The Safe Place (Bridge To Terabithia) || ✓

Ch. 17 - An Icky Day

Jess was staring skeptically from his desk as Leslie rushed up to recruit Scott Hoager and Gary Fulcher for their end of the day prank on Thomas Roy before they could escape to the field. Bullies and victims playing hand to hand alongside each other to overthrow a much worser enemy? It was certainly unheard of, and that's because there's such a thing called pride. Scott Hoager suddenly looked at Jess with squinted eyes, as if making a certain judgement about him. Naturally Jess stared back at him long and hard, refusing to back down on the silent argument they were possibly having. Then Scott Hoager broke eye contact with him and firmly shook hands with Leslie before taking off with Gary Fulcher.

     "I still can't believe you convinced them." Jess said with a scoff as they walked up to their usual table up the hill.

"It's actually surprising how people who hate each other can come to an agreement when they hate the same person." Leslie shrugged with a smirk, feeling quite proud of herself.

     "So what are you gonna do about Janice?" Jess asked when they saw Janice and Mindy at the table. It looked as if poor Mindy was a mouse compared to Janice.

     "You mean we."

     He scratched his head and grinned cheekily. "Yeah, sure..."

Leslie didn't say anything and proceeded to the table, meeting Janice's gaze. The 9th graded still looked upset with her, much to her disappointment, and so she decided to sit next to Mindy instead while Jess sat with Janice. There was an awkward silence as Jess and Mindy looked back and forth at their friends, waiting for either one of them to speak up. Catching Jess's look, Leslie nodded.

     "So uh," Leslie cleared her throat and sat upright. "The director said we could bring some friends for the premiere," Janice perked up, "and I know this probably isn't enough to repay what Jess and I did to you, but it'd be really great if you could come."

     Janice's eyes went wide at the offer and gasped. "Me? Really? Oh my god! Yes!"

"Great! Oh that's such a relief! What about you, Mindy?" Leslie said brightly, turning to Mindy expectantly.

Mindy's eyes dropped to the table and she looked smaller again, fidgeting with her fingers as she spoke in a small voice, "I... I'm not sure I'd fit in with the rest of you..."

"That's ridiculous, Mindy! You'll fit in just as much as we do! And don't worry, we'll be with you the whole way. Well, not entirely the whole time, but Janice will be!"

"I don't know..." Mindy replied timidly, looking downcast, and Jess wondered why she was so shy all the time.

     It didn't take long of course before Leslie managed to convince Mindy to join them for the premiere, much to the blonde's relief. After all, it wouldn't be much fun if their friends wasn't enjoying it with them. With that out of the way and the mood lighter, Leslie began telling them about the plan that they would be executing after school along with Scott Hoager and Gary Fulcher.

As once a bully and the one constantly making pranks on students, Janice got a little too excited and way too into it, recommending to put chili sauce along with the ketchup. Jess was going to agree with this until Leslie objected, mentioning that it may cause them problems if they squirt it in the boy's eyes. Coincidentally, Scott Hoager and Gary Fulcher came running up the hill to their table, red and sweaty from the races.

"What do you think of adding chili sauce later on?" Janice asked them, fully intent on wanting Thomas Roy to be covered in chili sauce.

"Chili sauce? Cool! Add it in, add it in!" Scott Hoager chanted and Gary Fulcher nodded furiously.

Leslie rolled her eyes and groaned. "Do you guys wanna blind the guy?" Everyone stopped and looked at her quizzically. She sighed. "Chili is hot. If too much comes in contact with the eyes, the person may potentially be blinded. I'd rather not face any charges for a prank."

"Fine, whatever," Scott Hoager snorted and shrugged with an eye roll. He looked at Thomas Roy who was yelling at the boys to 'hurry up and just cross the line already' across the field and scowled, muttering, "I still think chili sauce is a good idea..."

Just before recess ended, Leslie had Scott Hoager plant the note in Thomas Roy's desk so he'd come to the field after school. Once that was set in place, the prank was set in motion.

As soon as school ended, everyone met up at Leslie's locker and she handed them the water guns that would soon later annihilate Thomas Roy's dignity. There was a short squabble between Hoager and Jess about who was going to be use the bigger gun but it ended shortly after they decided by Rock Paper Scissor, which Hoager ended up winning much to Jess disappointment. They later filled up the guns with ketchup outside the girl's room and Janice brought up the chili sauce again which Leslie smoothly refuted.

They were an odd group. 3 of them looked like bullies (well one was), 2 of them looked fairly innocent and Mindy just stuck out like a sore thumb because of her timidness. Every time Scott Hoager opened his mouth to make a mean comment about that, Janice and Leslie would elbow him which amused Jess. Who would've thought that the prideful Scott Hoager could be shut up by 2 girls?

"OK, he's coming!" Leslie whispered and crouched down in a stance ready to fire. She signaled the numbers with her fingers and mouthed them, her eyes bright and big. "1... 2... 3... GO!"

All of them jumped out from their spots and mercilessly shot Thomas Roy everywhere with ketchup sauce. In the process of doing this while chasing him, Thomas began spouting vulgarities that seemed to have made Scott Hoager just more committed to covering him wholly in red.

     "What a lucky day for you to wear white today, Roy!" Leslie sniggered as she fired shots at him. It was kinda hard to see but she could tell that he was glaring furiously at her in his crouching position.

     When Thomas Roy looked to be drenched from head to toe, they stopped and let Mindy come forward, a bucket in her hands. Thomas frowned at her as he haughtily wiped away the sauce from his face. "What are you gonna do? Hurt me?" He said daringly with a mocking tone that everyone did not like. They made a step towards him and he frantically crawled back.

     Blotches of red appeared on Mindy's usual pale cheeks and she looked visibly angry for once. "YOU ARE A HORRIBLE PERSON!" And with that, she poured the bucket's contents at Thomas Roy, resulting in him soaking wet with water. Jess somehow felt pity for him.

     With the finale over, everyone began to run back before they could get in trouble but Leslie stayed behind. She retained a cool expression and bent down to eye level with Thomas, giving her an intimidating figure.

     "If you ever bully anyone else again, we'll do something much worse that this." She stressed this with a serious expression.

     "I-I'll tell the principal about what you did!" Thomas Roy yelled back.

     Jess joined Leslie's side and scowled. "Try that and everyone will know how much of a wimp you are."

     Thomas Roy gave a frustrated groan and bolted. As he ran, they noticed that he was leaving a messy red trail behind and couldn't contain their laughters any longer. On their way back to the main building, Leslie worried about the stain that was left on the field and contemplated on actually cleaning it herself. Thankfully it started to rain so Leslie left the idea alone, much to Jess's relief. Cleaning would've probably taken hours, which Jess obviously did not want to do. Bill then later came to pick them up, wondering what on earth the kids had been doing because they had some sauce on their shirts and were carrying water guns.