Chapter Ten
A.N.- Like I've previously said, I'm extremely sorry about not updating in a while. Also, thanks to beautyqueen321 for pointing out that in the case of Addie and Brink becoming a couple and Peter and Gabby also, Jordy would be all alone. This chapter is, of course, dedicated to you for pointing this out! So, on with the story!
Addie rested her knee against the locker to her left, precariously holding her books atop her perched knee with her left hand as she dialed the combination into her locker with her right.
That previous day, it seemed as if all of her teachers had come together to torture them by giving them either essays to be due or giving them tests for this day. Thus, Addie had to take all of her books home, and unfortunately for her, she had misplaced her book bag. She had a rather sneaking suspicion that Peter had tossed it, since he had commented quite a few times over the past two months about how preppy the thing looked.
" Here, let me help."
Addie looked up from her lock and smiled graciously at Jordy. " Thanks."
She grabbed the first four books from the top of the pile and handed them off to the dirty blonde hair boy.
She pulled the combination lock off of the locker hook and pulled the door open. She shoved her three other books into the already cramped locker before shutting the door and locking it back.
" Thanks." she said again as she relieved Jordy of his burden.
The books were quite heavy, being for Anatomy, Literature, Calculus, and Physics.
" No prob." Jordy said as they started walking down the quite hallway.
During the mornings, nobody was hardly there, opting to hang with their friends out in the courtyard or in the cafeteria. A few people were getting into their lockers, though, not wanting to be ran over when the bell for first period did ring.
" Where're the others?" Addie asked as they passed a group of cheerleaders.
" I have no clue, actually." Jordy replied casually as they neared the exit to the outside.
They were, of course, headed out to the steps where the gang normally sat before first period, during lunch, and at break time.
" Alright, Jordy, what's eating you?" the raven-haired girl asked as she stopped as soon as they exited the building.
She had been hanging around Jordy long enough to know when he was bummed, and this was one of those rare occasions when he was like a clone of the ever pessimistic Peter.
" I asked Terina Goldstein out." he said as he walked to the steps and sat down.
Addie followed him and sat down on the step below him. " What'd she say?"
Addie was, perhaps, the only person who knew of the crush Jordy had on Terina. She had actually insisted on him asking her out, since she could tell he really liked her just by the way he talked. Terina wasn't a prep and was one of the rare natural beauties of the school. She wore no make up, had almond shaped green eyes, straight brown hair that was highlighted naturally by the sun, and stood at 5'3. She was a surfer, skateboarder, and snowboarder. Not exactly someone to mess with.
" She turned me down." Jordy said sulkily.
Addie felt bad. " I'm sorry. Why?"
Curiosity always got the better of her, especially when she wanted all of the details. She wanted to know everything before she got into a fight with the girl, after all.
" I'd rather not say." Jordy said as he hung his head, his long blonde bangs covering his eyes.
" Alright. When did you ask?"
" You just don't give up, do you?" he asked with a small smile.
" You know me, Ask A-lot Addie." she beamed.
" I asked her at the beach last night. Only, she didn't think it was such a hot idea." Jordy said sadly.
" Did she just say 'no' outright, or did she break it to you gently?" Addie asked, hoping the others didn't pop up now.
" Terina Goldstein trying to think of others? Whatever. She said, ' I would never go out with you in a million years.'"
" That witch!" Addie said. " I ought to go and have a few words with her."
" Don't bother. She's not worth it." Jordy said, still moping. " I'm just not good enough for any girl."
" That's not true!" Addie defended. " You're sweet, caring, funny, friendly, good-natured, and only about a hundred other good things that I'm not going to bore you with because you already know it."
" You're a great friend, Add." Jordy said, smiling broadly.
" So are you." she said, ignoring his compliment.
" Well, now that my woefully bad love-life is out in the open, what about yours? How're things going between you and Brink?"
Addie gaped out him like a goldfish. " There is nothing going on between me and Andy."
" Sure…That's why you keep staring at each other."
" I don't stare at him!" Addie said, blushing madly.
" Sure." Jordy said, rolling his eyes. " And I'm a leprechaun."
Addie was about to make a reply, but decided against it.
