Princess Adeline of Wales

Chapter Thirty-Seven: The Break-Up

8th of November 2004 - Marlborough College

"Thank you for helping me carry my stuff around," Adeline said struggling to pack her things into her bag, she cursed the cast on her arm for making it so difficult for her to move about and carry her things. 

Returning to school had been inevitable especially since it was her final year and she had exams to think about; she had focused herself on her coursework and Adeline knew that she couldn't afford to slow down now. 

"What was I supposed to do? Watch you struggle?" Mary teased moving to help her, it was the least that she could do for her friend and she was more than certain that Adeline would do the same for her if the shoe was on the other foot. 

A broken arm would take time to heal and it certainly wouldn't do that if she had to lug her heavy bag around or carry her large number of books. 

"Will you two hurry up! It's not like you've got a broken leg," Melissa shouted with a huff, she tapped her foot impatiently as she looked back at her friends who made no move to be any quicker. 

They had another class to get to and she couldn't wait to be out of this library that smelt like old people; she'd much rather be on the tennis court practicing that cooped up inside. 

"What crawled up her ass and died?" Adeline muttered with a shake of her head, she couldn't help but notice how grumpy Melissa had been in the past couple of weeks; anything and everything seemed to set her friend off. 

Mary giggled at what Adeline said before shouldering her bag and the two of them moved away from the desk where we were studying for their exams. 

The teachers had just announced the dates of their mock final exams and the girls had decided that it was for the best that they started getting ready now rather than leave it for the last minute. 

Stepping outside into the cold November air, Adeline allowed the door to the library to swing closed behind her after Mary had stepped out before her. 

"Adeline," called a voice making Mary and Adeline stop, the two of them turning to face the direction of the voice only to find Nick standing a few feet from them.

He had a set of stitches just above his right eye and was dressed in his own clothes rather than the uniform that the school insisted that they wear while they were on campus. 

He hadn't been at school at the accident and Adeline didn't know if she was relieved or sad about that; she stared at him unsure what to say. 

Nick looked rather nervous as he approached, he had been hoping to find her here and he knew that he didn't have a lot of time. 

"Can you give us a moment," Adeline asked looking at Mary, she didn't think an audience for this conversation was going to make it any easier especially considering how nervous Nick looked right now. 

Mary nodded her head and whispered to Adeline that she wouldn't be far if she needed anything before, she shot a look at Nick and stepped away from her friend. 

"I had hoped to see you before I left," Nick said awkwardly, he stuffed his hands into his jeans pockets and moved closer to Adeline; he had no idea what he wanted to say. 

He'd had so much time to think about since they had last seen each other, his parents had pretty much grounded his ass for his actions and that didn't include the lecture that he'd gotten. 

"You're leaving?" Adeline asked surprised, she hadn't expected him to leave because of what had happened; although she guessed having your name dragged through the mud by the press wasn't exactly a walk in the park.