Chapter Two: Frenemies

Skylar doesn't know where every is. Usually, people hang out by the football field, but where are they?

Chapter Two

 

Jackson High was the ideal high school. The football field (that was also used as a soccer field) was the perfect shade of green, and wasn’t too far from the cafeteria, so a lot of students who stayed on campus for lunch would hang out and eat on the bleachers. The school wasn’t compressed, but spread out. All of the science classrooms were together, as were the math classrooms, the history classrooms…etc.

Skylar was sitting alone at lunch on Monday. On a normal day, she would be sitting with her friends. But where were they? Skylar had seen Ashlyn and Maddie before fourth period, and then they were just…gone.

This was extremely unusual. Sometimes Skylar and Ashlyn had to eat lunch alone, for Maddie had more than one group of friends. Sometimes Maddie hung out with Georgina Smith, a tall brunette girl with a unibrow who was the best post on the Jackson High Varsity Basketball team. Other times, Maddie would hang out with Willow Keating. Willow was voted best dressed three years in a row, though most people thought Danielle had nicer clothes. She wore a Gucci tote as a backpack, and wore a different pair of Jimmy Choos for every party she attended.

Skylar sighed. She didn’t know why, but it wasn’t just her friends that seemed missing. She looked around the football field. Nobody was there. She had noticed nobody was in the lunch line, but she hadn’t taken it into consideration. Some days, the line surrounded the cafeteria numerous times, and other times the line only consisted of a few students. She looked around, finally coming to the conclusion that today’s lunch wasn’t going to be very fun.

Then, she saw someone. The figure noticed Skylar, but remained stationary. Whoever it was was staring right at her.

Skylar gasped. She didn’t move, for she didn’t want to startle the figure. She couldn’t make out who it was, but they hadn’t taken their eyes off of her. Things were silent until Skylar started to seem self-cautious. Then suddenly, it vanished.

          ☆☆☆

Danielle was sitting in the library with the rest of the sophomore class. The seniors were all on an informational college field trip, and the freshman and juniors were all at the opening for a new restaurant just down the street from Jackson High. There was an assembly going on in the library, so the sophomores all had to attend it. The assembly had to do with picking up trash to keep Jackson High’s campus clean. Student government had hung up signs describing the assembly. The signs said things like, “A Clean Campus is a Happy Campus!” and “Keep Your Campus Clean!” Just stupid things like that.

Danielle looked over at the stage that had been set up for the assembly, wondering who would be speaking for the whole sophomore class. There was a lot of chatter coming from the sea of students. She heard Oliver Jenkins, the boy sitting next to her, talk about Star Wars. Wow. Danielle thought. Stars wars are so cool. Of course, this statement sounded extremely sarcastic in her head. Apparently the voice in the back of her head wasn’t too fond of Oliver Jenkins, either.

The library doors flung open, and in came Principal Hamm. Principal Hamm was the only imperfect thing about Jackson High. He was always sweaty, and wore white everyday. His glasses were extremely small, and he didn’t help the school improve. Today, he was dressed in a white suit with a few coffee stains around the waist, and partly on his knee. The suit would make him look extremely amateur at whatever he did. He walked passed the students, and stepped up onto the stage, holding his pants in place as he stepped up. They were probably a size too small for him.

The sophomores had started quieting down after Mr. Hamm coughed a few times, getting their attention. “Now,” he said, wiping his sweaty hands off on his white pants, leaving a wet stain. He coughed a few times, so hard that you could see spit flying into the audience.

Ew!

“We all know that our school is great, but lately you students haven’t been taking very good care of your campus.” He sounded really congested. “So, in order to get you kids to understand the importance of this matter, I may have to cancel the Valentines Day dance if…”

There was roar of disagreement coming from the students. Danielle looked over at Simon Patts, a boy who had always been the class clown. He was yelling louder than everybody. “Boo! Boo!” he yelled. Simon was sitting next to Maddie and Ashlyn, some drama nerds that were obsessed with acting. They were convinced that they were going to be famous someday, but not nearly as much as Skylar Simmons was. Where was Skylar, anyway?

Danielle giggled at Simon, and set her hands on her lap.

Mr. Hamm cleared his throat again. “Listen! I won’t cancel the dance if you kids get your act together. Mr. Johnson, your janitor, is tired of picking up after you kids. Honestly.”

Everyone was quiet, as they should’ve been.

