POV: Rebel Reid 

They taped pickles to her locker. Even the teachers think it’s funny. Disgusting. Maybe if I can convince all her past victims to join together and tell on her, we could have something. I can’t tell without proof, but if I had a whole group of girls saying the same thing no way they could ignore us.

I quickly start taking all the pickles off.

Sniffling catches my attention. I turn to see Miranda wiping the tears from her eyes, she must have been trying to pull herself together in the girl’s restroom. I smile at her and gather all the pickles and toss them in the trash.

“You’re the snitch.” She says.

Many girls whisper and watch us as they get ready to go to class.

“Actually I was wondering if you would be willing to talk to me. I have a plan, but I need your help.” I say.

“Look I don’t want to get involved. If my parents found out about… Just leave me out of it.”

“Please Miranda, if I even stand a chance against her, I need all the help I can get. She only wins because people are afraid of her. I just want to talk. Can you at least hear me out before you decide against it?”

“She could come after me again, that’s the last thing I need.” She backs away.

“What if we could put an end to this game once and for all? Isn’t that worth it?” I say loud enough for all the girls in the hall to hear.

“No one has been able to do it this far, what makes you any different?” she turns to leave.

“Because I’m undefeated too!” I shout after her.

She pauses in her steps.

“It’s true. I am the only girl in this whole school who has never played the stupid game, not even once. That makes me unchallenged and undefeated. I am not afraid of her. Please. Just hear me out.”

She turns back to me, a conflicting expression on her face. Please, I just need one. Just one person to help me, then they will see there is nothing to be afraid of. She can’t win if people stop being scared of her.

“I’ll think about it,” Miranda says just as the bell rings.

That’s better than nothing, I guess.

I turn and head to my own class, just as I round the corner I smack right into Dillion. She stumbles back and her heels clack against the floor.

“Hey watch it!” She hisses.

“You watch it.” I snap back.

She looks at me and smiles. A devious little smile. Why is she such a horrible person?

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t the little snitch. Can I ask you something? Why does it bother you? You don’t even play the game, so why ruin someone else’s fun?” She saunters over to me and rests her arm on my shoulder.

People watch us as they move to class.

Her cupcake scented body spray is really overpowering and it makes my nose itch.

“Because I am not a horrible person. Your “fun” needs to stop. Before someone gets hurt.”

“Can’t take the heat, stay out of the kitchen is what I say. I wonder… How much heat can you take?” She leans in and whispers in my ear.

I pull out of her grasp and glare at her.

She laughs at my face. A wicked little laugh. The laugh you would expect some Disney villain to cackle out. She really is a monster. But I can’t get distracted, I need to find out something on her. She thinks she can intimidate me into staying away and keeping my mouth shut, but it won’t work. Not on me.

“You don’t scare me. In fact, I feel sorry for you. I don’t know who hurt you to make you like this, but when I am through with you, you will be so defeated you will end the game for me.” I cross my arms.

That shuts her up real quick. I definitely touched a nerve by her expression. She looks like she could murder me right here and now. Good, maybe now she will take this seriously.

“You just signed your death certificate. When I am through with you, you will wish you never crossed me. You will be nothing, less than nothing. I am going to end you, when I am through with you no one will ever want to challenge me again. I am turning the heat up to 11, I hope you are fireproof.” She pushes past me and saunters off towards class. Her heels clicking all the way there.

I look around the halls and all the girls cower away and look on at me in pity and fear. They are scared, for me. She makes them scared. Well, I’m not. What is the worst she can do? She has nothing on me.

At lunch I sit with Birdie and Scooter, they look equally as miserable as me. My guess is they have had no luck either.

“Well?” I ask.

“Nothing, so far no one is willing to chance it. They are all too afraid.” Birdie says.

“I am still working on Miranda, but I don’t know if she’ll change her mind after the spectacle Dillion made this morning.” I sigh.

“Guys I think we are in over our heads, maybe we should quit while we are ahead. Before things get ugly.” Scooter says.

“No, that’s what they want. We can’t let them intimidate us.” I slam my fist down on the table.

They sigh.

I’m not going to give up before the real battle has even begun. That monster needs to go down. She thinks she can rule over the school like some queen, I won’t let her. She’s not powerful, she just wants people to think she is.

I glance across the cafeteria and Dillion and glancing right back at me. She smirks before whispering something into Flynn’s ear. He looks to me and nods then he turns to Dillion with a devious smirk. Together they both turn to me and smile. Gross, they definitely belong together.

I flip them the bird before looking away.

