A.N. I must admit that this chapter cost me something to finish writing, despite that I managed to have an update for this month :D and I really wanted to include Chad too. I hope you like my story, we still have a long way to go.
The meeting with the high school principal ended with favorable results, especially for the girls who were the most upset about putting on a school dance in the first week of school. Who came up with such atrocity?
Thanks to the help of Nigel Uno, who served as spokesman and leader of the movement the girls had formed in protest of the date, the homecoming dance would be held on Friday night of the following week. With enough time for the girls to find the perfect dress or outfit for the occasion.
Nigel already knew who to invite, even though there was trust between them he couldn't help but feel a little nervous.
Hoagie was taking his girlfriend to the dance, actually he didn't have to ask her because it was pretty obvious but maybe he would tell him in the next few days.
Kuki felt anxious because she was hoping that a certain boy she had her eye on would invite her. In truth, she hoped that he would work up the courage to make his proposal to her.
Wally was in a bad mood as usual, thinking the girls were taking a silly dance too seriously. Of course he had the ideal girl in mind but just thinking about inviting her made him very embarrassed, however, he would make the effort to do it.
Abby didn't give much importance to her like the rest of the girls but she would gladly accompany Kuki to choose what to wear from the stores that were in the mall. She for her part, would take some outfit from the closet of her older sister Cree, which she sure won't mind since she is away from her and she wouldn't use it in the next few months. She would be together with her friends although she was sure that they would all have a partner. She didn't bother, but maybe at the time of the dance she would feel a little lonely while everyone dances. The snack table would definitely be her favorite date of the night.
When school was over that day, they all headed home to change their clothes, eat something, well, do their things before they all met up again in the tree house at Nigel's house. Everyone except Wally, was intrigued that he wanted to tell them something important. He was behaving a bit strangely. At sunset, they all arrived on time and were anxious since they had not met as usual for several weeks.
"I definitely missed coming here," Abby said very relaxed on a sofa as she stretched her legs, "I already want to give everyone their presents."
"Uhhh, did you bring us all gifts?," asked Kuki very animatedly, sitting next to her friend while she watched her better. Abby's change of look did her a lot of good and she couldn't help but feel a little inferior. Perhaps it was time to make some changes in her image as well.
"Of course, babe," she replied, opening a small bag that she brought with her. At that moment Hoagie and Alice entered the tree house but Abby went about her business without looking at them.
Nigel got a pair of sunglasses which the boy was very grateful for because his glasses that he used to wear were getting a little too small for his face. For Kuki, a special edition Hawaiian Rainbow Monkeys keychain that you could only get on the island. Wally was given an orange t-shirt with a sun and beach design on the front and he just smiled shyly, the truth was he didn't expect any gift from her. Finally, Abby walked over to Hoagie and handed her a wrapped present, it was the only one that had a wrapper. Alice noticed something odd in her eyes but she decided to ignore it. Although it was true that she had barely exchanged words with the girl, she knew that they had been friends forever but for some reason they were fighting.
"Thanks Abby," the boy couldn't help but blush a little but no one seemed to notice.
"If you'll allow me," Nigel cleared his throat, drawing everyone's attention, he had his eyes on his cell phone and then put it in his pocket, "There's something I want to tell you, well, it's not a bad thing, on the contrary it's something very good, I just… I really w-want to ask you to be kind and leave those little jokes for me later, I really don't want that well you know…
"Say it once and for all!" Wally yelled, making everyone present look at him. "What? I'm not Hoagie or Abby, don't look at me."
"Nigel?" came a female voice that no one could recognize coming from the entrance of the tree house. Standing in the doorway was Rachel T. Mckenzie, the new girl in school that no one seemed to remember. Nigel walked over to her with a purposeful step and took her hand. She had loose blonde hair falling in front of her and was wearing an aqua green top and pants set.
"Guys, I... I-I wanted to introduce you to my girlfriend Rachel," he squeezed his girlfriend's hand and she could see that her boyfriend was nervous although she didn't understand it. They had been his friends for years, would they really judge him for going out with a girl like her?
Besides, there was no better match for Nigel in the world. They complemented each other and understood each other perfectly since they met in their days as agents of the most prestigious organization a child could belong to. Even though Nigel had a girlfriend named Lizzie at the time, the truth is that Rachel was sad that she hadn't had the opportunity to meet him sooner and make him fall in love with her, but life had smiled on her and brought them together in such a way that hoped she could always be together with Nigel.
"Hello guys, a pleasure," greeted the blonde shyly. Despite having seen them from afar at school during the day, now that she had them up close she could see how they had all grown due to puberty.
"Hi," they all said in unison.
"So you have a girlfriend, you had it very quiet, Nigel," laughed Hoagie.
"Please don't start," Nigel said, rubbing his temples. "Listen, please be nice to Rachel. She will come here frequently like you and I well, I would like you to get along."
"But what are you saying silly" Kuki got up and stood next to Rachel and put her arm around the girl's shoulders "We've been friends since then, okay?", she smiled at her.
"Oh, s-sure, of course. Seriously, thanks" Rachel replied with a shy smile and a little embarrassed by the situation. She knew very well that all of her friends were very important to Nigel and what she wanted most was to be accepted by everyone.
The group of friends continued to share in the tree house as they always have and after a couple of hours everyone left, except Rachel who stayed with Nigel arranging secret matters that the others could not know. Nobody noticed the secret door that the boy had in his tree house that gave access to a small headquarters where Nigel was still operating as a secret teenage KND agent. Rachel was, too, and her friends, Fanny and Patton, also belonged to that division.
