Book 25: Teases, Tricks, And… Danger?
August 28
I can’t believe summer is so close to being over. I did a lot of stuff this summer—moved to a new neighborhood, babysat a spoiled kid who turned out not to be so bad after all, and spent two weeks working at a special restaurant camp run by my friend Nalcie’s dad. But now it’s almost September, and the summer is coming to a close. And I, Allisen Zepetto, am going to be starting eighth grade in just eight days! Mirisen’s going to be starting eighth grade as well, at home again like last year (because the little smarty-pants is only TEN!). Harrisson’s going into third grade at the same school I go to.
Our school starts pretty late this year because Labor Day is September 3, and school always starts two days after Labor Day. We go to a private school. But most of my friends in my new neighborhood go to public school, and for them school is starting tomorrow!
We had a neighborhood cookout today, to celebrate the start of the new school year. The cookout was next door at the Reeveses’ house, and practically the entire neighborhood was there. All the kids my siblings and I hang out with were there: Brian, Benny, and Jarrett Reeves, Molli Benson, Lucylynn Sevies, Richard and Tara Dell, Annabel and Sarabi Karini, Leroy and Adelyne Walsh, Shelly Weimann, and Ollie Cumper. We all played some games together at first, but once the food was ready, we sat down in smaller groups and talked.
I sat with all the older kids—Shelly, Leroy, Brian, Benny, Molli, and Lucylynn. The topic of our conversation was school.
“I can’t believe we’re going to be high-schoolers this year!” exclaimed Lucylynn. “That sounds so old!”
“Welcome to the club,” said Leroy. He’s going into tenth grade this year, and Shelly’s going into twelfth. Brian, Benny, Molli, and Lucylynn are all going into ninth.
Brian smirked at Molli. “So, what pathetic tricks do you have up your sleeve for tomorrow, Molli? You better be careful you don’t get expelled.”
Molli rolled her eyes. “As if you would care if I got expelled. I think you’re just scared of what my tricks might be. Don’t worry. They’re going to be a thousand times better than anything you come up with.”
I looked to Lucylynn, Benny, Shelly, and Leroy. “Tricks?” I questioned.
“You know Brian and Molli,” Benny sighed. “Always trying to outdo each other, always teasing each other and pulling pranks on each other. Every year, they each come up with a series of things to do to each other, and every year, they end up getting in trouble. One year Brian even got me in trouble, because a teacher thought I was him.” Brian and Benny are identical twins.
“You guys,” said Shelly, addressing Brian and Molli. “Don’t you think… don’t you think you’re going a little too far with this prank business? You’re starting high school tomorrow. Aren’t you being a little immature?”
“Molli’s immature, but I’m not,” said Brian.
“Nuh-uh! I am way more mature than you, Brian, and you know it!”
“Yeah. Riiiiiiiiiight.”
“I am, Brian, don’t lie!”
“You’re the liar, saying you’re more mature than me.”
Brian and Molli squabbled on and on about who was more mature (which the rest of us found really ironic). The last thing I heard Brian say once the cookout was over and we all started leaving was, “Molli, you’d better watch your back because I have some pretty good tricks up my sleeve!”
Hmm. Well, this should be interesting.
August 29
I was curious about how Brian and Molli’s first day of school went today, so around 4:00 I went over to the Reeveses’ house. Benny answered the door, and we went out to bounce on his trampoline while he told me about the first day of school.
“Well, it’s not as bad as last year,” he said. “Last year, they had five classes together and it was a nightmare. This year they only have two classes together.”
“Is it still a nightmare?” I asked.
Benny laughed. “Well, second-period math is the only class all three of us have together—me, Brian, and Molli. And it was pretty messy. When the teacher was calling attendance and got to Molli’s name, Brian said, ‘She’s not here.’ And then Molli was like, ‘What do you mean, of course I’m here!’ So, of course, the teacher believed Molli, since she was the one they were talking about.”
I nodded. “But that doesn’t sound too bad.”
“It gets worse. When Molli said she was there, Brian acted really surprised and said, ‘Oh! Sorry! I didn’t know you got out of jail already! I thought they’d have to hold you longer than that for stealing, what was it, like four cars from that dealership? Without even having a license?’”
I gasped. “What did Molli say? Did she get mad?”
“No, she just put on this really pitying expression and said, ‘Brian, did you forget to take your pills today?’ and then told the teacher that Brian has some sort of mental disorder that makes him think certain things really happened when they’re really just a product of his imagination.”
“Did your teacher believe her?”
Benny shrugged. “Nobody was really sure what to believe. We now have half the class thinking Molli’s a criminal and the other half thinking Brian has a mental disorder.”
“Wow,” I said.
“Wow is right. And this is just day one. 179 more days to go!”
September 1
It’s Saturday. We got together with our neighborhood friends today, and Brian and Molli wasted no time bragging about the mini-food fight they’d gotten into yesterday at lunch, and then arguing about who had started it. I have to agree with Shelly here. A food fight in ninth grade? That’s pretty immature. I wonder how long it’s going to be before they’re both hauled off to the principal’s office.
September 3
Labor Day! We had another neighborhood cookout today, this time at the Karinis’ house (they’re our next-door neighbors on the other side of our house). Our neighborhood is really big on cookouts, apparently. This is the third one I’ve been to, and I’ve only lived here for two and a half months!
