by Kieran Scott
Daniel and I both laughed and then slapped our hands over our mouths as at least fifty pairs of indignant eyes turned our way.
“Sorry!” I whispered.
“Oh my God, how did they do it? It’s perfect,” Daniel whispered to me, pulling me away from the pack.
“I know! The letters exactly match!” I replied under my breath.
“And how did they get into the school? We were here half the night,” Daniel said.
“We are going to have to get them back for this one,” I said. “Big-time.”
“No doubt,” Daniel replied.
“I couldn’t agree more,” a third voice entered the conversation.
A near clone of Daniel walked toward us with Lumberjack Bob and Tara Timothy trailing behind them. All of them looked sickened and glowery. Suddenly a somber mood descended upon us even though we were surrounded by terry-cloth robes and fuzzy bunny slippers. It was amazing how very seriously everyone seemed to take this whole prank-war thing. It was like I’d initiated a Navy Seal operation, not a spirit week event.
“Annisa, this is my brother, Christopher,” Daniel said, gesturing toward his clone with an open palm. “He’s the starting quarterback. Christopher, Annisa.”
“So you’re the one who started this whole thing,” Christopher said, eyeing me.
“Uh . . . yeah. I guess,” I replied.
“Nice,” Christopher said. “That’s a lot of school spirit for a transfer.”
Hey, I was just looking to fit in, I thought. But I had a feeling that statement might refute this newfound Crab cred I seemed to be garnering, so I kept my mouth shut.
“Look, we’re going to have an emergency meeting at Goow’s house tonight to figure out how to retaliate,” Christopher said. “Spread the word to the cheerleaders and the team, but keep it as quiet as possible. Buzzkill’s on the warpath.”
He moved his eyes toward the front of the room, where Mr. Wharton stood fuming and red, directing the janitors as they removed the offending banner.
“Got it?” Christopher said.
“Yeah, got it,” Daniel replied.
I said nothing, and Christopher, Tara and Bobby sauntered away.
“Looks like we’re going to be spending a lot more time together,” Daniel joked.
I smiled back, but inside I was all in turmoil. How was I supposed to practice, go to an emergency prank war meeting, help Bethany with her website and study for the geometry test?
I was beginning to regret ever opening my big mouth about the prank war. I’d barely been here a week and already my life was getting way out of control—all because I’d wanted the squad to think I was cool.
When was I going to learn to think before I blabbed?
That day at lunch, I sat in the sun at the table Bethany and I had claimed the week before and waited. She had been late to homeroom, so I had yet to have a chance to apologize to her for the major infraction of the night before, and I didn’t like this sinking feeling that she was walking around out there, mad at me. Toward the end of the period, when my carrot sticks were long gone and the sun was starting to grill me like a side of salmon, a shadow fell over my book. I looked up to find Bethany hovering over me. She was wearing a pair of dark pajama pants and a black tank top.
“You’re participating in spirit week?” I asked.
“Even I can’t pass up the opportunity to wear my pj’s to school,” she replied. She didn’t sit. Not a good sign.
“Listen, I’m really sorry about last night,” I told her.
“Whatev,” she said, looking away.
“No, seriously, I’m really sorry. I swear I’ll come over tonight and we’ll work on the site. As long as we can study a little too. I’m totally screwed in geometry.”
“You swear you’re coming?” she asked.
“I swear,” I replied.
“Cool,” she said with a smile. Relief rushed through me like a cold drink on a hot day. “So who were those losers at your house? They were all kinds of defective.”
I laughed. “Most girls love my brother!”
“That guy was your brother?” She whistled low and long. “You must’ve come out of the deep end of that particular gene pool.”
“Hello? Look at your brother!” I said. “He’s totally Cro-Mag.”
“I know! I used to call him Me-Bobby-You-Jane until my mother threatened to take my computer away.”
The bell rang and we made our way inside. I felt about a million times better already. I had been stressing about nothing. Bethany wasn’t irreparably mad at me. Why did I always blow everything out of proportion in my mind? Did my brain like to stress over nothing?
