Okay, readers. This is the ninth chapter of this story!
Now, this is the point of the story that people may have been waiting for. Adam gets the news that he's being transferred out of CDMS, and everyone else at the school gets to know about how he's leaving their school, including Jake and the other pack members.
With all that said and done, how will all of this go? And how will Adam react when he finds out that he's leaving Charles Darwin Middle School for good? Read and find out now!
IN PRINCIPAL PIXIEFROG'S OFFICE - 7:34 A.M.
Back in Principal Pixiefrog's office, the principal himself was waiting anxiously for Adam to show up. He was quite unsure about how this was going to go, and if they were making the right decision with letting go of their only human student.
As Pixiefrog was standing on his desk waiting for Adam, his assistant Mrs. Warthog was standing right next to his desk, looking bored and whatnot. She didn't see any need for her to be in Pixiefrog's office when Adam shows up. But since the principal requested that she stayed with him, she had no other option than to do so.
As Warthog was snorting in a bored manner, Principal Pixiefrog had an anxious expression on his face as he twirled his webbed fingers and glanced rapidly into every part of his office.
"Mrs. Warthog? I'm concerned," Pixiefrog decided to share with her. "I dunno if we're 'really' doing the right thing by sending Adam back to his old school. We'll be losing student funding, but at least we won't get sued. Oh! Just thinking about it is giving me a headache!"
"Cool it, PF. It'll be over before you know it," Mrs. Warthog told him dryly. "It's not worth getting worked up over it. So just keep your pants on."
"I know," Principal Pixiefrog sighed. "But the last time I had to get rid of a student from this school was with Larry Raccoon. And he was a delinquent."
"Yeah. And I was on vacation in Hawaii when Larry came back disguised as Ding Bang Panda," Warthog added. "Also, I didn't appreciate finding nothing but pictures of Jake's face photo scanned in my filing drawers."
"I'm aware of all that. But that's beside the point," Pixiefrog said. "I just hope we can get this done and over with, and Adam can know that he is no longer identified as a zoo animal by the school board."
"Bah. I'm sure he'll be fine," Mrs. Warthog huffed. "After the prank that Spidermonkey set up for him yesterday, I think he'll be more than eager to go back to his human school."
"Yeah. I guess your right," Principal Pixiefrog looked a little downtrodden. "Well, the sooner we get this done, the better."
Immediately after he said that a knock was heard at his door. Pixiefrog then hollered out. "Come on in."
The door opened and entering the office was Adam Lyon. And he looked a little curious.
"Hey Principal Pixiefrog," he then asked. "You sent for me?"
"Yes. Yes, I did. Come on over, take a seat, and get comfortable," Pixiefrog instructed him.
Adam simply nodded as he took a seat in one of the chairs in front of his desk.
"Well, I'll be in my office if you need anything PF," Mrs. Warthog told him as she headed back to her office.
"Right. I'll let you know if there is anything that I'll need, Mrs. Warthog," Pixiefrog said dryly as Warthog walked out of the office, closing the door behind her.
As soon as she was gone, Adam focused his attention on the principal.
"Alright PF, what's this all about?" Adam queried. "Why did you call me into your office?"
"I'm glad you asked me that Mr. Lyon. For you see, there is something that I need to clue you in on immediately," Pixiefrog started as he started pacing on his desk. "You know, a lot of stuff has been going on since Mr. Spidermonkey pulled that prank on you yesterday afternoon."
"Don't remind me of that," Adam frowned in a discomforting manner. "I want to spend the rest of my life forgetting that ever happened."
"Right," Pixiefrog tugged on his collar as he got back on topic. "Anywho, this morning we got a call from the school board. And it involves you."
"Me?" Adam pointed to himself while having a suspicion as to what this was about. "The school board called about me?"
"Yes, Mr. Lyon. It's about you," Pixiefrog got down to the point. "And your parents called as well. It may seem that the school board had finally gotten around to fixing the clerical error, in regards to your last name being Lyon. The school board no longer identifies you as a lion."
Adam was a little stunned by what he just heard. After piecing everything together, he slowly started to ask him.
"Wait, does that mean I'm...?"
