The Payback or The Adventures and Pranks of Zachary O'Connor

Chapter Four: Jocks Are Cocks

That night, we organized a video chat. We figured we would take down Eric next since he would be weakened after it had gotten out that TFK had been cheating on him. But once again, none of us could figure out how to get revenge on him. We didn't so much like the idea of "giving him a taste of his own medicine." Everyone only hated him because he was an asshole. He was constantly a jerk to everyone. Eric couldn't go five minutes without insulting a couple or tripping a freshman or something. Not to mention that he had essentially led the assault on Laurel. And he was a dumbass. Eric probably couldn't tell you the capital of Georgia, much less the United States (for the record: Atlanta and Washington, DC, respectively). I've never had any clue how he managed to be promoted to the 12th grade. Eric was the captain of the football team. He was only going to college because he didn't suck at football. He was our team's QB and admittedly, pretty frickin' good. But he would've used the F Word instead of frick. Eric cussed a lot.

And we were at a dead end. We had no idea what to do to distribute some karma. Until I had a flippin' spark of genius. When it hit me, I was like, "Oh my god." Everyone else was like, "Whatwhatwhatwhatwhatwhat?" And I continued to say, "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god."

"WHAT THE HELL IS IT, ZACH?!" Meghan yelled.

"Wait, wait, wait," I paused. "What's Eric's last name?"

"Head," Meghan replied.

"And his football number?" I asked.

"1," Anti answered.

"OH MY GOD!" I repeated.

"WHAT THE HELL IS IT?!" Meghan nearly screamed.

"Chill," Anti said.

"Ok, ok, here's the plan..."

I explained the plan to them animatedly. The only problem was that Gabby and I would be skipping out on marching band if we wanted to be part of the revenge. But so many people were going to be involved that it wouldn't really matter if we didn't. Gabby just sat in front of her computer, nodding. Anti was still laughing. Meghan was still talking, as usual.

"Zach. I believe that that is the best plan I have ever heard in my entire life," Meghan complimented me.

I'm sure I blushed, and Anti was trying not to smile; he was unsuccessful.

Shit.

"It's pretty good," Gabby said.

"The more people we have, the more likely we don't get in trouble. I advise we do a sign for each letter as opposed to each word," I said.

"We're supposed to be gaining money, not losing it buying art materials," Anti complained.

"It's cool," Meghan responded. "It'll be worth the price. It won't be more than- like- 20 bucks for a bunch of cardboard and some markers."

Anti nodded.

"Tomorrow, after marching band practice, Gabby and I will run into the crafts store nearby and get the stuff. Um, then, I guess we'll meet somewhere..." I started.

"At the front of my neighborhood," Anti suggested. "Near the pool. There's a little pavilion that no one ever uses. We can work on writing it out on the cardboard there."

"Yeah, alright," Gabby said.

"Just tell our parents we're going to Anti's," I said.

We all agreed and hung up.

Before heading out the door the next morning, I told my parents that I was gonna hang out at Anti's after school. They were cool with that. Gabby sent me a text saying that her parents were, too. Within minutes, I also had Meghan's confirmation. Once in my car, I passed some freshmen waiting for the bus. One of them waved. Typical. Rule One of High School: don't act like you're in the 9th grade. I ignored the foolish youngling and pulled into Meghan's driveway. Eric would've flipped them off. I ground my teeth in frustration.