello, Marshall," said the lady who was sitting behind the desk. She glanced over to Marceline. "So you're Marshall's younger sister."
"Yup, that's me."
"Anyway, she needs a locker."
"Of course. " The lady turned to her computer, typed on it for a moment, then looked back at the two teenagers, giving them a small smile. "Locker 116."
"Thanks," said Marceline.
"Um, actually, my mom talked to you on the phone about her having a locker next to mine."
"And I said I'd see what I could do."
"Ok, and?"
"Turns out there wasn't anything I could do."
Marshall groaned.
"But he's my brother."
"Look, if you want a locker change, you'll have to take it up with the principal. Until then, you're at locker 116."
"Has anyone ever told you you have too much power?" Marshall asked in annoyance, crossing his arms.
"Strangely enough, yes," said the lady. "My name is Mrs. Wells," she said to Marceline. "Here is your locker combination," she said, handing Marceline a small piece of paper. "You are welcome to use your own lock or change the combination as you wish."
"Ok, thanks."
"And here is your class schedule." She handed Marceline a large sheet of paper.
"Gimme." Marshall grabbed the paper from his sister. He looked at it for a minute, then said, "Why does she have lunch period B?"
"Yeah, doesn't Marshall have lunch period A? We requested the same lunch period, too."
"Well, as it turns out-"
"Let me guess, there was nothing you could do," Marshall said, annoyed.
"Any changes you need, you'll have to take it up with the principal."
"But-" Marceline began.
"Goodbye, Mr. and Mrs. Abadeer."
"He in there?" asked Marshall.
"Yes."
"Fine, you want us to take it up with him, we'll take it up with him. Come on," he said to his sister.
"Mr. Abadeer-" Mrs. Wells started, but Marshall had already walked over and proceeded to open the door to the office. The principal looked up from some paperwork.
"Ah, Mr. Ababdeer. Nice to see you again. What's the issue? Come in, sit down."
Marshall and Marceline sat, Marceline closing the door behind them.
"So, we were hoping to get my sister moved to lunch period A so we could be together at lunch, and also to get her a locker beside mine."
"The lunch period I can help you out with, however we have already assigned all the lockers. Your sister will have to stick with the one she has, unfortunately."
Marceline sighed. "Fine."
"I'll make sure you have lockers together next year," promised the principal.
"Thanks, Mr. S," said Marshall.
"I'll switch your sister's lunch period in the meantime. You also have science together."
"I noticed," said Marshall. "Thanks, Mr. S."
"Don't give it another thought, Marshall. I understand how the first day of high school can make some people nervous."
"Oh, my sister doesn't get nervous."
"Yeah, I don't," Marceline confirmed.
"Alright, then, will that be all?"
Marceline looked at her brother. "I'm good."
"Alright, I think we're done here. See ya later, Mr. S," said Marshall.
Marshall walked his sister to her locker.
"Ok, here's your locker. I know things didn't go as expected, so I'll give you one last chance to back out-"
"Never gonna happen."
"See you in science," Marshall said with a smile, then walked away.
OOO
Fionna hopped out of bed and made herself breakfast. She made herself some toast with the ends of the bread and then made a note to herself to get groceries after school. Her mom was already gone for the day, Fionna wasn't sure where. She pushed back the loose floorboard that was under her bed, grabbed 20 dollars for groceries, and replaced the board.
She checked the mail for any bills, and found the water bill. She made a note to herself to pay it later, and for the time being, placed it under her floorboard, knowing if her mom saw it, she would ask for an extension.
She walked to the street where she was keeping her bike locked to a bike rack. She unlocked it and rode to school.
Her mom and her had gotten kicked out of their old place, so they had moved all the way across the country to South Carolina. Now she was in a new town, going to a new school. She had discovered a loose floorboard underneath her bed where she was keeping money and a few other small things she didn't want her mom to know about.
She parked her bike in front of the school, locking it to the bike rack.
She headed into the school and prepared to take care of business.
Fionna stood in line for several minutes. She tried not to listen to the two teens in front of her. She didn't want to intrude on their business, but she did hear them say something about not having lockers next to each other. A couple minutes later, they walked away and right into the principal's office without even knocking. Rather than dwell on how she thought that was a bit rude, she went up to the lady at the front desk.
"Hi, my name is Fionna Mertens. I'm here for school."
"Oh, hello, you must be the girl that just transferred here."
"Yup, two days in a new town and then the first day at a new school."
The lady gave Fionna a sympathetic smile. "Not enough time to settle in, huh?"
"We just needed a new start," was all Fionna could think of to say.
Mrs. Wells nodded. "Your locker is number 152."