“So, did you see the banner this morning?” I asked.
“Who didn’t?” Bethany said.
“Did you hear what we did to them?” I asked, eager to share last night’s prank-war exploits and put a positive spin on the whole sucky experience.
“Something about wiping out their football field with paint?” Bethany said absently. She chewed on the inside of her cheek, forcing her lips into a sideways pucker.
“Yeah, you should have seen it. We were there for, like, hours, and—”
“I’ve got to hit my locker before class,” Bethany said, stopping so suddenly, I was already five feet ahead of her. “I’ll see you tonight.”
Then she turned and disappeared into the melee of the hallway.
“Uh . . . okay!” I shouted back, though I’m sure she could no longer hear me.
I walked toward my next class, hoping I would suddenly develop the ability to make myself disappear. If anyone called on me that afternoon, I was toast. Not only hadn’t I had time to study for geometry, but all my other homework was piling up as well.
I managed to make it through geometry unscathed as Loreng was in some kind of lecture-happy trance. (Few breaths taken + many words = mucho spittle.) On the way to English I racked my brain, trying to recall the assignment, but it was like that part of my mind was blocked. I couldn’t remember a thing about the last class. Disturbing.
“Hello, everyone! I hope you’ve all read the first act of Othello!” Mrs. O’Donaghue said as we filed into her classroom. “I expect a lively discussion full of unparalleled insight and fresh, new ideas!”
Mindy and I looked at each other, then sunk into our seats. All I knew about Othello was that he was a pissed-off Moor who killed his white wife. And that Mekhi Phifer played him in the movie. This underachieving was so not like me.
That was it. As of right then, the prank war was over for Annisa Gobrowski. I was sure whatever the team decided to do could be done without my help. I was going to help Bethany tonight, then chain myself to my desk to study. All I needed were a couple of good sessions with my books and I would be right back on track.
At least I hoped so.
“Thank God you’re here! The Idiot Squad and their Y-chromosome counterparts have taken over my living room!” Bethany said when she opened the door for me that night. Then her eyes fell on Mindy, who had walked over with me, and it was like someone had used a candle snuffer on Bethany’s spirit. Her entire body slumped as she opened the door wider.
“Oh. Hey,” she said.
“Hi,” Mindy replied, tentatively stepping over the threshold. We could hear the sound of raised and raucous voices coming from the back of the house, and Mindy looked at me with a question in her eyes.
“Go ahead. I’ll be right there,” I said.
Mindy scurried off and Bethany closed the front door with a bang, then crossed her arms tightly over her chest.
“So you’re here for the meeting?” she said.
“I’m just gonna make an appearance, then I’ll come right upstairs,” I told her.
“I don’t know. You guys might be doing something really important after this, like rigging all the West Wind High toilets to flush at once.”
“Bethany—”
“No! Forget it! I should have known this would happen,” Bethany said. “I knew y
ou would get sucked in!”
“I’m not sucked in!” I replied. “I just want to go for a little while—”
“I have to get out of here,” Bethany said, grabbing her book bag off the bottom of the stairs that led to the second floor. “There’s too much testosterone and hairspray in the air.”
“Bethany—”
She stalked out of the house and grabbed a dirt bike off the front lawn. I shouted after her, but she just ignored me and kept pedaling. So much for that.
I closed the door, my heart heavy. I couldn’t blame Bethany for her freak-out, especially considering how understanding she’d been about last night. Now in her eyes I was dissing her to attend a clandestine meeting of the cool people—the very people she abhorred. But I was just trying to have a life.
Was that so hard to understand?
After the meeting I was going to go home and study. I swear I was. But then I noticed that Daniel was there and Sage was not. And as much as the angel cried and whined and guilted me from my shoulder, I just could not pass up an opportunity to be with him Sage-free. So I found myself on a mission to steal the West Wind mascot.
