The Seventh Grade Wars

CHAPTER 23: JK

Soon after we chased off C Side with the hose, Jessica started barking orders at everyone. 

"We've got to clean this up before my parents get back!" she yelled. 

So we got to work doing what Jessica asked. We were still cleaning—I was drying up the patio with a mop—when her parents returned. And they were plenty mad, since their backyard still looked like a hurricane had hit. 

They also couldn't have been to pleased with Jessica when they found out their house had been graffitied. 

Jessica was grounded big-time, and she had to clean up while the rest of us were chased out of their property. 

However, Jessica was of course still allowed to go to school. That Monday, she wouldn't stop fuming about how her sister Avril had tattled on her and that was the reason why she was grounded. 

"And I never told anyone about Avril's parties," she kept complaining. "Like when that Jeep was driven into our pool. I never said anything."

"That actually happened?" I said. "I thought that was just a rumor."

"Hey, this may not be the best time to tell you, Jessica," said Danny meekly, "but somebody uploaded a video of the party to YouTube."

"What?" she shrieked. "Show me now!"

Danny nearly fell over himself trying to get his laptop out of his backpack. Once he had, he pulled up a clip from the website and played it. Total chaos. Obviously someone from C Side had taken it. 

"And that's not all," said Danny. "Look at this. A C Sider blogged about this as well. And...he included a picture of..."

"WHAT?" she screamed again, so loudly a passing group of seniors stared at her. 

I peered onto Danny's laptop screen and had to stuff a bite of my hoagie into my mouth to keep from bursting with laughter. 

It was Jessica. Makeup streaming down her face, she was in the pool, leaping for the camera and giving it a murderous glare. The photo was slightly blurry, but I could clearly make out who it was. 

"I remember that person," she said. "He was waving his iPhone everywhere. I thought he was just taking selfies."

"Um, quiet down a little, Jessica," Thomas said. He put a hand on her shoulder, but she shrugged him off. 

"Danny, find out who this C Sider is," Jessica commanded. "Does it say somewhere on his blog?"

"There," said Harriet, "there's an 'About Me' feature."

Danny clicked on it. A picture of a tall, curly-haired kid came up on the screen. I had trouble reading his profile, with my stupid dyslexia and all, and it didn't help that I was getting pushed around by the rest of the team crowding around the laptop. 

Fortunately, Yvonne read it aloud. "'My name's Marcus'," she said, "'And I am a proud member of the C Side team! I love my girl Tess and to all my A and B Siders out there—We are totally going to rock this war. Peace out.'"

Harriet groaned. "Ugh. That is the worst 'About Me' page I've ever heard."

Jessica scowled. "Who cares? Nobody is going to humiliate me like that."

"What are you going to do about it?" I asked. "Hunt down this Marcus guy and—"

"No," she said. "But we're going to get back at them somehow."

Ryan pointed. "Hey, look," he said. "I think that's that Marcus dude. Sitting over there."

"Where?" Thomas said. 

"Couple tables back. With his arm around that blonde girl."

"I see him," he said.

Without a word, Jessica got up, flung back her hair, and started marching towards him. Thomas got up and hurried after her. 

"Boy," said Macy, "Jessica's gonna give Mark a piece of her mind."

"Weren't you paying attention at all, Macy?" said Yvonne. "His name's Marcus."

A few moments later, Thomas and Jessica reappeared. Jessica's cheeks were red and Thomas' eyebrows were knitted. 

"What did you tell him?" I asked. "Marcus, I mean."

"I told him to delete the video and the picture," she said. 

"Then what?"

"Then," replied Thomas, "he and his buddies had a good laugh out of it all."

"So what are we going to do now?" asked Danny nervously. He was packing up his laptop into the special protective case he had. 

"We're going to get back at them," said Jessica.