The reason the boys managed to remember each other and continue their friendship was due to the modifications Hoagie made to the memory erase machine just before his 12th birthday, thus preserving the memories of his older teammates nearby. With this, it was possible to avoid that the agents, once they reached puberty, had no interest in being part of the teen ninjas nor did they want to destroy kids. And boy did it work. Thus they did not lose that essence that they were once children and the numbers of new recruits of teen ninjas had dropped significantly.
Dangerously approaching adolescent age for them, Hoagie had no desire to lose his memories, to lose his friends, so after several months of studies and tests, together with the best scientists in the organization, they managed to make the modifications exit. In addition, he didn't want to forget Abby, who was the main driver for him to carry out this ambitious project.
The next day, Kuki fell asleep and arrived almost right at school start time. She hurried over to her locker to get a book she needed for her class and she saw that Wally was talking to Virginia, the girl she had seen in the gym the first day she accompanied him. He looked as disinterested as ever while Virginia gave him little eyes. Well, Kuki couldn't help but feel a strange feeling of discomfort in her chest. When Virginia realized that Kuki was looking at them, she got closer to Wally and placed a hand on her shoulder in farewell mode and whispered something that Kuki couldn't hear. As soon as she left, Kuki walked over to her locker and greeted Wally.
"Good morning Wally."
"There you are, I thought you wouldn't come today."
"What do you think? It's only the second day" she frowned, she was a bit annoyed "I fell asleep" the school bell rang and Kuki hastily arranged her locker and closed it tightly "Anyway, let's go to class."
"Yeah" perhaps it was his imagination but, Was Kuki upset?
The days passed and the girls only talked about the homecoming dance. Actually, it was the main topic of all the conversations in the classrooms, the hallways, the bathrooms, the cafeteria, for Wally, it was as if everyone had lost their minds. His mind was focused more on sports team tryouts.
"Okay pretty boy," Abby was speaking to Wally the day football practices would take place, "I have some important information just out of the toilets."
"What are you talking about?" Wally asked strangely as he devoured his lunch. The truth was he felt a little anxious and he had served himself too much food looking to calm his nerves.
"I'm talking about today's tests" this made everyone look at her to pay attention to her gossip "According to what I hear, the captain is Chad Dickson, a senior, handsome, popular, much loved by all, and if you manage to impress him with your skills he may even name you his right hand. Apparently in these tests he will be looking for a possible captain replacement for the second season of state games, since once the first season is over, he wants to focus on university matters."
"Me captain of the team?"
"Wally captain of the team? Wait a second, why didn't anyone tell me you were going to take that test today?" Nigel got up from the table.
"Calm down hey, it's not that bad."
"What's not that big of a deal? Cancel everything you have to do today, this afternoon we will accompany Wally in his test."
"I think it's great," said Kuki, clapping her hands very cheerfully, "I'm sure Wally won't mind if we all go cheer them on."
"You don't have to bother," he suddenly blushed at all the attention received, he never thought that his friends wanted to go support him in his test.
"The cheerleading tryouts are also held on the field at the same time, you should sign up Kuki," Hoagie commented, raising her eyebrows.
"Me? Oh well, I've thought about it but… I think I'll let it go for now."
"Come on babe, I'm sure Wally will be delighted to see you among the cheerleaders," Abby whispered to Kuki, making her blush. "If he sees you cheering, that will surely motivate him."
"So you think? I'm not sure… I think I can cheer him on perfectly from the stands."
"If you say so," he shrugged and continued talking with the others.
The teenagers accompanied Wally that afternoon on his test. He could feel all the energetic enthusiasm from him as they were the only group in the stands that made such a fuss every time Wally did a stunt on his test. Even the cheerleading squad couldn't get that much attention from him. In the end, Kuki didn't give the test as she felt insecure and she decided that she could cheer him up from anywhere.
"It seems that this year the new ones wanted to show off," said Chad checking his list from top to bottom, "Drilovsky, Johnson and Anderson, welcome to the team," the aforementioned high fives and joined behind Chad with the rest of the team. "I have a spot left on the team and I must say I was quite impressed with one, didn't I coach?" He turned to the burly man next to him and he nodded, "Beatles steps forward."
Wally was startled when he heard his name, what he longed for so much seemed to be coming true. He stood in front of Chad and he held out his hand and without thinking twice he took his hand and they gave each other a strong handshake.
"Welcome to the team, Wallabee Beatles. I'm very impressed with your performance, a few glitches but nothing, a little practice and my direction can't be corrected, who knows maybe you could lead this team to victory."
"Thanks oh, I-I don't know what to say."
"Consider yourself lucky boy, you managed to get all my attention" he placed an arm around Wally's shoulders and that activated the signals of even the cheerleaders realizing that Chad had already chosen his new favorite, which made Wally's popularity rise that day, had risen to impressive levels, although that of course, he didn't know.
"What's going on down there?" Hoagie asked, looking at all the cheerleaders around the new football team. "If Wally's in there, does that mean he's already part of the team?"
"Don't you see it? It is obvious that he was going to be part of the team. Oh Wally, they grow up so fast," Nigel said, wiping a tear that had spilled from his eyes.
"Are you crying?" Abby asks laughing "Seriously Nigel, I didn't think you were that dramatic," she patted her back to calm him down.
"Oh great, he really did it," Kuki smiled, staring at Wally and despite the distance, he could feel that someone was watching him and saw his euphoric friends and he could almost swear that Nigel was crying from the stands but Kuki, she saw him. He looked at her with that smile that always caused a certain warmth inside her. Without thinking, he raised his hand in greeting and smiled directly at her. Kuki smiled even more and waved her arms as cheerful as ever.
