Project (Un)Popular Book #1

by Kristen Tracy

  I didn’t think he’d run into any problems, but I also didn’t want anybody to look twice at him in the hallway during classtime.

  “His hair looks really good today,” Venice said. “I think he used gel.”

  “I thought the same thing,” I said.

  While Leo was inside with Derby, Venice helped me get the camera ready and attach the right portrait lens.

  “I think he’ll look better not smiling,” Venice said. “So take some serious pictures. He’s got a strong jaw.”

  I was surprised that Venice thought I needed coaching. “Don’t worry. I’m probably going to take a million different shots. I’ll get his strong jaw for sure.”

  I loved taking pictures so much. And I’d never done it from on top of a ladder before. When I heard the door squeak open, I was super excited to see how awesome Derby would look. Except I didn’t see that. I saw the janitor, Mr. Zeller.

  “Is that my ladder?” he asked.

  But it seemed pretty obvious that it was, because it had spray painting on the side that read:

  Rocky Mountain Middle School

  Property of JANITOR

  “We’re only using it for a second,” I explained.

  “Students aren’t allowed to use janitorial equipment,” Mr. Zeller said. “Especially not this. There’s liability issues.”

  He walked over to the ladder and started folding it up.

  “But we’re on Yearbook staff,” I said. “We’re taking important student photos.”

  “Nobody contacted me about that,” he said. “I got a message that students were horseplaying with equipment.”

  “That’s wrong,” Venice countered. “There’s no horseplay going on here. Only photography.”

  Mr. Zeller stopped folding the ladder and looked at us both very carefully. But he must not have liked what he saw, because he started folding the ladder again. “I’ll need to speak to Principal Hunt.”

  Venice and I looked at each other. This wasn’t good.

  “Do you have hall passes?” Mr. Zeller asked.

  “We have a staff lanyard,” Venice said, sliding it off her neck and handing it to him. “We’re on Yearbook.”

  His big hands took the lanyard and inspected it. “And where’s yours?”

  And I really didn’t want to tell him that it was in the boys’ bathroom. Because that might have made us look like we were more suspicious than we actually were.

  “Where did you get this chain?” Mr. Zeller asked, picking it up. “You can’t have this at school.”

  It really alarmed me that he said that, because I worried he might take it away. And we needed it. I mean, I had really fallen in love with its artistic potential. “It’s a prop,” I explained.

  When I said that I could see some alarm in Mr. Zeller’s face. He set it back on the ground with an enormous clank. Then he pulled a walkie-talkie out of his front coverall pocket.

  “Principal Hunt,” he said. “I’ve got students acting suspiciously near the west exit. They’ve got chains and backpacks and janitorial equipment.”

  When he put it that way we sounded like total criminals.

  “This sucks,” Venice whispered to me.

  I stared at the walkie-talkie, waiting for Principal Hunt to respond.

  While we waited, Mr. Zeller bent over and started snooping in our backpacks.

  “It’s just some clothes and styling products,” I explained. It really bothered me that Mr. Zeller didn’t understand that we were photographers. Didn’t he notice our camera?

  “You haven’t told me where you got this chain,” Mr. Zeller said.

  And I looked at Venice because I didn’t know where she’d gotten it.

  Mr. Zeller’s walkie-talkie crackled and a voice started coming through. “Do you recognize the suspicious students?”

  I whispered to Venice, “Did the chain come from your garage?”

  She shook her head. “I took it from my neighbors.”

  “You borrowed it with their permission?” I asked. Because I really hoped we weren’t in possession of a stolen chain. That just looked bad.

  “I just took it,” Venice said. “You said we had to have it.”

  This was totally insane. I couldn’t imagine things getting any worse. But then Derby and Leo walked out of the building and joined the drama, and that actually felt a little worse. Oddly, Derby looked pretty cute. Leo’s outfit looked totally great on him. And Derby’s knees, which I’d feared seeing in broad daylight, didn’t look too bad either.

  “I’ve got four students,” Mr. Zeller said. “Let me get their names.”

