[[ Part 10- Mixed Up World ]]

"NO! You are NOT going to travel halfway across the world to be an exchange student! That's FINAL!" Jaycee's mothers voice said sternly, almost forcefully. She sat in the dining table seat that she usually sat at, but instead of being the cheerful business woman that was her mum, she was red faced, and her eyes glared challengingly at Jaycee.

Jaycee sat across the table from her, her own face showing determination. She was going to win this battle, no matter what her mum tried to do.

"Look mum, I am going to USA whether you like it or not. OK? We can do this the hard way, or the easy way. Because this time I am NOT going to back down." Jaycee shot back at her mum. She could feel the veins throbbing in her head. She had had enough of this, arguing back and forth and never getting anywhere. Today was going to be the day when she would win a battle with her mum. She was sure of it.

"Oh yeah? Where are you going to get the money aye? Because I am CERTAINLY not going to pay for it! You wouldn't even be able to handle it. 6 months Jaycee! SIX MONTHS! You couldn't even look after yourself for a WEEK!" Her mother yelled, her volume considerable louder than the last comment.

Jaycee felt tears welling up in her eyes. She couldn't handle this. Why couldn't she just have a happy co-operating family? WHY? The rage was building inside of her. She wanted this trip. She NEEDED this trip. To get away from this place. To get away from someone.

"For your information, I have enough money of my own. In my bank account. I've been working extra hours at Boost Juice." She said defiantly.

"Oh yeah? Well that's too bad because you are NOT GOING!" her mum yelled. This time so loud that Jaycee backed away.

She broke under the forcefulness that her mother was exerting. Tears spilling from her eyes, she screamed "I HATE YOU! I HATE WHAT YOU DID TO DAD AND I HATE WHAT YOUR DOING TO ME".

Jaycee ran out of the house, slamming the door behind her as loud as humanly possible. Frantically trying to wipe the tears that were rolling down her cheeks. She sniffed loudly and tried to regain her composure. I will not let her get to me, I will not let her get to me, I will not let her get to me... Jaycee kept on repeating the words over and over again in her head. Still walking, she concentrated on breathing evenly and took in the surrounding environment. She had grown up here, everything was so familiar to her. She turned onto Faulkland crescent, and hurriedly walked up the old, eroded concrete path that led to the Park.

Her feet hit the grass and she shuffled over to the park bench and sat down. Not able to control her emotions any longer, she let them flow freely from her eyes, releasing all the pent up emotions in her. Why was she being like this? Why didn't she have the willpower to face down her mother, to tell her what she wanted was more important than what her mother wanted? And then there was dad...

"Jaycee?!? What's wrong?"

Jaycee jumped in her seat. Too busy worrying about her own problems, she hadn't heard footsteps coming up from behind her. She turned around to look at the person's face, but she already knew who it was. Great, just the person she wanted to see. By now, he had come over and sat next to her. She looked into Alex's eyes, the ones that she wanted to drown herself in for all eternity. Then she just looked away, embarrassed by being caught in her state.

"Jaycee, tell me. What's wrong? Why are you so upset?" He asked gently, and wrapped his arms around her for a tight hug.

"Its... Its... I-Its mum. Again." Jaycee managed to splutter out. She wasn't sure how much of her spluttering was due to how upset she was or how distracting it was being in Alex's strong arms. She rested her head on his shoulder.

"I mean, I feel like she's out to get me. Out to ruin my life, just like she did to dad's" She sobbed into his shoulder but she could tell that he was looking at her. Lifting her head up to meet his eyes, understanding washed over his face. She watched him as he put the pieces together.

"Wait... You never told anyone else... Did you?" he said. It was more a comment looking for confirmation rather than a question. Jaycee nodded silently and bit her lower lip.

"Last time, when we were little, I thought that I could handle it. That I could handle THIS, because I knew that you were always there for me. You were there, and it made everything so much easier... But then..." She paused, unsure of whether she was game enough to venture into that territory.

"But then I left you... or that's how it seemed to you, right?" He concluded for her.

"I just... I just... UGH! I just felt so left out, tagging along with you and Amba when we went out. Like I was a third, un-needed wheel!" She explained.

She blinked rapidly, determined to stop the tears. By now Alex had let go of her and they were both just sitting side by side, with her head turned away from him. She didn't want to see his reaction, to see what he thought of her. It was all too much.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry I wasn't there for you. To be honest, when you stopped hanging out with us, I thought it was cause you wanted some space, so we left you alone. Eventually, you just stopped talking to us all together, so I figured that you didn't like us anymore." Alex replied. He was trying to be understanding, and trying to apologise, but he wasn't. In fact, he was making it worse.

Us. He even talks about himself using 'Us' and 'We', as if they are one person. Jaycee could feel anger rising in her.

"Well, obviously you didn't know me as well as you thought you did". She didn't even try to hide the bitterness in her voice as she looked him straight in the eye. Alex was just confused, he didn't seem to understand why she was upset.

