by Basil Bacorn
Stella actually spent twenty minutes herself, sitting at her vanity, brushing, and petting her hair. It was hypnotic. Stella lost track of the number of people who ran into poles, walls, or other people while looking at her hair on the way to school. Some guy rear-ended a taxi!
She loved it too, long, flowing blonde hair that gleamed with every move. When Cassie had the best hair in school, Stella was a close second. Now it was vice versa. Charlie finally snapped out of it and saw Cassie scowling at him.
“Hi!” Charlie yipped to Cassie, “Did you see Stella's hair?” Charlie stuck his foot in his mouth.
Yeah Cassie noticed her hair! How could anyone not! She wasn't going to blame Charlie for getting lost in that silky smoothness. She had to take a double-take at first. You know, the kind of double-take that takes five minutes. Luckily, they all got to school early. Cassie studied it, and wondered how? A few times she reached out to touch it, but she stopped herself. She snapped out of it when she saw Charlie twirl it. It was when she shot him a look that he noticed.
“I mean,” Charlie stuttered. Cassie shoved him playfully and smiled, “Whatever.”
Stella wanted to scream! Charlie would be hers at the end of the day, if nothing went wrong.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no! Charlie was not falling for the enemy! Cassie would lose it! He needs to do something fast, it was only the second day of middle school. He needs to reject her!
Cassie knew Charlie was in a bunch, he was too nice to reject her, even if she told him to. Stella was popular, so even if he was mean enough, they would be exiled. Forever, a couple of despised geeks. Cassie wasn't going to let that happen! But she didn't want Stella to get him.
What if another girl took him? One who wouldn't kick Cassie out of his life. She knew it! It was time for Charlie to get a girlfriend.
My Sweet Baby
Evangeline sat in her tower, and for some reason, she started to recite a chant.
How could this happen to me?
That stupid, now dead, king!
He took my newborn, Cassie,
And then, sent his son, to buy a ring!
My sweet baby,
How could this have come?
My sweet baby,
And now, I'm done!
They think they've seen the last of me,
They think I'm not coming back,
They speak of me, and disagree:
Boy, she never had anything to lack!
But my sweet baby,
Never in my arms again,
My sweet baby!
Turning out to be without a sin!
She should've been nasty,
Most definitely bad,
Kicking over the royalty,
And then taking all that they had!
Oh, my sweet baby!
Growing up to disappoint!
My dear sweet baby!
Never known to make her point!
“I've had it!” Eva screamed, throwing a chair at her mirror.
She never got to ask,
'Mommy, how do I be like you?'
I MUST FINISH THIS TASK!
AND GET HER BACK TO-
She walked forward, and said “Take control of this petty place.”
OH WITH MY SWEET BABY!!!
COMING OUT OF THE BLUE!!!
WITH MY SWEET, SWEET BABY----
THERE'S NOTHING I CAN'T DO!!!!
When she cut out, she threw a fireball out the window. Hopefully, she hit someone.
Sky
As if it was destiny, Cassie bumped into the perfect match for Charlie on their way to class. Letting Charlie continue walking, Cassie stayed behind to help the girl.
She had brown hair, and light blue eyes. Her skin was as white as snow, and she reminded Cassie of a fairy tale. “I'm so sorry,” the girl with the glasses and freckles apologized, even though Cassie bumped into her. “You don't have to apologize,” Cassie admitted, “It was my fault.” The girl just shook her head and handed Cassie her books. “Here you go,” she offered. Cassie thanked her and asked her name.
“My name Skyler Gledhill, but most people call me Sky.” she answered, “What's yours?” Cassie introduced herself. “Do you know my friend Charlie?” Sky nodded her head, “Of course! Everyone does, he's on the list of the Top Ten Cutest Guys in school!” Sky sighed, “He's number 1 in my eyes.”
Cassie couldn't believe it! Was there anyone in school who didn't think he was attractive?
“How would you like it if I introduced you?” Cassie offered. To her surprise, she shook her head. Sky warned, “He's taken, so I have to keep my distance. Haven't you heard of 'Chella'? It's Charlie and Stella's ship name.”