"Thanks."
"Here is the combination to your locker. You may change your combination or use your own lock if you wish." She handed Fionna a small piece of paper and a larger piece of paper. "And here is your class schedule."
"Thanks," said Fionna.
"Excited?"
"Yup."
"I see you skipped a grade. So you're 14?"
"I'll be 15 in a few weeks."
"Well, enjoy the school. Oh, by the way, you might recognize some famous faces here." She gave Fionna another small smile.
"I better get to class," Fionna responded, smiling back. "Thank you so much."
"Of course. Principal Smith are here if you need anything."
"I'm good. Have a good day."
"You, too," Mrs. Wells called after Fionna.
OOO
Marceline was shoving things into her locker when she heard a voice say, "Hello, locker neighbor."
She poked her head from up over her locker. "Yes?"
"My name is Bonnibel. It's nice to meet you."
"'Sup," Marceline responded.
"And your name would be?"
"Marceline," Marceline muttered. "And I don't shake hands," she added, looking at Bonnibel's hand, which she extended to Marceline to shake.
"Oh." Bonnibel retracted her hand. "Well, welcome to high school."
"Mmm-hmm," Marceline muttered again, returning to shifting things around her locker.
"Is it your first day here?"
"What gave it away?" Marceline grumbled, rolling her eyes from behind her locker door where Bonnibel couldn't see her.
"Mine, too. I've been in high school a year, but my mom just got transferred here. Wait...you're Marceline Abadeer."
"Yuh-huh."
"Wow! I can't believe it's you."
"Yeah, yeah, my dad was famous, so by extension everybody knows me. Can we move on from you fawning over me?"
"My apologies. I didn't mean to upset you."
"Don't worry about it."
"Are you a sophomore as well?"
"Freshman."
"Are you nervous about your first day of high school?"
"I don't get nervous."
"Everybody gets nervous."
"Well, not me."
"Very well. How old are you?"
"14."
"I'm 15."
"Good for you."
Bonnibel peeked over Marceline's locker door. "You should have an organizational system for your locker. I organize my books in order of which subjects I have. From first to last."
"I don't need an organizational system for my locker, and I don't need some girl poking her nose in my business."
"I'm very sorry. I was just trying to help."
The bell rang.
Marceline slammed her locker door shut and put her purple combination lock on it, locking it shut. "Gotta go to class. Bye, Bonnie."
"Actually, it's Bonni...bel," Bonnibel called after Marceline, saying the last syllable more softly.
Bonnibel put the rest of her books in her locker and locked it shut. She started to leave for class, but quickly collided with a girl in a bunny hat.
"Oh! My apologies," she said quickly.
"Sorry, I didn't see you there," said the girl in the bunny hat. "I'm going this way."
"I'm going that way too," said Bonnibel. "Would you like to walk together?"
"Yeah, sure," said the girl. "I'm Fionna."
Bonnibel and Fionna started walking to class together.
"My name is Bonnibel. It's nice to meet you."
"Good to meet you, too."
"I just transferred here. Well, my mom got transferred here."
"So, where'd you come from?"
"Well, I was born in Atlanta, I lived there for a few years, then my mom got a new job, and we ended up moving to Tennesee. Then we moved again 2 years later, this time to Florida. I thought we had settled, but then my mom got transferred again when I was 12. We were living in Montana, then last month she got transferred here. What about you? Where did you grow up?"
"I lived in North Dakota when I was a baby, which is where I was born, then when I was 4, we moved again. We were still in North Dakota, but in a bigger place, and then when I was 11 we moved to Missisippi. And then 3 days ago we moved here."
"Only 3 days?"
"Unfortunately, something suddenly came up, and we had to move."
"Oh. What was it?"
"Huh?"
"What came up that made you have to move?"
Fionna hesitated.
"You don't have to talk about it."
"I would rather not."
"I didn't mean to intrude."
"Don't worry about it."
Are you in homeroom 102?"
"Yeah."
"Me as well."
They both walked into the classroom and sat down beside each other.
OOO
Marceline was planning her escape. All she had to do was be back by science. Her brother would never know. She would go to homeroom, then duck out during her first class.
Homeroom was boring. Just the usual stuff. Marceline, in the meantime, was meticulously planning everything that could go wrong and how she would deal with it. She couldn't admit to her brother that she was giving up on the bet, but she had to get away from school.
Marceline's first class was math, her most hated subject. This was where she planned her exit.
Marceline was walking to class, thinking over her escape, when she heard someone saying, "Excuse me!" getting louder each time. She sighed and spun around to help.
