The In-Crowd

The change in Laura's attitude over the next few days was incredible. True to her word, she really was one of the sweetest girls in the school. And with each passing day, Adam's feelings for her increased tenfold. If you had told him last week that he'd be going out with Laura Clayton, he'd have laughed you right out of your shoes. In the time that they spent alone together, they truly understood love's power.

One afternoon, at lunchtime, Adam was searching for Laura, who always seemed to be absent at this time of the day. He went out to the schoolyard, and he spied a group of people standing over by the basketball hoops, talking in hushed whispers. And Laura was with them.

As Adam walked over, he noticed that each one of these teens wore an outfit identical to Laura's; a black-and-white striped shirt and a blue bandanna.

"Hey," said Adam, tapping Laura on the shoulder, "What's up?"

She turned, and smiled. "Oh! Hey, how are you?" she gave him a quick kiss.

"I'm fine. How are you? Are these your friends?"

The rest of the group snickered softly.

Laura took no notice. "Yeah. They're my buddies." She introduced them in clockwise order. "This is Megan, Reggie, Maxwell, and Jennifer."

Adam nodded to each of them. "Nice to meet you."

Their eyes shifted uneasily.

"So, you all part of a fashion club or something?"

More snickers.

Laura spoke. "Actually, we're a part of a group called Team Aqua."

Adam scratched his head. "And what do you do in your club?"

Reggie answered. "We work towards the expansion of the ocean!"

"What?"

"That's right. Team Aqua wants to expand the sea, for the benefit of everyone!"

"How will that benefit anybody? You'll cover cities if you expand the ocean."

Laura put her hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry. We wouldn't be so reckless."

Jennifer cracked her gum. "Maybe you'd like to join us, boy."

Adam took a step back. "Well, I don't know… sounds kind of suspicious to me."

"You don't have to," Laura said. "But think how cool you'll sound when you tell everyone you're a Team Aqua member!"

"I'll think about it," Adam said. He took Laura's hand. "Come on, it's 6th period."

"Okay, sweetstuff." She said with a laugh.

Adam would talk to his parents when he got home.

"Hi, honey!" Kris said when Adam came home.

"Hi, mom." he replied, tossing his bookbag in his room.

"How was your day?"

"It was fine."

"How's Laura?"

"She's good. I actually wanted to talk to you about something."

Kris sat down on a kitchen chair. "Talk to me!"

"Well, Laura's been hanging out with these kids who are part of this group called 'Team Aqua.' They say they're dedicated to the expansion of the ocean, and they asked me to join."

A look of concern immediately covered Kris's face.

Adam continued. "I thought at first it would be dangerous if they ever pulled it off, but everyone tells me that they're in no way reckless, or anything like that… I just thought I should talk to you and dad first."

Kris stood up. "Wait until your father gets home, and then we'll talk about it, okay?"

"Sure."

"Son, you were very good to bring this to our attention," Chris said that evening when they were seated in the den. "Gangs like that are very dangerous. They're evil, and they're no good. You're very lucky you talked to us before saying okay."

"So I can't join?"

"Absolutely not."

"In fact," Kris said, "We don't want you hanging out with Laura anymore, either."

This hit Chris right in the heart. "What???"

"She's dangerous if she's hanging out with that crowd. What's more, she's just as into it as they are, even though she's a sweet girl."

"But mom…!"

"No buts," Chris said. "If we catch you hanging out with her again, you're going to be grounded indefinitely."

Adam was on the verge of tears. "But… I love her!"

Kris and Chris looked at each other, and then Chris said, "We're sorry, Adam, we really are. I understand your feelings for her, but I'm not going to let you start hanging out with the wrong group."

"But…"

"THE ANSWER IS NO!!!"

Adam's heart cracked in half. His parents meant business. But… what was he going to do? He loved Laura. This wasn't fair! He streaked off to his room and threw himself on his bed, and began to cry.

An hour or so later, when the tears lessened, Adam had made a decision. He was 16, and therefore he felt he was able to fend for himself. He would still see Laura… AT ANY COST!!!!!!