Note: Chapter 7 edited! (July 18 04)
Chapter 7 - All My Fault
The large, looming, brick building that was Horace Green towered over Summer as she stood on the school's front steps. She had just arrived for her first day of school with Marta, but her best friend had hurriedly stalked off to find Freddy. But it didn't matter, because Summer felt at home at Horace Green. So, with a smile on her face, she began to walk through the structure's double doors.
Horace Green Prep had originally been a private elementary school, teaching only from Kindergarten to grade seven. Summer had been going to Horace Green since she was five, as had the rest of her classmates, except for Michelle, who came in grade two, and Marco and Tomika, both of whom came in grade four. There had been no new students since them, however, which was one thing Summer had always been happy about.
In the class' grade five year, the same year they met Dewey, Ms. Mullins announced that Horace Green was being expanded to cover up to grade twelve. And sure enough, by the time Summer hit grade seven, an entirely new wing was built onto the school building, and just like that, the kids were no long the oldest in the school.
Whenever Summer thought about it, she realized how lucky her class really was. The group of fifteen had been together for most of their school years, and had only lost two kids; three including Tomika; along the way.
Marco had left after grade seven, and transferred to a public school close by. Many excuses had been thrown around: bullying (although no one in the class could figure out by whom), problems with the staff, Marta believed adamantly that Marco's parents could no longer afford Horace Green Prep, as the tuition had been raised to $20,000 in grade six to pay for the new division of the school. Summer, though, was pretty sure she had it right when she said Marco left because his grades just weren't good enough.
Leonard leaving after grade eight had been quite a shock to everyone in the class. No one disliked him, and he could have run for class president and won, just because he was so cute. His parents decided, however, to move to the mainland. Before he left, he told the class he'd be attending Milton Prep, Horace Green's rival K-12 school right across the bridge. He had promised he would never stop being a "Greener," as they called themselves, but no one had heard from him since he moved.
Summer made her way through the elementary wing of the school over to the secondary side, where she began to see familiar faces. She greeted Billy and Gordon when she saw them at the locker assignment sheet, and made idle chat. Once they walked away to find their lockers, Summer headed in the other direction, knowing the general area of her new locker.
As she walked down the crowded hallway alone, her mind couldn't help but track back to that day near the end of vacation. After she had gotten back from her Ortho appointment (where she gotten her elastics changed to blue and purple), she had phoned Marta, and invited her to come over.
Marta and sauntered over to Summer's house, obviously not expecting the horrible news her friend was about to drop on her.
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"Maybe…" Marta started, "maybe Freddy knows you like Zack, or thinks it anyway, and was just trying to get it out of you!" She finished her sentence with a hopeful tone.
Summer shook her head. "Even if that was the case, it doesn't mean it's any better. No doubt he would've told Zack what he thought, and I just cemented the deal with saying I didn't."
Marta shrugged her shoulders, and after a few moments of thinking, spoke up. "I dunno, Tink, that's not necessarily the case. I mean, they're boys, they don't tell each other things like we girls do. He might not have told Zack in the first place." Marta's eyes widened to the size of saucers. "God, Summer, maybe Zack wasn't even there!!"
Summer scoffed at the idea, she had already thought about this. "Then why would Freddy bring up the fact that Zack was there after I had said I didn't like him? It would be no use other than to make me feel guilty."
Marta's upper body sagged. "Just a thought…"
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As Summer approached her locker, she remembered that after hours of deliberation, the two decided that Freddy was just being a loser, and Summer had nothing to worry about.
Her mind quickly switched over to her best friend. I can't help but be happy for her, she thought. A smile crept across her face as she thought about what Marta had told her on the phone after she had gotten back from her movie with Freddy just a couple days previous. She's so happy with him!
Freddy, apparently, was also a bit of a romantic.
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"And then, Tink, oh my God, you're not going to believe what he said. We were talking about my nickname, and then he's like, 'I don't want other people calling you "Foxy," I'll get jealous,' it was adorable, he's so cute when he's --"
"I get it, Marta, go on!"
"Okay, so then he looked, like, straight into my eyes and said, 'Twinkle.' And I had no idea what he was going on about, right, so I was like 'What are you talking about?' And then, oh my God, listen to what he said: he said, 'Your nickname should be "Twinkle," because your eyes never seem to stop doing just that.'
Summer couldn't help but squeal. "Holy crap, Marta… So it's Twinkle, now, we're not going back! Tink and Twink!"
Marta laughed softly. "You bet."
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As Summer grabbed a lock and began to memorize her new combination, she laughed at the following hour and a half the two had spent on the phone after that conversation. She deserves this, she worked so har--
"Hi." Summer whipped her head to her right to see who had interrupted her thoughts. Alicia was standing beside her, a lock held in her hand as well.
"Oh…" Summer tried to make light of the situation, "hi, Alicia… What's up?"
"This is my locker." She pointed to the one directly beside Summer's. "Where's yours?"
Summer gave a hesitant laugh, as she pointed at her locker. "Right here."
Alicia rolled her eyes. "Well if this isn't going to be awkward…"
Summer laughed. Alicia never was one for beating around the bush, and her bluntness could get extremely annoying. However, in this situation, Alicia's choice of words eased the tension, and it helped Summer, knowing Alicia was just as uncomfortable as she was.
"Well, listen, I guess I'll see you guys in class. I can't wait for our heart-to-heart locker chats," said Alicia over her shoulder as she walked away. Summer cocked her head to the side in thought. Was that humour or sarcasm?
Summer had no time to dwell on it, however, as she heard familiar voices behind her. She twirled around to see Katie and Zack walking into the secondary wing, approaching the locker assignment list.