She saw a girl in a hat with bunny ears trying to push by two guys who were just standing around talking facing the same direction as the girl who was pushing to get by. Marceline could tell she was fighting a losing battle.
Marceline sighed again, realizing she was going to have to handle this, and went closer to the boys.
"Hey!" she said loudly, and the two boys looked over at her. "Give the girl some room."
"We'll be done in a minute," said one of the boys.
Marceline marched over, shoved them out of the way with little effort, and pulled the girl through by her hand.
"Hey!" snapped the boy who had spoken earlier.
"Dude, I think that's Marshall's sister," said his friend. "Let's get outta here."
The two rushed away.
"Thank you," said the girl, relieved.
"Don't mention it."
"I'm Fionna."
"Marceline." Marceline turned and started leaving.
Fionna went after her.
"Why are you following me?"
"I'm not. I'm going to room 114 for math class."
"Oh. I got the same math class," Marceline muttered absentmindedly.
"Cool! I guess I'll see you there."
"Yeah, don't count on it. I'm going to the mall."
"You're skipping class?"
"Yep."
"Wait, you can't skip on the first day."
"Watch me."
"But-"
"Look, goody two shoes, I'm gonna do what I want with or without your permission."
Fionna paused as Marceline continued walking.
"I'll tell Marshall!" she called after Marceline.
Marceline turned around and walked right up to Fionna. "You don't even know my brother."
"I'll just look for the boy who looks just like you."
"Why do you care if I skip class?"
"It's my first day in school, and I don't really know anyone. But...you were nice to me."
Marceline sighed. "Come on," she said, heading into math class.
Fionna smiled a little and headed after her.
Marceline quickly spun around. "But you can't tell Marshall anything about this."
Fionna nodded. "Deal."
OOO
Once in science class, Marceline grabbed a seat with a free desk beside her. Fionna walked up to the teacher and whispered something in her ear.
Marceline watched with a mixture of curiosity, confusion, and interest. Her confusion faded when the teacher opened the closet with all the school supplies in it and handed her an old textbook, some paper, and a few pencils.
Marceline waved her over to the desk beside her, and Fionna went over and sat down.
The teacher started the lesson, and Marceline leaned over to Fionna.
"Why do you need school supplies from the closet?"
"I'd rather not say."
"Why?"
"It's kind of embarrassing to talk about."
"You can talk to me."
Fionna sighed. "My family just doesn't have a lot of money."
"Well, listen, if you need some extra school supplies, you can always ask me."
"Really?"
"Yeah. I'll give you some notebooks, paper, pencils, anything you need."
"Wow, thanks. I really appreciate that."
"Yeah, of course. Hey, let me see your schedule. I wanna see if we have any other classes together."
Fionna went to give Marceline her schedule, but the teacher said, "Girls, no passing notes in class."
"We weren't," said Marceline. "I just wanted to see her schedule."
"Well, regardless of what you were passing, there is a time and place for that, and it's called lunch. Now everyone please open your books to page-"
Marceline and Fionna got lost in math for the next 45 minutes, then when it was time to leave Marceline and Fionna hung back a bit so Marceline could give her some school supplies out of the searching eyes of the class.
"Thank you," said Fionna quietly.
"No problem. Kids can be cruel. I'll keep this on the down low."
"No, I mean, for helping me. And for making me feel welcome. Like a friend."
"I take it you don't have many."
"Take away the M and you're right on," Fionna said, putting the tips of her pointer fingers together.
"So, how'd you get here?"
"We moved from another state."
"How long ago did you get here?"
"Like, 3 days ago."
Marceline looked surprised. "Wow, no wonder you haven't had any time to make friends."
"Yeah, I'm not always good at making friends."
"Well, you have one."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"I gotta get to class." Fionna left quickly.
Right after Fionna left, the teacher called her up to her desk.
"Am I in trouble already?" asked Marceline.
"No, I just wanted to tell you that what you're doing for that girl is very sweet."
"Thanks. Please don't tell anyone. I don't want people to know she hasn't got a lot of money. Kids can be jerks."
"I won't say a word."
"Thanks. Can I go to class?"
"Yes."
OOO
Marshall looked somewhat surprised when his sister walked into science class.
Marceline plopped down in the seat beside him with a smug look on his face.
"Well, well, well, look who's here." Marshall grinned at Marceline. "I thought you would've given up by now."
"No way," said Marceline confidently. "I am making it through the day, and you are gonna owe me that 20 bucks."
"Alright then." Marshall opened up his science textbook.
