It wasn't the alarm clock that woke Delanie up the next morning, nor was it the water running as Julie brushed her teeth. It was instead the incessant pounding on their door that woke her up about an hour before she normally got up for classes.
Both girls stirred as a result of the inconsiderate interruption of their sleep. They exchanged exhausted glances before Delanie let out a huff, angrily tossing her blankets aside. She shoved her feet into her old slippers and tugged a hoodie over her head before making her way to the door. She aggressively tugged the door open, prepared to give whoever was on the other side a very frustrated greeting. Her older brother grinned at her the moment she met his gaze. "What the hell do you want?" she grunted, rubbing her eyes.
Jett chuckled gruffly, crossing his arms over his tattered t-shirt. "Good morning to you too, sunshine," he joked, earning himself a very tired glare. "I'm about to call Dad before he goes to work, and you're going to come talk to him with me," he said simply, as though this were a simple, common occurance.
The truth was that Delanie hadn't spoken to her father since he dropped her off at school the very first day. She had called her mother a total of two times, once to tell her that she was settled in, and another to tell her about a paper she wrote that her English teacher decided to send in as Eden Hall's nomination for a local contest. Other than that, she didn't have any contact with either of her parents. And that was just fine. Thus, Delanie closed the door in her older brother's face.
She had just begun to move back towards her bed when his knocking began again. Julie, who was trying her very hardest to go back to sleep, shouted at her friend. "For God's sake, just go!" she groaned, tugging her covers up over her face.
Delanie sighed before turning on her heel and joining her brother in the hallway. "I will speak to him for five total minutes. Then I'm getting ready for school," she demanded.
Jett just grinned, leading her out of the girls' dormitory and into the boys'. Nigel was surprisingly absent when the siblings entered Jett's dorm, something that Delanie noticed, but was much too tired to question. She sat down at the foot of Jett's bed as the older boy stood at the desk across the room, dialing their home number into the old corded phone. Delanie watched her brother's face to see if she could judge when their father picked up, but the sudden "Hey pops!" that came out of Jett's mouth was a much better indicator.
Delanie sat and listened to her brother's side of the conversation, her leg bouncing anxiously. She felt like she was waiting for her turn to enter the principal's office. Jett and their father chatted for a solid fifteen minutes before Jett said that someone else wanted to talk to him. He waved Delanie over and handed her the phone.
She took a deep breath. "Hi Dad," she began quietly, sleep still lacing her voice.
"Finally. I was wondering when I would hear from you," her father's gruff voice echoed in her ears. She cringed a bit at the sudden increase in volume. She wasn't really entirely prepared. "How are you, Delanie?" he asked politely.
Delanie smiled to herself, realizing how drastically her answer to that question had changed over the past few weeks. "I'm pretty good. Things are going much better than I imagined they would be," she answered earnestly. Her mind then wandered to her hockey friends, and her stomach dropped. "Some of my friends are in a bit of a tough spot, though. That's becoming a bit of an obstacle," she added meekily.
She heard her father sigh. "Just take care of yourself," he insisted, "I understand wanting to help your friends, but it isn't worth your unnecessary stress."
Delanie frowned. "Okay, but-"
"No buts. We sent you to Eden Hall to focus on your future, not your friends," her father argued definitively. Delanie let out a sigh as her father began talking again. "I assume you're not making trouble for your brother?"
"Of course not," she said sharply before catching her tone. She sucked in a breath before continuing softer, "Jett and I are good. Getting along great." Jett sent her a smile from his position leaning against the wall nearby.
Her father surprisingly seemed to believe her easily. After years of bickering and fighting, she didn't think that her father would just accept the idea of his children becoming close all of a sudden. But then again, perhaps he wasn't so surprised. After all, it wasn't as if he really paid much attention to Delanie during her youth. "That's good, I'm glad to hear it. And I trust you're doing well in your classes?" Before Delanie could even answer that one, there was another one, "And that you're doing something productive with your free time? I don't ever want to hear that you're simply running a muck around campus."
Delanie flashed Jett a desperate look as her spirits fell. She had, of course, been expecting this from her father. It was the reason why she hadn't called him yet. All he wanted to hear was that she was meeting his impossible expectations. Delanie kicked her foot against the carpet as she sheepishly responded, "I've got A's in all my classes. And I spend most of my time studying with my roommate or finishing up projects. I had this English essay-"
"Good. I would expect nothing less from such a bright girl. But you also should find an activity, just as Jett has hockey. There's nothing wrong with being well-rounded like your brother. And-"
Delanie pulled the phone away from her ear as her father continued to ramble. She held the phone out to Jett, tears pooling in her eyes. She shook her head desperately. "I can't, Jett. I can't listen to him tell me everything I'm doing wrong," she whispered, her expression begging her brother from help.
