Chapter 1

I slalomed through the concrete tables in the lunch area to get to the other side so I could get in line at Quick Lunch before the wait became long. I would buy a microwaved pizza which was what I did three or four days every school week. It wasn't good pizza but there was no such thing as bad pizza. My alternatives were to bring lunch from home or eat in the cafeteria. Both were sickening propositions.

"Hey, Kirk!" yelled out Jackie. She sat with four of her girlfriends at a table in the middle of the lunch area.

"Could you help us?" auburn-haired Brandi said as I slowed.

"We need someone strong to open this," said Jackie, a girl with shoulder length brunette hair. She held up some kind of container.

They thought I was strong? Me? Well, I was a guy.

"Would you open it for us?" blonde Tara said.

"Sure," I said happily, coming closer.

Maybe I could impress these girls? What might it lead to? Maybe I could go out with one of them?

I had these type of fantasies about girls all the time. In real life, girls didn't want anything to do with me. I was interested in girls and girls were interested in boys, but somehow I was left out of the loop when it came to dating and romance. No girl had any interest in me. I wasn't a macho athlete but I looked okay when I looked in the mirror. I wasn't a hunk but I was sort of smart with A's and B's in school. It was mostly A's. Why should it be wrong to be smart?

When I had the nerve to ask a girl out all I got back was the occasional chuckle and a hasty walk away. I once overheard girls talking about who would be the worst boy in school to kiss. A few mentioned my name. It hurt. Girls were so unfair. They didn't know me and what I was like. How could they make that judgment?

I took the container from Jackie and asked, "What is it? Sugar?"

"Salt," Brandi said.

The other girls, brunette April and blonde Molly, had strange smirks on their faces.

"We need a man to open it for us," said Brandi. She squeezed my arm muscle. "Oh, wow!"

I smiled inside. I gripped the container and twisted the lid. It was on tight. I exhaled and turned the lid. It moved! I regripped the lid and twisted harder. The threads turned.

"Yes!" said Jackie.

"He's so strong and manly!" said Brandi.

"What a stud!" crowed Tara.

I felt so wonderful. The adoration I so wanted and deserved finally was coming to me.

Strangely, all five girls leaned backwards, away from me, as I began to pull the lid off.

Poof!

A cloud of white powder exploded out of the container. I jumped a semi-instant later when a spring loaded toy snake popped out.

"Oh, great, Kirk! You got it all over," sarcastically said Jackie.

The next cloud was a cloud of laughter from the girls followed by a cloud of darkness that fell over my mind and heart.

I was so distraught that I don't even know which girl took the container back from me.

"Are you okay?" Jackie asked because I was frozen still.

"Is he going to cry?" asked Brandi.

My eyes focused angrily on the girls. How could... ?

"Why are you so mean to him?" said April. "That wasn't nice."

I looked over at April. She was right. That was very mean.

April looked at Molly. "Scoot over." She then said to me, "Come sit down and let me make sure you are okay."

Wow! April was nice. I liked April. I took her offer and sat between her and Molly.

"It's only flour," said April. "You have a little on you. I'll rub it off."

What a great day! A girl's finger touched my forehead! April rubbed the flour off quickly.

"There. That's better," April said. "Doesn't he look good?"

"Very handsome," said Brandi.

"Sorry about the prank," said Jackie.

"It's okay," I mumbled.

"You have some stuff on your back," said Molly. She rubbed my shirt then patted my lower back. "Got it!"

"Thank you," I said and smiled at her.

Maybe a twosome with April and Molly? Maybe I shouldn't get ahead of myself? I'd start with April. What a nice girl. She was so cute too!

"You want some of my sandwich?" April asked.

"Uh..."

"I never can eat a whole one."

"Okay." It would save my lunch money which I could spend elsewhere.

April took a half-sandwich wrapped in a baggie out of her insulated pink lunch bag. The bread looked fresh and I saw mayo and a pickle. Mmmm, delicious.

I took a bite. I didn't think about it until later but the five girls closely watched me.

"Oooooh," immediately moaned Tara.

April and Molly stood and hurried to the other side of the table.

What? What was going on?

I looked at the sandwich before I took my next bite. Two earthworms stuck out of the bread. Make that two half-earthworms.

"How's it taste, worm boy?" said Jackie.

"Wormy, wormy!" jeered April.

I recognized those worms. I was in biology class with April earlier today and we dissected worms. I put the sandwich down and raced away.

I walked rapidly toward Quick Lunch.

"Hey, loser," said a boy I didn't know as I passed a table.

Two girls giggled when I walked by.

I felt a boys shoe on my butt.

"Loser," a girl said with a smile.

I received several more "loser" comments until I reached the head of the line.

The lady at the counter asked, "What's with the white face and the 'L' on your forehead?"

"What?" I responded.

"The big 'L' on your forehead and the white powder. Is that flour?"

I darted out of line and ran to the restroom. I fumed into the mirror as I saw that April traced a big 'L' on my forehead and my face was still covered with flour. She had implied that there was only a small amount on me.

