CHAPTER 16: Ice-cold War

English was my last class for today, Friday.

"Hey, I haven't told you yet," Claire whispered as we headed to my locker.

"Told me what?"

Her cheeks flushed red and her smile extended to both ears, "I- I... Ooohhh I'll tell you when we get to your locker!"

We approached my locker and I did my usual routine of loading and unloading my stuff there.

"So here's the thing," Claire started calmly.

"Spill it out, Claire. I'm listening," I said while stuffing some books in my bag.

"Okay... I was-uh… Ethan asked me out!" she blurted out in her most excited pitch causing some people to turn around.

I closed the door of my locker. "Wow, that's great!"

She quickly nodded, and started talking fast nonstop, "Oh my gosh, I know right?! So I got out of Math class after lunch and he was there and he was like 'Hey Claire' and then-"

"Woah, woah. Slow down!" I chuckled and raised both hands signaling her to stop. "Wait a minute, who's Ethan?"

"Oh, right. He's that cute guy I was telling you about last Wednesday..."

I just stared at her, trying to remember our conversations last Wednesday. Did I ever mention that I'm the most forgetful person I know?

"I was his student buddy last year," Claire finally said.

"Ohh! That guy... Right. Let him come by our lunch table soon so we can meet him," I suggested.

Her face turned red again and she giggled, "Monday! Yes I will do that."

"Now, fill me in," I said as we left my locker and headed downstairs to hers.

"Okay, so where was I? Hmm..." she rubbed her chin while thinking. "Oh yeah. Here.. So I got out of Math class after lunch and he was there. He waved at me and he was like 'Hey Claire!' I said hi back while he walked towards me..." she sort of acted it out with her hands while telling her story. "...Then he just asked me how I was and so I said I was great and I asked him too. Then he asked me if I was free on Saturday, so I said yeah..."

We finally reached her locker and she continued telling her story while fixing her things.

"So where are you two going?" I asked.

"I don't know yet... He asked for my number, though. He's probably going to call or something," she replied, smiling the entire time.

She continued to spill more details. Suddenly, I felt someone tap my shoulder. I turned to see who it was.

"I've been looking all over for you. Come on!" Rodrick said in a rushed tone.

Claire was surprised too so she immediately stopped talking.

"What? Why? Can't you see I'm talking to Claire?" I answered.

Rodrick rolled his eyes, "I'm touring you around, remember?"

Wow... He was serious about that?

To be honest, I wasn't in the mood to be with Rodrick right now, so I decided to look for excuses, "But... My friends and I were supposed to go to the mall..." I looked at Claire, "Right Claire?"

"Really?!" she answered. "I have dinner with my family tonight..."

I widened my eyes at her and mouthed, "Follow my lead!"

She continued, "...and Mae, didn't she tell you? She planned to visit her grandma tonight... And Olivia, I think it's her mom's birthday. Anne's going to a party, I guess... I'm not sure, but she mentioned it during lunch."

I glared at her when she finished talking.

"Oh," she just realized it. Then she mouthed, "Sorry."

"Going to the the mall?" Rodrick snorted, eyebrows raised.

I faced him again, "Well, I... Uh-"

"Really, eh?" he smirked. "Whatever, let's go before it gets late!" he got ahold of my wrist and started pulling me.

"Bye April! Have fun!" Claire waved as Rodrick dragged me through the hallway.

I rolled my eyes and pulled my arm out of Rodrick's grip, "Where are we going anyway?"

He looked back once but didn't stop walking, "Like I said, I'm showing you around the school."

"Really?" I caught up and walked beside him.

"Yeah," he nodded once. "You already know where your classes are, right?"

"Uh, yeah... But sometimes I still get confused and-"

"Okay we'll skip that," he waved his hand dismissively. "I don't want to go up anymore."

"Lazy-ass," I muttered.

"What?" he snapped.

"Nothing!" I grinned. "On with the tour, please... And by the way, can we finish this thing before 5pm so I can get a ride home?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

I followed Rodrick as he led me to different halls, rooms, and other places in the school.

"The auditorium's over there," he pointed to the big doors on our right. We were already in the second building.

"This is where they stage some plays, concerts,recitals blah-blah-blah."

"Why do you keep saying 'blah-blah'?" I asked.

And I was ignored.

I stayed quiet almost the entire time. I couldn't deny that Rodrick was a good tour guide, except that he kept saying a lot of "blah-blahs". (Not that I'm counting them...)

"This is the gym. Or multi-purpose hall, whatever," he crossed his arms and leaned on the door to open it. He looked at me as if waiting for me to go inside.