  He pointed his walkie-talkie at us. “Who are you?”

  I spoke first. “I’m Perry Hall,” I said. “I’m taking pictures for Yearbook. And this is Venice Garcia. She’s another photographer. And this is Leo Banks. He’s on Yearbook too. And this is Derby Esposito. He’s the reason we’re here. We’re taking his picture for a special yearbook section.”

  Mr. Zeller looked pretty upset with us. Then he repeated our names into the walkie-talkie.

  “Bring them to the office,” the voice replied.

  “You heard her,” Mr. Zeller said, pointing to the door.

  “What about our stuff?” Leo asked.

  “Pack it up,” Mr. Zeller said.

  And in the moment, I did what any good photographer would do. I took my shot. “Derby,” I said. “Look at me.”

  And Derby looked at me. And he didn’t smile. Because I hadn’t told him to.

  Click. Click. Click. Click. Click.

  I didn’t know if the five pictures looked good or horrible. They happened too quickly.

  “What are you doing?” Mr. Zeller said in a stern voice. “I said pack it up.”

  And it was depressing to hear that, because it probably meant we weren’t going to be able to take additional pictures of Derby today.

  “Sorry,” I mumbled as I screwed the lens cap back on. But I didn’t really feel that way. I felt sad. And disappointed. Because I was so close to taking really life-changing pictures. I was sure of it.

  We all followed Mr. Zeller down the hall. It felt really stressful to walk past all the doors. Before when I had walked past them it felt cool. But walking toward possible punishment felt very different, like people inside the classrooms were judging me.

  “We probably shouldn’t mention that we stole the chain,” I whispered to Venice.

  “Why did you bring a stolen chain?” Derby asked. He looked totally freaked out.

  “Props like that can really transform a shot,” I explained.

  Before I knew it, we were standing in front of Principal Hunt’s door. Mr. Zeller knocked on it three times.

  “I really don’t know why you brought us here,” I said to Mr. Zeller, sort of hoping maybe he’d let us return to class. “We’re supposed to take pictures. It’s the entire purpose of being Yearbook photographers. We were selected to do this from a pool of applicants. I mean, it’s our job.”

  Then the door creaked open and it became pretty clear that we were going to have to talk things over with Principal Hunt.

  “Explain that to the principal,” Mr. Zeller said.

  “I’ll speak to them one at a time,” Principal Hunt said.

  And when she said this, I really hoped that I could get in there first to try to smooth things over. So I squeezed past everybody else until I was the person closest to her door.

  But then she said something rotten. “Derby Esposito, come inside.”

  And when Derby walked into the principal’s office I felt really sorry for him. Because all he wanted was to be photographed like Fletcher. But now he was speaking with Principal Hunt. And then while we were waiting, Leo started talking crazy theories again. The conspiracy kind.

  “This feels like a setup,” he said, glancing around the hallway.

  But that sounded pretty stupid to me. Because why would Mr. Zeller be setting us up?

  “You think it was Anya?” Venice asked.r />
  And that actually didn’t sound totally stupid. It sounded possible.

  “She was afraid that we might actually make Derby popular, so she ratted us out and sabotaged the shoot,” Leo said. “I can feel it.”

  “I don’t know,” I said, trying to process this traumatic development. “She told me a few days ago that she was done with me.”

  “That doesn’t mean anything,” Venice snapped. “I’ve heard her tell Sailor that at least three times.”

  “Really?” I said. Because it seemed cruel to say that to your friends.

  “You trust Anya way too much,” Leo said. “We’re going to get in serious trouble. We’re going to get our lanyards suspended.”

  I couldn’t believe how wrong Leo was. Because Anya and I weren’t even speaking. But I didn’t bother telling him that. Because what he said about our lanyards really worried me. I didn’t even know that could happen. So I asked a pretty important question. “That can happen?”

  “It happened last year to Zoe Dunn and Penelope Cooper,” Leo said. “They got in trouble for interviewing the boys’ volleyball team in the boys’ locker room. Their lanyards were suspended immediately.”

  “When did they get them back?” I asked.

  “Never,” Leo said.

