Compulsion - The Greenhouse Academy

14: A t h e n a L a u n ch

Whenever she lay in bed and stared up at the ceiling, Adalynn couldn't help but entertain the questioning thoughts that swarmed her mind. What had Ethan and Max been up too that cold, dreary night? What was in the paper envelope handed to Ethan? Why was Leo always avoiding Ethan? Had something happened between them? Jealousy? A fight? Who was in the middle of it?

But then, Adalynn would mentally slap and reprimand herself. She'd just gained Ethan's trust. She wasn't about to break it again. She enjoyed seeing him sitting at their table, laughing at her jokes and shooting off sassy comments. She enjoyed watching him as he ran his fingers through his thick, dark hair. She enjoyed staring at him in class, seeing how he twirled his pencil around his fingers, how he scribbled away in his notebook, how he flashed her smiles across the room. She enjoyed having him as a friend ... maybe, one day, he'd be something even more ...

"ADALYNN!!!" Jackie clicked her fingers in front of her face.

Adalynn blinked as her mind was swiftly brought back down to earth. "What?" she grumbled, glancing from Jackie to Hayley. All three girls were sprawled on the bedroom floor, munching on cookies and hot chocolates and discussing the movie that Louis had taken them to the cinemas to see the night before.

"Hayley's trying to inform us about what's going on today and you're completely zoning out!" Jackie moaned, leaning forward and scrutinising her. "How many coffees have you had today?"

"Eww, go away," Adalynn grunted as she shoved Jackie's shoulder. "I - I'm sorry Hayley, I - I was just - er - daydreaming."

"About Mr Right? Again?" Jackie let out an exaggerated sigh.

"That's it!" Adalynn jumped to her feet and tackled Jackie around the waist. They both collapsed on the floor, breathless from laughter.

"You two are idiots!" Hayley rolled her eyes as she pulled open her Louie and searched something up on the web. "Hey, take a look at this!"

Jackie and Adalynn scooted forward, both peering over Hayley's shoulder to see the NEWS Article that'd popped up, titled "The Athena Launch".

"Ooo, let's see what this is about," Adalynn reached forward and dragged the Louie's screen downwards so she could read the rest of the article.

"Forty-one year old, Ryan Woods, is about to make history," she read out loud. "As a child, the woman fell in love with space and science after discovering a million-year-old meteor. Ryan is now the first female astronaut to orbit the moon on the maiden voyage of the Athena spacecraft."

"Yeah, go Hayley's mum!" Jackie yelled, high-fiving each of the girls.

"So, what's the plan for today?" Adalynn inquired curiously.

"Louis is giving us a free day off lessons so we can go and watch the launch on the TV in the assembly room," Hayley responded. "After that, there's gonna be a food and sports and chilling out afternoon as a celebration."

"Aww, that sounds SOOO good!" Adalynn groaned, patting her stomach.

"It's definitely a massive break-through for NASA," a male voice commented from behind them.

All three girls turned to face the doorway. Max was standing there, excitedly flicking through his Louie. "Have you seen the recent NEWS article about the Athena spacecraft?" he asked eagerly, his words tumbling over themselves. "Did you know that the spacecraft is so big that it has to have two ..."

"Max! I'm gonna stop you right there!" Jackie held up a hand and gave him a pointed look.

"Oh, okay ... I - I'm sorry," Max sighed, shutting off his Louie and sticking it back into his pocket. "Soooo ... when do we go?"

"Go where?" Adalynn asked.

"The assembly room, to watch the launch."

"Actually ..." Hayley sat up as she consulted her watch. "We should probably go in about five minutes or so if we wanna get there in time. Hey! You guys can meet my Dad! He's coming for the special VIP screening along with his co-worker and best friend, Eric. He'll be so glad to meet you all in person."

Jackie smirked. "I just wish I could've seen your mum before she left. Did you get a chance to say goodbye?"

Hayley's face fell. "Well ... not in person ... I mean, she met me in the local cafe a few days ago for a coffee but it wasn't really a proper goodbye. She did promise to FaceTime me though before takeoff, which means she'll be ringing me any second."

"Cool," Max shuffled forward and settled himself on Jackie's bed.

"What are you doing SITTING on my bed?" Jackie demanded.

"Oh, I-I'm sorry," Max quickly jumped up.

"You can sit on mine, Maxie," Adalynn smiled at him.

Max flashed her a grin. "Thanks!" he bounded over and plonked himself on it. Cupping his chin in his hands, he stared over at Hayley. "I wanna see your mum too. She's awesome."

Hayley chuckled. "She is. Oh and speaking of which, she's calling right now." So saying, Hayley pulled her Louie from her pocket and tapped the green ACCEPT button.

"Hello?"

~~~~

Gif: Hayley!!!

A/N: Oohh nooo. And for those of you who've watched the Greenhouse Academy, you know what happens next. I really, really don't wanna write this as Hayley was an awesome character and she didn't deserve what happened to her. Anyways, I won't give anything away, I'll just let you all sit on the edges of your seats, lol. I'm so mean, sorry. Hopefully I'll update one or two chapters tomorrow. What do you think of all the new friendships that are being formed? What do you think the problem is between Leo and Ethan? Is Adalynn somehow involved? Please voice your opinions in the comments below, I'd love to hear from you! Thanks so much for reading. Stay tuned and see ya, til next time! xx