When I pulled into the school parking lot the next morning, a scene was playing out before me that I had never witnessed in my life. There, sitting on their picnic benches and lounging over the stairs on this blissfully mild day, the A-Listers were reading.
Most had their faces glued to their phones, but a few held paper copies of what looked deceptively like the mediocre school newspaper, The CHS Times. Those scattered paper copies weren't limited to the A's either - I noticed a group of freshman walking by, a copy of the paper clutched between each of their hands. As I slid out of my car, Melody Jiang was handing her copy over to none other than Emma Baxter, Ernie's crush. The two of them were frowning, Mel clearly upset by whatever she'd read.
But upset was not the word I would've used for my brother's body language as he leaped up from his seat at the picnic table.
"Did you read this?" Brandon demanded as I approached the A's. Brett's jaw muscle was pulsing so hard I could almost hear his teeth grinding from three yards away. He was ripping his own copy to shreds.
"No, why?" I asked innocently, holding my hand out for Brandon's paper. He hesitated, shooting Brett a look.
"She has a right to know what that bitch wrote about her," Brett growled, "I'm going to find Vic."
Brandon and I watched him stalk across the quad to where Victoria was pulling into her parking space. Behind her, a familiar red coupe was entering the lot.
I felt my blood begin to boil as I snatched the paper out of Brandon's hand.
"What's it say?" I asked him, my eyes dropping to the paper.
"Nothing good..." Brandon said, murder in his eyes.
Normally this space is filled with an editorial urging you all to become better citizens of the world and support my Paper for Peace recycling campaign, but this week I feel I have more pressing matters to address. As acting Editor-in Chief of the Clairview Chronicle, I feel it is my responsibility to share with you my opinion on a very sensitive matter.
For as long as I, and probably you, can remember, we have been subjected to a social hierarchy based solely on looks and money. Relegated to the bottom like most of the rest of you, I'm starting to question exactly why. The group of spoiled rotten "pretty people" that sits at the top of this social pyramid has been abusing their position of privilege for far too long. Thanks to some rather shocking recent events, I now feel compelled to call them out.
This past weekend, a group of these so-called "A-listers" crashed a concert in Huntington, one of them physically assaulting two of the band members while another made threats against the life of one of the victims. Why have you not heard of this, you ask? That's because it's been covered up.
That's right, Madison Carlisle, the queen of the juniors herself, should have been arrested on assault charges this weekend. But instead of spending a night behind bars with a newly acquired black mark on her record, she drove off to attend a party.
Now, if it had been you or I committing said crime, we'd be kissing our college dreams goodbye. But thanks to her privileged status in our society, Madison escaped this weekend without even a slap on the wrist.
This is why I have decided to start naming names with today's editorial. This two-tiered disciplinary system has gone on for far too long, punishing those of us who don't have rich parents with political connections. Below, you will find a list of alleged crimes that these so-called "A-listers" have gotten away with scot-free:
-Brad Brighton: all you freshmen should look out for that brainless wide receiver you all seem to worship. Last summer, he was spotted dragging a passed-out then-freshman girl into a bedroom at a party.
- William Dawson: Why is one of the most powerful families in the state sending their only son to a public school? No, it's not because they're egalitarians, it's because he was expelled from Kingsley Preparatory Academy thanks to a felony cocaine charge. That's right folks, there's a felon in our midst! Unluckily for us, the charges never saw the light of day thanks to some strategically placed bribes.
-Katie MacIntyre: Hit and nearly killed a pedestrian while driving home drunk from a party last summer. Most notably, both Deanna Allister and Tierra Wright were also in the car, thoroughly inebriated, when Katie sped away from the scene. The whole incident was swept under the rug thanks to a little push from Tierra's uncle, the mayor, not to mention a nice fat wad of hush money for the pedestrian.
- Madison Carlisle: Last and definitely not least, the most revered girl in Junior year. I wonder if half as many of you would continue to worship her if you knew that she'd assaulted two of your fellow juniors this past weekend. I watched it happen with my own eyes and I take personal exception to the lack of disciplinary action. It was two of my own friends that she lashed out at while overcome by a fit of jealousy. I like to think it was yours truly who provoked said fit, but it doesn't seem to take much to set her vapid brain on fire. For all I know, she could have broken a nail.
