OK, so it's the first Friday in March and guess what? There IS some justice in America after all.

Meaning that Claire's nightmare is finally over, so to speak.

Yesterday, the student council was holding their trial against Tucker Browne, Nathaniel Harrell, Daniel Sherman, Michael Horton, Marlene Booth, and Natasha Pitts. You remember, those guys who kept Claire Evans away from the rest of the school and everyone called her "Crazy Claire". Well, Emilia Butler didn't think that was funny, and neither did the rest of the student council. Those kids in question were already banned from attending the Washington D.C. trip and the end-of-middle-school party, but they decided to take everything a step further by denying those students the right to march in the promotion ceremony with the rest of the class (with the principal's approval, of course). I had half hoped to see them being sent to Clatskanie Middle/High School instead of Lochland High School, but we can't always get what we want.

Anyway, the seventeen students and the student aide who the group had beaten up for trying to help Claire were satisfied to see some form of justice being served; the student aide had since quit her job after her beating and the students had all gone to Meadow Wood Academy after being beaten. They came back here to watch the sentence for their tormentors being handed down. (And I'm not going to repeat how everyone in the place cheered as the guilty verdict was handed down and the punishment was read out. The friends of those kids were suspended for two weeks and Barbara Holt (had she remained a student at the school) was expelled. Karma is a bitch towards those who hurt other people.)

Speaking of karma, the principal of Clatskanie Middle/High School decided to send Milton back to Lochland Middle School at the request of our school counselor, but kept Barbara, as that school took in students expelled from other schools. That meant Milton still wasn't allowed to march in the ceremony or participate in the end-of-the-school-year party, but he had to finish out the rest of the year in Lochland nonetheless.

Well, Thursday was a day when we as a school reflected upon the stupid things that we had done, but today was the day when everything had changed. As in, a group of students went on the intercom and read the following announcement:

"Attention Lochland Middle School students, staff, and faculty, this is the student council of Lochland Middle School and it has come to our attention that many of you are not following the rules that this school has established. Because of that, we must step in and re-establish the rules so that you will know them, hear them, and obey them.

"And the rules are as follows:

"1. All clothes worn on school property are to be clean and free from all tears and holes in them. Also, at no time will a girl be allowed to wear a spaghetti-strap shirt or a short skirt or dress. All girls are to be dressed modestly. Boys are not allowed to wear baggy clothes or shimmering and sparkling clothes; they will be dressed in a manner that is appropriate for a teenage boy. Shoes must be clean and free from all tears and holes. Please observe and follow the school's dress code at all times.

"2. All homework is to be completed and turned in on time. Sloppy or late work will not be tolerated. Plus, you will attend all your classes; there are to be no cutting classes at any time.

"3. At no time at all will gossiping be allowed. If there is any rumor being spread around the school, the offending student will be severely punished. Bullying is a serious problem and you must take all the necessary steps to reduce the likelihood of you becoming a victim of bullying.

"4. On the subject of dating, let me be blunt when I say that all couples on this campus are to be one boy and one girl only. We've already seen several students at other schools committing suicide because of the problem of homosexuality. If you can't conform to this rule of dating, then it is best that you don't date at all. (For further reference, see the school handbook for rules regarding middle school relationships and dating.)"

"5. As for school lunches, the cafeteria workers want to remind you that you are not allowed to bring your lunch from home. Homemade lunches are for children, the food that they cook in the cafeteria is both delicious and nutritious, and it doesn't cost very much money to purchase. Also, home lunches are an insult to the cafeteria workers, as they have to make a living, too. Anyone who decides to break this rule will be suspended from school.

"6. As for interacting with one another, I strongly urge you to be respectable at all times; bullying or name-calling will not be allowed. Also, you are not to wander around the school alone; there have already been too many incidents where kids had been kidnapped because they wandered too far from the school. If you're dealing with social anxiety, the school counselor's office is always available.

"We hope you've listened to these school rules and will follow them to the letter. That is all."

With that, most of the student population fell into needless chatter while the teachers and staff shook their heads. I thought to myself who on earth could have come up with these harsh and extremely strict rules for the school. This couldn't have been the principal's doing, as no one in their right minds would dare impose 1950s values on our generation.

"Well, this is insane," said Claire as everyone else continued to talk. "I know no one agreed to this. Who set up these rules, anyway?"

"I did," said Joanna as she stood by herself in a corner, smirking as she sucked on a red lollypop.

"Why would you do that?" I snapped.

"Because I'm tired of watching the school and seeing how bad things were," said Joanna. "And you didn't notice how bad things were here? You were blind to the pain and suffering of people who chose to be smart and actually pay attention to their schoolwork instead of staring at other people's behinds."

"Not until the twins started messing with me and Clayton used me to get Claire away from her prison guards," I said.

"Now you know," said Joanna. "Anyway, I have a school to clean up, so you better be on your way. I hate to see you fail a class because you were too busy questioning the rules."

Well, that was that.

For the rest of that day, I found myself in a daze. I barely spoke to anyone, let alone Claire. I couldn't concentrate on my schoolwork. In fact, I couldn't think too well at all, so I decided to take myself home.

Once I got home, I went to my room and went straight to bed, never minding the fact that I had broken a rule by leaving the school. But what else was I going to do? Sure we needed some super strict rules, but the rules themselves didn't look good. I'm sure many parents were going to complain about the rules to the principal soon.

Or maybe not.

* * * * *

A few hours pass and suddenly, I'm sick again. This time, I had a bad case of the stomach flu and had to stay in bed for a while. (Mom found out I was sick; after seeing me throwing up, she made me drink Sprite and sent me back to bed.)

While I'm lying in bed, Jem takes the opportunity to stand at my door, saying, "This wouldn't have happened if you had just simply done what I told you to do! You should have been a girl instead of being the boy we both know that you're not!" Yet, I got my revenge by sneezing in her general direction, making her sick as well.

By the way, Jem, karma is a bitch!

Since it's Friday, I'm going to rest and hopefully get back to school on Monday. Claire still needs some help readjusting to the school and nobody's brave enough to help "Crazy Claire", as it were. Sure, her tormentors were punished and banned from being in the same room she's in, but how did I know they weren't going to get their revenge on her, or on me?

Remember, kids, getting revenge on your enemies will result in 100 graves. I'm learning that lesson while watching the school social system collapse from an act of revenge.

Well, I'm worn out from everything that happened in school today, so I'll get back to this as soon as I've recovered.