Okay, you crazy Sammie Rae fans, here's the next chapter. Probably won't be an update tomorrow since taxes are due and I haven't started mine yet, so I hope this will hold you for a day!

Chapter 2

Rae sat in English class, in her usual seat in the back, twirling her pen between her fingers. Miss Grimmault was terribly boring, especially when she read Shakespeare. Uncle Sam did it so much better, and his discussions were always more interesting. Her teacher just finished reading the big death scene of Romeo and Juliet and was attempting to lure the class into a big discussion.

"Sammie?" Miss Grimmault called on her. "Why don't you share your thoughts on Romeo and Juliet with us? What did you think of the way they died? Tragically romantic?"

Rae shook her head. "They're morons." When a few of her classmates' heads turned in her direction, she realized this may have been her first time to speak in class.

"Excuse me? Morons? Please explain, Sammie." Miss Grimmault's foot tapped the floor, a sure sign of irritation.

"Romeo sees Juliet lying there and assumes she's dead. He never checks to see if she's breathing and he never gets a doctor to check her out. So he drinks poison because he assumed that's what she did, even though they planned with the monk to fake their deaths. Moron. Then Juliet wakes up, figures out that Romeo drank poison but instead of running out to get someone who would have an antidote, she just stabs herself. She's a moron. It hadn't been that long, he was probably still alive and could have been saved, but because she's a moron too, they both die. Tragic? Yes. Romantic? No, stupidity is never romantic." When she finished, Rae realized her arms were hugging her chest and she felt sweaty. The room seemed smaller too.

Miss Grimmault had a strange look on her face. "Interesting perspective," she said. Then her teacher's eyes darted through the class. "Anyone else?"

A hand went up in front of her. A guy called Kevin spoke up. "Miss Grimmault? I think they're morons, too. But considering that they both come from stupid families, I guess that's to be expected."

Miss Grimmault's eyes widened. "Excuse me, Kevin? Their families were stupid?"

"Yeah," Kevin turned in his seat to throw Rae a grin as he spoke. "They had a huge feud, right? And they'd rather kill each other than even call a truce. They're no better than gangs. You join a gang, and odds are you're gonna die. What about if you're born to the gang? It was only a matter of time, Miss Grimmault." He shook his head.

"Yeah," someone else spoke up. Rae could not remember the girl's name. "Plus, they went to their parents and were told no just because of who their families were. So instead of just running away together, they let some monk talk them into playing dead, and then fall for it themselves? I think I agree with Sammie over there. They're morons."

"But what about…" Miss Grimmault was interrupted by the bell ringing. "I want to pick this up next class! Don't forget where we were!"

Rae stuffed her notebook into her bookbag. She slung the strap over her shoulder as she hurried out of the classroom.

"Sammie! Wait up!" A boy's voice called out. Confused, she slowed down and looked back. Kevin shoved another student aside to get to her. "Hey, that was great! What you did in English."

"What did I do?" She asked, heading to her history class.

"You stumped The Grimm!" She glanced over to see Kevin grinning. "My brother had her two years ago and he's still complaining."

"She doesn't do Shakespeare worth a damn," Rae agreed, more than a little surprised to hear herself in a for real conversation with somebody who wasn't Dad or Uncle Sam.

"I haven't met anybody who does," Kevin replied, keeping in step with her quick pace.

"My uncle does. I guess I never really appreciated what a good teacher he is before now." She spotted her history classroom ahead.

"I, uh, heard a rumor you were home-schooled. That true?" Kevin asked as they both went into her history class. He took the seat next to her.

"Yeah. Don't you need to get to class?" She asked, pulling out her history book.

He smiled. "I am in class. We have history together, too."

"Oh." She mentally kicked herself for not noticing. If Dad found out, she would be doing memorization exercises for weeks. "Sorry."

Kevin shrugged. "Think you'll have anything enlightening to share in here?"

She shook her head. "Not unless we're covering serial killers."

His face registered his surprise. "You know about serial killers?"

Rae stared back. "Doesn't everybody?" Really, she thought, doesn't everybody?

"You, uh, want to eat lunch with us today?" he asked. "My friends and I sit at the far end of the cafeteria, by the windows. You know, if you want."

Rae shrugged. Was this the making friends thing her uncle was always nagging her about?