"That's right Lyon," Pixiefrog finished for him. "We've been issued to transfer you back to Chester Arthur Middle School. And that you are no longer a student at CDMS. You'll be going to CAMS starting next week."
Adam couldn't believe what he was hearing. Was he in heaven right now? Was this just a dream? Or was Principal Pixiefrog pulling his leg again? Regardless, Adam felt overjoyed by the thought of going back to his human school. However, he was also cautious about what he was told and wondered if this was a trick to get his hype up, only to kick him down afterwards.
"Uhhhh, Principal Pixiefrog? Your joking, right?" Adam queried. "I mean, this is a joke, right?"
"Wish it was a joke, son. But I'm afraid it isn't," Pixiefrog said with a serious expression on his face. "The school board 'really' wants us to transfer you back to your old school since the clerical error with your last name has been fixed."
"But what about the student funding?" Adam brought up.
"Yeah, I'm aware of that Mr. Lyon. And may I say, it'll be a shame that we'll be earning less from that with you leaving our school," Pixiefrog told him. "But if we don't transfer you back, then...well, you know how that old song goes."
"The school will get sued if I don't go back to CAMS?" Adam took a wild guess.
"Exactly. And we can't have that," Pixiefrog nodded. "So that's why we need to transfer you."
Adam was stunned in silence as Pixiefrog finished speaking. He couldn't believe what he was told. So his parents were telling the truth after all. They were going to do something about his predicament, which meant contacting the school board and informing them to fix the clerical error about his last name.
Now here he was, in Pixiefrog's office. Having been told that he was being transferred back to his old school. He had to pinch himself to make sure that he wasn't dreaming. When he did, he was convinced that this was the real deal this time. Finally, it was looking like luck was on Adam's side for once.
After a few minutes of silence, Adam finally found his voice. "Wow, Principal Pixiefrog. I...I dunno what to say. Other than the fact that I am overjoyed to know that I'm being sent back to my old human school."
"I know. I can hear some of the enthusiasm in your voice," Pixiefrog said dryly as he stopped pacing. "I realized that from the first day you started at CDMS, you had expressed that you'd love nothing more than to be able to return to your old school, and leave all of this animal school nonsense behind."
"I see," Adam said simply as he let the principal continue.
"And for the record Lyon, I have to say that we give you our most sincere apologies," Pixiefrog told him. "You know, for all the times I pinned the blame on you for all the things that Mr. Spidermonkey did, who refused to take any responsibility for any of his antics."
"Well PF, if it's worth bringing up, I no longer have any association with Jake," Adam had to remark. "We're no longer best friends, and now I no longer want anything to do with him or his antics. In other words, I cut all ties with him."
"Oh. So you have," Pixiefrog said casually. "Well, that's certainly not a problem-o of the sort. But now I have to wonder why I didn't separate you two after the time both of you rode in the fish tube..."
"Probably because we didn't give it much thought," Adam took a guess. "And that I decided to remain Jake's friend at the time."
"Hmmm, that's true," Pixiefrog admitted. "A shame that none of us saw it sooner though. But I suppose this can be overlooked now since it's all behind us."
"Right," Adam tugged at his collar. "Anyway, I guess it's official. I'm leaving Charles Darwin Middle School."
"That's right Lyon. You won't be a student at our school for much longer," Principal Pixiefrog told him. "True, we will have some cuts in our student funding. But I guess this is something that's completely out of our control."
"Yeah. You can say that," Adam agreed with him.
"Yes. Well, just know that we won't miss you too much," Pixiefrog told him. "After all, we never thought we would've gotten a human student attending our all-animal middle school."
"Believe me, I never expected to be sent to an all-animal school in the first place," Adam admitted.
"I think that's something none of us expected Mr. Lyon," Pixiefrog stated. "Anywho, that's pretty much all that I needed to tell you."
"That's what I figured," Adam stated before asking. "So, does that mean you're going to be announcing how I'm being transferred from the school on the intercom? For the morning announcements?"
"Why Lyon, you read my thoughts loud and clear," Principal Pixiefrog stated.
Adam then let out a sigh as Principal Pixiefrog decided to speak into the intercom.
