Rivals

by Katrina Kahler

“He went to MIT!” the ninja insisted.

  “No, he did not!” I said out loud.

  Some of the class laughed. Ms. Mars looked at me from behind her desk. “Ms. Thorn, do you have something to say?”

  I nodded. “Yes, everybody in the class who is NOT Ruby go to sleep!”

  The entire class and Ms. Mars put their heads down on their desks and started snoring away.

  “What gives?” Ruby asked.

  I pointed behind me. “There is a phantom ninja here!”

  “Tell your friend I say hi,” the phantom ninja told me.

  “He says hi,” I told Ruby.

  “Great,” Ruby said. She pointed to the clock. “We’re all losing test time here!” she noted.

  “Right,” I said. Turning to the ninja, I asked. “Why are you here?”

  “I was summoned here by somebody, I guess,” he said. “No idea why.”

  He looked over at the sleeping Bear. “Oh wow, he’s not a human. I wonder if we could recruit him?”

  “I have no idea,” I said. “I just know you need to get out. Now!”

  “How rude,” the phantom ninja replied. “I just wanted to help you with your test. Ninjas are as smart as we are sneaky. I guess, therefore, my job here is to help you pass the test so you can be worthy of being a ninja.”

  “I don’t want to be a ninja,” I stated firmly.

  “Why not? We’re pretty cool,” he insisted.

  “But you are evil!”

  “Good and evil are just two different sides of the same thing,” the ninja said. “So you wanna join?”

  “No!” I said. I showed the ninja my claws and fangs.

  The ninja pointed to Bear. “Do you think he wants to join?”

  “I have no idea. You can ask him later,” I said.

  “Fair enough.” The ninja waved and disappeared.

  I sat down. “Class, wake up. None of you realize you were sleeping!” I ordered.

  The class all popped awake.

  My day went downhill from there. Spending the day without talking to Jimmy was really tough. It hurt me seeing him in the cafeteria with Sasha. I had to admit, Sasha was smooth. She laughed at all his jokes. She put her hand on his shoulder. She flicked her hair.

  Ruby saw me steaming.

  “You know that Jimmy is just doing this because his mom told him to. Right?” Ruby said to me.

  “Sasha is really pretty," Frank said.

  I shot Frank a look. “But so are you, sis,” he quickly countered.

  “Yes, that Jimmy is so lucky,” Timmy said. Timmy was the only kid who would sit with Ruby Booger-Eater. Yes, I still hadn’t completely shut down that argument. Everybody had stopped openly taunting Ruby but they really didn’t want much to do with her right now.

  The other weird thing was that Bear stood by Sasha's table. He didn't sit there. But he appeared to be acting as her bodyguard, making sure the rest of the student body left her alone.

  “What do you think Bear is up to?” Ruby asked me.

  “I really have no idea whatsoever. I’m not even sure he has any idea. Somehow, I think Sasha is manipulating him too,” I said.

  “I wouldn’t think werebears would be susceptible to hypnosis,” Ruby said.

  “They aren’t,” I said. “There is more going on here. I just can’t be sure what. But I’m going to get to the bottom of this, you can count on it!”

  Out of the blue, Barb Bash appeared and sat down next to Ruby and me.

  “I’m sitting with you guys!” Barb told us.

  “Ah, sure,” I said.

  “Why?” Ruby asked.

  “Sasha told me this is my punishment for us not winning the science fair…now I have to sit next to Ruby Booger-Eater,” Barb said. She lowered her head and eyes. “I deserve this.”

  “Barb, we tied in the science fair,” I told her.

  “When you are Sasha and me, a tie is the same as a loss,” Barb replied. “Ruby, feel free to give me a booger to eat.”

  “I don’t eat boogers!” Ruby shouted.

  All eyes in the cafeteria turned to her.

  “Well, I don’t!” Ruby insisted.

  Before I could defend Ruby, I noticed Jimmy was leaving with Sasha. And they were HOLDING HANDS.

  I shot up from my seat towards Sasha.

  Bear stood up and blocked me. “Sorry, tiger, Sasha wants to be left alone with Jimbo!" Bear told me, standing in my way.