Jett looked his sister over a moment before his gaze hardened. Setting his jaw, he took the phone from her hands. "Dad," he interrupted steadily, causing the man on the other end to stop chattering, "would you please give Delanie a chance to tell you about her year so far? She's been doing great, and all you're doing is comparing her to me, when she's been doing far better than I have."
That silenced their father at once. When Jett handed the phone back to Delanie, the line was quiet. "Dad?" Delanie asked tentatively. Her father apologized quietly before urging her to tell him about her year. She began with Mabel and Rosa and Julie and how great of friends they had been from the very beginning. She referenced the English essay that she had told her mother about and explained how much she felt that she was learning in all of her classes. She omitted Adam from her tales, figuring that he was a topic that needed it's own phone call. Preferably to her mother.
When she finished, her father was quiet. She sent Jett a worried look, causing the older boy to confusedly shake his head. After a moment, she heard her father take a deep breath. "I'm proud of you, Delanie," he said quietly, and Delanie froze. "I'm sorry that I didn't give you a chance before. I just worry. But it sounds as though you're doing great."
Delanie was at a loss for words. She couldn't remember the last time -- if there ever had been a time -- that her father had told her that he was proud. When she didn't respond, her father explained that he had to get ready for work. "Okay Dad," she said meekly, "I love you."
"I love you too. Don't be late for class," he said pointedly before cutting the line.
When Delanie put the phone down, Jett raised his eyebrows. "Everything okay?" he asked, concern lacing his words.
His sister nodded. "Yeah," she said, fighting back tears. She smiled gently, "He just... apologized. Told me he was proud."
Jett didn't quite understand the gravity of the situation, as their father was constantly praising him, but he didn't have to. He could tell how much it meant to her just from her expression. He smiled before wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "He should be proud," he mused softly, "you're doing great, Lanie. Better than I was my freshman year." He paused for a moment before sucking in a deep breath, holding back tears of his own. "I'm proud of you, Lanie. I couldn't be prouder."
And for some reason, coming from Jett, it meant so much more.
--
Mabel paced the hallway anxiously as Rosa leaned against Delanie's shoulder tiredly. "How much longer is this going to take?" the older girl asked with a yawn.
Delanie, whose own nerves were through the roof, let out a sigh of her own. The trio of girls were standing in the hallway outside of Eden Hall's boardroom, anxiously waiting for their friends to exit with what they hoped would be good news. There were a few other kids mulling about, seemingly curious as well. "Soon, I hope," Delanie answered her friend, "but I'm willing to wait here all night if it means good news."
"Agreed," Mabel muttered, pausing her stride next to her friends. No longer pacing the floor, she resorted to bouncing on the balls of her feet. They were all antsy, but Mabel was definitely the most expressive of it.
Delanie was tugging at her fingers nervously, her eyes fixated on the door that Julie and Charlie had disappeared into earlier. She could only imagine what was going on in there, with Rick talking into the board members' ears and Orion and his mystery guest fighting with everything they had. The mere idea of the jv team losing this fight made Delanie want to cry. She couldn't even imagine sleeping in an empty dorm room or not having Julie's blonde head in her line of sight during history. The thought of all of her friends leaving was awfully lonely.
After what felt like ages, the door to the boardroom flew open, and a bunch of varsity players stormed out. The three girls shared a hopeful look. An angry varsity team was sure to mean good news. When Jett and Zander exited, they had straight faces. Rosa quickly excused herself from her friends and made her way over.
The jv team was close behind, whooping and cheering loudly. Mabel and Delanie shared a grin but stayed rooted to their spots. They watched as Rick and his varsity goons spun on their heels, towering over the kids in front of them. Though they were too far away to overhear their conversation, both girls could tell from the look on Charlie's face that Rick was talking out of his ass. Charlie just rolled his eyes, not giving in to the older boy's fuming jabs.
When the parade of varsity boys walked away, Russ called something after them, but Delanie wasn't quite paying attention. Her eyes were darting from Charlie to Julie to Luis, desperately trying to catch one of their gazes. She ended up meeting Luis's, and he quickly grabbed a hold of Julie's arm and the pair hurried over to their friends.
Once Juile realized where they were going, she nearly broke into a sprint. She flung her arms around her roommate. "We're staying!" she shouted, causing the brunette to laugh happily.
"I told you everything would work out," she exclaimed happily, sharing a grin with Luis over her friend's shoulder. Julie stepped away from Delanie and gave Mabel a tight squeeze.
Mabel nearly jumped for joy. "I was so worried!" she fretted, her cheeks red with exasperation, "I don't know how Delanie was so calm! I was freaking the f-"
"I appreciate the concern," Luis interrupted quickly with a chuckle, "but you guys aren't getting rid of us that easy." He and Julie high-fived as Mabel and Delanie laughed happily.
