Loose Lips Sink Ships
Page 23
Chapter 13
Though she only had one day of in-school detention, Avery still had to go to after-school detention, and she would have to continue going for weeks unless she found a way out of it. Fortunately, she’d been having great luck getting teachers fired lately, and there was good reason to be optimistic that a little complaining would have Ms. Downing packing up her bags in no time.
As soon as detention let out, she went right for the principal’s office. Slipping through the door, she entered the reception area, where a secretary clacked away at a keyboard.
“Hi, my name’s Avery Leigh, and I need to speak with Principal Monty. It’s kind of important,” she said, once she had the secretary’s attention.
The woman, whose hair looked like a beehive on her head, picked up the phone to buzz the principal.
“There’s a student here who wants to see you. Ok, I’ll send her in. Her name’s Avery Leigh. Oh, of course, right. How silly of me. I’ll tell her.”
Setting down the phone, the secretary informed Avery that Principal Monty was stuck in a meeting and wouldn’t be available. Avery peered at the plump secretary, tilting her head and glaring at her. She was sure something fishy was going on.
Striding for the door to the principal’s office, she found the handle locked. Peeking through the thin window, she watched the principal climb out through the window and run for the parking lot. Apparently he didn’t want to talk to her.
Avery left the office, knowing she would have to find another way to solve her problems. She wouldn’t have much luck getting rid of Ms. Downing if she couldn’t get anyone’s attention. Even though the woman had acted out of line by giving Avery tons of detention, she never did anything that would get herself fired.
Getting back at the basketball team, on the other hand, was almost too easy. All she had to do was tell some people they were a bunch of two-pump chumps and eventually everyone would know. Though that would cause them some embarrassment, it wouldn’t cripple them in the way she desperately wanted. She had to think of something better.
Glancing at a bulletin board outside the office, Avery noticed a flyer for the basketball team’s home opener next week. Their first game of the season was again Millbrook, Springdale High School’s rivals and toughest contenders in the section. Gasping, she tore the flyer from the wall.
This was her opportunity to ruin them, not only to make up for the slanderous things they said about her, but also to get revenge in the name of every girl who had been the victim of their sexist, chauvinistic ways. Leaving the building, she contemplated what she could do to set them off.
Avery spent the entire ride home picturing a team full of basketball players all creaming their shorts in the middle of the game. Hundreds of people would be watching them, news cameras would be there, and everyone would be laughing at them. Maybe they’d even get a good shot of Paul or Daniel whimpering and sniveling on the big screen under the scoreboard. But at the same time, she was grasping at straws when it came to Ms. Downing and that irritated her, and she really didn’t have that much time to put this all together.
Disappointment that she didn’t have a plan to get her gym teacher fired got the best of her excitement, and so she moped into the living room, frustrated and depressed. She found her sister sitting on the couch, chugging a bottle of Listerine. Lori’d swallowed a quarter of it before she noticed Avery’s mood.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, smacking her greenish lips together.
“You’re drinking Listerine, that’s what’s wrong!” Avery winced.
“What? I had a craving,” Lori shot back.
“No, you can’t get a craving for Listerine. You’re not even supposed to be drinking it at all. It’s poisonous!” she argued, shaking her head.
“Do you hear that, body?” Lori asked her stomach, poking it. “You can’t get a craving for Listerine! I don’t think it’s listening.”
Avery crashed in one of the chairs, putting her hand to her face. The nightmare of her life just seemed never-ending.
“This teacher at school has been trying to steal Carter from me. I have to get back at her, but I can’t figure out what to do.”
“You should go to her house, kick down her door, and threaten to kill her houseplants,” Lori suggested, taking another sip of green liquid from her bottle.
“No, see, we’re way past the threatening phase. She blackmailed Carter into going out with her and then told me off in front of our entire class for no reason, giving me detention until I’m wearing adult diapers.”
“Yikes,” Lori commiserated. “Sounds like you just need to kick her ass.”
Avery’s face went slack at her sister’s suggestion. If they got into a fight and everyone saw it, Ms. Downing would definitely get fired. Supposing they fought during the basketball game and caused a little accidental nudity, it would be more than enough to make the boys blow their wads. But how could she provoke the fight in front of an entire crowd?
All of a sudden, Lori burst from her seat and raced for the bathroom, bottle in hand.
“Where are you going?”
“It’s my morning sickness,” Lori muttered.
“It’s the middle of the afternoon!” Avery howled but got up to follow her anyway. Lori made it to the toilet just in time to spew a torrent of green liquid into the bowl. It splattered all over the place, and the smell of Listerine singed Avery’s nostrils. Using her arm to wipe her mouth, Lori took another swig.
“Not only does it satisfy my cravings, it keeps my breath fresh!”
All Avery could say was, “you need to see a doctor,” before leaving the bathroom and returning to the living room.
“If we don’t even have money enough to keep the house, how do you think I’m going to see a doctor?” Lori yelped.
But that was an even bigger problem that Avery couldn’t even begin to penetrate. There were already a few boxes against the walls here and there where her mother had started to pack. It wouldn’t be long before they were out on the street. Thinking about that gave her a headache, and so she anxiously got back to planning her revenge. Even if she could get a fight started, Avery would absolutely get beaten to a pulp. Ms. Downing was jakked and not easily fooled.
This meant Avery would have to get some help.