While Brian and Molli were busy having a contest to see who could stuff the most grapes in their mouth at a time, I talked with Lucylynn. “Have they been doing more pranks at school?” I asked her.
“Not too much since the food fight. But Molli told me she’s going to erase all the answers on Brian’s math homework and change them, which I think sounds mean. I told Brian to do his work in pen from now on, but I didn’t tell him why. Unfortunately, he guessed the reason and now won’t tell me any of his plans, because he knows I’d warn Molli.”
I groaned. “They’re going to end up in big trouble one of these days.”
Lucylynn nodded. “Tell me about it.”
September 5
Today was my first day of school! For the first time in years, I wasn’t nervous a bit about starting school, just excited. Because I got to see all my friends! And they’re in my classes!
My school, Learner’s Academy, does block scheduling for the middle and high schoolers. That means that we have four long classes each day rather than seven or eight shorter ones, and in January, we switch to four different classes. My classes this semester are English, health, social studies, and Bible (Learner’s Academy isn’t strictly a Christian school, but it’s run on Christian principles and offers optional Bible classes. I don’t know a lot about the Bible, but thought the class sounded interesting). And guess what! I have friends in all my classes! My best friend Shevea is in my health and Bible classes. My other best friend Kim is in my English class, and my friend Jack is in my social studies class. This should be a really good semester!
September 8
Woo hoo! I’m so excited for next weekend. Mom and Dad said I could invite some of my friends from school over, to celebrate the start of the new school year! It won’t be a party or anything, but they’ll get to come over and we’ll have hamburgers and hot dogs and run around in the backyard. And they’ll get to meet my neighborhood friends!
Speaking of my neighborhood friends, I got to go swimming in Molli’s pool today! She invited both me and Lucylynn. We were splashing around and having a great time until Molli started ranting about how Brian had tripped her the other day.
“Right in the middle of the cafeteria, right in front of everyone!” she complained. “And my lunch went flying everywhere, and my orange skittered across the floor and someone stepped on it and then they fell… and it was completely uncalled for, you know? I mean, what have I ever done to him?”
Lucylynn and I exchanged glances. “Um, a lot?” said Lucylynn.
“Nothing like that, though. I could have been seriously injured! I’ve never done anything to actually hurt him… maybe it’s time I get tougher.”
“Maybe it’s time you call this rivalry off before someone actually does get hurt,” suggested Lucylynn. I nodded.
“Call it off? Never! As long as he does mean things to me, I’m going to do even worse things to him. Maybe that’ll teach him a lesson.”
“I don’t think that’s the right way to be looking at it, Molli,” I said tentatively. “You’ll probably just end up getting in even more trouble than he does if you do worse things back to him.”
“You think he got in trouble for tripping me? Naaah, he passed it all off as an accident. And don’t worry. I’ll be undetectable.”
Lucylynn and I peppered her with questions about what she was planning to do to Brian next, but she refused to tell us. I guess we’ll just have to wait and hope it isn’t anything too awful.
September 9
Tonight at dinner, Mom asked my siblings and me how our first week of school had been. Harrisson said that it was all right, but he couldn’t wait until they started having timed multiplication tests. Mirisen taught him the multiplication tables last year, so he knew he’d beat everyone.
Mirisen said she was enjoying her second year of homeschool, and especially liked the online Latin class she was taking.
I told about how fun it is to have all my friends in my classes and how my classes seem like they’ll be interesting. Then Harrisson said, “Well, I know we’re all having a better school year than Brian and Molli, since we’re not making mischief and getting into trouble.”
“Oh? What are Brian and Molli doing?” Dad asked.
We launched into an explanation of everything we’d seen then do to each other and everything our friends had told us. When we finished, Pete spoke up. “That’s stupid,” he said.
“Pete, that’s not a nice word,” Harrisson told him.
“Okay, but it is stupid how they’re acting. They’re gonna end up getting kicked out of school if they're not careful.”
Well, there’s something I can tell Brian and Molli next time I see them. Even my obnoxious (well, used to be obnoxious), rebellious (well, used to be rebellious) 19-year-old brother thinks they’re being ridiculous!
September 10
Brian and Benny were both frowning as they made their way over to our yard this afternoon. “What happened today?” I asked, remembering Molli’s determination for revenge.
“Molli’s a stinking bit of scuzzy scum, that’s what happened,” said Brian angrily.
Harrisson’s eyes were wide. “What did she do?”
“She’s just immature, that’s all. An immature jerk,” Brian muttered. “It doesn’t matter what she did.” A look suddenly crossed his face, as if he’d just gotten an idea. “If you’ll excuse me, I have some unfinished business to attend to back home.”
Benny watched him go with a look of apprehension on his face. Before he could start after his brother, however, Mirisen asked, “What did Molli do this time?”
Benny rolled his eyes. “You know how she has a two-year-old sister, right? Elsi? Well, she took some of Elsi’s diapers and potty-training pants and sneaked them into Brian’s backpack. He opened it up on the bus and everyone saw and he got really embarrassed.”
“Dirty diapers?” Harrisson asked, looking like he was trying not to laugh.
“No, not dirty, fortunately, but it kind of pushed Brian over the edge. I don’t even want to know what this new idea of his is. But I guess I should go find out.” He moved dejectedly toward his house.
