Days wasted walking: 69
Demerits: 5
Conversations with Steffi: 9
Game suspensions: 1
Public service hours: 19
Hours spent enduring Fiorenze
Stupid-Name’s company: 3
Kidnappings thwarted: 1
Number of Steffi kisses: 2
Days Steffi not talking to me: 1
Parking spots for Danders Anders: 2
Vows to kill Danders Anders: 7
Kidnappings unthwarted: 1
On account of the perfect parking spot my fairy got Danders Anders right in front of main campus I got to school in time to slide behind my desk in History a fraction of a second before the bell sounded. History: my second class of the day. I’d never missed a whole class before. An automatic three demerits, which brought my total up to five.
Every day after school, Danders had said. If I couldn’t escape, then I’d miss public service and then how was I going to get rid of my remaining demerits? Gah!
How was I going to get Danders off my back?
I would dob. There was no other way. Surely kidnapping was serious enough for me to report it?
But Danders Anders was going to be an Our of stellariffic proportions. The school needed him. Government funding was generous, but the school still depended on donations, and the majority of those came from its most successful alumni. Danders promised to be vastly successful. Danders would probably wind up being worth millions, maybe even more, to New Avalon Sports High.
What would they say if I reported him? Maybe I should tell Ms. Wilkinson, my counselor, first and see what she said?
I opened up the reading on the founding of New Avalon. Dry as dust, but at least it was familiar. We’d gone over every inch of New Avalon’s early years in middle school and four years before that in elementary. If there was one bit of history I knew, it was the founding of New Avalon. Going over old work might be torpid, but right now that was comforting. I wasn’t sure I could have focused on anything new.
I’d been so close to getting rid of my fairy. Two months of hard work, of endless demerits, of aching feet, of my parents, my sister, my teachers all mad at me. All completely undone by a selfish, thick, spoiled, stupid, doxhead water polo player. It made me want to scream.
Sandra sat next to me and slid a note under my tablet.
Dana Chusan sprained her ankle. Rochelle’s the starting center for tonight’s game. Wanna come watch?
That was wonderful news for Rochelle and for me— surely there’d be a basketball tryout soon. I should have been over the moon, but all I could think about was my fairy. I forced myself to grin and give Sandra the thumbs-up.
Sandra passed another note.
And Our Tui broke up with her girlfriend.
I did an exaggerated eye widen even though I didn’t care. Sandra nodded and slid me another note.
What did they expect? Ours should only go out with other Ours. Never works when they don’t.
“Reckon,” I said just to say something.
“Charlotte Adele Donna Seto Steele,” said Mr. Lien, whose fairy had to be an ears-like-a-fox fairy. “I hope you are not conversing with Sandra Leigh Petaculo. I do not wish to start the morning off with a flurry of demerits.” He glanced at his tablet. “Even though it seems to be your intention to gather as many as possible. You’ve already earned three today. Do you really want more?”
“No, sir.”
“You may read Chapter Three: The Founding of New Avalon for the class.”
“Yes, sir.” I read out loud and tried to keep my mind on what I was reading.
The parking fairy was going to ruin my life.