"Good morning students of Charles Darwin Middle School. This is Principal Pixiefrog here to give you an important morning announcement," Pixiefrog started. "Due to something that went through with the school board, and fixing the clerical error of one of our students' last names, Mr. Adam Lyon will no longer be attending Charles Darwin Middle School starting next week. He will be returning to his old school; at Chester Arthur Middle School."
All of the students and staff members had heard what Pixiefrog just revealed and were shocked. Some of the students were glad to see Adam leaving their school forever, such as Bull Sharkowski, as well as the Spiffies; a group of five stereotypical nerds that consisted of a dolphin, pig, elephant, parrot, and octopus; with Phineas Porpoise the dolphin being the leader of the Spiffies.
Others, however, were quite sad and disappointed to see Adam leave their school for good. Granted, it was mostly because of the popularity scene that they saw Adam start at their school, but plenty of them such as the Pretties had the hots for him and always wondered how it would feel to mate with the human student.
The members of the pack that Adam associated with the most were very upset to hear that Adam was leaving them permanently. Although Windsor had a feeling that it would come to this, the others weren't very happy to see their human friend leave their group.
Special mentions go out to Ingrid, who was depressed that Adam was going to be leaving them without knowing exactly how the giraffe feels about him. To her, this was a saddening moment.
And then there was Jake, who as one would expect, who have been upset and depressed the most upon hearing that Adam was leaving their school. However, because of what happened to Jake yesterday, with how Adam cut all ties with him and was no longer best friends with the spider monkey, Jake was too much in a depressive stump to even care about it. All he did was let out a saddened sigh as a result of hearing the news from Principal Pixiefrog.
Seeing that everyone had heard the announcement, Pixiefrog decided to continue. "And if all of you are wondering, the reason young Adam Lyon is leaving us has to do with a complaint given from his folks about the way he's been treated here. Especially coming off after yesterday when that prank in the gym was set off on him and ruined our gymnasium by a certain someone you all know well enough. I'm talking about you, Mr. Spidermonkey!"
Adam had to sigh again from hearing that as Principal Pixiefrog kept going. "So with that being said, tomorrow we'll be holding a special service in the cafeteria to give our former student Adam Lyon the proper sendoff that we should give him. But that doesn't mean bullying, attempting to eat him, degrading him of his humanity, or pelt him with chum and junk. Well, maybe taunt him a little, but I want nothing more than that from all of you! Especially you Jake Spidermonkey!"
Adam had to roll his eyes at that. He's always been talked down to at this school by almost everyone since he got here. So why shouldn't they hold back now? It wouldn't make much of a different, since next week he'll be attending human school again. So they might as well get it done and over with tomorrow.
Adam decided to stay silent for now as Pixiefrog started to wrap up his announcement.
"And lastly students, I have an announcement to give to Mr. Spidermonkey. I have a long list of punishments and tasks that I'll be having you do for me for a good portion of the semester," Pixiefrog wrapped it up with a stern voice. "You will see me in my office after school today so I will tell you what your punishments will be. And you will not be allowed to goof off or pin your responsibilities on someone else, since young Lyon here won't be associating with you anymore. I hope I make myself 'perfectly' clear, Spidermonkey."
Afterwards, Pixiefrog stopped speaking firmly and said his final words on the intercom. "That'll be all for the morning announcements, people. Carry on."
And with that, the morning announcements came to a close, as the rest of the students went back to their usual activities before the first-period class started. Adam, meanwhile, decided to say something now that the principal was done.
"Well PF, is that all you wanted to tell me?" Adam asked.
"Hmm? Oh yes. Yes," Pixiefrog told him. "Yes, I believe that's all that I need to say to you."
"So I can leave your office now, right?" Adam had to double-check.
"That's right. You may go and continue today as usual, for now," Pixiefrog instructed. "And well...I guess I'll be seeing you."
"Right," Adam nodded as he stood up and headed for the door. "I'll see you around, Principal Pixiefrog."
"Gotcha Lyon," Pixiefrog called out right as Adam walked out the door and closed it behind him.
Once Adam was gone, Pixiefrog decided to take it easy for now before going on patrol with his scooter. Today and tomorrow were especially gonna be busy. And so, he had to ensure that everything at the school goes exactly how he planned it. And he needed all the energy he can get, so he just relaxed in his office for the time being...