“Just plain old diapers aren’t too bad,” said Harrisson, looking disappointed. “Now, if she put used diapers in his backpack, that would have been funny.”
“Harrisson, it’s not funny,” said Mirisen sternly. “Brian and Molli are acting like kindergarteners, not high-schoolers. And they’re going to get in trouble, or someone’s going to get hurt.”
“It’s just diapers,” Harrisson said, shrugging.
“But what’s he going to do to get back at her?”
September 13
We found out what Brian did to get back at Molli. A bunch of us were playing Capture the Flag in the Reeveses’ yard this afternoon— Brian, Benny, Jarrett, Annabel, Sarabi, Mirisen, Harrisson, and me. Molli all the sudden came stomping into the yard and started waving something in Brian’s face.
“This is not the essay I wrote for English class,” she told him. “I know you switched it, and that means it’s your fault I got an F, not mine.”
Brian smirked. “Prove it,” he said.
“I don’t need to prove it. You’re the only person I know who would do this.”
“You can’t prove that.”
Molli made a huffy noise. “Not everything in the world can be proved, Brian.”
“Shouldn’t you say, ‘Not everything in the world can be proven’?”
“Whatever. It can’t.”
“Yeah, how do you know?”
“Prove it.” Molli smirked. “Prove that everything in the world can be proven. Then I’ll believe you.”
Brian seemed to think for a moment, then he rolled his eyes and walked off.
September 15
My friends came over to my house today! I invited Kim, Shevea, Jack, and Stivre. I wasn’t originally planning on inviting Stivre, because he’s not my friend exactly, but I like him more now than I used to, and I figured Kim and Jack would both enjoy having him around.
They all arrived around the same time. I gave them a tour of the house, since none of them had been to it before. “Wow,” said Shevea, looking around with wide eyes. “Your house is huge!”
“And gorgeous,” Kim added.
I brought them all to the backyard, where they had even more comments about how wonderful it was. I must admit, although I didn’t want to move here at first, I now really like our house and yard!
We started playing Capture the Flag with Mirisen and Harrisson, and then Brian, Benny, and Jarrett came over. I introduced them to my school friends, and they joined us in the game.
We played until we got hot, and then we took a break. We kind of all split up and started doing our own thing—Shevea and Mirisen got into a conversation, Stivre and Kim started being all goofy, running around and tickling each other, Benny started tossing a football around with Harrisson and Jarrett, and Brian started telling Jack about Molli.
“She’s totally annoying, and she always does the most ridiculous stuff, and the funny thing is, she actually thinks they’re good pranks, the things she comes up with! Mine are so much better.”
“What kind of stuff do you guys do to each other?” Jack asked.
“Oh, all sorts of things.” Brian started telling Jack all about the things he and Molli have done recently. I was sitting a little distance away, near Mirisen and Shevea, and I kind of tuned Brian out until I heard him say, “But she can’t compete with what I’m going to do next. I’m going to put a snake in her locker!”
I turned and stared. A snake in Molli’s locker? That was a lot worse than clean diapers in Brian’s backpack.
Jack seemed to be thinking along the same lines. He shook his head vehemently. “Don’t do that. You’ll get suspended.”
“No I won’t. Nobody will be able to prove it’s me.”
“Everyone knows you and Molli play tricks on each other, right? Believe me, they’ll know it’s you. Even if they don’t have proof, they’ll suspend you anyway. I—” He looked around. I quickly shifted my eyes over to Mirisen and Shevea and tried to look caught up in their conversation. I didn’t want Jack and Brian to think I’d been eavesdropping.
With my eyes still on Mirisen and Shevea, I heard Jack continue. “I played a trick like that once. On this bully, back in sixth grade. I put a snake in his lunchbox and got suspended for it. And nobody had proof it was me, but everyone knew I hated that kid. So, yeah, I got suspended, and it was such a big deal that my parents ended up switching me to a different school.”
Whoa. So that’s why Jack switched to our school in February of sixth grade? I’d always thought he had just moved or something. I didn’t know he’d been suspended.
But you know what was even worse than finding out that Jack had once gotten suspended? Hearing Brian’s response: “Yeah, well, even if I do get suspended, I don’t really care. It’ll be worth it.”
September 18
Things are getting very bad between Molli and Brian. Today Lucylynn and I went over to Molli’s pool to swim one final time before Molli’s parents close it up for the season. It was just the three of us back there—Molli’s parents’ rule is that nobody is allowed to swim alone, but if there are two or more teenagers (or almost-teenagers, like me) out there who are good swimmers, they don’t need adult supervision.
Anyway, it was just the three of us out there until Brian came up in his bathing suit. “Hey,” he said, saluting us. “Thought I’d come take a dip. Heard the pool’s closing soon.”
“No one invited you,” Molli said rudely, doing a flip off the diving board.
Brian opened the gate and let himself in. “Then I’m party crashing.”
“Go away.” Molli climbed up onto the diving board again, and this time did a cannonball, which splashed Brian.
“Well, I’m already wet,” Brian said, shrugging. “Might as well get even wetter.” He did a cannonball into the pool as well, nearly landing on top of Molli.
“Hey!” she exclaimed, grabbing Brian around the neck. “Watch where you’re landing! And no one said you could go in the pool in the first place!”
“Too late!” Brian splashed Molli.
“Guys…” said Lucylynn, but I don’t think Brian or Molli even heard her.
