Chapter 27

Mrs. Newman looks in astonishment towards Mr. Trudeaux; who simply shrugs his shoulders while grinning. She looks back to Adele. "Adele, sugar…like I said before…it's going to be a real pleasure having you in my class." Nadine and Adele are standing in front of Nadine's locker, while Eddie and some of his fellow band classmates are about to pass by. His friends have been egging him on to say something to Nadine; and suddenly, a reluctant Eddie succumbs to the peer pressure and decides to speak to her. He timidly approaches her. "Hi, Nadine." And with just those two little words, his courage falters for a brief moment; and he finds a temporary stall with Adele. "Hey, Adele…great job today in Mrs. Newman's class." "Thank you." Eddie becomes quiet, and looks back for some support from his comrades; who are now failing miserably at ‘inconspicuously' gesturing him to continue. As this goes on, an amused Nadine and Adele exchange smiles. Finally, Eddie regains some nerve and awkwardly continues… "So, Nadine; your hair looks really nice today. Did you do something different with it?" A flattered Nadine automatically strokes her hair while coyly replying, "Thank you. No." Adele takes it upon herself to remind him, "Her hair always looks nice, Eddie." Now somewhat embarrassed, Eddie squirms as he agrees, "Yeah…you're right. I…I…" A flabbergasted Eddie scurries off; with his friends close in tow. "Ooo…I think Eddie likes you." "What…no. He was just being nice." Adele declares, "He is nice." Nadine smiles as she momentarily reflects. "Yeah…he is." "I like him. Don't you?" Again, she smiles and reflects to herself before admitting, "Yes, Adele…I like him." Upon noticing Nadine's facial expression as she inadvertently confesses her subconscious fondness of Eddie, Adele smiles at Nadine. Nadine starts to blush; then gives Adele a playful, friendly nudge in the shoulder while telling her… "Knock it off." Adele remains standing there smiling. Meanwhile, having been in near proximity and privy to the prior conversations, Christy and her cohorts begin to skulk behind Nadine and Adele; and then Christy removes the gum from her mouth and abruptly smashes it into Nadine's hair. She spitefully grins as she sneers to Nadine… "There…now you can tell Eddie that you have done something different with your hair." Leah snidely addresses Adele. "Oh well; so much for her hair always looking nice. Now it looks almost as bad as yours, Freak." The group snickers as they leave and haughtily sashay down the hallway. With a look of total humiliation evident on her face, Nadine starts to cry; and then rushes to the nearest girl's bathroom. Adele hesitates, appearing as if she doesn't know what she should do, before running after Nadine. And when she enters the bathroom, she sees a highly upset Nadine feebly fumbling with a comb while attempting to remove the gum from her hair. "Let me help you, Nadine." Adele gently pries the comb from Nadine's trembling hand, and then tries to remove the gooey mess. Not making any progress, Adele begins to vigorously pull at the sticky, mangled tuft. Soon, the wad of gum…along with a large clump of Nadine's hair…is removed. Adele gawks at the comb, then becomes frantic. "Oh no, Nadine! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!" Nadine looks down upon the ‘carnage' left entwined in the comb's teeth, then up to a pallid-faced, quivering Adele. She quickly takes Adele into a comforting embrace and tries to soothe her by gently rocking her side to side. "No…you didn't do it, Adele." "But I was trying to get the gum out, and…and…" Adele starts to cry. Nadine comfortingly assures her, "It wasn't your fault." Adele slowly begins to stop herself from crying, as she sniffles, "It wasn't?" "No." "But…" "Adele…listen to me. This wasn't your fault." "But your hair…I pulled it out." "No…it just happens sometimes." "What happens?" "My hair…it comes out when…" Nadine becomes silent. Adele looks confused. "It comes out when what?"