It's the day after the Valentine's Day from Hell and I'm back at school, wondering what I missed. Everyone there tells me that I didn't miss anything, as the Valentine's Day Lunchtime Dance was canceled after two boys were caught kissing in a corner of the gym. Jem gave them the tongue beating of a lifetime, as she used to date one of them a few weeks ago.

Damn. Jem could be such a banshee when the time calls for it.

Anyway, the twins continued their good behavior streak, as Claire told me that their parents had to let the nanny go last weekend. (I'm sure that someone who saw Claire confronting the twins told a teacher about what went on in the twins' house, but nobody could prove anything.) Also, the boys had to clean up their act, which meant that they had to go to all their classes, do all their homework, and to interact with the teacher and class instead of ignoring or insulting them.

I'm sure the last demand will be ignored, as the twins think that very few people at Lochland Middle School are worth their time. Oddly enough, they think I'm worthy, but Milton and Clayton are not. Also on their list are Claire, Hailey Snow, Phillip Clark, Christopher Clements, Phyllis Banks, Allen Fitzgerald, and Nathaniel Armstrong. But they didn't like Jem, as they refer to her as a "man-hater" for dating boys and dumping them whenever they do something she doesn't like, mainly talking to other girls, especially girls she doesn't like.

Well, looks like Jem has a reputation of being the school's biggest heartbreaker. But what else is new?

Anyway, as I'm heading off to math class, Clayton sees me and says to me, "I heard that your cousin screamed at Barbara on the phone yesterday."

"It's true," I said reluctantly. "Reginald doesn't play that kind of crap, not where it counts."

"No matter. But Barbara feels really bad for what she did, so she wants to apologize to you for being a jerk," said Clayton.

"I'll forgive her when pigs fly," I snapped.

"Indeed," said Clayton. "Milton isn't the only one she's beaten up, as she's gone after you and me on a number of occasions. I bet she's got a lot of apologizing to do before our time here ends."

"Yeah," I agree. "Why is she picking on us? When last I checked, I made sure to keep my nerdish interests in check so I didn't get beat up by bullies."

"Yeah, because nobody has time to get beaten up for being a nerd," said Clayton.

"Or smart," I said.

Well, that conversation ended there, but I was sure that no matter what, Barbara Holt was going to get on my case for letting Reginald yell at her. But she shouldn't be hurting people in the first place; it's not right for a girl to put people down. Soon, she'll become abusive and cruel and possibly destroy anyone who comes near her...

OK, that's Jem.

Speaking of that, I needed to have a word with her regarding the incident in my room. I still haven't forgiven her for messing it up, and I needed to put my foot down, as far as my identity was concerned.

So at lunch, the conversation went like this:

Me: Jem, we need to talk.

Jem: About what?

Me: You know what I'm talking about, Jemima!

Jem: What's going on here?

Me: Why are you trying to destroy me?

Jem: I'm trying to destroy you?

Me: Don't even think of fooling your way out of this, Jem! Now, I'm not going to repeat myself: why are you trying to destroy me?

OK, so this conversation was getting me nowhere! I needed to try a new tactic.

Me: Do you have a problem with me?

Jem: No, I don't have any problems with you, Jed. What are you bitching about?

Me: Don't you dare lie to me, Jem. I know you know what's going on. Now I'm going to ask this again, and you had better have a good answer: do you had a problem with me?

Well, Jem says something that's either stupid or crazy. Something like when we were born and the doctors claiming we were twin girls. But when the nurse discovered that I was a boy, well, that's when things went down the drain. For me at least.

Of course, Jem says that because I was a boy instead of a girl, she decided to punish me for not being a girl. This meant I could only wear dresses and sleep in a pink crib. I never played with toy trucks, only dolls. Plus, I was the only boy in my class who wore a headband, something that wasn't lost on the other boys, who made fun of me until I stopped wearing headbands.

So that was that.

I was about to say that that was the dumbest thing I had ever heard when Shaina Mihaylov stood up and shouted, "MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION, PLEASE? MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE!!" At once, everyone turned in their seats and stared at her, not knowing what was going on. Was she going to make an announcement regarding the two boys who shut down the school dance? Or would she say something about the field trip to Washington, D.C. happening in the spring? What was it?