“Get out of my pool!”
“No way!”
Lucylynn and I exchanged exasperated glances as Brian and Molli tussled with each other in the water. Eventually, Molli pushed Brian entirely underwater. “Hah!” she said triumphantly.
I watched as Brian flailed around in the water, apparently unable to come up above the surface. Molli was pushing down on his head, keeping him under. “Um, Molli?” I said. “You should probably let him up now.”
“He can wait a couple more seconds,” Molli said.
“Molli, he’s drowning!” There was fear in Lucylynn’s voice.
“I wouldn’t let him drow—aagh!” Molli’s words turned into a squeal as Brian pulled on her hair, causing her to jerk back and release him. He came up, sputtering and glaring at her.
“I could have drowned!” he exclaimed, with none of the usual semi-teasing Brian and Molli usually use to speak to each other. “Molli, you literally could have killed me. You would have killed me if I hadn’t forced you to let me up.”
Molli’s expression changed. I could tell she knew she’d gone too far. “I was going to let you up in just another few seconds,” she mumbled.
Brian shot her a disgusted look. “You know what, take your stinkin’ pool. I’m going home.”
We were silent as he wrenched open the gate and stormed home. Then Lucylynn turned to Molli. “Molli…that was bad. He really could have been hurt. What if he’d sucked in a bunch of water?”
Molli looked pale. “Don’t tell my parents about this,” she said. “Really. I wasn’t trying to drown him or hurt him or anything. I was just… rrrh, he makes me so mad!”
“Maybe if you start being nicer to him, he’ll be nicer to you,” I suggested.
Molli snorted. “Never. Brian and I have known each other since we were babies, and we’ve never gotten along. Not once. Not ever.”
“Well then couldn’t you guys just ignore each other or something?” I asked.
Molli shook her head. “Can you imagine how boring that’d be?”
Well, it’s better than half drowning someone, I thought, but I didn’t say it. Molli was already looking like she regretted what she’d just done to Brian. Maybe this will be a turning point…
September 20
A turning point? No. Things are worse than ever.
I talked to Benny after school today. Apparently, Brian went ahead and did the snake idea, putting a snake in Molli’s backpack on the bus. It slithered out before they even got to school, and caused mayhem. Molli started screaming that it was Brian who’d put it in there, and he lied and said he had nothing to do with it, and the bus driver wrote both of them up. Apparently it wasn’t the first time they’d had issues on the bus.
Benny told me that Brian and Molli are both walking a very thin line right now at school. One more offense for either of them could equal a suspension. “The rivalry’s never been this bad,” Benny said. “They’ve been fighting and pulling pranks on each other since before kindergarten, but… this is the worst it’s ever been. By far the worst it’s ever been.”
September 21
Well, it happened. Today when Harrisson and I got home from school, Benny, Jarrett, Mirisen, and Lucylynn were all in the Reeveses’ front yard, talking together and looking grim. “What’s going on?” Harrisson yelled as he and I jogged over to join them.
“Brian and Molli got suspended,” Jarrett told us.
“Suspended?!?!? How?”
Benny and Lucylynn took turns telling the story. Apparently the trouble started during math, the class Brian and Molli have together with Benny. Brian wrote something rude on Molli’s paper, and then she started scribbling over all the answers he’d written on his paper. Then he stole her calculator and wouldn’t give it back, and she started grabbing for it and they ended up knocking over Brian’s desk. The teacher sent both of them to the office, and right as the principal arrived to talk to them, Brian’s cell phone rang. “It was a text from Molli,” Brian told us. “I think she was just trying to get him in trouble for having his cell phone on, since you’re not supposed to have your cell phone on in school. But Brian took the phone out and read the text aloud, and it was really nasty, and he showed it to the principal and explained that it was from Molli.”
Brian and Molli had gotten into an argument, and by then the principal was just fed up by their awful behavior and all the complaints he’d already gotten from the bus driver and various teachers. So he suspended both of them for three days. Jarrett also said that Brian’s now grounded for a month, and I’m willing to bet Molli is too.
Honestly, I don’t feel that bad for them. They got what they deserve. We all warned them this could happen.
September 25
Wow. I can’t believe what I just saw.
I was hanging out in the Reeveses’ yard today with Benny, Lucylynn, and Shelly. Brian came out of the house and, without looking at any of us, went up to the street. A moment later, Molli arrived where Brian was.
“Oh no,” Benny said, rolling his eyes. “This can’t be good.” All four of us crept up nearer to the street so we could eavesdrop.
“Hey,” Brian mumbled.
“Hey,” Molli grumbled back. “My parents sent me to say sorry.”
“Mine did too,” said Brian. “I really am sorry about some of the stuff. Like the whole school mess and the snake thing.”
Molli nodded. “I’m sorry about the school mess too. And holding you underwater.”
Brian nodded too. Then he said, “You know, the pranks and things… well, that’s just what we do. I don’t want to stop pulling pranks on you. But I think it was better back when, you know, the stuff we did wasn’t as crazy or bad or dangerous.”
“Yeah…” said Molli slowly. “I agree. How about we make a deal. Once our groundings are up, we’ll continue with the pranks, but they can’t be anything that could cause anyone to get hurt, or anything that would get either of us in trouble.”
“Good,” said Brian. “I’ll agree to that deal. Shake on it?”
“Shake on it.”
And they did.
