A few hours passed since Sheila Baines was humiliated by Josie Stebbins, Trixie Leigh Stebbins, Moira Downing, and Seth Burke in the school cafeteria. Of course, that was all the rest of the school was talking about; it had been a while since something exciting had happened in Montagne Beach Middle School. Even the teachers were talking about the confrontation in the cafeteria, which shocked most of the students.

“Well, I don’t believe it,” Josie said as she stared at Trixie. The kids were currently hiding in the library since the confrontation with Sheila Baines ended. “You never set foot out of your room for the last five years, yet you managed to beat Sheila at her own game! How is that even possible?”

“Well, let’s just say that I wasn’t exactly locked away in my room for five years,” said Trixie, “but your aunt made me go to a bad school with a horrible reputation. She told the kids there to bully me and she didn’t allow the teachers to intervene.”

“And yet, I bet you must have done to them what you did to Sheila,” said Moira. “I wish I was brave like you.”

“Why do you say that?” said Trixie.

“Because last year, my life went down the drain, so to speak,” said Moira. “I don’t remember what had happened, but everyone in this school suddenly started to hate me for no reason. Even my friends abandoned me, which was a shame because we knew each other since kindergarten.”

“Wow, what a tragedy,” said Seth.

“I can’t believe people would do something awful like that,” said Josie.

“Well, if your friends starting hating you because the rest of the school hated you, then you can’t call them your friends,” said Trixie.

“Yeah,” said Moira.

“Well, I most certainly knew about that Moira thing when it happened,” said Josie, “but unlike everyone else, I refused to hate Moira, especially since I didn’t know her when it began.”

“Really? Wow,” said Seth. “You just don’t follow the rules, do you?”

“I never follow the rules,” said Josie. “That’s why I left art class the other day. Mrs. Bean makes me so sick with her false praises, she doesn’t even know when I’m ditching her class.”

“Yeah,” said Seth. “Plus, what was up with her telling the class that their artwork sucked? I mean, almost everyone loves to draw animated cartoon characters; what’s wrong with that?”

“Everything,” said Moira. “I’ve had Mrs. Bean for one semester last year, and she said that my artwork wasn’t fit to line up the bottom of a cat’s litter box, let alone hang in an art gallery. I couldn’t handle that truth, not where it counted.”

“Exactly,” said Josie. “I’m about a second away from dropping BOTH Spanish and art and switching to Mrs. Jensen’s theater class. I mean, can you believe how crazy Senor Hernandez is? I’m Iranian, not Hispanic for crying out loud!!!!”

“Let’s not worry about that right now, as we have to wonder how Trixie managed to survive at her old school,” said Seth.

“Good point,” said Josie. To Trixie, she said, “How long did you stay at your school?”

“Right until last year, when everything went to hell in a handbasket,” said Trixie. “But enough about that; let’s see what’s going on with Sheila and if she’s going to get in trouble for what happened at lunch today.”

“With any luck, I hope she gets in so much trouble that she probably won’t be able to come back to school again,” said Seth.

Little did the Teen Rebels know that that would soon come to pass...

*-*-*-*

As for Sheila Baines, she found herself sitting in the principal’s office. Apparently, Wendell Meyer had told Mrs. Carker that Sheila was causing trouble in the cafeteria during lunchtime and verbally abused several children, among them Josie Stebbins, Seth Burke, Moira Downing, and Trixie Stebbins. Mrs. Carker wasn’t happy to hear about Sheila’s behavior; she knew it was time for her to reel that girl in or something dire would happen to her. (I did mention that no one was able to get any form of discipline for Sheila, right?)

Isadora Carker glared as she stared at Sheila. She had gone through the same routine of having Sheila coming into her office every time she misbehaved or bullied another student almost every day. Yet, she couldn’t do anything about Sheila without wondering if she would retaliate against her. This needed to stop.

She said, “Why is it that every time something happens at this school, it always reverts to you?” When Sheila didn’t answer, Mrs. Carker continued, “I’ve heard that you’ve been causing trouble for the other students since you were held back three years ago, and I will not tolerate this kind of behavior anymore.”

“What are you talking about?” Sheila snapped.

“That attitude is exactly why I’m talking to you right now,” said Mrs. Carker. Sheila continued to glare at the principal as she continued, “Why are you still here? You’re too old to be in the eighth grade and your mother can’t afford to keep you here. When are you going to grow up and leave this school?”

Sheila glared at the woman with hate and venom in her eyes. How dare she say those horrible things to her! Just who did she think she was? “You think I am a simpleton? I am NEVER going to leave this place!” Sheila snarled as she jumped out of her seat. “You think that just because you’re an adult that it gives you the right to tell me what to do? Well, you have just earned yourself my wrath!”

“Well, what are you going to do to me?” said Mrs. Carker.

In response to that question, Sheila lunged at the woman, intending to knock her over, but she had made one strategical error. Mrs. Carker had been a running back on the powder-puff football team while she was in college. With that, Mrs. Carker assumed a stance and caught Sheila as the girl pounced on her. At the same time, Owen McTavish, a student office aide, burst into the room and snatched Sheila away from the other woman, only to throw her onto the floor and pummel her with a series of punches and kicks. He was on the Montagne Beach Middle School wrestling team and one of the biggest kids in the school at 5”7 and 145 pounds. (No one was allowed to think about intimidating him.)

“You’re gonna get in so much trouble when everyone finds out that you tried to jump the principal!” he yelled as he dragged Sheila away from Mrs. Carker. Sheila glared at him, preparing to insult him, but then she yelled as she was punched across the face. “You will end up in a place where people will beat you up or kill you if you don’t cut that crap out,” Owen said angrily.

Josie, Seth, Trixie, and Moira saw everything as it unfolded; they were watching the confrontation from a window outside the principal’s office. They all shook their heads at Sheila’s antics, saying, “She is so going down.”

Little did they know that they would have the right of it. Or better yet, they would be the ones to bring down Sheila Baines for good…

-----

Postscript

As for the mysterious person watching over the newly formed Teen Rebels, he watched as Sheila Baines was taken out of Montagne Beach Middle School by a hall monitor. As he watched the scene unfolding before him, his blood boiled with the girl’s blatant disrespect towards the students, teachers, and the principal. Just who did that girl think she was?

Then his attention turned to the four kids watching the scene unfold. They seemed to have looks of concern on their faces, but who were they concerned about? Was it the teachers or the cruel girl?

He frowned as he saw the children in question. One of the girls wore a green dress and white boots while the boy wore a patterned robe. The third girl wore a tattered green dress with a faded blue scarf around her neck while the fourth girl wore a more decent outfit. Who were they? Why were they here? What was going on with them? Could they be the ones who would ultimately save the city?