As she was about to respond, Delanie caught Adam's eye over Luis's shoulder. The blonde boy was talking to Zander, but paused mid-sentence when he met her gaze. A smile appeared on his lips and he held up a finger to his older friend before starting in Delanie's direction. In comparison, she smiled bashfully at her friends. "You'll have to excuse me," she said suddenly, delicately stepping in between her two friends.
The three of them bid her goodbye, giving her knowing smiles before turning back to each other. Adam met her in the middle, a huge grin on his face. "I'd call that a win," he began as he wrapped his arms around her.
"Definitely a win," Delanie agreed, resting her head against his chest. She let him hold her for a minute before stepping back to look at him. Her fingers poked at his suit coat. "Wow, you clean up nicer than I expected," she teased, causing him to scrunch his nose up at her.
He hummed, narrowing his eyes playfully. "You always know just how to hurt my feelings," he pouted, causing his girlfriend to laugh. He laughed along with her for a moment before his tone sobered. He scratched the back of his neck somewhat awkwardly. "Uh, hate to break it to you, but you're no longer dating a varsity athlete."
Delanie's eyes widened for a moment, and she almost immediately jumped into her interrogation as to what happened. However, she stopped herself and took advantage of the situation. Her surprised expression was exchanged for a smirk, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, stepping closer to him. "That sentence just made you 800 times hotter," she joked, standing on her toes to peck his lips lightly.
Adam laughed, his cheeks gently flushed. "You would say that," he teased back, his hands coming to rest on her waist.
She smiled innocently at him before creasing her brows. "Of course, there's nothing wrong with being on jv, but what happened?"
Embarrassment flashed across his face for a moment. He cleared his throat, "Rick pretty much demoted me. Told everyone I've never 'had the heart of a warrior' whatever the hell that means."
Delanie rolled her eyes. "I really don't think he has the authority to do that," she pointed out with a gentle laugh, causing humor to dance across her boyfriend's face. She shrugged, "whatever. You'll just have to kick their ass in the jv-varsity game."
"Oh you bet," Adam jeered cockily, a smirk on his lips. "Hate to say it, but your brother is going down, Lanie."
Delanie laughed, "Well, if I know Jett, I know he won't go down without a fight." Adam rolled his eyes at that, causing her to giggle. She smiled up at him before continuing, "but I also know exactly whose side I'll be cheering for."
Adam grinned, "that's what I like to hear." He leaned down and captured her lips in a quick, sweet kiss. She smiled against his lips before he pulled away, adoration in his eyes. He kissed her forehead softly. "You're great," her murmured, his breath tickling her skin.
"Oh I know," she answered smoothly, causing him to look down at her, his eyebrows quirked. She smiled innocently before kissing his cheek. "I already called you hot. I can't inflate your ego too much," she joked.
Adam let out an offended huff. "Fine, I see how it is," he fake pouted, causing Delanie to laugh.
She poked his cheek, "You're cute."
He raised an eyebrow. "What happened to inflating my ego?" he asked jokingly, leaning forward so that his nose brushed hers. She giggled, shoving lightly at his chest. He held his hands up defensively, "Hey, no complaints here."
She shook her head at him, a humored smile on her lips. "You're too much," she said affectionately, rolling her eyes gently. He gave her an angelic grin that made her heart melt. He really was the cutest thing on earth.
She was going to kiss him again, but a loud, cheerful voice interrupted their conversation. "So... not what I expected to come back to," Charlie teased, causing both Adam and Delanie to turn to him. They stepped apart awkwardly, causing Charlie to laugh. "Hey, I'm on board. I've been on board since day one," he insisted, his humored smile not dissipating.
"Whatever, Conway," Adam joked, his arm sliding around his girlfriend's shoulders.
Charlie offered his friend a jovial smile. "Did you tell her that you're a disappointment?" he snarked playfully, causing Adam to roll his eyes. Delanie laughed, and Charlie seemed to have an epiphany. "Oh, that's right. I forgot that you've been rooting for us since day one." He sent his female friend a wink that made Adam hold her just a little bit closer to his side.
"Definitely," Delanie agreed (much to Adam's dismay), smiling from ear to ear. When Adam gave her an offended look, she shrugged her shoulders. "Oh come on," she argued, "did you really think I would've cheered for varsity regardless?"
Adam let out a huff, removing his arm from her shoulders and instead crossing it over his chest. He furrowed his brows in fake anger. When she touched his arm apologetically, he bit back a smile. "It's fine, I get it. Totally get it," he muttered, a playful smile betraying him.
The trio fell into a fit of laughter. "You are so not a good actor, Cake Eater," Charlie joked, patting his buddy's shoulder.
"Oh, just go away, Charlie," Adam snarked, causing the other boy to shrug. He said goodbye to only Lanie before turning and walking away. Delanie laughed while Adam scowled. Once the curly-haired boy was officially gone, Adam turned back to his girlfriend, a sly smile on his face.
"Right. So, where were we?"