Adam opened his eyes the next morning and looked over at his alarm clock. Evidently it had been going off for twenty minutes and he hadn't even noticed. The boy stretched and cracked his neck woozily. He'd scarcely slept the night before, sitting just under his bedroom window, hoping to hear the sound of Nick's car returning. It hadn't.
"Adam Jonathon Banks, get down this instant!" Adam's mother Regina, who hardly ever raised her voice above a whisper, yelled. When she screamed you knew you best not disobey.
Her son struggled into some clothes that barely matched and forced himself down the stairs to the family room. "Good morning, Mom."
"Adam, there you are. Your brother didn't come home last night, so I'm afraid you'll have to take the bus to school this morning."
"Can't you or Dad take me?" Adam yawned.
"Your father already left for work sweetie and I've got to meet with a client in a half hour. I'm sorry. Grab a granola bar from the kitchen and hurry or you'll miss the bus."
Adam Banks had never taken the bus to school in his life, in fact he wasn't even a hundred percent sure where the bus stop was exactly. However, he wasn't about to ruin his perfect attendance record by asking to stay home. So he dug his book bag out from the closet, waved good bye to his mother and left the house.
From his driveway he could see clearly the small park a few blocks away, the water fountain had been turned off for winter, but a few kids his age were standing in frontof it. This was a pretty good sign that that was the bus stop. He approached them so quietly one would think he was planning to sneak up and rob them, but truth be told he was hoping no one would recognize him.
You see outside of the boys from the Hawks, Adam didn't have many friends. Most of the kids at school thought he was snotty for not talking to them, but in truth he was just quiet.
One of the boys standing amidst the rest of the students seemed vaguely familiar to Adam and he thought they might have been in the same grade. He shifted his backpack onto the other shoulder and tapped the other boy on the arm.
"What?" The other kid turned around, not looking happy at being disturbed from listening to his walkman.
Adam blinked, still trying to adjust his powder blue eyes to the bright morning sun. "Um, is this the bus stop for Cornelia elementary?"
The other boy snorted at him. "Uh, no, Cake-Eater. That bus picks up down there. And I'd get down there if I was you. We don't like snobs like you, you Cake-Eater."
"Why do you have to be so mean? I didn't do anything, to you?"
"Look Cake-Eater," A second boy shoved him backward into a third. "get out of here."
"Hey watch it, kid." The third boy grumbled.
Adams muscles tightened as the trio closed in around him, his heart pounding. I clenched his eyes tightly closed as the lead boy raised his fist. Then suddenly there was s rumble of wheels on
concrete followed by a loud quacking. Then like magic the boy was yanked from in front of
Adam, and suspended from the air by his collar.Fulton Reed stood behind him, holding him in the air by the back of his shirt. He then let go, allowing his foe to fall to his butt.
"Hey, Banks! Are you okay?" Charlie asked shoving through the crowd.
Adam nodded. "I'm fine. Thanks guys."
"Ducks stick together, Cake-Eater." Jesse declared, matter-of-factly. "But this doesn't mean I like you."
Averman grinned. "Yup, we're sticking together right now. We're skipping."
"Yeah, you wanna come?" Connie asked sweetly.
Adam thought about it for a second, then jubilantly answered "Heck yeah!" So much for perfect attendance.
Mega thanks too my new beta Allie. You rock, dear.