" What? Cat got your tongue?"
" No."
" I mean, this may seem like a stupid question, but do you really like Brink?"
" Even if I did like him, which I don't, he doesn't like me."
" You've got to be blind." Jordy sighed as he looked at her. " He practically follows you around like a puppy."
" Whatever." Addie said as she looked at her white sneakers. " Besides, I've seen the girls he likes. They're a whole lot prettier than I am. And funnier. And they can roller blade much better than me."
" Come off it, Add." Jordy said, rolling his eyes again. " You are pretty. Even that jerk Val can see that. And so what if you can't roller blade or tell jokes all of the time. Brink likes you for a lot of other things. I just can't name them, since I start tuning him out after five minutes of hearing all of the wonderful things about Addie."
" He doesn't talk about me that much." Addie said, grateful for her hair covering her face.
" You can ask Peter or Gabby. They'll tell you."
" Oh, whatever."
" You can't take a few compliments, can you?" Jordy asked, not liking her tone.
" It's kind of a thing from having to live with Jerry."
" Well, I mean, I can see why Brink likes ya. You're smart, kind, and you have a thirst for knowledge."
" Jordy, just shut up." Addie said. " I've only been told I'm smart about three million times. And I hate being mean to people. At my old school, we had so many stupid cliques and everyone was judged horribly. And as for having 'a thirst for knowledge', I just naturally question everything. And, no I don't see why Brink likes me."
" You like him, don't ya?" Jordy said, lightheartedly teasing her.
" Yes. I mean, no!" she said, flustered.
" Get over it, Add. You like him. And he likes you." Jordy said, smiling. " So, why don't ya just go and ask him out?"
This sounded remarkably like the conversation they shared just a week ago on Terina Goldstein, and Addie was not liking it.
" He doesn't want to go out with me." she said stubbornly as she crossed her arms over her chest. " And I don't like him. So, drop it."
" Alright, alright." Jordy said, throwing up his hands. " You win. I'll quit pestering you about Brink."
" Good."
" When's the adoption going to be final?" he asked, changing the subject.
To most people, this would be a bad choice. To Addie, it was a good choice, considering she didn't want to talk about her feelings for Brink.
" In a month. It's going much faster than I thought it would, though. I guess since Jerry was more than willing to give up his parental rights to me, it made it so much easier."
" How's your mom…" Jordy trailed off, hoping he hadn't just said something to upset the girl who was playing with her shoelaces.
" What?" she asked, raising her gaze to meet his. " My mom's taking it quite well. She can't wait to be able to actually say that she's a proud mom of three. And yes, it's okay to call Julie my mom. She may not be my biological mom, no one can replace her, but she is a mom to me all the same."
Actually, the idea wasn't so bad to Addie. She loved Julie just like she had loved her mom. And Julie had been like a mom to her every since she had moved to Venice Beach.
The bell rang, so the pair collected their books, Jordy only had two, and walked into the building.
" See ya at lunch." Jordy said as he went into the home ec room.
" Later." Addie said as she continued her way to the science lab.
She walked down the crowded hallway, careful not to bump into anyone as she went to her thoughts.
' Maybe Jordy's right.' she thought as she dodged Delia Thompson. ' Andy is always trying to help me out. More than anyone-'
She was cut off from her thoughts as she halted before Molly Clemens.
The tall girl was blocking the doorway to the room, glaring at her.
" What?" Addie asked exasperatedly.
Molly had been bugging her for the past few weeks, constantly giving her glares and saying catty things.
" I don't know what you think you're doing, but Andy is mine." she hissed.
" That's great." she mumbled.
She really wasn't in the mood to listen to a girl who was jealous over absolutely nothing.
" Whatever, Allie." Molly said, flipping a lock of hair over her shoulder.
" It's Addie." she said through gritted teeth.
" Yeah, whatever. Brink's mine, and you better get over it."
" That's great and all, Molly, but could you please move. People want to get to class." Peter said from somewhere behind of Addie.
Molly practically hissed at them before stalking off into the classroom.
Addie smiled gratefully at Peter before walking into the classroom. She walked to the second to the last seat in the second row and sat down.