Book 26: What Is A Family?
August 28
I can’t believe summer is so close to being over. I did a lot of stuff this summer—moved to a new neighborhood, babysat a spoiled kid who turned out not to be so bad after all, and spent two weeks working at a special restaurant camp run by my friend Nalcie’s dad. But now it’s almost September, and the summer is coming to a close. And I, Allisen Zepetto, am going to be starting eighth grade in just eight days! Mirisen’s going to be starting eighth grade as well, at home again like last year (because the little smarty-pants is only TEN!). Harrisson’s going into third grade at the same school I go to.
Our school starts pretty late this year because Labor Day is September 3, and school always starts two days after Labor Day. We go to a private school. But most of my friends in my new neighborhood go to public school, and for them school is starting tomorrow!
We had a neighborhood cookout today, to celebrate the start of the new school year. The cookout was next door at the Reeveses’ house, and practically the entire neighborhood was there. All the kids my siblings and I hang out with were there: Brian, Benny, and Jarrett Reeves, Molli Benson, Lucylynn Sevies, Richard and Tara Dell, Annabel and Sarabi Karini, Leroy and Adelyne Walsh, Shelly Weimann, and Ollie Cumper. We all played some games together at first, but once the food was ready, we sat down in smaller groups and talked.
I sat with all the older kids—Shelly, Leroy, Brian, Benny, Molli, and Lucylynn. The topic of our conversation was school.
“I can’t believe we’re going to be high-schoolers this year!” exclaimed Lucylynn. “That sounds so old!”
“Welcome to the club,” said Leroy. He’s going into tenth grade this year, and Shelly’s going into twelfth. Brian, Benny, Molli, and Lucylynn are all going into ninth.
Brian smirked at Molli. “So, what pathetic tricks do you have up your sleeve for tomorrow, Molli? You better be careful you don’t get expelled.”
Molli rolled her eyes. “As if you would care if I got expelled. I think you’re just scared of what my tricks might be. Don’t worry. They’re going to be a thousand times better than anything you come up with.”
I looked to Lucylynn, Benny, Shelly, and Leroy. “Tricks?” I questioned.
“You know Brian and Molli,” Benny sighed. “Always trying to outdo each other, always teasing each other and pulling pranks on each other. Every year, they each come up with a series of things to do to each other, and every year, they end up getting in trouble. One year Brian even got me in trouble, because a teacher thought I was him.” Brian and Benny are identical twins.
“You guys,” said Shelly, addressing Brian and Molli. “Don’t you think… don’t you think you’re going a little too far with this prank business? You’re starting high school tomorrow. Aren’t you being a little immature?”
“Molli’s immature, but I’m not,” said Brian.
“Nuh-uh! I am way more mature than you, Brian, and you know it!”
“Yeah. Riiiiiiiiiight.”
“I am, Brian, don’t lie!”
“You’re the liar, saying you’re more mature than me.”
Brian and Molli squabbled on and on about who was more mature (which the rest of us found really ironic). The last thing I heard Brian say once the cookout was over and we all started leaving was, “Molli, you’d better watch your back because I have some pretty good tricks up my sleeve!”
Hmm. Well, this should be interesting.
August 29
I was curious about how Brian and Molli’s first day of school went today, so around 4:00 I went over to the Reeveses’ house. Benny answered the door, and we went out to bounce on his trampoline while he told me about the first day of school.
“Well, it’s not as bad as last year,” he said. “Last year, they had five classes together and it was a nightmare. This year they only have two classes together.”
“Is it still a nightmare?” I asked.
Benny laughed. “Well, second-period math is the only class all three of us have together—me, Brian, and Molli. And it was pretty messy. When the teacher was calling attendance and got to Molli’s name, Brian said, ‘She’s not here.’ And then Molli was like, ‘What do you mean, of course I’m here!’ So, of course, the teacher believed Molli, since she was the one they were talking about.”
I nodded. “But that doesn’t sound too bad.”
“It gets worse. When Molli said she was there, Brian acted really surprised and said, ‘Oh! Sorry! I didn’t know you got out of jail already! I thought they’d have to hold you longer than that for stealing, what was it, like four cars from that dealership? Without even having a license?’”
I gasped. “What did Molli say? Did she get mad?”
“No, she just put on this really pitying expression and said, ‘Brian, did you forget to take your pills today?’ and then told the teacher that Brian has some sort of mental disorder that makes him think certain things really happened when they’re really just a product of his imagination.”
“Did your teacher believe her?”
Benny shrugged. “Nobody was really sure what to believe. We now have half the class thinking Molli’s a criminal and the other half thinking Brian has a mental disorder.”
“Wow,” I said.
“Wow is right. And this is just day one. 179 more days to go!”
September 1
It’s Saturday. We got together with our neighborhood friends today, and Brian and Molli wasted no time bragging about the mini-food fight they’d gotten into yesterday at lunch, and then arguing about who had started it. I have to agree with Shelly here. A food fight in ninth grade? That’s pretty immature. I wonder how long it’s going to be before they’re both hauled off to the principal’s office.
September 3
Labor Day! We had another neighborhood cookout today, this time at the Karinis’ house (they’re our next-door neighbors on the other side of our house). Our neighborhood is really big on cookouts, apparently. This is the third one I’ve been to, and I’ve only lived here for two and a half months!