  But I wasn’t too freaked out to learn this, because girls interviewing boys in the boys’ locker room did sound like trouble.

  “Did Anya set up Zoe and Penelope?” Venice asked.

  But I really thought we needed to stop talking about Anya and focus on figuring out a way to explain things to Principal Hunt so we looked like great students who were just doing their jobs.

  “She got jealous of Zoe because she was friends with a bunch of the volleyball players,” Leo said. “Anya sent them to the locker room to do interviews, then she ratted on them.”

  But I wondered if that was really true. Because that meant Anya was pure evil.

  “This makes total sense. How else did Mr. Zeller find us so quickly?” Venice asked.

  “He probably missed his ladder,” I said. Because I just didn’t believe Anya was the worst person in the world. Yet.

  “But the ladder could have been anywhere. He walked right to us. And remember he said he was responding to a report of kids playing around,” Venice said. “Somebody reported us.”

  I did remember him saying that.

  “Perry Hall,” Principal Hunt called.

  And I waited for Derby to leave the office so I could enter. But he didn’t leave. He stayed in there.

  “Perry Hall,” Principal Hunt called again. This time it was a little louder.

  “Go in, Perry,” Venice said, gently pushing on my back.

  I walked into Principal Hunt’s office and I saw two terrible things. First, there was a stuffed deer head on her wall, which made the room feel very death-y. Second, Derby had tear marks on his face.

  “I want to start by saying that I think this is a very serious matter,” Principal Hunt said.

  And that sort of knocked me off balance. Because I didn’t think that was a good place to start.

  “We consider chains weapons at Rocky Mountain Middle School, and bringing a weapon to school in a backpack could result in expulsion.”

  And I wasn’t exactly sure what that word meant. Until Derby said something in a trembling voice.

  “I’m directing the school play. Please don’t expel me,” he said. “I didn’t even know about the chain.”

  Things were worse than I thought. So I did the only thing I could think to do. I tried to talk my way out of this.

  “This is a super-big misunderstanding,” I said. “Because we were taking pictures of Derby for the yearbook’s What’s Hot section, and I thought a chain would be a dramatic way to frame him. So we didn’t intend to chain anybody, if that’s what you were thinking.”

  Principal Hunt rubbed her eyes. “Let’s bring in Venice and Leo.”

  And then Venice and Leo walked in together and I realized their shirts sort of matched and that they totally looked like a couple and that depressed me even further.

  “I’m getting more than one story about what happened here. And I’m also being told that you thought you had permission to be out there,” Principal Hunt said. “So here’s what we’re going to do. I’m going to put each of you in a room by yourself. And I’m going to give you some paper and a pen. And I want you to answer three questions. Who gave you permission to take the ladder? Who brought the chain onto school property? Why were you taking Derby’s picture?”

  But it seemed like Principal Hunt hadn’t heard what I’d already said. So I took a stab at the last question. “This was for What’s Hot. It’s a new section in the yearbook.”

  But Principal Hunt put her finger to her lips and then shushed me.

  “I want all four of your answers,” Principal Hunt said. “Written down. This will help me figure out whom to punish. And what the punishment will be.”

  And this was basically the worst thing anybody had ever told me.

  “Leo, you’ll go to the cafeteria. Venice, you’ll go to the attendance office. Derby, you’ll go to the library. And, Perry, you’ll write your response in here.”

  I looked around her office in horror. I could see a couple of bald patches on the dead deer’s neck and that really traumatized me. Because it probably meant all its fur was coming loose. And if she told me to sit at the desk underneath that head, I would probably get dead-deer fur on me.

  “Do you have any questions before I separate you?” Principal Hunt asked.

  But I decided not to ask about the deer head. Because I thought of a more important question. “Do you have a scratch-out policy?”

  “A what?” Principal Hunt asked.

  “In Mr. Falconer’s class he marks our grade down if we change our mind and scratch out an answer. I’m just wondering if scratch-outs will be held against us,” I asked. “In his class it’s actually possible to go in the hole.”