Meanwhile, with the rest of the pack, they were all taking in everything that they had heard from their 'own' principal, regarding the soon-to-be departure of Adam Lyon. After a few moments of silence, Lupe decided to break the ice.
"Ay caramba!" Lupe shouted. "Did you guys just hear what PF just said about Adam Lyon?!"
"Yeah, Lupe. Adam is being transferred from our school to his old school. And that he'll be starting at CAMS next week," Slips proclaimed. "I dunno what to think about it, dudes. To see Adam having to leave us here and live life like a human again. It sounds pretty gnarly!"
"Frankly, I suspect that I had this sensation all along that young Adam Lyon would finally break and show the desire to be transferred back to his original education system," Windsor exclaimed. "I also assume that word about what happened in the gym yesterday must've slipped through the cracks into the Lyon's residence, thus resulting in his folks getting a hold of the school board to fix up the educational bureaucratic dilemma or in other words, the clerical error that sent young Lyon to our school in the first place. I suspected that it was only a matter of time."
"Yeah. Well, when you put it that way, it does sound big," Slips proclaimed. "But just the thought of Adam leaving us is pretty sad. Our group will be lonely without him around dudes!"
"No kidding! Things around here will only be more loco with Adam out of our presence!" Lupe yelled. "But I guess it has something to do with restoring balance and order, or whatever that nonsense means. There is no doubt that Adam's absence here will be pretty noticeable amongst the rest of us!"
"Uhhh...guys? I just wanna say that I'm gonna miss having Adam Lyon at our school," Ingrid spoke up, sounding 'really' sad about what she heard. "I'm gonna miss seeing his cute and dorky face. His fashion style. His way of doing things that other humans do out there. Frankly, I'll miss everything about it. I...I can't keep it together..."
"Ingrid! Get yourself together girlfriend!" Lupe shouted at her, attempting to stop her from performing the waterworks. "You gotta be strong for Adam's sake. And more importantly, for your sake. Besides, you'll see him a couple more times before he's outta here. So keep your head on!"
"You...You're right Lupe," Ingrid gulped and had a firm face. "I'm gonna keep it together for Adam, and I'll tell him how I feel about him this whole time since he's been here."
"That's the spirit," Lupe encouraged. "Let out all those emociones that you have for him, and don't hold back! No need for the drama when he'll be leaving our school!"
"You're right. I'm sorry for almost breaking down right now," Ingrid apologized. "I shouldn't cause anymore drama than we have already."
"Hey, speaking of drama that we have to deal with," Slips got them back on track. "Does anyone know where Jake Spidermonkey is, dudes?"
"I suspect that our simian friend has been spending the major part of the school day hiding within his locker," Windsor proclaimed. "I do not doubt that he's been in there, probably moping and sulking about how Adam ended his friendship with him and no longer wants any association with him of the sort. He's probably going to remain a sadsack amongst the rest of us for quite some time. And there won't be any end in sight any time soon."
"Good grief," Lupe expressed annoyance. "That's just what we need right now! For our monkey friend to act all mopey and sad about the fallout between him and Adam. We need to knock some sense into him and get him to stop being a crybaby, quit with the drama, and grow up already!"
"That's right Lupe," Ingrid agreed. "If I can keep it together, so can Jake."
"I suspect that the only thing we can do is convince Jake to get through the grieving procedure and get him back on track," Windsor suggested. "Otherwise, we're likely to be dealing with one depressed simian of a friend who was never able to reach the point of acceptance for a good portion of the semester."
"Right on dude," Slips proclaimed. "So let's find Jake and his locker, and get this done and over with."
With that said, the four of them headed straight for Jake's locker, hoping that they could knock some sense into him while they can...
Nearby, in Jake's locker, we see Jake Spidermonkey hiding inside of there. And judging by the frown on his face, it was clear that he was in a depressed stump. He wasn't even able to cry anymore because he was so lost in thought about what happened to his friendship with Adam.
He couldn't believe that he was such an awful friend to Adam, and he never bothered treating him with respect at all. Sure, there were a few times when he did help Adam as his friend, including the big football game against the Chester Arthur Semi-Pros, as well as any other time he attempt to make him fit in better with the school. But was it all overlooked by the bad stuff he's done to him? Were his nicer gestures all an afterthought? And was he truly the worst friend Adam ever had?