Cassie corrected the innocent girl. “Trust me, Charlie's single.” Cassie explained, “You want to meet him?” Sky nodded excitedly, “If you could get Charlie to notice me, we'd be best friends forever!” Cassie smiled. This was going to be easier than she thought.
After a short chat, Cassie found out Skyler had English, math, study hall, band, and lunch with Cassie and Charlie. “Find us at lunch,” Cassie invited, “and 'Chyler' will be the next big thing for the next fifty years!” Skyler squealed silently.
Cassie ran into homeroom at the last second and sat between Stella and Charlie making google eyes at each other. There's no way Cassie is going to let that happen. Mr. Braddock took attendance and the announcements came on. Pledge, news, and lunch. Cassie didn't listen. Her brain was busy with her Charlie plan, Garrett Sowards, and Stella's hair.
Meanwhile, Stella was counting down to lunch, when Charlie should make his move. 'Chella' forever.
'Chella for never, Chyler forever' Cassie thought.
After Mr. Braddock finished attendance, he assigned everyone a locker and lock, and complimented Stella, “Nice hair.”
Everyone put their stuff in their lockers and got what they needed.
Stella brushed her hair. She still couldn't believe it! It was if the Miracle Hair was magic! Stella felt her phone vibrate. She got a text from her Daddy. The text read 'MIRACLE HAIR IS SELLING FOR A MILLION DOLLARS PER TREATMENT, ROYALS EVERYWHERE ARE BUYING OUR PRODUCT, WE ARE GOING TO BE BILLIONAIRES!!!!' Stella smiled. Sharing with foreign people for billions of dollars wasn't that bad. She imagined her and Charlie traveling the world. Paris, Madrid, Venice! Mrs. Stella Myers had a nice ring to it.
Cassie took the extra notebook from her locker and wrote the words 'Operation Middle School' inside. That notebook will be Cassie's official planner to make sure she thrived.
They got to Miss Hartenburg’s room and put their numbers on their desk. Cassie saw Sky sitting directly behind Charlie. She was staring at the back of his head. Cassie laughed.
Miss Hartenburg scooted to the front of the room with miles of string hanging from her. “Everyone gets a string to make your number wearable,” she announced with excitement, and proceeded to give everyone yarn.
Once everyone was wearing their numbers, Miss Hartenburg picked five students to come to the front. She picked Cassie, Charlie, Skyler, Rose, and Jimmy, giving her the numbers 6, 9, 8, 3, and 7. Putting them in that order she said “69,837.” Miss Hartenburg walked to behind Rose and put her hands on her shoulders. “What place value is Rose in?” she asked. Will raised his hand, and after being called on, answered, “Rose, number 3, is in the tens place.” Miss Hartenburg smiled, and nodded, “Correct.” She asked the same question with everyone else. Once she was out of numbers, she switched some students out and made the number 67,352,097 and did the same thing as before.
When Cassie was allowed to sit, she whipped out her notebook and flipped to the second page and wrote a note to Charlie.
'You are going to have a girlfriend by lunch, turn around and trust me.'
When Charlie was on his way to his seat, Cassie slipped the note into his hand.
Why did Cassie hand him a note? He turned around like the note said and saw a smiling face. “Hi!” she greeted, “I'm Skyler.” Was Cassie setting him up!? If that made her happy,
then he'll take it! The girl was adorable, so it wasn't that big of a sacrifice. He smiled and gave Cassie a thumbs up.
Stella watched as Charlie flirted with the nicest girl in school and growled.
The next few classes went in a similar way, Charlie flirted with Skyler when he could to impress Cassie, who was trying to make sure Stella didn't become 'Chella'.
Cassie pulled Charlie to their regular table and called Skyler over before Stella was able to sit. Stella blew in Cassie's face and stormed off, leaving Cassie with Charlie and Sky.
“So, Charlie,” Cassie began, “Do you have anything to ask Sky?”