Here it was:

"POKEMON IS OUT, DRAGONBALL IS IN!!!"

Well, that was an amazing and unexpected plot twist. Also, the one thing that had been the bane of my life since 1998 was finally no longer in style.

That meant no more Pokemon cards. No more Pokemon characters on t-shirts. And you can bet there won't be any more Pokemon movies and the Pokemon cartoon will be off the TVs very soon.

I did the only thing a boy could do. I laughed.

It wasn't just some "ha-ha" laugh like how Nelson laughs on "The Simpsons". It was more of a relieved laugh, as if I was finally free from the torment that was a big part of my life for the last two years. I had never been so happy to get rid of Pokemon that it wasn't funny.

But then again, there was Dragonball for me to worry about. I knew that the next day, everyone at the school would be hooked on that series. I bet Jem might force me to watch that show, even if I didn't want to. I had to do something right now before I went completely insane.

And insanity was the last thing I needed.

-----

Later that day, I called Milton and told him the news about the new anime show. Here's how it went:

Milton: You're kidding, right? You're telling me that everyone at the school has stopped being obsessed with Pokemon and switching to Dragonball?

Me: Yup. That's what's going on. Unless you want to argue with Shaina Mihaylov...

Milton: I wouldn't dream of it. Not if I still want to keep my head intact.

Me: Good. So expect everyone to be talking about Dragonball when you get back to school.

Milton: Well, I don't know about that.

Me: Why not?

Milton: Mom and dad had a serious chat with me, and they're considering pulling me out of school. Me and Barbara both.

Me: Oh come on, dude! That's not right! Just because Barbara beat you up doesn't mean your parents can pull you out of school! We only have about three months left!

Milton: It doesn't matter. They're already not letting me go on the D.C. trip because I've been beaten up one too many times, so I can't continue my string of "bad behavior".

Me: This is so unfair, especially for you! You can't let anyone treat you like this.

Milton: Yeah, I know!

Well, that's how the call went, until Mrs. Holt forced Milton to hang up the phone, saying that he's on restriction. Well, there went the rest of my night. With Clayton not being allowed to be on the phone during the week and I'm not sure if Claire or the twins would be willing to talk on the phone to me, I guess it's just me, myself and I tonight.

So I'm sitting in my room, doing homework and trying to ignore the urge to give it all up and play some video games. I already have fought with myself to get good grades; I'm not going to slip up and not do homework just because things weren't going my way. As dad says, "Sometimes in life, you just have to roll with the punches."

And that's what I'm doing.

Growing up is so hard!

-----

OK, after two hours of wrestling with 30 math problems and an essay for English class, Claire calls me up. She says that her guardians are fighting to keep her out of the special ed room after they received a phone call from the school counselor, who spoke to a teacher who was concerned about how she was being treated by the other students. There were still a large number of students who still referred to her as "Crazy Claire" despite the fact that most of the entire student population quickly dropped that moniker when it was proven that Claire was held prisoner by some students who apparently wanted to torment her.

Here's how I reacted:

Me: Well, that's not cool, Claire. You're more than just another special ed kid.

Claire: That's the problem.

Me: What problem?

Claire: They call the disabled kid "special" and treat him as anything but. It's so stupid.

Me: Well, I don't think you that kind of "special".

Claire: I know, right? Why do we like "special" people, anyway? They're just like everyone else. I think it's time for everyone to realize that no one in this world is special.

Me: I bet you're onto something.

Claire: Or maybe John Holt is tired of everyone treating Barbara as if she's special.

Me: You've been talking to Milton???

Claire: Come on, Jed. You and I both know that that family needs some help.

Me: Really?

Claire: Yes. It's not right for them to live like this. If we don't do something now, that family is going to self-destruct. We can't have that happen.

Me: You're right, Claire. It's not like you can't figure out what's wrong with Barbara and why she's taking her anger out on Milton...

Claire: Or maybe I can. See you tomorrow, Jed.

Well, I knew that like it or not, I would lose a friend if I just let things continue the way they're going right now. I can't let Milton give up everything to satisfy his sister's pride. Not when I'm already dealing with the same thing.

I have to do something about that; Heaven help anyone who dares to stand in my way!