It’s amazing what love will do to you.
When we arrived at West Wind, everyone gathered around back of the school so Lumberjack Bob/Bobby Goow could hand out assignments. While everyone had seemed on board back at the house, our numbers had definitely dwindled between the safety of the living room and the actual mission at hand.
“Where’d everybody go?” I whispered to Mindy.
“Maybe they didn’t want to have arrest records,” Mindy replied.
Hold up. Arrest records? We wouldn’t actually get arrested for this, would we? It was all in good fun!
“We need a bunch of lookouts,” Lumberjack Bob said, surveying us. “Who wants to volunteer?”
Mindy grabbed my hand and shot it into the air together with hers.
“I want to be a lookout?” I asked quietly.
“If we don’t actually do the breaking in, we’re much better off if we get caught,” she explained.
“Wow. You’ve been watching your Law and Order,” I replied.
“All right, Mindy, Tom, get the side door by the library. Jaimee and Dave, you take the street. Daniel and Annisa, go around back by the gym and keep an eye on the field,” Christopher Healy said.
Daniel and Annisa!? Me and Daniel. Alone behind the school. In the dark. There was no way I could be that lucky.
Daniel and I glanced at each other and he smiled. Every hair on my arms and neck stood on end. He had to feel it too. This weird sort of electrical-current thing that zapped to life whenever we were together. That had to be what that private smile meant.
Sage Barnard, watch your back!
We walked behind West Wind in silence, our eyes trained on the ground. (Great lookout skills, estúpidos.) Gravel crunched beneath our feet, growing louder and louder the farther we got away from the rest of the crowd. I didn’t even know how they planned to get into the school and find the mascot, but I also didn’t care. For once I was glad to be a lowly sophomore. Let the all-powerful seniors take the real risks and do the dirty work. I was getting alone time with Daniel.
“I guess here’s good,” he said, pausing by the back door to the gym.
“Yep,” I replied.
We each leaned back against the wall on either side of the door and looked out across the deserted football field. In the dark, the bright white SDH in the grass seemed to float eerily in midair.
“So,” he said.
“So,” I replied.
“Remember the other day . . . I told you about the whole guitar thing?” he said.
“Yeah?” I replied.
“Well, if the offer still stands . . . I wrote this thing, this song. . . .”
Every inch of my skin tingled with excitement. “You want to play it for me?”
Even in the darkness I could see him blush. “Yeah. I mean, if you want.”
“I’d love to!” I said.
“Yeah?” he asked, his eyebrows shooting up.
“Yeah,” I replied with a nod. “Just tell me when.”
“Whenever,” Daniel said. “We’ll figure it out.”
He looked away and it felt like the bubble of excitement had somehow popped. Just like that.
“Are you . . . I mean, are you okay?” I asked.
“I’m fine,” he answered instantly. “Why?”
“No reason. I just . . . you seem . . . out of it,” I said. Then I took a deep breath. “Is everything okay with Sage?”
“What do you mean? Did Sage say something?” he asked.
I almost laughed. “To me?” I said. “Nuh-uh.”
Daniel sighed and shoved his hands in the pockets of his varsity jacket. “She avoided me all day. She barely said two words to me at lunch,” Daniel said. “Something’s definitely up.”
I chomped on my gum and blew a small bubble, stalling. “Can I ask you something?”
“What?” Daniel said.
I turned so that my shoulder was now resting against the wall, and cracked my gum. “What do you even see in her?”
It sounded catty, the way it came out, but Daniel didn’t seem to notice.
“Sage?” he asked. He bumped himself off the wall, then fell back. “I don’t know. I mean . . . she’s Sage. We’ve been together since eighth grade.”
“What does that mean?” I blurted.
“I don’t know,” Daniel said again. “It’s just . . . it’s me and Sage. It’s not always perfect and, I know, she can be a pain sometimes, but we’ve been together forever. Sometimes I think—”
Don’t even say it.