Barely any of that mattered now. Especially since Adam was expected to return to his human school next week. And the chances were that he would never see Adam again, and he only had himself to blame for that happening.
I can't believe it! I've been an awful friend to Adam... Jake thought sadly. And now he's leaving our school. And it is all my fault!
From the looks of it, Jake was on the verge of crying once again. But before he could, he heard a knock at his locker door.
"What?" Jake called out in a glum manner.
The locker door opened up, and it revealed to be the rest of the pack members. Jake could only frown some more as he waited for one of them to speak. Fortunately, the silence was broken when Windsor spoke up.
"Uhh, Jake? We wondered how you were holding up after the fallout between you and Adam. And we wanted to know if you had managed to make peace with yourself and move forward," Windsor took notice of Jake's sad expression. "But judging by the depression on your face, and how you are hiding in the dark comfort of your locker, I'm willing to take that as a no."
"Right," Jake sniffed. "Just leave me alone guys."
"Jake, come on dude. Don't sweat it, man," Slips said. "You just gotta let go of your sadness after what went down between you and Adam. It ain't doing yourself any good with you acting like a sadsack about Adam Lyon."
"Adam Lyon? I dunno anyone named Adam Lyon," Jake was in denial. "He must be a forgotten memory that I've had."
"Ah, cut the act, will ya Jake!?" Lupe yelled at him. "You know dang well who Adam is! He's the only human student in this school! Or I should say he WAS the only human student to have ever attended our school."
"Great. Thanks for opening up fresh wounds Lupe," Jake whimpered as he turned away from them. "I just wanna be left alone guys."
"Jake? Come on. You can't keep acting like this forever," Ingrid instructed. "You'll never be able to find peace and move on from this rutt otherwise."
"Why should I?" Jake asked sadly. "I've been nothing but a horrible friend to Adam. I've always taken him for granted and thrown him under the bus. And now he's leaving because of ME!"
"Okay. Yes. You have been a masivo jerk to our friend Adam," Lupe rolled her eyes. "But how's hiding out in your locker gonna solve anything!?"
"Simple. Adam never wants to see me again," Jake proclaimed in a depressed tone. "So I'm gonna obliged by his wishes and hide in here for the rest of the week. Until he's gone."
"But dude, won't you get lonely in here?" Slips queried.
"Don't be silly. I've got all the friends I need in here," Jake wiped his nose before telling them. "I got my backpack, my pencil, my collection of bananas, seven things of Wormy Joes, my posters of Truffles Duvall, and I have Lil' Pedro Pigskin; my football friend."
Windsor let out a heavy sigh before telling Jake. "Jake? I hope you realize that shutting yourself out of the rest of the school like this will only result in more emotional distress that's already going on in your simian head. Therefore, I suggest that you make the effort in pulling yourself together, and attend all of our classes."
"I still don't feel like it," Jake moaned. "I'll catch up with my school work once school is over when I serve detention with PF. I have a long list of punishments that PF is going to give me after school anyway. Besides, I won't be seeing Adam at all once the school day is over..."
"I see," Windsor tapped his chin as he came up with another idea. "Then I suspect that this situation calls for an intervention with Mr. Mandrill. Perhaps he can help with finding your inner self and being able to move on from your so-called depressive slump. There's still today and tomorrow before Adam leaves our education system permanently."
"Huh? How is Mr. Mandrill going to help me?" Jake asked while turning around and wiping his eyes.
"Trust me, Jake. It just will," Windsor advised him. "If it helped Adam let out all of his inner demons, then surely it can work the same wonders with you."
"And besides, it beats being cooped up in your locker all day with nothing to do," Slips decided to add. "You'll feel less lonely from doing so dude."
"Really?" Jake was still doubtful about this. "Will this help me for sure?"
"Of course Jake," Ingrid nodded. "A little talking with Mr. Mandrill will help make you feel better."
"Well...O-Okay. I'll give it a shot," Jake decided to go with it.