What was he supposed to ask her? Charlie panicked inside. If he messed this up, not only would he disappoint Cassie, but he would definitely fall for Stella, and who knows what would become of his and Cassie's relationship?
Seeing Charlie's panic face, she continued, “Maybe you should start dating a smart girl, to get your brain running.”
Sky was getting fidgety. Was Cassie really getting her a date with Charlie Myers!
Charlie got it! “Sky, would you want to go on a date with me?” Sky nodded excitedly, “Yes, Charlie, I would love to!”
Cassie clapped, “Why don't you to have a picnic in Central Park. I'll pack it!” Charlie agreed and held Sky's hand, making Sky all loopy.
From that point forward, Cassie tried to keep them together, while Stella tried to break them up.
EJMS Student Council
About a week later, the student council opened up elections for the student council offices. They were searching for candidates for President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer. Whoever became President of the EJMS Student Council would have a massive influence over the whole school.
Cassie didn't think about it, that is, until Stella Sanders signed up to run for president.
“There is no way that I am going to let Stella have that kind of power!” Cassie ranted. Charlie calmed her down. “Then run against her,” Charlie suggested, “I'm running for Vice President, and Sky is running for Treasurer.”
Cassie smiled, “You bet I am running for president!” Cassie marched directly from study hall to the office to sign up.
The next day, an announcement was made. “The candidates for the EJMS Student Council are as follows:
Treasurer: Alfred Hitchfelt, Cory Snider, and Skyler Gledhill
Secretary: Riley Alicia, and Henry Boyd
Vice President: Charles Myers, Missy Norman, Alice Curtis, and Garrett Sowards
And President: Stella Sanders, William Braddock, and Cassandra Smith!
Best of luck to everyone!”
When it was official, posters popped up all over school. Some read slogans like 'Stellar Stella for President', 'Charlie for Vice', and 'Fly Sky High for Sky for Treasurer'.
Cassie took the campaign seriously. She put up a website called www.votecassie.com to advertise and track her followers. She had buttons made that said 'Vote President Cassie'. She also made shirts she handed out for free that had 'Vote 4 Cassie, and you'll B happy!' written on them.
Meanwhile, Stella handed out golden vanilla cupcakes with her name written on them in pink frosting.
Will, on the other hand, was just telling people to vote for him.
Cassie really didn't care if she won. She just wanted Stella to lose. That was why she also endorsed Will. It helped that Charlie was endorsing her, because that got her lots of female followers.
The male followers, however, were all leaning towards Stella, because every time she talked about the election, she threw in a hair-whip or hair-twirl.
Halfway through, Sky did a mini Cassie campaign of her own, and being the nicest girl in school, she was enough to tip the odds in favor of Cassie.
Stella was furious. She had her Daddy's marketing group go all out on campaigning for her. Commercials, prints, clothes, and even an airplane with a banner that said 'STELLAR STELLA!!!'
Seeing how fierce the running for president had gotten, Mrs. Spencer made an executive decision. She disqualified both Cassie and Stella from the election, making William Braddock the automatic winner.
As for the other offices, they went as follows:
Treasurer - Skyler Gledhill
Secretary - Riley Alicia
Vice President - Garrett Sowards
President Will suggested to the council that they rename the offices.
“To what exactly?” Mrs. Spencer questioned. “I think we should rename them in honor of the medieval time period,” he explained, “So Skyler would stay as the Treasurer, but Riley would be the Scribe, instead of Secretary, and Garrett would become the royal advisor, leaving me, as the King!”
Mrs. Spencer smiled and had the council vote. They all voted in favor and King William thanked them for listening.
Cassie sighed, “At least it isn't Stella!” Charlie chuckled and put his arm around his girlfriend.
Stella sat at the table next to theirs. Ugh, Charlie, why did he like Skyler so much? She wasn't trendy, and her hair wasn't near as soft as Stella's, or even Cassie's. She was nice, and smart, and that's it. And maybe she was a little bit adorable, but everyone thought she was adorable! Stella growled.
