Chapter 2

Adele's running down the sidewalk, when she hears a little girl's voice call out from the playground as she's passing by. "Adele; come swing with me!" Adele stops, grasps onto the chain link fence with both hands, and closely leans into it while looking into the playground. "I can't now, Rebecca. I gotta get to school." "Aw, come on; just a few minutes…please! They're new swings." Adele leans in a little closer, pressing her forehead against the fence to get a better look, and whispers aloud to herself, "New swings?" She looks down at her Hello Kitty wristwatch, and gently bites down on her lower lip before calling back, "Okay…just a few minutes." She enthusiastically enters the playground, hastily throwing her backpack on the ground by the fence; then immediately runs to the vacant swing next to Rebecca and begins swinging. A passing car stops in the street in front of the playground, and a teenage male leans out of the back seat window to taunt Adele. He uses mimicking baby talk as he yells out… "Oooh…wook at the baby playing with the wittle kiddies." Then he uses his normal voice as he shouts, "Retard!" He leans back in, and the car peels away. Both Adele and Rebecca stop swinging. Adele immediately looks down towards the ground; while Rebecca looks at her. "Adele…are you a retard?" Adele slowly looks back up and faces Rebecca. "I don't know…" she shrugs her shoulders, "maybe." Adele returns to staring at the ground. Rebecca reaches out and places her hand on Adele's shoulder. "That's okay…I still like you." Adele looks back to Rebecca and gives her an appreciative smile; though still unable to fully mask the hurtful pang felt from that ridiculing. "Thanks. I like you, too." Adele looks down at her watch, then quickly jumps up. "I gotta go…I'm gonna be late for school. Bye!" She runs to the fence and snatches up her backpack. "Bye, Adele!" They wave to each other as Adele dashes off. Nadine and her friends are walking from the parking lot to the school entrance, when a group of boys hanging out front take notice of her. One remarks, "Hey, Nadine; looking good." Nadine continues walking, while simply responding, "Thanks." The girls giggle. Sarah's the first to comment… "Well; someone's already in demand." Nadine blushes as she bashfully replies, "Shut up." Janice tells Nadine, "No kidding; you'll have them all wishing they were Junior Prom King just so they could dance with you." "What are you talking about?" "I'm talking about you…Miss Junior Prom Queen." "Please." Trish chimes in, "No, seriously, Nadine; you're a shoe-in to win. Face it; you are the most popular girl here at Roosevelt." "Yeah; right. What about Christy Rosenberg?" Sarah scoffs, "That ‘Barbie' in a cheerleader suit? Please…you're way more popular." Janice and Trish quickly concur with "For real" and "Yeah". Then Trish asks… "Don't you want to be Prom Queen?" "Actually, I never really gave it a thought. Besides; prom's not until May…it's only September." Sarah advises, "Hey; you need to plan and prepare way in advance nowadays. Am I right, girls?" Janice and Trish simultaneously nod in agreement. Nadine chortles and shrugs her shoulders as if to say "whatever". Then she tells them… "I really don't see the point in planning so far ahead when you don't even know what to plan for." Trish asks, "What do you mean?" "I mean, you never know what life has in store for you, guys." ‘The Board' of Roosevelt High School's self-proclaimed ‘Cool Crew', Christy Rosenberg and Leah VanCleef…both dressed in cheerleader uniforms…and Frankie Kowalski and Troy Washington…both wearing their letterman football jackets…are talking by Christy's locker when Adele happens to catch Leah's attention. "Oh my God…check out the Freak show." She gestures in the direction of ‘the show'. Adele's at her locker, desperately trying to remember the combination. She's noticeably mouthing numbers as she frantically turns the tumbler back and forth. Still unable to remember the combination, she closes her eyes and repeatedly hits the side of her head; continuing to silently mouth random numbers. Now frustrated, Adele erratically spins the tumbler. Using a tone as if Adele were somehow getting on her nerves, Christy nastily remarks, "That girl is such a loser."