Peter sat directly behind her and Brink sat to the right of Peter.
" What was that all about?" Peter asked as Addie shoved her other three books on to the rack under her seat.
" Nothing important." Addie mumbled as the teacher, Mr. Jennings came into the room.
" Class open your books to page 287..."
The group congregated at the lunch table, talking happily, except for Addie. She was zoning out thinking about her dilemma. She was completely out of the world, and proved so much when she reached over beside of her and took Peter's sandwich. She continued munching on it and thinking about how to deal with her problems, when Peter snapped her back to the real world.
He had been turned to his side, talking to Brink, and was reaching back to grab his sandwich, when he came up empty handed.
" Addie, that's my sandwich." he said as he rounded on the thief.
" Huh? What? Oh." she said as she realized that she had nicked Peter's ham and cheese sandwich and left her own sandwich laying untouched in front of her.
She handed the half eaten sandwich to Peter, who gave it back.
" You can keep it. I'll just take yours." he said as he took the sandwich from the aluminum wrapping.
Addie just shrugged before going back to eating.
" Hey, Add, are you coming to the skate park today?" Jordy asked.
Addie knew exactly what he was up to. " I don't know. I was thinking about watching Gracie today."
" You know Mom won't mind watching her." Peter said.
He honestly had no idea of what Jordy was up to.
" Yeah. And you can work on your skills." Gabby said, balling her aluminum foil up and throwing it at Val's head.
She, however, wasn't clueless. Jordy had informed her of everything during first period, and the two had concocted a plan.
Val was about to open his mouth, but the principal, Mr. Trevors, came walking by.
Gabby waved cheekily at him before joining back in the conversation.
" I don't know…" Addie trailed off.
She would like to work on her skating, but she just didn't feel like making a fool of herself in front of Brink.
" Hi, Jordy." Delia Thompson said as she passed their table with a giggly friend.
Jordy waved back in recognition.
" Delia?" Addie said, smirking.
And this was coming from the boy who complained about not being able to get a girlfriend. Delia was one of those shy, self-conscious girls who didn't think anyone could like them. Kind of like Addie. Delia had dark red hair, brown eyes that always had a twinkle to them, and was about as tall as Addie, who stood at 5'5.
" She always says hi." Jordy said, ignoring her smirk.
" Sure…But I still don't know if I'll go." Addie said, scaring herself.
She was starting to sound like Peter, and that wasn't a good thing.
" Oh, come on. This is, like, the first day you've had off in five days." Jordy said, trying to win her over.
Brink looked between his friends. Jordy normally never pleaded with someone this much, Gabby normally wasn't into sweet talking, and Peter was just being Peter. Addie, however, was blushing severely and looked really nervous.
They were up to something, he just knew it.
" Look, guys, just leave her alone. If she doesn't want to go, then she doesn't have to." he said, grabbing his things and walking off.
Peter looked at Jordy, then Addie. " What's going on?"
" I'm going to talk to him." Addie said as she threw her things away.
She started following Brink, hoping she wouldn't say something stupid.
" Come on, let's see what happens." Jordy said as he and Gabby got up from the table.
" What's going on?" Peter asked again.
" Just come on." Gabby said, grabbing him by the arm and pulling him down the hallway.
" Andy!" Addie said, trying to get his attention.
Now wasn't a time to be reserved.
" Andy! Wait up!" she said, nearly plowing into him as he stopped.
That got his attention.
" What's up?" Brink asked as he turned around.
" Look, we need to talk." Addie said seriously, looking up into his eyes.
" About what?"
" Are you deliberately being dense?" she asked with a hint of impatience.
" No. I just don't know what you're talking about."
" This."
Addie had no idea of what she was doing as she stood on tiptoe and kissed him.
A.N.- Ah, yes, another cliffhanger brought to you by summergirl63088. Anyway, I'm terribly sorry about not updating for so long. No excuse is really plausible, but I shall profusely apologize. Also, a reviewer suggested that the correct category for this story would be under Disney cartoons. I, however, disagree. Please, in your review (if you write one) leave a note as to whether that is it's correct place of if it's fine under the Misc. Movies section. Thanks a lot! Later!