I need to get Miranda to talk. She’s my one and only lead right now. I glance around the cafeteria but I don’t see her anywhere. She must be hiding out somewhere. I’ll find her.

“Hey I am going to go look for Miranda, you guys wanna come?”

“We should split up, might be faster.” Scooter shrugs.

“Good idea.” Birdie agrees.

Together the three of us leave and search the school. It doesn’t take me long. I find her alone in the stairwell. She is teary-eyed as she eats her lunch. I quickly text birdie and Scooter that I found her and slowly approach her. She sighs when she sees me.

“I come in peace. I just thought you might want someone to sit with.” I sit next to her.

“Just leave me alone.” She turns away from me.

Her orange hair is tied up into a sloppy ponytail, her team spirit shirt stained in tears. She nervously wipes her hands on her jeans. She's thin, average height, just a regular girl.

“I just want to talk. I understand if you don’t want to help me, but maybe you can just tell me anything you know about Dillion. Did you find anything out about her?”

“What’s there to find,” she says bitterly, “She’s perfect. Perfect grades, perfect friends, perfect family. She even goes to church twice a week. There’s nothing. Nothing on Social media, No one willing to give up anything on her, nothing that would suggest that she is living anything but the perfect life. She’s clean, she’s perfect, and she’s untouchable. Save yourself while you still can.” She sniffles.

“No one is perfect.” I point out.

“She is. She gets everything she wants. Dillion Smiley has nothing to hide. I found nothing.”

“Maybe you just overlooked something. If she was perfect then she wouldn’t have gotten so defensive this morning when I threatened her. She is definitely hiding something. I just have to find it.”

She looks on at me in pity.

“She’s never dated anyone. I always thought that was odd until she started flirting with my ex. Also, who goes to church twice a week? Especially someone like Dillion. Those were the only things that never added up to me. Don’t get me wrong Rebel, I want you to win. I really do. But it’s impossible. You should quit while you are ahead because I can guarantee that she’s already taken you down. She’s already spread some rumors about you or has a plan cooking. She’s the master at this game, and you, you are just some newbie trying to make a name for herself.” With that, she gets up and walks away.

Okay so not exactly reassuring, but maybe it’s something. Church twice a week? Surely someone at her church knows something about her. I highly doubt she is a Christian saint. I bet if I go to a service I can find something out about her.

No one is perfect, especially not Dillion Smiley.

I quickly get up and head to my locker, Scooter and Birdie meet me there.

“Well?”

“Not good, Miranda won’t help, but she did give me a lead.”

“What lead?” Scooter pushes.

“Apparently Dillion goes to church twice a week.”

Birdie snorts in amusement.

“I know, so I am going to do a social media dive and find out which church exactly. Then I’ll go to a service to see if I can find out anything. I highly doubt she is a devout Christian, I am sure someone there knows something that could give me another lead.”

“Good idea, meanwhile Scooter and I will continue to work on the victims as well as try and find out stuff about Clover and Alaska.”

“Good, so at least we have the beginnings of a game plan.”

The bell rings signaling the end of lunch. People quickly flood the hallways. I open my locker to grab my math book when floods of papers fall out. I step back and share a look with Birdie before bending down and picking one up.

It’s a picture of me and Miranda photoshopped together, my mouth is open and there is a bitten pickle picture photoshopped in next to it. I pick up more and they are all the same.

“Whatcha got there?” Dillion walks over and leans against the lockers.

She has on a cocky smirk.

“Haha, very funny.” I roll my eyes.

“Oh, I didn’t do this.” She picks one up and fakes innocents.

Even if she didn’t do it I know one of her lackeys did. What is it called again, the smiley alliance or something?

Scooter and Birdie quickly start picking the papers up and crumbling them and throwing them in the trash before a lot of people can see.

“Do yourself a favor and quit while you are ahead. This isn’t even the beginning.” She threatens.

“Threaten me all you want. I am still going to end this game.” I shrug.

“I don’t make threats sweety, I make promises.” She pats my shoulder and starts to walk away. She pauses by Miranda who was watching the whole thing.

“Here, I think this is yours.” She hands her the picture.

Miranda inspects it before crumbling it, shooting me an accusing glare and running off. I grunt in frustration before grabbing a handful of the papers and throwing them in the trash.

It’s on. I just have to hold out until the weekend. Until then I will keep trying to recruit more people. I need proof, I need witnesses, I need victims. Otherwise, I have nothing.

Whatever Dillion Smiley is hiding, I will find out. She will get a taste of her own medicine. One way or another I will take her down, even if I have to go down with her.

This means war.