Suddenly, the door swung open once more. This time, Skylar came in. She looked extremely frightened, but wore a fake smile and ran to sit with Maddie and Ashlyn.

“Skylar?” Mr. Hamm said. “Why are you so late?” He had a suspicious look on his face. “Is anyone else outside?”

Skylar stood back up. She didn’t know that she was going to be questioned about her absence. She stiffened. “No, Mr. Hamm. Nobody was out there. And I am so sorry. I just…forgot.”

Mr. Hamm sighed, but realized there was nothing else he could do. The rest of the assembly was the same thing; why they were bad students, why they needed to pick up their trash, and what might happen if they didn’t.

A half-an-hour later, once the assembly finally ended, there was a rush to the door. Simon, accompanied by most of the students who had attended the assembly, were waiting by the library door before Mr. Hamm had finished his lecture. The only students that were still sitting down and paying attention were Maddie, Ashlyn, Oliver, Skylar, Danielle, and Valerie.

Valerie sat in the front row, right in front of Danielle.

Valerie’s long blonde hair was done in a braid that went over her shoulder, and she wore a Tiffany headband covered in T’s to keep her hair in place. Her bright blue eyes were not visible, for she was faced forward. Underneath the sleeve to her pink dress was a metal prosthetic arm. This made Danielle gulp, and shut her eyes.

“Well, that concludes our presentation. Please take my words into consideration.” Mr. Hamm coughed a few times before walking off the stage.

The rest of the students ran out the library door like a colony of ants running to an apple core. Danielle stood up, just as Oliver did the same.

         Oliver wiped some lint from his orange polo, though Danielle didn’t see anything on his shirt. “Wasn’t that an inspiring assembly?” Oliver asked. Smiling and raising his eyebrows. Danielle didn’t know if he was asking her, for he wasn’t facing her.         Danielle didn’t reply. She didn’t have time for losers like Oliver Jenkins. She rolled her eyes, and put on her one-of-a-kind zebra print Ray Bans. She sighed, and headed out the door.

         “Hey guys,” Maddie said, standing up from the other side of the library. “I have to go meet up with someone.” She ran off, leaving Ashlyn and Skylar by themselves.

         Ashlyn stood up, and grabbed her Jansport backpack. “She always seems to leave.” Her voice was flat, and she had no expression on her face. Her mouth made a straight line.

         Skylar looked surprised. She redid her short, dirty blonde ponytail. It wasn’t long like Ashlyn’s ponytail. It was no more than a nub of hair tied together. A lot of people had mistaken Skylar for Violet from Willy Wonka. “You’re mad?”

         Ashlyn sighed. “Well, she always ditches us.” She shrugged, and put her hands on her hips.

         Just like Ashlyn, Skylar sighed and grabbed her Coach messenger bag. “No offense, but you sound like a seventh grader.” She shook her head.

         Skylar’s heart skipped a beat. Seventh grade. All this did was remind her of Valerie’s accident. It was unbelievable to her, still, that it was real. Skylar had been practicing her monologue, when she heard a scream. She ran down to see what happened, and there she was. Skylar had no idea how it happened, but she had a hunch that Danielle did. Danielle hadn’t even bothered to call the ambulance after the accident. But Skylar didn’t have proof of anything.

         “Whatever,” Ashlyn said, as she cracked her middle knuckle a few times. “It’s just that, I feel like she isn’t loyal to the Drama Queens.”

         The Drama Queens were a group that Skylar, Ashlyn, and Maddie had created. The group consisted of the best actors and actresses at Jackson High (AKA Skylar, Ashlyn and Maddie). They created the group freshman year, when all three of them landed the lead roles in the school play. They had then realized that no freshman had ever done that. Most leads were given to seniors. They created the group as a way to practice techniques, and give each other advice. Skylar knew that “The Drama Queens,” was a very amateur name. Maddie had came up with it, and refused to be apart of something named anything else. So, The Drama Queens it was.

         Skylar grabbed a book sitting on a shelf to the right of her. She looked at the book. It was an American Girl book titled, “Frenemies.” Why is this in a high school library? “Yeah, I know what you mean. But I don’t think it’s a good reason to make a fuss about it.”

         Ashlyn rolled her eyes. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but the bell rang before she could start.

         “Looks like we have to get to drama class.” Skylar said. She put Frenemies back on the shelf, and walked out of the library standing right next to Ashlyn.