-- Prologue

It was Wednesday, quite possibly the worst day ever.

Located directly in the center of the week, it meant that only half of the days had gone by, and half had yet to pass. Wednesday meant bad luck. It always, always came fraught with chaos, concern, and horrendous lunch choices at school. It was the day teacher's assigned the most homework. Or, in the case of some students, the most detention.

Wednesday was a day of doom. It brought an air of caution, along with a warning, “Always expect a Wednesday to pull you down to reality, no matter how high in the clouds you happen to be floating.”

It was simply known as a bad day.

Adelle Montgomery sighed and flipped to the next page in her book. She stopped reading once she hit the halfway mark as a feeling of dread had overwhelmed her. Lifting her head, she peered above the pages of her novel and glanced around the cafeteria quickly. The same groups of teenagers sat at the same tables with the same conversations and the same lunch meals. Nothing had changed.

Rolling her eyes, Adelle turned back to the flowing words before her.

She sat quietly, reading page after page without the worry that someone should bother her. The table she sat at was bare of other people. Only her half-empty lunch tray and a small stack of homework papers covered the top.

“'One of my theories is that pain involves anticipation',” she read aloud, quoting a line that had stood out more than the others. Pain was, of course, a very ranged topic. Pain could come from anything, being both a physical and an emotional feeling. Adelle had only experienced the physical sort of pain a few times; the other sort, however, she knew much too well.

The loneliness of growing up with a father in the military had been the imminent downfall to any friendship Adelle had hoped to keep. With a constant change in location, Adelle had slowly drifted from the idea of making friends. By the time her father had decided on retirement, her family had moved more than ten times, and her former friends became mere memories.

Reaching silently for her orange juice, Adelle took a sip without losing sight of her words. Page 238, with more than a hundred pages left. She vowed she would finish it before the end of the day.

“Oh dear,” a tiny, almost innocent sounding voice interrupted her trek.

Setting down her juice, Adelle turned towards the sound, expecting to face a mousy girl with a bunch of books scattered across the floor. Instead, however, she found a girl with too much make-up, clothing far more skimpy than was school appropriate, and a carton of milk. She was kneeling to pick up a fallen sandwich. With thick boots on, Adelle half expected the girl to tip over from the angle, but the bread and meat was easily grabbed.

Standing, the girl shook her meal and proceeded to take another bite, not bothering to notice how disgusting the lunch room floor really was. That, or she had noticed and simply wasn't acknowledging the fact.

Adelle cringed and turned back to her book, hoping to forget what she had seen. A minute passed.

“Ten second rule,” the same voice came from right behind her. Jolting, Adelle sat up straight, bumping directly into the girl that now stood at her back. Something hard dropped onto the top of her head, slid forward, and fell. A white liquid splattered all across Adelle's lap and book. She squeaked.

“Oh dear,” the girl was rushing off before any other reactions could take place.

Adelle sat still, staring at the milk seeping from the pages of her beloved novel. Not many of her fellow teenagers had noticed the accident, but the moment she stood, they would begin to talk. Rumors would fly, and Adelle would find herself even more of an outcast.

Just about to start crying, she spotted the girl that had caused her problems. She was walking closer with her arms full of what appeared to be clothing. Stopping before the milky mess she had created, the girl nodded her head frantically, “Gosh, I'm so sorry.”

Adelle shook her head, “I-It's fine. Really.”

“No, it isn't,” she nodded her head to the pile covering her hands. “Here. I brought all the stuff in my locker. You can change in the bathroom.”

“It's okay.”

“It's not. So follow me,” the girl frowned, her voice becoming demanding. Giving in, Adelle stood, allowing milk to pour from her shirt. She figured she'd return to the lunch room later to grab her homework; fixing herself was the first priority.

“I'm really very sorry,” the girl muttered as they walked.

“It's fine,” Adelle repeated, biting her lip when others began to spot her sopping outfit. She realized she should have expected the bad luck. She should have been prepared to face something embarrassing.

After all, it was Wednesday.

-- The quote is a direct line from The Princess Bride, thirtieth anniversary edition, page 237.

Please read and review, giving as much helpful critique as you want. And for all to know, yes, I was formerly known as Jade-Rey-San. My stories, Piece by Tiny Piece and Intense Insanity were once up, but I had them removed. Sorry 'bout that.