"Oh-kaay," I said slowly and didn't move an inch. I didn't want to go inside because I could already see the entire area from where I was standing.

He must have noticed, so he just turned his head to the empty space in the gymnasium, "Sports, dances, and other stuff. They do those here."

Rodrick got off the door, causing it to close. He went past me and I followed him.

We walked further, passing through long hallways with a number of teenagers chatting and walking around. The others probably went home already because it seemed like there were less students now.

He pushed a door open, "After you."

This time, I chose to do what he said.

Rodrick allowed me to step outside first, and then he followed behind me. We found ourselves staring at the open field.

"This" Rodrick said, prolonging the s, "is obviously the open field where they play all sorts of outdoor sports..."

We both remained silent for a while, observing the field with one goal stand on each end, the track with white lines on it, and the empty gray bleachers.

"We don't have the same P.E. class right?" he randomly asked, looking at me.

I didn't turn my head to meet his eyes. Instead, I continued to stare at the view that had nothing so special in it,

"Um, duh. But your P.E. class is also here and the same time as mine so it doesn't really make a big difference."

"Yeah," Rodrick slipped his hands in the pockets of his dark skinny jeans. "Let's go."

We went back inside. From that moment on, I figured that our tour was about to end.

He brought me to a few more rooms before heading outside to the parking lot, where only a few vehicles were left. It was not dark yet, but we could see the sun that was starting to set.

It's definitely past 5pm, I thought.

Rodrick leaned on the door of his Löded Diper van, apparently waiting for my next course of action. I stood beside him and checked the time on my phone.

"Gosh, it's almost 6:30," I said, a bit worried.

"Well, it's set then," he grabbed his keys from his right pocket and opened the passenger seat door. "I'm driving you home. Come on," he tilted his head telling me to hop in.

"What?!" I looked at Rodrick, then at the van, then at him again. "No way I'm riding that stinky thing again!"

"Suit yourself," he shrugged, closed the door, and walked to the other side of his van.

I immediately regretted my decision as the engine roared and Rodrick drove away. Great. Now how am I supposed to go home?

I decided try my luck in front of the school. My parents weren't at home yet, so I waited for any bus or cab to pass by. Unfortunately, every public transportation that came by was already full.

I started walking after around 20 minutes of waiting for a ride in front of the school. My house wasn't probably that far. Besides, other students went home by walking.

They did that during daytime, though...

With every step I took, the sun went down further and the sky became darker. Well, good thing I was familiar with the way home. It's simply straight ahead, then when I reach the intersection, I should turn right then... Or is that a left turn?

Curse this.

I tried to remember the exact way as I trudged along the sidewalk, hoping that I could get home soon because I was really exhausted. Next time, I should probably bring my own bike, because that would be a lot easier.

"Still not hitching that ride?" a voice said.

At first, I thought the voice came from my head. But my eyes darted to the left and I saw a teenager in his van. His feet were resting on the dashboard while he lighted up the cigarette between his lips.

I was too focused on the way home that I didn't even notice that big white van with ugly scribbles on it. Stupid April. "What... How did... I thought you-"

"Drove away and went home?" he chuckled, taking the stick of cigarette with two fingers. "Susan would ground me if she finds out that you aren't home yet, and I was the last person who was with you."

I just stood there, staring at him like an idiot.

"Are you riding or not?" he snarled, taking his feet off the dashboard.

I snapped out of it, took my seat in the van of doom, and prepared myself for another worse-than-a-rollercoaster ride.

Surprisingly, Rodrick drove a little bit smoother than the last time I was in the van. Wait, let me put an emphasis on just a little bit.

I coughed from the smoke that came from the cigarette. "I didn't know you smoke," I said, breaking off the awkward silence between us.

"Bill gave me a stick earlier today, so I decided to give it a try," he answered coolly.

I glared at him, "So it's your first time?"

"Yeah! Awesome right?"

"What?! No!" I snatched the cigarette from his fingers and threw it out the open window beside me.

"What the f-"

"It's dangerous!"

"What the actual fu-"

"Just shut up and drive, Heffley," I crossed my arms and tried to relax on my seat despite the countless wiggles the vehicle had made on the road.

Rodrick kept quiet when I told him to. He was too quiet, he missed a turn.

"Dude, you missed a turn," I said.

"Nope," he replied in a surprisingly calm tone after our cigarette argument.

"Yeah you did. That was the intersection. Either you turn right or left."

"Welcome to the 2nd part of our tour," he smiled.

