𝙗𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙢 / 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙚𝙚

"wussies"

"Hey Ella, come on!"

I looked out my window and onto the street to see my team waiting for me.

"We can't keep the preppy snobs waiting!" Charlie called up and I laughed.

"Give me one second!" I grabbed my roller blades off my dresser and ran down the stairs. I gave my mom a kiss on the cheek and she wished me a good first day of school at Eden Hall. I leaned down and tied the laces before heading out the door.

"About time Ella, geez." Goldberg shook his head. "Even Banks was ready before you."

"Real funny." Adam said and tightened his tie.

I joined the group and we whipped down the street heading for Eden Hall. I wasn't excited to go but I knew that it would be fun with the Ducks, no matter what.

"Hey Connie, you look pretty today." I skated next to her and she gave me a big smile.

"Thanks Ella, so do you! Are you ready for high school?"

Before I could answer, Goldberg started screaming. He had started to skate backwards and in another direction than the rest of us. "I got him." Charlie calmly followed, yelling at Goldberg to turn around.

I watched them disappear down a flight of stairs and shook my head. "He's really not a skater is he?" Everyone else agreed and we continued down the street.

After a few minutes we skated under a bridge. As we reached the end, Charlie and Goldberg came flying down from the top of it and landed in the front of our group.

We all cheered for him and Charlie put his hand on Goldberg's shoulder. "Don't ever do that to me again."

"Hey guys." Adam looked down at his watch. "We better hurry if we want to get there in time for our introduction." Everyone picked up the pace and soon I saw the school. It was just as big and prestigious as I had pictured it.

Charlie skated up to the side of one of the buildings and opened the door for us. "Go, go, go!" He whispered and waved us all in.

I followed behind Averman, with Goldberg behind me. Suddenly I heard a ripping sound and more of Goldberg's screaming. The curtain fell over me and I started to claw at it, trying to get it off of me.

Charlie pulled it off and we all sat up and looked out, revealing the entire school laughing at us. I smiled in embarrassment.

"Hi. We're the Ducks." Charlie sheepishly announced.

_

"Check it out, Antsville."

I turned around and saw Charlie looking at a huge display of ant tunnels. I moved closer and saw hundreds of them moving around inside. "Woah."

"You can learn a lot from ants." Dean Buckley stood on the other side of the display, smiling.

We all leaned back in surprise.

"These Brazilian fire ants can teach you a lot", he continued, pointing at them. "about successful societal structure. you see there's one queen in there. The rest are dedicated worker ants. Everybody pulls their weight, nobody complains, there's harmony and growth. Same here at Eden Hall. Only you are the workers, the backbone."

Russ looked up at him. "And you're the queen?"

I bit my lip to keep from laughing and heard a few other snickers come from around the room.

"Hhm." Dean Buckley turned away from Russ and walked towards the door. "Campus tour, anyone?"

_