While Brian and Molli were busy having a contest to see who could stuff the most grapes in their mouth at a time, I talked with Lucylynn. “Have they been doing more pranks at school?” I asked her.
“Not too much since the food fight. But Molli told me she’s going to erase all the answers on Brian’s math homework and change them, which I think sounds mean. I told Brian to do his work in pen from now on, but I didn’t tell him why. Unfortunately, he guessed the reason and now won’t tell me any of his plans, because he knows I’d warn Molli.”
I groaned. “They’re going to end up in big trouble one of these days.”
Lucylynn nodded. “Tell me about it.”
September 5
Today was my first day of school! For the first time in years, I wasn’t nervous a bit about starting school, just excited. Because I got to see all my friends! And they’re in my classes!
My school, Learner’s Academy, does block scheduling for the middle and high schoolers. That means that we have four long classes each day rather than seven or eight shorter ones, and in January, we switch to four different classes. My classes this semester are English, health, social studies, and Bible (Learner’s Academy isn’t strictly a Christian school, but it’s run on Christian principles and offers optional Bible classes. I don’t know a lot about the Bible, but thought the class sounded interesting). And guess what! I have friends in all my classes! My best friend Shevea is in my health and Bible classes. My other best friend Kim is in my English class, and my friend Jack is in my social studies class. This should be a really good semester!
September 8
Woo hoo! I’m so excited for next weekend. Mom and Dad said I could invite some of my friends from school over, to celebrate the start of the new school year! It won’t be a party or anything, but they’ll get to come over and we’ll have hamburgers and hot dogs and run around in the backyard. And they’ll get to meet my neighborhood friends!
Speaking of my neighborhood friends, I got to go swimming in Molli’s pool today! She invited both me and Lucylynn. We were splashing around and having a great time until Molli started ranting about how Brian had tripped her the other day.
“Right in the middle of the cafeteria, right in front of everyone!” she complained. “And my lunch went flying everywhere, and my orange skittered across the floor and someone stepped on it and then they fell… and it was completely uncalled for, you know? I mean, what have I ever done to him?”
Lucylynn and I exchanged glances. “Um, a lot?” said Lucylynn.
“Nothing like that, though. I could have been seriously injured! I’ve never done anything to actually hurt him… maybe it’s time I get tougher.”
“Maybe it’s time you call this rivalry off before someone actually does get hurt,” suggested Lucylynn. I nodded.
“Call it off? Never! As long as he does mean things to me, I’m going to do even worse things to him. Maybe that’ll teach him a lesson.”
“I don’t think that’s the right way to be looking at it, Molli,” I said tentatively. “You’ll probably just end up getting in even more trouble than he does if you do worse things back to him.”
“You think he got in trouble for tripping me? Naaah, he passed it all off as an accident. And don’t worry. I’ll be undetectable.”
Lucylynn and I peppered her with questions about what she was planning to do to Brian next, but she refused to tell us. I guess we’ll just have to wait and hope it isn’t anything too awful.
September 9
Tonight at dinner, Mom asked my siblings and me how our first week of school had been. Harrisson said that it was all right, but he couldn’t wait until they started having timed multiplication tests. Mirisen taught him the multiplication tables last year, so he knew he’d beat everyone.
Mirisen said she was enjoying her second year of homeschool, and especially liked the online Latin class she was taking.
I told about how fun it is to have all my friends in my classes and how my classes seem like they’ll be interesting. Then Harrisson said, “Well, I know we’re all having a better school year than Brian and Molli, since we’re not making mischief and getting into trouble.”
“Oh? What are Brian and Molli doing?” Dad asked.
We launched into an explanation of everything we’d seen then do to each other and everything our friends had told us. When we finished, Pete spoke up. “That’s stupid,” he said.
“Pete, that’s not a nice word,” Harrisson told him.
“Okay, but it is stupid how they’re acting. They’re gonna end up getting kicked out of school if they're not careful.”
Well, there’s something I can tell Brian and Molli next time I see them. Even my obnoxious (well, used to be obnoxious), rebellious (well, used to be rebellious) 19-year-old brother thinks they’re being ridiculous!
September 10
Brian and Benny were both frowning as they made their way over to our yard this afternoon. “What happened today?” I asked, remembering Molli’s determination for revenge.
“Molli’s a stinking bit of scuzzy scum, that’s what happened,” said Brian angrily.
Harrisson’s eyes were wide. “What did she do?”
“She’s just immature, that’s all. An immature jerk,” Brian muttered. “It doesn’t matter what she did.” A look suddenly crossed his face, as if he’d just gotten an idea. “If you’ll excuse me, I have some unfinished business to attend to back home.”
Benny watched him go with a look of apprehension on his face. Before he could start after his brother, however, Mirisen asked, “What did Molli do this time?”
Benny rolled his eyes. “You know how she has a two-year-old sister, right? Elsi? Well, she took some of Elsi’s diapers and potty-training pants and sneaked them into Brian’s backpack. He opened it up on the bus and everyone saw and he got really embarrassed.”
“Dirty diapers?” Harrisson asked, looking like he was trying not to laugh.
“No, not dirty, fortunately, but it kind of pushed Brian over the edge. I don’t even want to know what this new idea of his is. But I guess I should go find out.” He moved dejectedly toward his house.
“Just plain old diapers aren’t too bad,” said Harrisson, looking disappointed. “Now, if she put used diapers in his backpack, that would have been funny.”