Summer skipped over to them, recognizing and ignoring the fact that she was going to be very, very nervous around Zack. They hadn't talked since the incident on Messenger. Nevertheless, she decided to try and act as though it never happened.
"Katie! Zack!"
Katie looked up and smiled. "Hey Tink! Excited yet?"
Zack wasn't as quick to greet Summer, however, and he hung his head down slightly, looking everywhere but at the girl who was approaching them. "Hey Tinkerbell."
Summer's eyebrows furrowed in confusion at Zack's peculiar reaction, and her mouth was open to say something, when she was cut off by Freddy's voice.
"There you guys are! Where have you been hiding?" Freddy appeared from an adjoining hallway, holding Marta's hand proudly in his.
Summer and Zack both smiled and beckoned the couple over, but Katie's reaction was enough to distract both of them. Her face paled completely, her eyes narrowed, and her gaze seemed completely focussed on…
Marta and Freddy's hands…Katie's behaviour clicked in Summer's mind. She likes him…Uh oh.
"Hello, Marta," said Katie coldly in greeting as the two approached the trio by the locker sheet.
"Actually," Freddy seemed completely oblivious to Katie's expression, "her new nickname's Twinkle, so you can call her that now."
"I'll stick to Marta," came the response.
Summer was about to step in between the daggers Marta and Katie were shooting at each other, when she was once again interrupted. Except this time, by a high, shrilly, annoying giggle.
"Zack! I've been looking everywhere for you!" Summer rolled her eyes dangerously to the back of her head as the telltale blonde ponytail appeared from another adjoining hallway.
"Don't bother to greet the rest of us," spat Marta, eyeing the girl with obvious dislike.
Eleni gave an unflattering sneer. "Calm down, would you, Marta? I'm just so excited to be seeing my boyfriend for the first time this school year!"
All of Summer's, Katie's, and Marta's jaws dropped straight to the floor, as Eleni wrapped her arms around Zack's neck in a PG-13 hug. Freddy was looking at a discoloured spot on the floor as if it was the most interesting thing in the universe.
"You knew about this, didn't you?" Marta hissed into her boyfriend's ear, fearfully looking over at her best friend in the process. "Why didn't you tell anyone? Why didn't you stop him?"
Freddy shrugged his shoulders. "It was his decision, who am I to stop him?" He hissed back.
Summer felt as though her body had shattered. It felt as though both Eleni and Zack had grabbed a bunch of sharp, pointy rocks and threw them at her and didn't miss once. It felt as though Zack had ripped her heart out, showed it to everyone, and then gave it to Eleni, who promptly threw it on the ground and stomped all over it.
Eleni was still latched on to Zack as if he was her life support, and Zack was neither encouraging her, nor discouraging her.
Summer felt compelled to shut her eyes, because it felt as though the room was spinning in never-ending circles. She had always thought that line, "Stop the room please, I would like to get off," was rather corny, but she felt it was rather appropriate at this point.
All the world had disappeared except for Zack and Eleni. It was like a bad dream… A bad, bad, bad, bad dream…
Marta was looking at Summer with fear and pity etched all over her features. Although there was conversation going on between the other band members, she didn't want to risk turning any attention towards her completely crushed best friend. Therefore, she stayed silent, and silently urged Summer to go to the bathroom or something, so she could follow.
Summer, though, had no intentions of moving. It wasn't because she didn't want to - on the contrary, she would have paid money to leave the scene, but her appendages were momentarily frozen. She could still only see the love of her life, and that, that… that DOG.
"… And besides, class starts soon." Words slowly began filtering in to Summer's mind once again. Katie continued what she was saying. "I say we go to class, yes?"
"You guys go ahead," Marta began, ignoring the death glare she received from Katie, "I think it's time for a Tink and Twink potty break, eh Sum?"
Summer nodded her head, but other than that, she didn't move in the slightest. Fortunately, Freddy urged the gang to move on, and soon, Summer and Marta were left alone by the locker list.
Marta knew better than to try and coax Summer into doing anything when she was in this emotional state. Her patience paid off about 3 minutes later, when Summer seemed to regain life.
"Let's go to the bathroom." Were the words that escaped Summer's lips, and the pair promptly walked to the ladies' room down the hall.
Summer didn't even wait for the door to fully close. "GIRLFRIEND? GIRLFRIEND?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Who would want HER for a GIRLFRIEND?!"
Marta shook her head. "I have no idea what he's thinking."
Summer was fuming. "Yeah, neither do I." She slammed her fist into the soap dispenser, causing some pink goo to drip down onto the countertop.
When Eleni had first uttered the word "girlfriend," Summer had been in complete shock. Once she had regained mobility and her voice, however, rage had overtaken her body like never before. She unsuccessfully attempted to suppress her urges to scream and hit things.
Now, though, a wave of sadness overcame the petite girl, and she leaned against the cool tiled wall and slowly slid all the way to the floor. Summer curled up into the fetal position, and when she finally spoke up, she was on the verge of tears.
"Marta, remember when I told Freddy that I didn't like anyone he knew?"
Marta replied quickly. "Yeah, Tink, I remember. Why?"
A couple tears began to slide down Summer's face. "Don't tell him, but I lied."
Marta immediately made her way over to her best friend, sat down beside her, and motioned for Summer to come to her. Summer instantly sat up and crawled into Marta's embrace, not exactly crying, but with tears flowing down her cheeks.
"Marta, it's all my fault…"
A/N - I hope you all are hating Eleni as much as I am right now... This chapter, and chapter 8 were going to all be one, but I decided to put a real focus on the little, oh, I don't know, catastrophe that is Zack and Eleni. Sooooo, part 2 of the first day of school coming up. Please review, guys, tell me whatcha think! Thanks! :D