"Good. Now why don't you get out of that locker and STOP ACTING LIKE A DRAMA QUEEN AND A SAD SACK ALL DAY!?" Lupe hollered at him as the first-period bell went off. "Besides, we're gonna be late for our first-period class! Now vámonos!"
"Right," Jake wiped his nose again as he stepped out of the locker, closing it behind him. "I just have one favor to ask. I don't want to be anywhere near Adam right now, not after what I did to him."
"Fair enough," Windsor accepted as they walked to their first-period class. "You can keep as much distance from Adam as you possibly can."
"Great," Jake sighed. "I just want this day to be done and over with..."
The others nodded in understanding, as they knew that Jake would be feeling like this for a while. They could only hope that the final two days that Adam will be at their school would be eventful. And that something will be gotten out of it by the end of Friday. They could only hope and wait for themselves...
The school day has passed by like it usually does. And from the way things were going, Adam wasn't having a bad day at school this time. This was likely because he was being transferred out of the school starting next week, and nothing the other students could do would change anything.
During his first-period class with Mr. Hornbill, the teacher brought up the fact that Adam was transferring. But then he also brought up the animal safety class that they all took part in. And claiming that Adam was the only student to pass it, and once Adam gets sent back to human school, there will never be another student at CDMS who would be able to pass the safety class.
This also goes for human behavior class, in which Mr. Hornbill reminded them that Bull Sharkowski was flunking in it, and needed Adam to be his tutor to pass. Aside from that, he 'basically' did his lessons on hunting and how to be an efficient hunter.
Outside of that class, there was Ms. Chameleon's class, in which she brought up how Adam was being transferred from their school. After that, she went on to ramble on about her most significant failures and mention how all of her students have had their own most significant failures and horrid trials that they had to endure on their own. This included Adam, which his failures and difficulties involved being stuck at CDMS in the first place.
Other than that, Ms. Chameleon's class was mainly the usual lectures that she gives in drama class. There was nothing outright special going on in that class either. Aside from that, nothing else had happened to him today, as he just had to get by Hibernation class right before lunchtime.
Currently, he was in the cafeteria, sitting at a lone empty table, enjoying his lunch. He paid no attention to any of the other students around him until the members of the pack (bar Jake) approached the table he was sitting at. They decided to greet him first.
"Hey Adam," they said in unison.
"Oh. Hey guys," Adam greeted them back after swallowing his food.
"Mind if we sit down with you Adam?" Windsor asked him.
"Oh, sure," Adam nodded and took another bite of food. "Go ahead."
And with that, they sat at Adam's table and dug in and ate their 'own' lunches. After a few minutes of silence, Slips decided to break the ice.
"So, how's everything going, dude?" Slips asked him.
"Oh. Good. Just good," Adam answered him. "I've been having a better day at this school than I did before."
"Do you suppose that the reason behind that might have something to do with the unexpected news of your soon-to-be departure from our school?" Windsor took a guess.
"Well, now that you mention it, that might be it," Adam admitted. "That does explain why no one at this school has been giving me a hard time today."
"Sí," said Lupe. "It does! And that includes Bull Sharkowski!"
"Yeah. Bull hasn't bothered me at all today," Adam proclaimed. "He hasn't even tried to eat my lunch this time."
"Right Adam," Ingrid spoke up. "Everyone has noticed Bull not going anywhere near you today."
"Yup. And I'm proud of it too," Adam said proudly as he continued eating.
"Soooo Adam? How does it feel dude?" Slips decided to ask. "How do you feel, knowing how you are being transferred out of our school, and back to your old human school, man?"
"It feels great. Pretty great," Adam had to be honest. "I'm 'actually' looking forward to going back to my old school where I'll be able to fit in with everyone else of my 'own' kind again."
"Hey Adam," Ingrid decided to ask meekly. "Won't you miss any of us when you go back to your old school?"
"Well, you guys, I guess I'll miss you," Adam confessed. "You guys never 'really' gave me a hard time at this school. I can't say the same for everyone else though..."
"I can understand the reasoning behind that," Windsor explained to him. "For as long as I've known you, Adam, I always thought you were a self-centered narcissist who was usually complaining about being the only homosapien in a school full of a variety of different species of animals and that you long for the days of being back amongst your 'own' kind. But after what I've witnessed, I realized that it has more to do with being unable to fit in with us because well...you aren't one of us. That and you have to be on guard with all the predatory students here who could make a meal out of you, and you act the way you to survive amongst the rest of us."