  I grabbed Bear’s hand and squeezed it hard. Bear’s face became a giant frown as he dropped down on one knee. He tried to pull his hand free but couldn’t.

  “You do NOT tell me what to do!” I told Bear, releasing his hand.

  Bear licked his lips. “I like that you have spunk. You may pass,” he told me; even though I’m pretty certain he knew there’d be no way he could stop me.

  “Hey!” I called to Jimmy and Sasha.

  “Hey is for horses! Do I look like a horse?” Sasha asked.

  “No,” Jimmy said.

  “I could make you think you’re one!” I told Sasha.

  Sasha laughed. “You could try. But I don’t think you want to make my Jimmy mad at you.”

  “Your Jimmy?” I said.

  “Obviously he can’t be yours,” Sasha noted. “Since his mom can’t stand you, and your mom can’t stand his mom. Face it, you two are doomed. Jimmy deserves more than that. Jimmy deserves a real relationship.”

  Ahhh, Sasha was right. Jimmy and I could never ever work out. If I really liked Jimmy the way I thought I did, I would let him go without a fight. Jimmy deserved to be happy.

  “Have a good life, Jimmy!” I told him.

  “Thank you!” Jimmy said. “I’ll always think of you as a good bud!” Jimmy added.

  Sasha took his hand. “Come on Jimmy, my pet. I need you to carry my books!”

  “Of course,” Jimmy replied.

  I stood there watching them leave.

  Nina Note: Now this was getting really weird. The good news was that I had mended my relationship with Ruby and that meant a lot to me. The very rotten, terrible, awful news was that I had for some reason, given Jimmy permission to date my archrival. I knew Sasha was behind this...I just had no idea how she was pulling it off.

  Chapter 11: Time Out

  I arrived at Coach J’s office ready for my detention. I truly felt I didn’t deserve it but at least with a little quiet time, I might be able to figure things out. After all, Coach J wouldn’t arrive until after practice. Or so I thought. Imagine my surprise when Coach J sulked into the office straight after school.

  “Coach J, I didn’t think you’d be here until after practice,” I said.

  Coach J dropped down behind his desk. He lowered his head and sighed. “I canceled practice. I might as well cancel the season….”

  “Ah, why?" I asked.

  “Bear, Bear, Bear, I hardly knew him….” Coach J moaned.

  “Coach, you have to be more specific,” I said.

  Coach pounded his fist on the desk. "Bear…he quit the team! He said he needs to devote all his time to Sasha.”

  “Man, something really rotten is going on with Sasha,” I said.

  “Very good, vampire tiger,” Coach J said.

  “Yeah, thanks,” I said. I stopped. “Wait, how do you know what I am?”

  “Mailman Steve told me. Word gets around our community,” Coach J said. He got up and locked the door to his office. He turned and transformed: his skin turned green, his hair changed to an orange-brown color, he grew a beard and his teeth grew much bigger and sharper. His fingers were long and bent.

  “Wow! Coach, you’re a troll.”

  “A big troll,” he said. “Not one of those annoying little trolls. They think they’re so hot just because they’re little and cute and can use computers and they live underground. Rent is so cheap there! Those little annoying trolls think they know everything, just because they’re so wired. But they are aces with supernatural google!” he admitted reluctantly.

  �
�You think the little trolls are the ones who started those rumors about Ruby?” I asked.

  “Of course,” he said. “But little trolls are very profit driven. If they start a rumor, it’s because somebody paid them to. Well, unless it's for kicks or against somebody they don’t like...but I doubt Ruby has ever irked off the little trolls. She seems sweet. Little trolls do hold grudges though.”

  I nodded. “They might. But since Ruby had no idea little trolls existed before yesterday, I doubt she made them angry. Do little trolls talk with humans?”

  “No, of course not. They think humans are twits. They only talk to supernatural beings. Why?” Coach J asked.

  “Because people have been doing weird, Weird, WEIRD strange things and I think Sasha has a lot to do with that. She has some hypnotic powers and they seem to be growing stronger,” I said. “Could she have used her power on the little trolls?”

  Coach J shook his head. “Maybe if she could find them. But they have strong minds. All their hair protects their brains. Plus, having little brains makes them harder to mind control.”