Why me? Why couldn't we be friends instead? Was I really a nerd and a guy that girls didn't like?

I calmed down as I washed my face clean.

I was kicked in the butt.

"Ow!" I reacted, turning angrily.

The boy just smiled and went to the urinal.

Another boy came in and kicked me.

"Stop it!" I yelled.

"You want it," he said.

"No, I don't"

He laughed.

"What? What's going on?" I asked. I was worried that another prank was on.

The first boy said, "Turn around." He kicked the air.

I got out of there fast.

I wasn't in the mood for lunch now, so I headed to my chemistry class and waited outside for the class to begin. The classrooms were locked during lunch.

Mr. Sands, the teacher, walked up about five minutes before the bell rang. He said, "You have a sign on your back."

I looked at him puzzled.

"Looks like someone played a joke on you," he said and pointed at my back.

I reached around and felt a paper taped on. Oh, no! I ripped it off and read the sign. I scowled at the words: "Kick my ass!".

What awful girls! I only wanted to be nice and friendly and all they wanted to be was mean and nasty.

"You okay?" Mr. Sands asked.

"Yeah," I said sadly.

He didn't pursue any farther. So much for caring teachers.

Earthworm April was in this class also. She sat next to me at the lab benches and said, "If you don't like my sandwiches you should just say so. You don't have to run off."

"That wasn't nice," I said, trying to sound mean.

"I know you love all the attention."

"Why don't you leave me alone?"

"Naw! We had so much fun that we are going to do something to you again real soon."

"I'll be ready for you."

"You're a loser, Kirk. You don't stand a chance."

I glared at her. She smiled sweetly and pulled her compact out of her purse.

Mr. Sands said, "We are going to see how certain chemicals react to magnetic metals today. Choose a lab partner and I'll pass out the materials."

"Hi, partner!" April said to me.

I looked around but where I was seated didn't give me an easy option to find someone else. I was stuck with her.

"Don't goof around, okay?" I said.

"But you're so fun to fuck around with," she said. After she saw the look on my face, she said, "Yes, I said 'fuck'. You do know what fuck also means? No, you wouldn't because you are a loser."

I sighed. What a crummy day.

Mr. Sands placed a horseshoe magnet, a bar magnet, and some iron nails on the lab table in front of April and me. He returned with several beakers half filled with liquids and some droppers that looked like they came from the drugstore.

"Goggles on," Mr. Sands said.

I put mine on but April did nothing except apply lipstick while looking in her compact mirror.

"You need to put your goggles on," I said.

"You do it. I'll watch. You don't want me to fuck things up. You think I want that fucking strap line on my face?" She referred to the elastic of the goggles.

Fine! It was better than way.

I listened to Mr. Sands's instructions and proceeded.

"What are you doing?" I said with anxiety five minutes later. April tapped face powder from her compact into one of the beakers.

"It needs color," she said.

I shook my head with annoyance.

April picked up another beaker and outlined the lip with her lipstick.

"Now what?" I said frustrated.

"If you put it against your neck you can pretend you have a hickey."

Sadly, the idea appealed to me. Happily, it was only briefly.

I was able to resume the experiment peacefully until I noticed April heated one of the beakers with a Bunsen burner.

"You're not supposed to use that without permission," I informed her.

"But you're not going to tell, are you?" she stated.

I sighed. I guess I wasn't. I was a wimp.

"Let's mix these," she said.

I felt helpless as she mixed the beaker containers. One of the beakers began to bubble.

"Do you think it will dissolve the magnets?" she said and before I could do anything she dropped them into the liquid.

She pulled her hand back but didn't watch its travel path.

"Ow!" April screeched out as her hand went through the Bunsen flame. She gripped her wrist right below the burn.

I yanked off my goggles and in genuine concern for her wellness I reached out my hand.

"Are you alright?" I said.

"Get the fuck away!" she yelled at me.

She yanked her hand sideways and it knocked over two beakers. One beaker collided into the bubbling beaker. The contents of the latter shot into the air and into my face. I gasped hard as the liquid sprayed up my nose and into my mouth. I was grateful it was not in my eyes.

"What happened?" said Mr. Sands.

"The pervert tried to molest me!" she screamed.

All students' eyes were on me. I said, "I did not! She knocked the beakers over."

"Let's get you to the nurse," Mr. Sands said as he looked at my soaked face.

I would have protested but I realized a visit to the nurse got me away from April. Mr. Sands seemed unaware of April's mild burn and she didn't say anything.

The nurse sent me home over nothing! That was a good ending to a bad day. I played videogames during the rest of the time that I would be at school!

The next morning I ate breakfast at the table with my 14-year old sister, Kendra.

What would today be like? I hoped the girls didn't have another prank planned already. They would prepare and wait until I didn't suspect, right? They would leave me alone today, right?

Dad came out and said, "Ready?"

Kendra frowned then left with Dad to be dropped off at middle school.

I placed my bowl in the sink and grabbed my backpack. Mom kissed me on the cheek and I headed out the door.

On my walk to school I was about to cross the street where I usually do when I saw Jackie and Tara together. I waited until they were farther along then crossed. I stayed back so I didn't catch up with them.