There was nothing so spectacular to see at night, but Rodrick kept driving anyway, giving random commentaries about the places we passed by. The only area with enough lights to see was the mall, and everywhere else was dark.

I won't go into detail about our "night tour". Anyway, we drove past the mall, the church, a few restaurants in the busy part of town, random houses, and my personal favorite, the park.

"It's quiet here most of the time," Rodrick said as we passed by the town's park.

"I've never been here. Looks peaceful... I like peaceful places."

"Wanna go down and check it out?" he asked, taking his hands off the steering wheel for the first time after I threw his cigarette.

"Uh, maybe we can do that some other time. It's getting late."

"Prescott-"

"Preston," I snapped. "Or April. Please."

He ignored me. "It's Friday, which means no school tomorrow. Nothing to worry about!" he unfastened his belt, opened the door, and jumped off the van. He then rushed off and opened the door beside me.

I hesitated.

"Oh come on! You'll love it here," he said encouragingly.

"Darn it," I muttered as I unfastened my seatbelt.

I left my bag on my chair and climbed down the vehicle. Rodrick closed the door behind me.

We walked around the park. There were a few people (mostly young couples, I guess) roaming around as well. Despite that, it was still the perfect place to just relax.

"Cool park, eh?" Rodrick asked, his hands in his pockets as usual.

"Yep, this is definitely my favorite place so far," I agreed.

We took our time. We even stopped by the swings in the playground. I didn't know how many minutes (or hours?) we've been wandering the park.

I walked side by side with Rodrick, with enough distance of course, because he might, you know, suddenly push me or something.

We approached the fountain somewhere in the middle of the park. I extended my hand to touch the water, but I pulled it back right away because it was ice-cold.

"What's wrong with the water?" asked Rodrick.

"It's cold - very cold," I answered, rubbing my hands together.

His hand reached for the water, "No it's not."

"Yeah it is. Whatever," I turned around and tried to choose where to go next when I felt cold water hit the back of my neck.

I turned around to see Rodrick laughing at me, his hands wet. He splashed more water and it hit my face.

"What even-?! Rodrick Heffley!" I yelled, knelt next to the fountain, and splashed water at him.

He raised both of his hands and covered his face, but his clothes got wet. "Whoa! Hahaha! So you wanna play a game, huh?" he scooped up more water with is big hands and threw it on my face and clothes.

"It's a war then," I grinned mischievously.

Imagine walking into two children playing and splashing water on each other's faces. That's exactly what we looked like.

I screamed as we both accidentally tripped and ended up in the fountain. It was round with that classy pole thing in the middle where more water comes out. It was not big and definitely not appropriate for baths. Nevertheless, our water war did not end.

"Hahaha! Here's some water for your face!" Rodrick spattered more on my face.

I tried to dodge it, but no luck. I then stood up, "Not a chance, Heffley!" The water was up to my knee, and probably below Rodrick's knee since he's taller.

My feet padded along the waters as I ran around the fountain, shooting water waves at him and shielding my eyes for my defense. He chased me, doing the same water offense and defense. My hair and clothes were dripping wet while Rodrick's got that classic teenager wet look. We were both soaked in water now that we literally looked like we took a bath in the swimming pool.

"HEY!" someone bellowed nearby.

Oh no, we're in big trouble...

"What are you doing there?! THAT IS NOT A SWIMMING POOL!" shouted the keeper (or security guard, whatever).

"Run!" Rodrick alarmed me.

He helped me get off the fountain. After that he stepped over, and we both started running as fast as we can.

"Hey! Get back here!"

We turned right and left and wherever, tracing our steps back to the van.

A few falling leaves and the cold night air swept past my face as I tried my best to keep up. I wasn't an all-star runner, you know. Soon I began to slow down.

Rodrick stopped too when he realized I did. "Prescott, come on!" he called out and ran towards me. "You okay? Can you keep up?"

"Yeah," I panted, my hand on my chest. "Just need to catch my breath."

"HEY!"

"He's there! Let's go!" he took my hand and we started running again. This time, we didn't stop nor look back even once because the guy might catch up.

We finally reached the entrance where Rodrick's van was parked. We both hopped in and slammed the doors shut. Rodrick started the engine and drove away like a maniac.

"I'm gonna get you next time juvenile teenagers-" his voice gradually went out of our hearing range.

There was a moment of silence between us while we tried to calm down from what just happened. Our clothes and hair were still wet, but not as soaked as earlier because our running kinda dried it a bit.