“Harrisson, it’s not funny,” said Mirisen sternly. “Brian and Molli are acting like kindergarteners, not high-schoolers. And they’re going to get in trouble, or someone’s going to get hurt.”
“It’s just diapers,” Harrisson said, shrugging.
“But what’s he going to do to get back at her?”
September 13
We found out what Brian did to get back at Molli. A bunch of us were playing Capture the Flag in the Reeveses’ yard this afternoon— Brian, Benny, Jarrett, Annabel, Sarabi, Mirisen, Harrisson, and me. Molli all the sudden came stomping into the yard and started waving something in Brian’s face.
“This is not the essay I wrote for English class,” she told him. “I know you switched it, and that means it’s your fault I got an F, not mine.”
Brian smirked. “Prove it,” he said.
“I don’t need to prove it. You’re the only person I know who would do this.”
“You can’t prove that.”
Molli made a huffy noise. “Not everything in the world can be proved, Brian.”
“Shouldn’t you say, ‘Not everything in the world can be proven’?”
“Whatever. It can’t.”
“Yeah, how do you know?”
“Prove it.” Molli smirked. “Prove that everything in the world can be proven. Then I’ll believe you.”
Brian seemed to think for a moment, then he rolled his eyes and walked off.
September 15
My friends came over to my house today! I invited Kim, Shevea, Jack, and Stivre. I wasn’t originally planning on inviting Stivre, because he’s not my friend exactly, but I like him more now than I used to, and I figured Kim and Jack would both enjoy having him around.
They all arrived around the same time. I gave them a tour of the house, since none of them had been to it before. “Wow,” said Shevea, looking around with wide eyes. “Your house is huge!”
“And gorgeous,” Kim added.
I brought them all to the backyard, where they had even more comments about how wonderful it was. I must admit, although I didn’t want to move here at first, I now really like our house and yard!
We started playing Capture the Flag with Mirisen and Harrisson, and then Brian, Benny, and Jarrett came over. I introduced them to my school friends, and they joined us in the game.
We played until we got hot, and then we took a break. We kind of all split up and started doing our own thing—Shevea and Mirisen got into a conversation, Stivre and Kim started being all goofy, running around and tickling each other, Benny started tossing a football around with Harrisson and Jarrett, and Brian started telling Jack about Molli.
“She’s totally annoying, and she always does the most ridiculous stuff, and the funny thing is, she actually thinks they’re good pranks, the things she comes up with! Mine are so much better.”
“What kind of stuff do you guys do to each other?” Jack asked.
“Oh, all sorts of things.” Brian started telling Jack all about the things he and Molli have done recently. I was sitting a little distance away, near Mirisen and Shevea, and I kind of tuned Brian out until I heard him say, “But she can’t compete with what I’m going to do next. I’m going to put a snake in her locker!”
I turned and stared. A snake in Molli’s locker? That was a lot worse than clean diapers in Brian’s backpack.
Jack seemed to be thinking along the same lines. He shook his head vehemently. “Don’t do that. You’ll get suspended.”
“No I won’t. Nobody will be able to prove it’s me.”
“Everyone knows you and Molli play tricks on each other, right? Believe me, they’ll know it’s you. Even if they don’t have proof, they’ll suspend you anyway. I—” He looked around. I quickly shifted my eyes over to Mirisen and Shevea and tried to look caught up in their conversation. I didn’t want Jack and Brian to think I’d been eavesdropping.
With my eyes still on Mirisen and Shevea, I heard Jack continue. “I played a trick like that once. On this bully, back in sixth grade. I put a snake in his lunchbox and got suspended for it. And nobody had proof it was me, but everyone knew I hated that kid. So, yeah, I got suspended, and it was such a big deal that my parents ended up switching me to a different school.”
Whoa. So that’s why Jack switched to our school in February of sixth grade? I’d always thought he had just moved or something. I didn’t know he’d been suspended.
But you know what was even worse than finding out that Jack had once gotten suspended? Hearing Brian’s response: “Yeah, well, even if I do get suspended, I don’t really care. It’ll be worth it.”
September 18
Things are getting very bad between Molli and Brian. Today Lucylynn and I went over to Molli’s pool to swim one final time before Molli’s parents close it up for the season. It was just the three of us back there—Molli’s parents’ rule is that nobody is allowed to swim alone, but if there are two or more teenagers (or almost-teenagers, like me) out there who are good swimmers, they don’t need adult supervision.
Anyway, it was just the three of us out there until Brian came up in his bathing suit. “Hey,” he said, saluting us. “Thought I’d come take a dip. Heard the pool’s closing soon.”
“No one invited you,” Molli said rudely, doing a flip off the diving board.
Brian opened the gate and let himself in. “Then I’m party crashing.”
“Go away.” Molli climbed up onto the diving board again, and this time did a cannonball, which splashed Brian.
“Well, I’m already wet,” Brian said, shrugging. “Might as well get even wetter.” He did a cannonball into the pool as well, nearly landing on top of Molli.
“Hey!” she exclaimed, grabbing Brian around the neck. “Watch where you’re landing! And no one said you could go in the pool in the first place!”
“Too late!” Brian splashed Molli.
“Guys…” said Lucylynn, but I don’t think Brian or Molli even heard her.
“Get out of my pool!”
“No way!”