I had April in my biology and chemistry classes but that was it for the mean girls. All the mean girls were either seniors or juniors who already took their required science classes or had a different science class or had the class during a different period. April was the only mean girl I had to deal with everyday.

When I arrived at the front of the school I was approached by Tara. Uh-oh!

"Hi! Kirk, right? Remember me? My name's Tara."

"Uh ... yeah," I said cautiously to the blonde girl. I looked around but didn't see Jackie.

"It was really nice to meet you yesterday, you know." She sounded nervous.

And sincere. That was the weird part. But my guard was up.

"I need to get to class," I said.

"Oh." She sounded disappointed. "Um ... well ... okay. Maybe I can run into you later. Maybe at..."

"Sorry, got to go," I hastily said. Whatever they planned, I didn't want to know. If I didn't know what they planned then it was harder for them to come up with a plan B. Uh ... did that make sense?

My first three class periods went normal. I sat in the front row and on the right which was by the door. I was up close so I could pay attention to the teacher but also near the exit so no one could wait outside to bully or harass me. I was a planner.

Unfortunately, I wasn't fully thinking when I went to my biology class. I sat up front and by the door as usual. April came in as the bell rang. She saw me right away and sat directly behind me. It was too late to move.

She leaned forward and whispered in my ear, "Hiiii, Kirk!"

Her voice made me jump. I ignored her and kept my eyes focused forward.

"Kirk?" she said again.

I can't hear you! I can't hear you!

"Kirk?"

Na-na-na-na-na-na.

"Please, Kirk," she whined.

She was good. She was very good. But she was evil.

"You won't even look at me?" she sniffled.

Was she crying? My curiosity overtook me. I became weak and looked back. April instantly smiled. Damn, she was good! Such badness in a pretty package.

"I thought about you all night," she said. "I'm stuck on you."

Oh, great! What did she and her four naughty friends have planned today?

"Leave me alone," I said quietly but as forcefully as I could.

"What? Did I do something wrong?" Tears welled in her eyes.

Weird. She was one weird chick.

"You know what," I said trying to sound angry.

"No."

"The earthworm in the sandwich."

"Oh, fuck! That was me. I am so sorry."

Our teacher, Mr. Callahan, spoke which ended the conversation. I was very glad for that. Hopefully, April would behave as she sat behind me. I had concerns.

The teacher said, "A lot of you had trouble during the earthworm dissection yesterday, so we are going to do another worm."

I had no problems whatsoever with yesterday's lab.

Mr. Callahan said, "I want to make sure you have a chance to see the crop, gizzard, and everything."

It would be fun to practice again.

"Okay, grab a worm and get to a lab station."

Mr. Callahan had a big fish tank full of writhing and wriggling earthworms. We lined up, grabbed a worm, and went to the lab table.

"Can I do it with you?" April asked. She held a squirming worm in her fingers.

I shook my head and began pinning my worm down.

"Please?" she begged.

I ignored her.

"You won't help me?"

"No," I said and didn't look up as I finished my pin job. I was better at pinning today than yesterday.

"What do I have to do for you to like me?"

Die.

She said nothing more. Silence at last. I picked up the scalpel and sliced into the worm. If earthworms could make horror films I would be their Freddie Krueger.

"I'll eat worms for you," April said.

Grrrr! She was back.

I glanced at April but then I fixed my eyes on her. In her clenched hand were five or six worms.

"I'll do anything for you," she said.

What? What was she talking about?

"I'll do it," she said. I watched her hand rise up. "For you."

I couldn't turn away. She wouldn't go that far to set up a prank against me, would she?

She crammed the worms into her mouth. She closed her lips and then she chewed. She poked in the wriggling ends that stuck out of her mouth. I was frozen by the sight. She swallowed and continued to chew. A couple of more swallows followed by more chewing then another swallow. She was done.

She did it! The girls ate worms! What kind of freak was she?

"See?" she said. "See how much I care about you?"

April ran off in tears out of the class.

"Where is she going?" Mr. Callahan asked me when he saw her leave.

"She's not well," I said.

It was the truth. That girl wasn't well.

April was outside the classroom when biology let out. I always helped put things away so I was the last student out.

"Where are you eating?" she asked sweetly.

"Please leave me alone," I said. I suddenly felt very weary.

"Can't we eat together?"

"After what you and your friends did to me yesterday? Are you fucking kidding?" I never swore but I needed to use it for effect. "Why would I eat with any of you?"

"Fuck those bitches! I only want to be with you."

I couldn't shake the feeling that she was sincere. Was this the same girl?

She looked at me hopefully and in anticipation of my word.

"Yes," I squeaked out. My response sounded more like a question.

She grabbed my hand excitedly and then spoke rapidly as she pulled me along.

"What did you bring for lunch? Do you want my lunch? I'll share. You can have it all. I'm not hungry when I'm with you. It's enough to be with you."

Oh, shit! What did I just get myself into it?

I tried to pull my hand free but she had too strong of a grip. This girl was stronger than me. How humiliating was that?