OOO
The day sort of drifted by as one class faded into another. Marceline barely paid attention. Everytime she was in class with Fionna, they sat together. They had another class together. Marceline vowed to look at her schedule over lunch. Marceline wasn't exactly the most social kid, but her mother taught her to be nice to everyone, and she could tell this girl needed a friend. She told herself she would be there for the girl. Lunchtime came around, and Marceline walked into the cafeteria and saw Fionna sitting alone. She grabbed a lunch tray and went to buy some food.
Marceline bought about 15 dollars worth of food, glancing back at Fionna to see her dumping only an apple out of her lunch bag. She quickly grabbed another lunch tray and grabbed a few slices of pizza, a couple snacks, a couple of desserts, a soda, and put it on the lunch tray. The total came to about $40. Marceline handed the money to the lunch lady and walked over to Fionna's table with the two trays, slipping one across the table to Fionna.
"Here." Fionna looked at the lunch tray in surprise.
Fionna stared at the food for a moment, opening and closing her mouth like a fish out of water. Finally, she said, "Why?"
Marceline looked at her in confusion. "Because you deserve a decent meal," she said slowly.
"No, why do this for me? You barely know me."
"My parents taught me to be good to everyone. And you need someone looking out for you."
Fionna opened her mouth to say something else, then closed it again.
"Dude, if you're gonna keep opening your mouth like that, at least put some pizza in there."
Fionna wanted to protest, but her stomach grumbled. She picked up a piece of pizza and took a big bite. Fionna hadn't had pizza in over a year. The combination of cheese, sauce, bread, and pepperoni was amazing. Fionna savored it. She quickly wolfed down a slice. The food was better than any she'd had in a long time. And there was so much of it. Fionna was used to only having one or two small meals throughout the day, and maybe a snack. This was more food than she consumed in a week. Marceline grabbed the apple.
"Here, get rid of this dumb brown apple." She tossed it, aiming towards the trash. Instead she hit a boy maybe a few inches taller than her with short black hair.
"Ow, what the heck?" Marshall turned around and spotted his sister. He grinned at her, still rubbing the back of his head.
"Oops," said Marceline, smiling sheepishly.
"I should've known it was you. It's the first day of school and you're already trying to start a food fight."
"I was aiming for the trash, I swear."
"Yeah, sure." Marshall plopped down beside Fionna. "Hey, what's up," he said, nodding towards her.
"You must be Marshall," said Fionna.
Marshall waved his hand dismissively. "Yeah, yeah, famous father and all."
Fionna looked confused. "Famous father? What are you talking...? Marceline mentioned you, is all."
"Oh. Okay."
"So, your dad is famous." It was more of a statement than a question.
"Mmmm-hmm," Marshall said through a bite of pizza.
"Anyone I might have heard of?" Fionna asked before beginning to munch on another bite of pizza.
"Hunson Abadeer," said Marceline, squirting ketchup onto her tray to dip her fries in.
"Never heard of him," muttered Fionna.
Marshall and Marceline gave each other a weird look, and Marshall was about to say something else, but Marceline shook her head at him. Marshall shrugged and kept eating. He reached over to Fionna's tray and grabbed a fry off it. Marceline glared at him, but he barely noticed. He soon grabbed another fry from her tray.
"Marshall," Marceline said in an annoyed voice.
"What?" said Marshall, chewing on fries.
Marceline just glared at him for a moment, then went back to eating.
A few moments later, Marshall tried to grab another fry from Fionna while Marceline was looking away. Marceline quickly spun around and slapped his hand away.
"Ow!" Marshall rubbed his hand with the other. "What the heck?"
"Quit taking food from her," said Marceline.
"What? She's got plenty. Besides, I do it with all my buds."
"We're buds?" asked Fionna.
"Course."
Fionna handed him another fry.
Marshall looked at his sister smugly and gobbled down the fry.
"Hey, can I see your schedule?" Marceline asked Fionna.
Fionna took the paper with her schedule on it out of her bag and slipped it across the table to Marceline.
Marceline looked it over while her friend and brother talked. They didn't even notice her taking out her notebook and pencil and making notes.
"So, where'd you come from?" asked Marshall.
"My parents."
Marshall looked at her for a moment, and Fionna started laughing. "I'm kidding. My mom and I moved here a few days ago from a different state."
"You've only been here a few days? No wonder you were eating alone."
"Something came up, and we needed to move urgently."
"So, like, do you have a dad or...?"
"I have a dad. He just died when I was eleven."
Marshall stopped eating. "I'm sorry."
Fionna shrugged. "It's ok. He was an awesome dad."
"So, how did it happen?"