Rodrick slowed down to his normal (but still crazy) driving pace when he was sure that there was no one chasing us. We looked at each other, then as if on cue, we totally lost it and guffawed about the incident.

"That is not a swimming pool!" Rodrick imitated the park keeper, changing his voice into a deeper one.

I laughed at his joke. "I'll catch you juvenile teenagers!" I pumped my fist in the air while doing my impression.

We both laughed out loud nonstop (and maybe people walking on the streets could hear it).

"Hahaha! Oh gosh... That was crazy," I said after recovering from the laughing session.

"I know right," Rodrick agreed. "Hey, you hungry?"

I felt my stomach grumble. So much things happened in the park that I didn't realize I was hungry until now. "Yeah, a bit," I replied.

He tossed me a paper bag that he got from under his chair.

"What's this?" I opened it and saw a square object wrapped in tissue. "A sandwich?"

"Yep," he smiled with a twinkle of mischief in his eyes.

"Is this clean?"

"Uh-"

"Is this clean, Rodrick?" I demanded.

"I don't know," he shrugged. "Maybe a few days old? Or weeks?"

"Ew, I'm not eating that!" I tossed it back to him. "Don't you have anything edible that's not old?"

"Chips. Yeah they're at the back."

I looked at the messy space behind us. Woah.

Rodrick was driving so I had no choice but to find it.

I made my way to the back space where I almost couldn't see the floor of the van. "Where is it?!"

"I don't know! Maybe under some stuff there," he said.

"There's a lot of junk here you know," I replied, flipping over his stuff while trying to balance because... well, you know how Rodrick drives.

There was a dirty boot (with an extremely filthy scent), a basketball, a guitar case, about 3 used socks, toolboxes, an unfinished pizza (which was probably a month old), lots of candy wrappers, paper bags, opened packs of chips, and basically more trash.

I shrieked when lost my balance and tumbled over. The van must have passed over a big hump. "I give up. No chips here," I said as I stood up.

"Oh wait, here it is! It's under your chair," his right hand reached for it.

Once I got back to my chair, I glared at Rodrick for making me search for food in his personal junkyard.

"What are you starin' at? I thought you were hungry."

I sighed and opened the bag of chips Luckily it was still clean and not crushed into pieces. I started eating.

"Want some?" I pointed the open side of the bag to Rodrick and offered him chips.

He took a handful and shoved it all in his mouth. "It's still delicious," he said in a barely understandable way, with some crumbs falling while he talked.

"No talking while chewing," I reminded him.

"Fine, mother cranky," he said still chewing.

I rolled my eyes and ate my chips, giving some to Rodrick from time to time. We still laughed a bunch of times while he drived, as if we were having a silent funny conversation.

It was weird, I know.

"Are we near already?" I asked. I do not want to get grounded during the weekend.

"Yeah. That's the intersection."

He turned right. Before I knew it, his van halted in front of my house.

"Prescott Residence!" he announced jokingly.

"Preston," I corrected. "Anyway... uh, thanks... Thanks for today. It was fun," I smiled.

He managed to give a smile as well, "Yeah, sure. Just... Don't make a freakin' big deal about it with your friends. Don't even mention it to anyone, Prescott."

I opened the door. "It's Preston. And yeah, I won't. Bye!" I got off the van and closed the door.

He nodded once and waved before driving back to his house.

I inserted the key and opened the door slowly so my parents wouldn't hear. But it made a deceiving "ee-ee-ingk" sound.

"APRIL CASSIDY G. PRESTON," my mom descended the stairs, her voice echoing through the house.

That's my full name, by the way. No one ever mentions my second name - even teachers and students at school only call me April, or Preston. Mom must be really angry.

I tried to remain calm, "Hi Mom."

"It's almost 11pm! Where have you been?!" she put her arms on her hips and her face showed emotions of anger and worry.

"I went to my friend's house and we finished some homework," I lied and gave an awkward, nervous smile.

"Why didn't you inform us?" my dad asked, entering the scene from the stairs.

"I- My phone's battery died and I thought you guys went to dinner so..."

"We got home early," Dad replied.

Mom sighed, "Very well. Next time April, please call or send us a message. We we're so worried about you."

I walked towards my parents. "Sorry. Won't happen again. Promise," I raised my hand and grinned.

Please don't ground me, please.

Mom nodded and gave me a hug, "Alright sweetie, off to bed now."

Yes! Not grounded, haha!

I said good night to my parents and then went upstairs.

A/N: Sorry it took so long... I hope you enjoyed this chapter, though... Don't forget to leave a review! =)