“I don’t know if I can do this,” I said, meeting his blue eyes.
He smiled. “That’s the one good part about these situations. You have no choice.”
“That’s a good part?” I asked skeptically.
“Absolutely,” he said. “You don’t have to worry about if you can. You either will…or you won’t.”
“That’s very comforting.”
“I try.”
I shook my head and started for the elevator, ignoring the whispering villagers.
“And Laura?”
I glanced back.
“That was some scream,” he said.
I scowled. “Shut up.”
He laughed as I stormed across the meadow. But I was smiling as I changed my clothes later that night and plopped exhaustedly into bed. Suddenly I wasn’t that worried about little spiders in my bedroom.
—
The rest of the weekend was pretty uneventful: Shal had forgotten she had a cousin’s birthday to attend on the Saturday, so the three of us made plans to hang out next weekend instead. I spent my Saturday watching an old Western with Stache and Tom—he always enjoyed the old-fashioned lingo—while my mom read a book on the recliner.
When it was done, I went upstairs at ten and left for training as usual. It was pretty much the same thing Sunday night as well: run the Warrior’s Way, train with weaponry, and learn about monsters. I again asked to train with the hammer, but Eldon told me I still hadn’t earned it.
“Coming back is a start,” he said, “but it doesn’t make you a Monster Crusher.”
And so I just kept working, and I thought maybe, just maybe, I was getting a little better. I was certainly a lot sorer. When I woke up Monday morning my legs were so cramped I basically had to crawl out of bed and warm them up in the shower. Even if I wasn’t becoming the best warrior, I was at least getting plenty of exercise.
But when I climbed out of my mom’s van on another brisk morning and walked into the schoolyard, I instantly knew there was trouble. Allison was already there, and she was talking feverishly with the seagulls. They were up to something.
As it turned out, they had a lot of things in mind.
I soon learned that people don’t usually mess with Allison. Not because they don’t want to, but because she decides to make destroying you her new priority. In this case that meant all the people who had liked the page as well—Mia and Shal included.
Actually Shal had folded and taken her like back before school that morning, but it was too late. She was already on the Kill List. Of course, Liam was right up there today. But I think Allison assumed I was part of creating the photo as well because she saved me for last.
It started out normal enough. Allison and her seagulls swooped around the yard calling people names and whispering gossip. Mia ran away three times. Liam was playing his game with Paul and Steve and ignored them, but some of the other targets weren’t taking the new attention very well. One girl went inside early, probably to cry in the bathroom stall.
Unfortunately that was nothing new.
But things got progressively more evil as the day continued. Allison did what any self-respecting wicked witch would do. She found our weaknesses, and she targeted them. I suspect everyone got hit in one way or another. But there were three that I saw first-hand: Shal, Liam, and of course, myself. Shal was first.
Hers came at lunch. It was pretty easy, I guess. She’d already cried in front of them about the ginger thing, and she was clearly very self-conscious about her appearance. That gave Allison her target.
“What is she doing?” Shal asked worriedly, watching Allison from our usual spot in the corner.
“I don’t know,” I said, not even bothering to turn around. “Something evil, I’m sure.”
Mia turned to look. “She’s handing something out.”
I frowned and looked behind me. Most of the boys played basketball or handball against the back wall of the school, where there was a big paved area. Naturally all the popular girls hung out in the near vicinity. And it was there that Allison, Ashley, and a few of the other seagulls were walking around handing out little slips of paper.
“That can’t be good,” I murmured.
We watched as they handed them out to every eighth grader in the school, and then they gathered together and set off across the yard toward us. Poof. Mia was gone.
“Here we go again,” I muttered.
Allison and the other girls stopped in front of us. She smiled, revealing those sparkling white teeth. “We’re having a vote. Here’s your ballot.”
Shal and I exchanged a concerned look and took the ballots. As soon as I read it, I knew this was not going be good. At the top of the paper it said: Ugliest Ginger in the School. There was just one box with a name next to it: Michelle Webster.
Shal’s hands trembled as she held the paper, and then her eyes started watering. Suddenly she stood up and ran toward the school, letting the ballot fall to the ground.
“I think she’ll win even without that vote,” Allison said. The seagulls giggled.
“Why?” I asked, looking at her in disgust.
She smiled. “Because I’m the Wicked Witch of Riverfield.”
Mia and I spent the whole recess trying to console Shal as she sobbed in the bathroom stall. Didn’t help. I was really getting sick of Allison Black.
Liam was next. I didn’t know what his weakness was at first, but I should have.
His mom. She was a single mother, and he was an only child.
Allison started a rumour during last recess that his mom was a stripper. It was a fairly basic rumour, but when the boys started doing catcalls, I could see him flushing.
They broke him right before last period.
I was getting my math books out of my locker when I noticed Liam walking down the hall toward class. Tim stepped in front of him, wearing a crooked grin.
“Hey, Kelp. My older brother saw your mom last night. She put on a