  Principal Hunt seemed surprised to learn about that policy. “You can change anything. This is your official statement. Once you’re finished, it will stand as your official record of what happened.”

  Derby looked like he was in pain. I could see his lip trembling. And I felt terrible for him. Except he shouldn’t have been too worried. Because he didn’t know too much about the plans. Plus, he got to write his statement in the library and they had comfortable chairs in there.

  I watched as everybody left the room. Principal Hunt handed me a stack of paper. I started counting the pages. There were eight pieces. Did she think my answer should take eight pieces of paper? I think she noticed my alarm because she said, “You don’t need to use it all. Just answer the three questions as best you can.”

  I heard the door squeak shut a little, but not all the way. I could totally see the attendance secretary, Ms. Boz, and she could see me.

  “Don’t you need your office?” I asked Principal Hunt. Because I got worried that she’d come in here and work with me. And that seemed stressful.

  “Mr. Hamer has an emergency and we can’t find a sub. So I’ll be in his classroom,” she said. “Don’t worry. I’ll check on you.”

  I watched her leave and glanced out the door at Ms. Boz. Then I looked at the blank pages. And I’m not sure exactly what happened or why it happened, but something inside me felt the overwhelming need to confess. All of it. Everything. The whole entire truth. It needed to have a place to go. I decided to put it here. In these pages. This was where I’d write the exact truth.

  Shut Up!

  It took me forever to write the exact truth. Principal Hunt checked on my progress four times. On the fifth time, she leaned in and said, “Don’t think you have to deliver a novel.” But I didn’t think that.

  When you write the exact truth, it’s hard to know when to stop. For example, I wasn’t sure how much she needed to know about the ladder. It was a confusing question, because it assumed that we had only used the ladder one time. But that w
asn’t the exact truth. I just wanted to get everything right.

  Who gave you permission to take the ladder?

  Do you mean the first or second time? Because we used it two times, but only got in trouble once. Last week Anya used it to take pictures of Fletcher Zamora for What’s Hot. I asked her if it was okay to do this, and she said that we had faculty permission. I didn’t get her permission this time. Because we had a big fight at her gym on Saturday and she said, “We’re done.” Which my sister (who is in college) says means that you are permanently forever done. It’s called being dunzo. So because Anya and I were dunzo, I asked Ms. Kenny for permission for staff lanyards. But I never brought up the ladder. But I guess I should have asked Ms. Kenny. I don’t know if we even had faculty permission the first time. Also, Mr. Zeller should probably keep that closet locked. Because in addition to the ladder, if we were thieves, we could have taken anything. Even dangerous cleaning chemicals.

  Who brought the chain onto school property?

  Is a bus considered school property? I never saw the chain until it was set up next to the ladder. I heard it jangle inside a backpack in the Yearbook room. I think Leo carried the backpack with the chain off the bus. Maybe Venice carried it onto the bus. I don’t know that for sure. It’s quite heavy. It’s possible that Leo carried it the whole way for her. I believe it belongs to the Hoffmans. And they are great neighbors for Venice. So I hope they don’t get in trouble. Three people in their family are firemen. They are awesome. I am the person who wanted the chain. But I didn’t know it would be that big. I thought it might be the size of a big necklace. Also, I didn’t realize that a chain was a weapon. Because bikes have chains and kids are allowed to park them on school property. So probably somebody should make a rule about bike chains not being weapons. Or there might be more confusion. Unless bike chains are weapons. Are they?

  Why were you taking Derby’s picture?

  Let me say right now that I like Derby Esposito. And my goal here was to include him in a special yearbook section called What’s Hot. You might not have heard of this section, because it is brand-new. Venice and Leo and I decided to put Derby in it. Okay. I won’t lie. At first we were doing this because we thought he was a geek who didn’t belong in the section. But then I became an infiltrator. Should I mention that here? Well, Anya needed an infiltrator and so I became one because there is some bad blood between her and Leo because he’s a difficult person. And Anya said that Leo was trying to undermine her power. Which makes sense, because I think he has a problem with powerful girls. Except for Venice. Because he likes her.