"What are you talking about? You are the one that changed. After your father went, it was you that closed yourself off from me. I didn't even know what to do". There was no accusation in his voice,  but she took it as an insult anyway.

Jaycee didn't know what was happening to her, why she was so angry all of a sudden, all she knew was that she was sick of being judged.

"You want the truth Alex Mason? I didn't change. The reason why I left was because I couldn't stand seeing you with that million-timing ho. So I just left you alone and hoped you would realise that maybe I had feelings for you too. And you know what? For a while I actually thought you would choose me over her. But you proved me wrong" She said, furious that he accused her of eing the one that changed.

She gave him one last look in the eye to make sure that he got the message, stood up, and walked away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After school, Adele felt like she needed some fresh air. Things weren't going to well at home, with her mum and dad constantly on her back about how she was settling in. It had been ages already, didn't they understand that? She took a walk to the park and took a seat on a bench. She got out her notebook and scribbled a few things down. She needed to sort out some of the stuff that was going on in her head. All the stuff with Jaycee was getting really weird, and the fact that Matty wouldn't tell her how he knew her. Adele leaned back and thought about that day when she had jigged. She remembered that guy that she had run into. She tried to picture him, intending to say sorry the next time she saw him.
"Excuse me? Can I sit here?"
Adele looked up, jolted out of her thoughts.
He laughed.
Adele eyed him suspiciously. "What's so funny?"
"You stable today?"
Adele got up, confused by the question. "What?"
"Oh. Sorry. You don't remember?"
"Remember what?"
He shook his head. "Don't worry. Let's just say that we got off on the wrong foot, or should I say that I wasn't really on my feet�"
Adele smiled. "Ah. You're that guy I ran into the other day, right?"
His eyes lit up, glad that she had remembered. "Uh huh."
"So� What's your name?"
"Noah. You?"
"Adele." Adele remembered the email that Jaycee had sent her, trying to tell her who was who. She definitely had to agree with Jaycee. Noah was totally hot!
"That's a really pretty name."
Adele blushed, rolling her eyes. It felt good to blush though. She couldn't remember a time when she had blushed because of a guy. It was a really weird sensation.
"What are you doing here?" he asked. "I come here everyday and I've never seen you here before."
"I was wanting some fresh air, some time alone."
He backed away. "Well, I could go if you want."
She shook her head. "You seem like good company." She paused, thinking about what he had said before. "You come here everyday? Why?"
He looked over to the play equipment. He pointed to a little Asian girl and said, "See that girl over there?"
Adele nodded.
"Yeah, well she's my sister and I take her here after school, just so she can mix with kids her own age, you know?"
He is so responsible�, she thought. "Is she�?" she asked, aloud.
"Adopted? Yeah. She hasn't learnt that there's a difference yet, but when she does our house is going to be hell."
Adele looked at him out of the corner of her eye. He seemed so laid back and care-free, just what she needed right now.
"She looks like a real cutie."
He grinned.
He has a really nice smile, she thought.
"Do you want to meet her?"
"Sure, that'll be cool."
He walked over to her, whispered a few words into her ear and brought her over.
"Ling-Tai, this is my friend Adele."
The girl looked up into Adele's eyes. "Hello," she said shyly.
Adele smiled at the little girl. "Hi," she said softly.
Ling-Tai looked funnily at Adele. "Are you Noah's girlfriend? Or Benny's?"
Noah's face went red. "Ling-Tai, go back and play on the swings."
She gave him one last look, shrugged and ran off.
Noah rubbed the back of his head. "Uh� sorry about that."
She smiled. "It's ok. She's really sweet though.
They sat in a moment of pure bliss, each totally aware of the other sitting next to them.
Noah broke the silence. "Listen. Have you heard about the school dance thing?"
She feigned surprise, hoping that she didn't sound too eager. "There's a dance?"
He nodded. "Yeah. I don't usually go for that sort of thing� but would you like to go with me?"
She smiled. "If you don't want to go� we can just go somewhere else, I guess."
He gave a sigh of relief. "You're not one of those girls who want to get dressed up and everything?"
"Nope!" she laughed. "I'd give anything to get away from that kind of scene!"
"Great! So maybe you just wanna go see a movie or something?"
"Sure. Sounds great," she replied, happily.
Ling-Tai came running over. She picked up Noah's hand. "Let's go home."
He looked down at her, as she yawned. "Ok." He turned to Adele. "Well, I guess I'll see you at school?"
She nodded, and couldn't stop smiling.
He gave her a wave, picked up Ling-Tai and put her on his back. He turned around one final time.
Adele quickly averted her eyes, but she still couldn't stop smiling. When she was sure that he had turned around, she looked up. She could still see him, as they walked out the gate. He glanced back, grinned. She laughed to herself, got up of the bench and started to walk off. She looked back and saw her notebook lying open on the seat. With her head mixed up with love, she took her pen out and wrote on the seat. ADELE 4 NOAH. She smiled to herself, got back up and walked home, happy.

[[ Part 9- Email ]] <-- Back                                                                              Next --> [[ Part 11- Email ]]