The Seventh Grade Wars

CHAPTER 43: CRICKET

I wasn't exactly surprised when I saw we'd been pranked for Halloween. I knew one of the Sides would.

The prank was simple yet effective. The janitor had to spend the majority of the day scraping the eggs off of the walls and floors, but by the end of the day he still hadn't been able to get them off. They started to really smell awful around noon. Whenever kids walked through the halls, they usually winded up holding their noses because the rotten egg smell got so bad.

But that made only a tiny dent in our moods, because that day we were going to have our Halloween party. It worked out great because this year, Halloween fell on a Friday, which meant we could eat all the candy we liked and stay up as late as we wanted and not regret it the next day at school. Not to mention A Side was having one, too. It was A Siders only, of course. And who would be hosting it but Jessica Malboy.

This had seemingly drove Asia harder to plan the perfect Halloween party. She declared herself in charge of all the arrangements.

At lunch, Pete asked her how it was going.

"It's going great. One thing Jessica never knew," she had told us, "was how to throw a good party."

"Huh," said Marcus. "Jessica's parties are pretty sweet, though. Everyone wants to be invited to one."

Asia frowned. "Well, that was because she never allowed me to throw a party, myself," she replied. "Trust me, I've got it covered."

"Yeah, okay," said Marcus, "but just don't expect me to fork over any dough for it. I'm broke enough as it is."

"That's okay," said Asia. "I can handle it. But you guys could come over and help me set up for the party." She eyed us all. "And you will, won't you?"

"Of course," said Pete.

"Are your parents fine with you throwing a party?" Tess wanted to know. "My mom and dad completely flipped out when they found out Jessica Malboy wasn't actually allowed to have a pool party."

"That's because Jessica's an idiot," replied Asia nastily, studying her candy-pink fingernails. "Don't worry, guys. I know what I'm doing."

So everything was all set up for our big party. It would be hosted at the Asia's place, which was almost as big as Jessica's. It looked like a castle, with two giant turrets on the sides. Even the inside was marble, which was why it was probably very chilly. I could only imagine how cold it would be this winter.

The entire C Side team headed over to Asia's house—or castle—to help set up. I took a look at everyone's costumes. Tess was a Disney character (Alice in Wonderland, I think), Marcus donned a creepy ghoul mask that was oozing fake blood, Peyton was a football player, Alexa was a vampire complete with plastic glow-in-the-dark teeth in her mouth, Harley was a hockey player, and Pete was slathered in green makeup and dressed like Frankenstein. I myself was dressed like a bat. I'd gone to the costume store with Peyton and Alexa to buy it just a couple days before. I loved it. It included loads of gauzy black fabric for the wings and a black Batman-like mask. It was way better than last year, when I'd made the immature decision to dress as the good witch, Glenda, from The Wizard of Oz.

Asia's mother was just as buzzed as we were. She was tall but wiry, and had long dark curls like her daughter.

"It's so good to meet Asia's friends," she chanted as we walked through the double doors. "Asia's first party...this will be fantastic! I already set up the food—feel free to help yourselves to a snack before it begins..."

"Mom," said Asia, her bow-shaped lips pulled together into what looked like either a duck face or a pout. "Leave."

"Oh, honey, don't be so grouchy," her mother smiled. "I'll be in the kitchen, if any of you need me."