"Really?" Adam raised an eyebrow. "Do you 'really' mean that?"
"It took me until this morning when Principal PF announced that you were being transferred from our school to realize that," Windsor said simply.
"Wow," Adam blinked. "I never gave that any thought. I was just desperate with wanting to be back at my human school this whole. I even lied about being allergic to most animals and needles to get sent back. And all I got for my troubles was a hypo-allergenic bubble, that I got trapped in."
"We know," Lupe spoke up. "And to be perfectly honest, we understand now that you'd like to be transferred back to your old school."
"I see," Adam ate some more of his lunch. "Well, thanks for understanding Lupe. No hard feelings, but I just about had it with being given the short end of the stick at this school."
"Yeah. And we're 'really' sorry about that Adam," Ingrid apologized shyly. "Anyway, there is something that I'd like to tell you."
"Oh?" Adam gulped his food and looked at the giraffe curiously. "What is it, Ingrid?"
"Well, I uh...You know Adam, the truth is," Ingrid struggled with getting out. "For the longest time I've known since you've been here that is...Uh...I've always...sort of..."
"Yes, Ingrid?" Adam encouraged her to finish.
"I...I...I... For as long as I've known you, I've always sorta loooooooooo..." Ingrid started before correcting herself at the end. "Liked you. I always liked you, Adam. And it won't be the same with you gone."
"Oh. Well, that's pretty sweet Ingrid, I guess..." Adam said awkwardly. "I always sorta liked you too. At least you never purposely threw me under the bus since I've been sent to this school in the first place."
"Oh Adam," Ingrid blushed sheepishly. "You always have a way with words."
"Yeah," Adam tugged on his collar shyly before changing the subject. "By the way, have you guys seen Jake? I don't think I've seen him all day today."
"Oh, trust me, dude. He's been around," Slips answered. "But he's made it clear that he was going to stay away from you for the remainder of the week, or something like that."
"It would appear that the little rant that you let out on him yesterday on the football field 'really' got to him," Windsor got into further details. "Since it's consistent that you broke your ties with him, and no longer have any association with him, he has shown signs of not wanting to be anywhere near you, and not thinking about you in the slightest."
Adam had to sigh and nod in understanding. He wasn't going to object to that. After all, he made it pretty clear yesterday that he didn't want anything to do with him anymore, and that their friendship was over.
That meant he no longer had any association with any of his schemes. And since he was going to be transferred from this school, it was likely that he would never have to deal with him again. So that was understandable.
Silence plagued the group for several minutes as Adam finished his lunch. Once he was done, he decided to drink his juice.
As he was drinking, he saw someone moving at the top of the coconut tree that was near the table. There was an orange monkey tail moving from behind the leaves.
Adam quietly glanced and looked up towards the top of the tree. He briefly saw two pairs of eyes and a blue-green baseball cap. Jake only looked at him for a few seconds before ducking back behind the leaves so Adam wouldn't see him.
Adam could only raise an eyebrow at this. It was clear that Jake was taking this whole thing seriously. Granted, it was kinda creepy and over-the-top, but at least he was respecting his boundaries for once.
At least Jake is no longer attempting to bother me here. This brings me relief. Adam thought as he finished his juice. Seeing that he was all set, he decided to take his leave.
"Ooooooooooooookaaaaaaaaay. Anyway, I'm already finished with my lunch, so I might as well be going," Adam stood up and put his juice box into the paper bag along with the plastic sandwich bag. "Later guys."
"Yeah. Later dude," Slips called out to him as the human student threw the paper bag into the trash before leaving the cafeteria.
As soon as Adam was out of sight, the rest of the pack members wiped their foreheads in relief.
"Whew. That was a close one," Lupe remarked. "He almost saw Jake hiding up in the árbol!"
"Rats. I was this close," Ingrid griped to herself. "I was this close to telling Adam how I truly feel about him, and I went ahead and blew it."
"Ingrid, you'll get plenty more chances where that came from before he gets transferred from our school!" Lupe reminded her.
"I hope so," Ingrid uttered.
