Chapter 2

In which I get talked into attending a dance.

Chapter 2

Fortunately, I have Patrick in most of my classes, and he's nice.

Unfortunately, I have Sophia in most of my classes, and she's mean.

She goes out of her way to pick on me, and trip me and stuff. Patrick usually helps me up, if he happens to be around, but Sophia really enjoys watching me suffer. Maybe it's because I'm not as rich as she is�" Mom and Dad will probably have to file for bankruptcy after sending me here�", so she thinks that I'm not worth her time. No one except for her two friends, Lyn Patterson and Hannah Bats, actually likes her. But most of us suck up to her, so she'll leave us alone. I, for one, have some dignity.

While the food in the cafeteria of Phoenix is great, the cafeteria itself is a scary place. There are about ten tables, and you have to try to find a place to sit. Most importantly, you have to find a place where people will LET you sit. On Monday of the next week, I went through the buffet, and got my usual: macaroni and cheese, an ice cream cup, and an iced tea. (Not sweetened.) Then, I glanced around for an empty spot. Thank God Patrick noticed me, and waved for me to join him, along with Delilah, Holly Evers, and Gerald Dynamite. I made a beeline for the empty chair next to him.

"Thanks a lot," I said, setting my tray down.

"Sure," he said. He took a bite of his frosted strawberry Pop Tart. "I didn't want you to end up like one of those poor souls." He nodded towards two boys, who were eating on the floor by the soda machines.

I knew what he meant. If you have to eat without a table, it's the mark of a total loser. It shows that no one wants to sit by you, and that shows that you're not popular. It's like eating lunch alone at a table. If no one comes to sit by you, you look like a loser, so no one comes to sit by you, so you look like a loser, so…

You get the point.

At dinner that night, one of the upperclassmen shouted "MAIL CALL!"

We all payed attention after that. "Okay," said the upperclassman. "We've got a letter for Miss Sophia Blank. A package for Gerald Dynamite. And here's a letter for Delilah Horton. And last but not least, two letters for Adele Becker!"

In my dorm, I read my letters out loud to my roommates.

"Okay," I said, holding up a envolope with star stickers all over it. "This one is from my friends back home.

Dear Adele,

Kayla is the one who's doing the actual writing, but this letter is from all of us. We miss you sooo much! We're counting down the days till Christmas break, when you'll come home. Our classes our good, and we hope that yours are, too. Jasmine's crush asked her out last week. (Naomi says that boys are a waste in middle school, but Jaz is awfully happy.)

We looked up your school. It sure seems fancy! We mean, a BUFFET? Yeesh. We all hope that you fit in, and that you're doing all right.

Hugs,

Jasmine, Naomi, Kayla, and Sally

PS: Sally says that 'hugs' is dorky. She gives you a high-five."

"What's the next one say?" asked Brooke.

"Hmm… Ooh, it's from Milo.

Earth to Adele,

I hope that everything is going well at Phoenix, because it's not at Greensburg High. So far, my year has sucked. Nasty teachers, bullies, etc.

You may have noticed that this letter is written on the back of a chem quiz. Well, I did that for two reasons. One, I was too lazy to get up and find some other piece of paper. Two, I kind of got a D (as you might have seen), and this way, the parental units won't find out.

As for not fitting in, I know you'll find a way. You always do.

-Milo"

Delilah said, "That's nice. Now everyone shut up, I'm entering a battle sequence." I then noticed that she had been playing on her laptop the entire time.

Brooke said, "Can't you stop playing video games for more than two seconds?"

"No."

Aurora sighed, "Well, at least she's honest."

"Shut up, Aurora!"

Aurora and Delilah had been at odds ever since they met. Aurora is a huge girlie-girl, and she loves makeup and that sort of thing. Delilah, on the other hand, has little to no care for her appearance, loves video games more than anything, and is content to stay up all night playing games on her laptop. Delilah's lack of socialization annoys Aurora, and Aurora's bounciness annoys Delilah. It's a real pleasure having them in the same dorm.

For example, one day, Delilah was playing on her Gameboy, when Aurora sat on her bed, and began to mess with her brown hair. "Delilah," she said. "You should use some gold eye shadow! It would bring out your natural beauty!"

Delilah spat, "How dare you?!"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

Delilah stared at me. "I'm in the third to last Superior Battle. It's one of THE most important parts of the storyline of Princess Jihira: Quest for the Lost World, and she has the nerve�" the PURE nerve�" to interrupt me about MAKEUP and my NATURAL BEAUTIES? She is such an irksome beep!"

Delilah did not say beep.

One Wedensday afternoon during lunch, after social studies, Delilah and I were alone at a table. I was studying for my first science quiz of the year, and Delilah was playing her Gameboy. I looked up, and a cloud of older kids were walking by.

"Hey," I said. "There are the eighth graders."

To my complete astonishment, Delilah looked up. She searched the crowd with her eyes, as if looking for something. She must have found it, because she stared at the swarm until it was gone.

"Sorry," I said, pretending to get up. "I thought that you were my friend Delilah, my mistake."

She snapped out of her trance. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"Um, for one thing, you looked up from your game for more than ten seconds. For another, you were just totally checking one of the eighth graders out."

"One of them had a game I want."

"How could you see it?"

"They were showing it to a friend," she said in a "duh" kind of way. "They were holding it backward, so I saw the color and logo. I was able to tell what game it was."

"I know the goo-goo eyes when I see them, Delilah."

"Why? Because you constantly make them at a certain Mr. Patrick Hudson, who shall not be named, and he makes them at you?"

"Patrick and I are just friends, and you know it."

Right at that moment, Patrick slipped into the seat next to me. "Hey, Adele!" he said.

Delilah smirked, and I made an obscene gesture at her. Thank God that Patrick was opening his Pop Tart at the time, and didn't notice either of us.

I guess I DO spend a lot of time with Patrick. But still. Just because I like to hang out with a boy doesn't automatically make him my boyfriend.

The next day, Aurora noticed something right away at breakfast. "Hey," she said. "Look at that poster."

I read it. Bright markers had been used to write:

BACK TO SCHOOL DANCE

Next Friday

7-10 PM

All Middle School Students are Welcome!

Before any of us could say anything, a tall boy with three piercings per ear got up from his table, and came over to ours. If it hadn't been for the fact that high schoolers were in the other building, I would've thought that he was a tenth grader.

"Hey, Delilah," he said, pulling out a book.

She turned bright red. "Yeah?"

"Thanks for letting me borrow this book, it was really cool. Plus, I advanced thirty levels in two days!"

"Told you that it would work," she said, taking it.

"See you 'round," he said, going back to his own table.

The book was Swordquest: All the Secrets and Cheats You MUST Know. "Who," asked Brooke. "Was THAT?"

"Alec," replied Delilah, going back to her eggs. "An eighth grader."

I gasped, "Is THAT the guy you like, Delilah?"

"Maybe," she replied, making it quite obvious that he was.

"So, how about that dance?" asked Aurora. "What do you say?"

"Dances irk me," snapped Delilah.

"Something tells me that Alec will be there," said Brooke in a sing-song voice.

Delilah straightened up. "I'll be needing a dress."