These, my fellow students, are the sorts of delinquents we are forced to attend classes with and it's high time they were held accountable for their crimes. I for one hope that the school board gets a glimpse of exactly what kind of students our lovely principal is allowing to roam our halls unchecked.
I also urge you, students of Clairview, to decide whether or not these students should be punished for their crimes. If the adults won't take responsibility, it's time for us to take justice into our own hands.
Dakota Schneider, signing off
I crushed the paper between my hands as I remembered Victoria's strict instructions to act devastated. Her article was a masterpiece. She'd captured Dakota's tone so perfectly that the queen of the nerds would be hard pressed to prove that she hadn't slipped the article in herself before the paper got printed.
"That bitch," I snarled. I felt Brandon's hand on my arm as I looked up, only to watch Dakota climb out of Ethan's car, a smile on her face as they laughed about something.
Victoria was standing in front of me before I could take a step in their direction.
"Let me see," she snapped, taking the crumpled paper from my hands. Her eyes flew over it, obviously only pretending to read it since she'd been the one to write it.
When she looked up, there was barely veiled triumph in her blue eyes as they met mine.
"That bitch is going to pay for saying shit like that about Madison!" Brett growled, turning hateful eyes towards where Dakota and Ethan were unsuspectingly making their way towards the front doors.
"Just say the words," Brandon said, cracking his knuckles.
"What did I miss?" Tyler asked, shooting a worried look at the angry A faces as he approached the group. When his hazel eyes met mine, I felt my stomach swoop.
What would he think if he found out that I had been a part of this?
"It's war, apeface!" Brandon shouted. The quad hushed as Dakota shot a look over at Brandon. Behind him, Brad and Olivier had gotten to their feet, Brett crossing his arms as they stared her down.
"Stupid bitch," Vicky put in as Dakota turned away from us and continued towards the doors. Beside her, Ethan's eyes were on me and I had to wipe the smug grin from my face. He must've caught it, however, because he hurried after Dakota, whispering something to her.
"Okay, I'll ask again. What's going on?" Tyler said, coming up beside me with a frown on his face as he joined the rest of the A's in glaring at Dakota.
"Apeface went ahead and libeled the Juniors," Vicky responded, handing Tyler the crushed newspaper. His frown deepened as he read, shaking his head when he got to the end.
"There's no way Principal MacGuire would let her publish this," he said, handing it back to Vicky. She ignored him, casting her eyes around the group.
"Where's Deanna?" she demanded.
"She left with Will...something about a lawyer," Tierra said, nodding towards the parking lot. Vicky's lips twitched as she fought a smile, the bell ringing. Courtney waded over to me as the rest of the A's gathered their bags.
"How is the school letting her do this?" she whispered as she followed me towards the doors. Around us, other students were eagerly reading their own copies of the CHS Times, shooting me wary looks. When we entered the building, a group of freshman girls skittered out of our way, eyes wide as they watched us pass. Apparently an alleged assault charge meant the hallways cleared more easily for me now.
"I don't-" I started, only for a scream to echo down the hallway. Courtney and I stopped in our tracks, turning towards the east hall.
Mel was standing in front of Dakota, arms crossed, as Dakota violently tore a paper copy of the Times to pieces.
"I hope you-" Mel started, nothing but student council diplomacy in her tone.
"I didn't write this!" Dakota screamed, her wild eyes raking over the mass of students that were now staring at her. When they landed on me, they narrowed.
"You little bitch!" she roared, advancing towards me. Courtney grabbed my arm, but before we could move, Vicky, Brett, and Brandon had come up beside us, rage radiating off all three of them.
"Not so fast, slander queen," Vicky said, planting her hands on her hips as she stood in front of me, "I'll have you know that what you printed is completely illegal."
"I didn't write it, you nailpolish huffing hussy," Dakota shouted, coming right up to Vicky. The two brunettes squared off, Dakota fuming while Victoria stared her down, cool rage on her face.
"As far as we're concerned, it has your byline," Victoria shot back, "So we're not going to sit around while someone threatens violence against one of our friends."
As if on cue, Brandon cracked his knuckles again. Dakota's face had gone puce.
"She's behind it!" Dakota shouted, pointing a quaking finger at me, "She's had it out for me since-"
"You wrote it because you're in love with Ethan Wheeler and you can't stand the thought of him choosing Madison over you!" Victoria shouted over her. Dakota bared her teeth and lunged.
That was all it took for the hallway to erupt into chaos.