“Sometimes I can’t even imagine being without her,” he said.
My heart bounced twice on a high dive before plunging right off into a pool of rabid piranhas. Wow. He really cared about her. About Sage. The way he was so honest and heartfelt about it only made me like him more.
“You ever have anyone like that?” Daniel asked, turning his deep blue eyes on me. He was right there. I could have taken two steps, stood on my toes and kissed him. I could have reached out and held his hand.
But I wasn’t going to do either of those things. Me and my lame-ass shoulder angel both knew it.
“Nope,” I replied finally. “Can’t say that I have.”
Just then, my cell phone beeped, scaring us both into stroke mode. I pulled it out and read the text message.
Jordan: where R U???
“Who’s that?” Daniel asked.
“My best friend. She’s never been one with the timing,” I said as I typed back quickly.
Annisa: on mission. Z U 18r!
Jordan: wait! is cute boy there?
Annisa: yeah. crash & burn.
Jordan: ugh! he no luv u, he no worth it. call me!
I smiled sadly and turned my phone off. If only Jordan could meet Daniel. Then she’d see how very worth it he was.
“What’s going on?” I asked Mindy and Autumn the next morning after homeroom. The hallway was a bobbing sea of light blue and yellow for School Colors Day and everyone was buzzing with excitement. There had been an announcement that the entire student body was to report to the football field after homeroom, and no one knew why.
“We are so snagged,” Mindy replied, looking green.
“I knew I shouldn’t have come to school today,” Autumn put in, her hundreds of silver bangles jangling as she rubbed her temples. “I did a tarot reading last night and it predicted death, destruction and heartache.”
“Death and destruction?” I said. “Come on. It’s just a prank war.”
“That’s just it! Using the word war is bad karma!” Autumn exclaimed. “Couldn’t we have called it a prank fest?”
We joined the waves of people streaming out the back doors of the school, and made our way to the visiting bleachers. The back of the stands faced the school, and as we came around front to take the stairs, we noticed everyone was staring toward the end zone
and the scoreboard.
“Oh . . . my . . . God,” Sage said, stopping in her tracks a few people ahead of us.
I followed her gaze and my jaw dropped. It looked as if someone had smashed a picket fence to death all over the end zone. Shards of plywood and splintered boards lay everywhere, covering the blue SDH.
“What is it?” I asked.
“It’s the Fighting Crab,” Mindy said behind me. “They killed the Fighting Crab.”
“Death. Destruction. Heartache,” Autumn put in, her voice like a funeral dirge.
We slid into an empty row of seats in front of the seniors and juniors from the squad. Tara was quietly seething, her now bruiseless face turning purple with rage. I couldn’t tear my eyes from the scoreboard. Where the huge fighting crab used to stand, its clippers raised high, there was nothing but two bare beams—the beams that used to hold him up against the clear blue sky. I eyed the pieces on the ground and was able to pick out half a claw, one big eye, and the D from the SDH jersey the crab once wore.
It was so very sad.
“I can’t believe they did this,” Whitney said.
“It’s so . . . violent,” Felice put in.
“So what if we stole their mascot? It’s not like we were never going to give it back,” Chandra said.
“Actually, we weren’t planning on it,” Whitney told her.
“Okay, but still. They didn’t have to slaughter the crab.”
“Yeah, there’s some monster line-crossing going on here,” Jaimee put in.
“What do we do now?” Chandra asked. “We can’t let them get away with this.”
“Bobby and I have a few ideas,” Tara said, breaking her silence.
A murmur ran through the crowd, snapping us to attention.
“Buzzkill approaches,” Karianna said, lifting her chin toward the field.
Principal Buzzkill had apparently shopped for School Colors Day in the throwback aisle. He was sporting a light blue suit with a white shirt and a light yellow tie with light blue dots. And he actually had the nerve to try to look serious in that outfit.
“Can I have your attention, please?” he called out. He was loud—even without a microphone. The entire student body fell instantly silent.