  “I need to find them and talk to them,” I said.

  “Well, that might be hard since you are on suspension right now,” Coach J said.

  “Are you really going to hold me to that?” I asked him.

  “It’s kind of my job,” Coach J replied.

  “If I stop Sasha, I might be able to get Bear back on your team!” I knew that might be the key to my escape.

  Coach J showed me the door. “Your time has been served!”

  Quickly leaving the room before Coach J had a chance to change his mind, I found Ruby and Frank waiting for me in the hallway.

  “It was nice of you guys to stay!” I said.

  “Hey, we’re friends. Friend wait for friends,” Ruby replied smiling.

  “I had nothing else to do,” Frank said.

  “Has Aunt Mika left yet?” I asked.

  “Probably not,” Frank said. “Why? Do you want a ride home?”

  “No, I want to talk to her and Ms. Anna about all the weird things going down here. I’m also hoping she’ll know where we can find little trolls,” I said, walking down the hall.

  “Why little trolls?” Ruby asked.

  “The little trolls are probably the ones spreading rumors about you, they’ll know who hired them to do so!” I said.

  “Then let’s get them!” Ruby said.

  “Not so fast!” Ms. Anna said. She was flanked by the cheerleaders, Randi and Sandi Dunn. They all glared at us. “I’m not sure why but I don’t want you to leave this school!” Ms. Anna said.

  Randi and Sandi nodded. "Yeah, we aren't sure why either. Just, well, we want you to stay at school," Randi said.

  “Maybe cause it’s cool?” Sandi said.

  Two other cheerleaders, Sally Brown and Kate Crow walked up behind Sandi and Randi. “Yeppers!” they both said.

  “Guys, we need to get out of the school!” I said in my command voice. “And you have to let us!” I ordered.

  “Nah, we don’t!” Kate said.

  Kate, Sally, Randi, and Sandi all started twirling towards us.

  “Now this is weird,” I said. “We’re being attacked by mind zombie cheerleaders.”

  “Maybe they just want to cheer us on?” Frank suggested.

  “I don’t think so…” I replied sarcastically.

  Kate and Sally leaped up into the air and kicked Frank in the head.

  “Cheerleaders kick hard!” Frank said, shaking some stars away. He lifted a finger. “And you are right, sis. They don’t want to cheer us on.”

  The two cheerleaders started punching Frank in his stomach, over and over.

  “My, you have great abs!” Kate said.

  “Thanks! My dad designed me well, plus I do sit-ups and leg lifts every day!” Frank said.

  He turned to me as the girls punched away. “Sooner or later this is going to hurt.”

  “You can fight back,” Ruby said.

  Frank shook his head. “No, that would be rude. I know Kate and Sally and they aren’t usually like this.” He paused. “Though I did not know they could punch so hard.”

  Ruby sighed and took a step towards the punching cheerleaders. “Fine, I’ll do it!” she said.

  “Thank you,” Frank said. “This is starting to hurt!”

  When Ruby moved forward, Sandi and Randi leaped into action – literally. They ran down the hallway towards her. I jumped up and caught the two of them before they could land on Ruby. Holding the two of them up in the air, I said. "Give up!"

  “Never!” Sandi shouted!

  “We’re cheerleaders! We can’t be stopped!” Randi added.

  I gently placed the two of them on the ground. I exhaled on Sandi. My breath smacked her in the face. She went stiff and fell over.

  “Okay, now that is impressive!” Randi said. “We could use that kind of breath power on the cheerleading squad!”

  I exhaled on Randi. My breath hit her face. She turned a little blue then dropped to the ground.

  Ruby used two nerve pinches to take out Sally and Kate. Ruby turned to me and said, “As your best friend, I feel I must say that you might want to try a new mouthwash. Or maybe chew some gum?”

  “That was angry vampire breath!” I told her. “It comes in handy when you need to take out an opponent without hurting them.”

  “Oh, cool,” Ruby said. “Gross but cool!”

  Frank rubbed his stomach. "Thanks, Ruby, that was starting to really hurt."

  Ms. Anna started clapping. "Very impressive, little students!" she said. Making a fist she laughed, "But the rah-rah squad was just a warm-up. Are you ready for the main event?”