Their history teacher started class by breaking them into groups of four. They were to present a chapter from the history book to the class, and they could be as imaginative and creative as possible. Anything to help their fellow students remember the lesson.

"Let's make a crossword," Amy suggested. Amy was a chubby girl with dark hair and thick glasses. Rae's impression of her was a studious girl who was largely ignored by other students.

"Boring," Kevin sighed. "Nobody will remember a crossword."

"They will if we make it difficult enough," Amy argued.

"How about a game? Like a quiz show?" Brad asked. Brad was a thin, lanky boy with light brown hair. He struck her as an all around average kid, nothing too outstanding about him.

"Any ideas, Sammie?" Kevin asked her. He seemed to pick up on the fact she didn't offer ideas, that she had to be asked, pretty quick.

"The news?" She said, not expecting anyone to like it.

"What do you mean?" Amy asked.

"Well, we could all be newscasters reporting on the story. Do it like it's really happening, live." Once again Rae was surprised to hear herself speaking.

"I like that," Amy nodded enthusiastically. "We can do on the scene reports, one of us can be an eyewitness."

"I want to do the weather," Brad announced. They all looked at him. "What? I can make it historical. Like flurries of invaders and hailing cannonballs, stuff like that."

"As long as you stick with our time period," Kevin said. "I don't think the pilgrims used cannons."

"They were around!" Brad replied hotly.

"He's right," Rae put in. "It just wasn't cost effective to take cannons with them. Not to mention most of them were religious refugees and indebted prisoners."

Kevin pointed at Brad. "So no cannons."

"Somebody had cannons," Brad mumbled.

"We're going to need to get together outside of school to work on this," Amy said, pulling a clean page out of her notebook. "This idea is too complicated to put together in just two classroom hours. We should try to meet today after school."

"I can stay," Kevin replied with a nod. "I can ride the activities bus home."

"My mom gets off a little before five, so she can pick me up." Amy said.

"I just live a few blocks from school. I walk, so I can stay," Brad said with a nod.

"No way," Rae shook her head. "My uncle picks me up when the last bells rings. On the dot."

"Can't you call him? Tell him you need to stay late?" Kevin asked.

"This was your idea," Amy argued.

"I'm not allowed to use my phone during school hours," Rae said with a sigh. "By the time I can use it, Uncle Sam will be here."

"So call early," Brad said with a shrug.

Rae felt her eyes go wide. "I can't do that!" she hissed.

Brad's forehead scrunched. "Why not?"

"Dad said so. If I call early," she shook her head. It wouldn't be pretty. Uncle Sam would totally freak and he'd tell Dad and… She shook her head again. "No," she said firmly. Then an idea occurred to her. "Unless you all feel like working somewhere with plenty of cookies, chips and juice?"

"Inviting us over?" Kevin asked. Rae nodded at him. "Works for me." He snagged the clean page from Amy. "Write down your address and phone number, so I can call my mom during lunch with it."

"Three times," Amy said, tapping the paper. "So, who wants to be the anchor?"

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Rae balanced her lunch tray as she scanned the cafeteria for an empty table. It was easier to sit alone than near an established group. It amazed her that after only a month, such tight knit groups could form. She did watch the changing social dynamics, how kids would switch tables and groups periodically until they found one where they were most comfortable. For her part, she usually just read a book.

She spotted an empty table at the far end of the cafeteria and headed for it.

"Hey! Sammie!"

She hated people calling her that. Dad only used her first name when he was worried or giving her an unbreakable order. Each time she heard it, her heart sped up and her breathing changed. Her eyes sought out the source. It was Kevin. He waved from the next row of tables. With a sigh she headed over, mainly so he wouldn't shout her name again.

"What?" she asked as she approached the table.

"Have a seat." He motioned to an empty space opposite him. "This is Bob, Johnny and Greg. I've been telling them about you."

Rae set her tray down. "Like what?" How was she worth talking about?

"How you took down The Grimm," Bob grinned. "Did you really tell her Romeo and Juliet were morons?"

Rae nodded. She stared down at her tray, trying to decide if she wanted to try the burger she was pretty sure had no meat content or the tater tots fried beyond recognition first.

"It was great," Kevin said. "Then other kids in class joined in. As a class we compared the families to gangs and decided everybody was just stupid." He chuckled. "You should have seen Grimm's face."

