Out with a Bang

Fist Fights & Ninja Skills

Chapter 1

[Melanie's P.O.V]

I tap my pencil on the top of my desk. Where are Arianna and Dakota? They already missed more than half of first period and they promised they would be here! I bet it's all Dakota's fault, she's the one with all the stupid and dangerous ideas! Who knows where they could be right now? Maybe Arianna's car got stuck in a ditch or something. Wait, what if Arianna took the wrong route to school and they are lost? But that means they could be stranded in the middle of nowhere! What if the-

"Ms. Campbell?" Mr. Palinski asks, interrupting my rambling thoughts. I cough awkwardly. I hate being put on the spot.

"Can you repeat the question, Mr. Palinski?" I ask politely. He glares at me for a second before repeating the question he asked when I wasn't listening.

"Can you tell me a couple things about European Imperialism?" The European who? "Im-per-i-al-ism, Ms. Campbell." He taps his foot impatiently. Must've said that out loud.. Oops. Before I could embarrass myself by saying some random answer, there was a knock on the classroom door. Mr. Palinski shoots me a look and walks towards the door. He quickly opens the door, and Arianna and Dakota waltz in.

"Walk up in the club like what up, I got a big c-"

"DAKOTA!" Arianna interrupts Dakota, trying as hard as she can not to laugh. I snort obnoxiously, trying to cover up my laughter with the back of my hand. I can tell the rest of the classroom is too. Mr. Palinski's normal, evil face turns into one of confusion. Must have never heard the song 'Thrift Shop' before. Not that I'm surprised, though.

"Sorry!" Dakota exclaims. The two girls clear their throats, give eachother a look, and say, "How do you do, Mr. Palinski? Classroom?" Arianna adds a slight curtsey, lifting up her invisible skirt. The class laughs as quietly as they can, but Mr. Palinski fumes.

"Not a very good impression to make on the first day of Senior Year, Dakota and Ms. Rogers." He responds angrily. You might be thinking why Mr. Palinski said Dakota instead of Ms. White. Well, you see, Mr. Palinski was our history teacher from Freshman Year 'til now, and he absolutely DESPISES Dakota. Not that he doesn't like Arianna, he can just deal with her though. Dakota isn't the one to not talk back to teachers, which is why he hates her and her sense of humor. Her grades are pretty good though.

"Who said I wanted to make an impression on you, Palinski?" Dakota mumbles under her breath. Arianna nudges her in the side and they take their seats by me. Dakota sits in the back of me and Arianna sits on my right.

"Hey Mel!" They both exclaim quietly. They stare at eachother.

"JINXX! You owe me an icecream!" Arianna responds happily.

Dakota rolls her eyes. "Fine, whatever!" Yes, we don't say 'owe me a soda', we say 'icecream'. And we abide by those rules too.

I respond to their greetings. "Hey guys, why are you so late?" Arianna shoots Dakota a look, telling her to explain what happened.

Dakota stares at her hands. "Um, I kinda, um... stopped to get something.." I motion for her to continue. "Okay, okay.. I saw a bunny running and I went to get it."

I widen my eyes at her. "A bunny?!" I whisper-scream. "You can't jack a bunny from the street!"

"In my defense," Dakota starts. "It was in the grass." I hear someone clear their throat and turn my head from Dakota, realizing it was Mr. Palinski. Everyone in the classroom is listening to our conversation.

"Yeah Dakota, you can't just go jacking a bunny from the street!" A boy named Tristan tells her.

She turns her head slowly. "I said it was on the GRASS, TRISTAN!"