  Ms. Anna waved her arms up. Frank, Ruby and I went crashing into the ceiling. Ms. Anna shot her arms down. The three of us smashed into the floor.

  Frank looked up and noted, “You know we never got to answer…”

  Ms. Anna walked towards us, crackling with energy.

  “I thought you were a good witch!” I told her.

  Ms. Anna floated up into the air. “I am good!” she shouted. “I’m the best! The best of the best! Better than the best!”

  “You can tell she’s not an English teacher,” Ruby said.

  Ms. Anna did a spin. “That is correct. I am a dance teacher and I am going to dance all over you!” Ms. Anna laughed and pointed down. “Just be glad I am in a sporting mood and want to fight, or I’d take off my shoes and win instantly!” she bragged.

  “Not sure I’d be bragging about that, Ms. Anna!” I told her.

  Ms. Anna reached down. “In that case, I will remove my shoes! Game over! I win!”

  Ms. Anna popped her heel out of the shoe. Just that minor move knocked poor Ruby out. Frank and I both started to cough.

  “Is the building spinning?” Frank asked with a goofy look on his face.

  “I think so…” I stuttered.

  “Stop! Anna, get control of yourself!” I faintly heard Aunt Mika call.

  Ms. Anna stopped. She slipped her heel back into her shoe.

  She turned to Aunt Mika. "Seriously, what was I doing?"

  "Looks like you were about to KO Nina and Frank…no easy task," Aunt Mika said. "I'm just glad I don't need to breathe."

  Ms. Anna reached down and helped us up. “Sorry, kids, I don’t know what came over me…”

  "I do...somehow, someway, Sasha has super hypnotic power!" I said.

  “We have to stop her,” Aunt Mika said.

  I nodded. "Yeah, no kidding. To do that though I have to find the little trolls. Do you know where they are, Ms. Anna?"

  “Somewhere in one of the sewers,” she said. “I’ve never seen them but I’ve heard rumors.”

  “Good! I’m going to track them down. My guess is they’ll know how Sasha got super-powered!”

  “I’m coming with you,” Frank said. “After all, two heads are better than one. Right?”

  “Good point,” I agreed.

  “What do yo
u want us to do?” Aunt Mika asked.

  “Stay here and try to keep the school under control,” I told her.

  Nina Note: I actually felt good. Sure, a lot of the school was under Sasha’s control. Sure I had just taken a beating from Ms. Anna. But I had a lead on the trolls and I thought they would point me to whoever or whatever was providing Sasha with her power.

  It also felt great to have Ruby on my side again.

  Chapter 12: Trolling

  Frank and I hit the streets looking for all the manhole covers we could find. The weird thing was, there were a lot more of them around than I had thought. I guess when you aren’t looking for manhole covers you don’t notice them.

  Each of the manhole covers felt like they weighed a hundred pounds. Luckily, both Frank and I could easily move them. Our plan was simple. We’d find a manhole cover, lift it off and then I’d sniff the air.

  “Do you know what you are sniffing for?” Frank asked me.

  “Hairspray,” I said.

  I popped another cover open, sniffed underneath, and lowered the cover. "Nope, not here. This just smells like mildew."

  “How do you know the trolls will smell of hairspray?” Frank asked as we moved to the next one.

  “Easy," I said. "Whenever you see an image of a little troll they have long hair. Right?"

  “Yep,” Frank said.

  “And that long hair sticks straight up. Right?” I asked.

  “Yep,” Frank said.

  “That’s hairspray!”

  “Wow, you are so smart.” Frank was impressed.

  “Nah, I just know hair,” I replied.

  “How do you know they don’t use gel?” Frank asked.

  “Because if you live in a sewer, I don’t think you want anything damp in your hair.” I sounded like a hair expert.

  “You are so smart!” Frank beamed.

  We flipped open cover after cover. Each time I sniffed the air, coughed a bit, then lowered the manhole cover back down.

  I lifted up another manhole (had to be like the twelfth one) and I sniffed, “Nothing, just the scent of hairspray,” I moaned.

  I started lowering the cover.

  “Ah, sis, weren’t we looking for hairspray?” Frank asked in a prodding voice.