First Band Concert
“Attention all bandos,” Appleyard announced, “tomorrow is December 10th, which is concert day!” They've all been practicing since the second day of school, and Mary Appleyard was pretty confident that they had all of the songs down pat. They had three band songs, one of which gave Cassie a flute solo, since she was by far the best flutist in the band.
Ever since the solo went to Cassie, Stella was furious. What was so special about that girl? She somehow had the ability to ruin Stella's life! First Charlie, then student council, and now she infected band with her awful happiness killing disease!
They finished practicing their big finale, and packed up with five minutes to spare. As usual, Appleyard went to her office to 'work'.
Cassie looked at Charlie and Sky and smiled. Sky was adorable, and she didn't steal Charlie from Cassie. Cassie looked at Stella, who was scowling at the couple, and laughed.
“What's so funny, Lassie?” Stella hissed. “Nothing” Cassie insisted, infuriating Stella even more. “Don't act dumb!” Stella tested, “Your arrogance doesn't allow it! You walk around thinking you are soooo smart, when in reality, you're just pulling people's legs and-”
“Shut up!” Cassie warned, “You have no room to talk, anyway, Miss Snobby Preppy Pants!!”
Stella gasped as Charlie ran up to Cassie to calm her. He knew Cassie, and he knew that if she went any further, Stella might get hurt. Cassie sat down and started humming band music to relax.
Stella just walked up to Charlie, and to Sky's dismay, she kissed him on the cheek. Charlie just wiped it off. If she ever wanted Charlie to herself, she needed to be nice.
Cassie went home and practiced for two hours straight. By 5:30 she had enough confidence to call herself ready. Just then her phone rang. It was a text from Charlie. He sent her a selfie of him and Skyler ready for the concert.
Cassie looked at Charlie's face and was a little sad, but hey, anyone is better than Stella.
Putting on her lavender dress, Cassie packed up her flute and got ready to leave. Even though the concert didn't start until 7, report time for the band geeks was 6:15. Cassie grabbed her flute and music and ran out the door, which was too hard to do in her heels, so she just walked.
When Cassie arrived, Charlie and Skyler were cuddling outside the school. “Come on you two love-birds.” Cassie called, “You don't want to miss the concert!”
Inside the band room, the students frantically practiced. As everyone finished practicing, Appleyard went to the front of the room. “This is the final hour, the fate of the universe rests in your-” Appleyard paused, “Sorry, wrong speech.”
“You all have practiced so hard,” she continued, “I have faith that we can knock the audience's socks off!” The band cheered. “Now let's show them how it's done!�
�� Appleyard shouted. Everyone cheered again.
Stella growled when Cassie walked by.
Cassie sat down and started getting out her flute. It used to be her mom's. Packed neatly inside a leather-covered case, the flute came in pieces that were gold and shiny. Cassie carefully assembled the instrument, tuned, and then performed a perfect B-flat scale. Charlie and Sky clapped for her. Stella huffed at her. “Show-off.” she said under her breath.
It was almost time for the band to go out, when it happened. Cassie started to get nervous. For the first time in her life, Cassie was scared. Scared of embarrassment, scared of messing up, of making the band look bad.
Stella noticed this, and decided that it was time for some revenge. “Nervous Cassie?” she teased, “Oh, well I like tots hope you don't mess up. With all of those eyes on you, nerve-wracking, isn't it?” Cassie's stomach twisted.
“Stop it, Stella!” Charlie demanded. “Aww, Char-Char,” Stella cooed, “I'm just reminding her how important it is that she gets everything perfect!”
Cassie felt like puking. She's never been on stage before! Stella was right! Her solo! Oh no, Cassie's solo was in the first song! She wasn't ready, she wasn't ready, she wasn't ready!
Stella smiled as she followed the panicking Cassie onto the stage. This was going to be sups amaze!
As the band slowly walked on the stage, Cassie felt the eyes piercing into her soul. She sat in her chair and put the flute on her lips. The first song started. Toot toot went the flute. Cassie couldn't concentrate. She just kept playing on, slightly out of tune.