"I have her after lunch," Johnny said. "I'm going to do the gang thing." The other boys just looked at him. "I will! Really!"

Greg snorted. "Who the hell is that?" he asked, looking over Kevin's shoulder.

Rae looked up. "Amy?"

"There you are!" Amy shouldered Johnny to the side. He grimaced at her. "I've been looking all over for you. Hey, look at that, most of our group is here." She grinned at Rae. "So, what are we talking about?"

"The Grimm," Kevin replied. She was having trouble identifying the expression on his face, but he did not look happy to have Amy sitting beside him.

"I heard about that!" Amy said enthusiastically. "Somebody in the morning class told her Romeo and Juliet were stupid."

"Morons," Rae corrected.

"What?" Amy asked, attacking her mashed potatoes.

"I said they were morons. Kevin said the families were stupid." Rae tried a tater tot. It was really, really crunchy. She hoped it did not crack a tooth.

"I can not believe the people who took down The Grimm are in my history group!" Amy bounced on her seat, obviously excited.

Kevin tore his eyes from the sight to look at Rae. "So, Sammie, what's your uncle like? Do you need to warn us about anything?"

Rae froze. "What do you mean?"

"Well, whenever people come over to my house, I always warn them that my dad likes to walk around in a bathing suit and an unbuttoned shirt. Year round." He rolled his eyes.

Rae laughed. "I'll keep that in mind." She shook her head. "No, nothing like that. Uncle Sam is a doll. If anything, we'll have to kick him out of the room so he doesn't take over our project."

"Didn't you say you were home-schooled?" Kevin asked. "What was that like?"

Rae shrugged. "It'd be easier to ask me what school is like. For me, the other was normal." She glanced around the noisy cafeteria. "This place is nuts."

"Hear, hear," Amy said, banging a hand on the table. "I tried to talk my parents into home-schooling me, but they said the kids who graduated from high school at the top of their class got the best scholarships. So here I am."

"What's your excuse?" Kevin asked, still dropping odd looks towards Amy.

"Uncle Sam says I need better social skills." Rae picked up her burger. "Dad would have let me continue the home-schooling and take the GED."

"Bummer," Johnny put in. "What did your mom say about it?"

"Nothing," Rae said biting into her burger.

"Why not?" Amy tore into the mystery meatloaf with relish.

Rae swallowed the tasteless lump in her mouth. "She's dead. I'm adopted."

An uncomfortable silence settled on the table. Rae glanced around, confused by it. When she realized it was because of her, a lump settled in her stomach. "Dude. I was six. Get over it."

"Dude?" Bob laughed. "Who talks like that?"

Rae glared at him. "My family. You got a problem with that? Dude?"

"No," Kevin glared at Bob, too. "He doesn't. Right, Bob?"

"Right, right. Sorry." Bob held up both hands.

"And while we're on the subject, call me Rae. Not Sammie." She took another bite out of her pseudo-burger.

"Why Rae?" Amy asked. Rae suspected Amy might explode if she could not speak on a regular basis.

"It's my name."

"The teachers call you Sammie," Kevin said, tilting his head to one side.

"It's Sammie Rae. Dad and Uncle Sam call me Rae." She choked back another bite before setting the burger down for the last time. "We are so going out for good burgers tonight," she mumbled.

"So, let me get this straight," Johnny turned to face her, "you live with your dad and uncle? Are they brothers?"

"Duh!" Rae shot him a look. "What else?"

"Nothing," Johnny shook his head, becoming very interested in his own pseudo-burger. "Nothing."

"Hey, have you guys heard about the librarian haunting the school library?" Amy asked, oblivious to any tension at the table.

"What?" Kevin's head snapped to the side. "Where do you get this stuff?"

Amy shrugged. "Everybody's talking about it."

Rae decided to bring that topic up again at home, in front of Uncle Sam. While they were eating, and discussing whether or not certain things meant a ghost was haunting the library, both Kevin and Amy left to call their parents about the study session at her house this afternoon. At least two members of their group were coming.

"You sure you don't want to call your uncle to clear it with him?" Amy asked, worried.

"No." Rae insisted. "If I call him during the day, he'll freak." When the other faces looked at her strangely, she said, "My uncle and dad are kinda protective." She waved a hand. "It'll be fine. Uncle Sam will be ecstatic."