Lucylynn and I exchanged exasperated glances as Brian and Molli tussled with each other in the water. Eventually, Molli pushed Brian entirely underwater. “Hah!” she said triumphantly.
I watched as Brian flailed around in the water, apparently unable to come up above the surface. Molli was pushing down on his head, keeping him under. “Um, Molli?” I said. “You should probably let him up now.”
“He can wait a couple more seconds,” Molli said.
“Molli, he’s drowning!” There was fear in Lucylynn’s voice.
“I wouldn’t let him drow—aagh!” Molli’s words turned into a squeal as Brian pulled on her hair, causing her to jerk back and release him. He came up, sputtering and glaring at her.
“I could have drowned!” he exclaimed, with none of the usual semi-teasing Brian and Molli usually use to speak to each other. “Molli, you literally could have killed me. You would have killed me if I hadn’t forced you to let me up.”
Molli’s expression changed. I could tell she knew she’d gone too far. “I was going to let you up in just another few seconds,” she mumbled.
Brian shot her a disgusted look. “You know what, take your stinkin’ pool. I’m going home.”
We were silent as he wrenched open the gate and stormed home. Then Lucylynn turned to Molli. “Molli…that was bad. He really could have been hurt. What if he’d sucked in a bunch of water?”
Molli looked pale. “Don’t tell my parents about this,” she said. “Really. I wasn’t trying to drown him or hurt him or anything. I was just… rrrh, he makes me so mad!”
“Maybe if you start being nicer to him, he’ll be nicer to you,” I suggested.
Molli snorted. “Never. Brian and I have known each other since we were babies, and we’ve never gotten along. Not once. Not ever.”
“Well then couldn’t you guys just ignore each other or something?” I asked.
Molli shook her head. “Can you imagine how boring that’d be?”
Well, it’s better than half drowning someone, I thought, but I didn’t say it. Molli was already looking like she regretted what she’d just done to Brian. Maybe this will be a turning point…
September 20
A turning point? No. Things are worse than ever.
I talked to Benny after school today. Apparently, Brian went ahead and did the snake idea, putting a snake in Molli’s backpack on the bus. It slithered out before they even got to school, and caused mayhem. Molli started screaming that it was Brian who’d put it in there, and he lied and said he had nothing to do with it, and the bus driver wrote both of them up. Apparently it wasn’t the first time they’d had issues on the bus.
Benny told me that Brian and Molli are both walking a very thin line right now at school. One more offense for either of them could equal a suspension. “The rivalry’s never been this bad,” Benny said. “They’ve been fighting and pulling pranks on each other since before kindergarten, but… this is the worst it’s ever been. By far the worst it’s ever been.”
September 21
Well, it happened. Today when Harrisson and I got home from school, Benny, Jarrett, Mirisen, and Lucylynn were all in the Reeveses’ front yard, talking together and looking grim. “What’s going on?” Harrisson yelled as he and I jogged over to join them.
“Brian and Molli got suspended,” Jarrett told us.
“Suspended?!?!? How?”
Benny and Lucylynn took turns telling the story. Apparently the trouble started during math, the class Brian and Molli have together with Benny. Brian wrote something rude on Molli’s paper, and then she started scribbling over all the answers he’d written on his paper. Then he stole her calculator and wouldn’t give it back, and she started grabbing for it and they ended up knocking over Brian’s desk. The teacher sent both of them to the office, and right as the principal arrived to talk to them, Brian’s cell phone rang. “It was a text from Molli,” Brian told us. “I think she was just trying to get him in trouble for having his cell phone on, since you’re not supposed to have your cell phone on in school. But Brian took the phone out and read the text aloud, and it was really nasty, and he showed it to the principal and explained that it was from Molli.”
Brian and Molli had gotten into an argument, and by then the principal was just fed up by their awful behavior and all the complaints he’d already gotten from the bus driver and various teachers. So he suspended both of them for three days. Jarrett also said that Brian’s now grounded for a month, and I’m willing to bet Molli is too.
Honestly, I don’t feel that bad for them. They got what they deserve. We all warned them this could happen.
September 25
Wow. I can’t believe what I just saw.
I was hanging out in the Reeveses’ yard today with Benny, Lucylynn, and Shelly. Brian came out of the house and, without looking at any of us, went up to the street. A moment later, Molli arrived where Brian was.
“Oh no,” Benny said, rolling his eyes. “This can’t be good.” All four of us crept up nearer to the street so we could eavesdrop.
“Hey,” Brian mumbled.
“Hey,” Molli grumbled back. “My parents sent me to say sorry.”
“Mine did too,” said Brian. “I really am sorry about some of the stuff. Like the whole school mess and the snake thing.”
Molli nodded. “I’m sorry about the school mess too. And holding you underwater.”
Brian nodded too. Then he said, “You know, the pranks and things… well, that’s just what we do. I don’t want to stop pulling pranks on you. But I think it was better back when, you know, the stuff we did wasn’t as crazy or bad or dangerous.”
“Yeah…” said Molli slowly. “I agree. How about we make a deal. Once our groundings are up, we’ll continue with the pranks, but they can’t be anything that could cause anyone to get hurt, or anything that would get either of us in trouble.”
“Good,” said Brian. “I’ll agree to that deal. Shake on it?”
“Shake on it.”
And they did.
Book 26: What Is A Family?