"Uh, dudes? I think we have other things to worry about," Slips got their attention as his tail pointed up towards the tree Jake was in, as they could hear him whimpering and hyperventilating.
"Yes. It would appear that our simian friend; Jake Spidermonkey has reached the point of hyperventilation," Windsor pointed out. "Suffice to say that there is little doubt that Jake's depression has gotten out of hand. And it has escalated further than any of us could've predicted."
"Sí," Lupe agreed. "His drama has gotten a little outta control. Soon it'll spread throughout the whole school if nothing is done!"
"So uhhh...this means we should have Mr. Mandrill check Jake out after lunch period is over, right?" Ingrid wondered nervously.
"That's precisely what I had in mind," Windsor nodded. "Once Mr. Mandrill gets to the root of our simian friend's dilemma protruded into his skull, then Jake can begin what can be referred to as the road to mental recovery, and depression."
"I sure hope so Windsor, my man," Slips commented. "Cause I sure don't fancy the thought of having coconuts fall on my head every time Jake eats his lunch up in that tree."
As soon as he said that, a coconut fell from the tree on top of Slips' head, as he felt the impact.
"Ouch!" Slips rubbed his forehead with his tail before looking up and furrowing his eyebrows. "Not cool, dude!"
"Eeep!" Jake squeaked and uttered an apology before hiding behind the leaves again.
"See what I mean," Slips told them.
"Yup. We see it," Windsor, Lupe, and Ingrid said in unison.
"Yeah. We can just escort Jake to Mr. Mandrill's office once lunch period is over so he can help him," Ingrid said with a sigh.
"But how will we know if he'll come down from that stupid tree or not!?" Lupe yelled.
"Trust me, Lupe. He will," Windsor told her. "Besides, he'll have to leave to do his business sometime. And there's doubt that he'll want to relieve himself in the tree up there, where every student could witness it for themselves."
"Yeah dude," Slips nodded. "Everyone here would want to see that for themselves."
At that moment, they heard Jake sigh as they went ahead and finished up their lunches. By the time they were done, the bell went off. And that meant that lunch period was over, and all the students had to get to their next class. All the students who weren't Jake or the other members of the pack stood up and stormed out of the cafeteria.
"Alright. Let's get Jake down here so we can bring him to Mandrill," Ingrid suggested.
"Yes. I'm all over it," Lupe took a deep breath and hollered at Jake. "JAKE SPIDERMONKEY!? TIME TO GET DOWN AND HEAD TO MANDRILL'S OFFICE TO GET YOUR HEAD CHECKED OUT!"
Without saying anything, Jake slid down the tree until he was on the ground and the pack members approached him.
"Trust me, Jake. This is for your 'own' good," Windsor advised him as he put his arm on his shoulder. "The sooner you go and see Mandrill about your problem, the better. It'll be over before you know it."
"Right..." Jake sighed sadly as he started to walk out of the cafeteria with the other pack members following him.
"No need to worry dude. Ol' Mandrill will just get to see what's going on in your mind, and all that other mumbo junk," Slips told him. "And then you can figure out what you should do from there."
Jake said nothing as he decided to be silent for the rest of the trip to Mandrill's office. The others accepted this from him as they just followed. They could only hope that this would bring up the solution that can resolve Jake's problems for sure...
END OF CHAPTER 9...
Yeah, that's it for this chapter. I do hope you readers have enjoyed it!
Now, this is pretty much the turning point where things start to wrap up as Adam prepares to go back to his human school, and the others cope and deal with the thought of him no longer being with them. As well as Jake being able to deal with his problems and his depression after how Adam told him off. Trust me, things will start unfolding in this story.
Anyway, the next chapter will be about Jake seeing Mr. Mandrill, who will discuss with Jake his depression and problems regarding the fallout with Adam. Aside from that, the school day will be over, Adam will talk with Kerry about what he found out from Principal Pixiefrog, and a few other things will occur. How will this go? Find out next time, readers!
For now, only if you like to, you can leave a review for this chapter, and tell me what you think of it. I got nothing else to say about that.
Otherwise, that's all that I have for now. So until next time, I do hope you all will take care of yourselves. And on that note, thanks again for reading, everyone!