"He and my mom got into a fight, he went for a drive, and there was an accident. He didn't make it. We had had the best day ever before it happened. My dad and I went out and he bought me everything I asked for. We went anywhere and did anything I wanted. Then we got home and my parents started fighting. I saw my dad driving away and ran after the car, but obviously it was too fast for me. My mom assured me he would be back soon, but the next morning I woke up to my mom crying. She told me my dad was just... gone. I didn't even get to say goodbye."
Fionna was crying a little at this point, and she used her sleeve to wipe her eyes.
"Fi, I'm so sorry," said Marshall. "At least you had an amazing last day together. You're gonna remember that forever."
Fionna smiled with watery eyes and nodded. "That's true. What about your parents? Marceline only mentioned your mom."
"Our dad died when we were really little," said Marshall. "I kinda remember him, but Marceline doesn't."
"I was almost 3 and Marshall was 5," said Marceline.
"How did he…. you know?" Fionna asked.
"He had a brain aneurysm and it ruptured. We didn't even know it was there. It just happened one day when I was 5." Marshall sniffed. "They tried to save him, they tried everything to keep him alive, and it bought us 6 more months. But then he died. I think he knew it was happening, too, because we were all sitting in the living room, and my dad was sitting between me and Marceline. He suddenly grabbed our hands with his, said he loved us, and, then..." Marshall took a deep breath to steady himself. "...then he was just...gone." Marshall whispered the last word.
"I'm so sorry," said Fionna.
Marceline snapped her notebook shut. She handed Fionna her schedule back. "Lunch is gonna be over soon," she said.
"I gotta use the bathroom before the bell rings." Marshall grabbed his tray and dumped his trash, but not before handing a Twinkie to Fionna.
As soon as Marshall was gone, Marceline took out $50 and handed it to Fionna. "Here."
"What's that for?" Fionna asked.
"Groceries. I can tell from your crappy lunch you need to go shopping."
"I can't take that." Fionna shook her head.
"If you don't, I'm just gonna go out and buy a bunch of food and bring it to you."
Fionna hesitated, then gently took it. "Thank you," she said gratefully.
"Don't be afraid to ask for help," said Marceline. "Me and Marshall were always taught to help people. We're behind you. Is it ok if I tell him?" she asked carefully. "I know he'll protect your secret."
Fionna slowly nodded. "Yeah. Thank you," she said again.
The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch.
Fionna stuffed a couple more fries in her mouth, then dumped her trash. As Marceline and Fionna were leaving, Marshall was waiting for his sister by the door. After Fionna was out of earshot, Marceline said quietly to him, "Hey, Marsh, can I talk to you? I need your help with something."
OOO
Fionna was humming and scribbling things in her notebook when the final bell rang.
Fionna had been getting progressively more nervous as the day moved further along, growing more and more anxious about going home, not knowing if her mom would be home or not, and if so, what mood she would be in.
She knew she had to, however.
She arrived home later with groceries, and tensed up before using her key to enter the house.
She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw her mother was nowhere around.
Fionna went into her bedroom to hang out for the night, locking her bedroom door behind her. She used one of the keys hanging around her neck to open a large chest in her room. There was a laptop and a few other things in there, such as a mini DVD player, an MP3 player and a decent wired pair of headphones. Fionna added in the two DVDs she had bought from the $5 bin at the store.
One was her favorite Disney movie, Wreck It Ralph, and the other was season 1 of Hannah Montana.
She put the cookies and other delicious snacks she had bought for herself under her bed and put the rest away in the kitchen. The fridge and cupboards had plenty of food in them for the week. She hadn't left anything too expensive around.
She took out her laptop and typed up what she had written in her notebook earlier, along with typing up some other stuff. She then used her headphones and the mini DVD player to watch Hannah Montana. Hours went by, and she made herself dinner, leaving some of it in the fridge with it labeled for her mom. She didn't know when her mother would be home but Fionna was sure she wouldn't be in any position to prepare food.
Fionna eventually got tired, and she glanced at the time on her laptop. It was just after midnight. She had tried having a small, cheap clock in her room several times before, but gave up after her mother sold it the third time. She woiuld not listen to her daughter's pleas. Fionna was sure even if she heard, she didn't care.
Fionna brushed her teeth, locked her things away, and put the key under her pillow, keeping the second key around her neck. She thought about her friends as she drifted off to sleep, about how nice they were to her, about seeing them tomorrow. Despite everything her mom had put her through and their living conditions, Fionna thought, maybe she could make a life here. At least she had friends. She just had to make sure she kept everything in check so that they wouldn't get kicked out. It was up to her. It had been for almost four years.
OOO
I'm working on a huge YouTube project right now, so expect this to be slow to update, even if I'm not working on YouTube stuff. Chapter 2 should be up sometime next month, and it will be a lot longer.
See you guys!