Revenge of the Snob Squad by Julie Anne Peters Page B

let me run the last leg. I’m the fastest,” Fayola said.
    “You are not!”
    “She is, too,” Rachel jumped in.
    “That’s enough,” Dietz cut them off. “You’ll have a chance to make it up in this next phase. And, let’s see. Most improved
     time: the Snob Squad.”
    “What!” we all cried together.
    “Yes,” Max cheered. We high-fived.
    I couldn’t believe it. Then I could. I mean, we started out as slow as Saskatchewan. Where is Saskatchewan? Canada, right?
     Anyway, with Max’s encouragement (or threat of execution by the Crips), we must’ve picked up speed.
    “The next phase will be strength building,” the Dietzman said. “You can work in your same teams.”
    Melanie raised her hand. “Do we have to? I don’t want to be on Ashley’s team anymore,” she said.
    Rachel said, “Neither do I.”
    Ashley slashed them dead with machete eyes. She turned the fire on Fayola. Fayola said quickly, “I think we should switch.
     Mix up the teams.”
    I raised my hand. “I think we should keep the same teams. It’ll be a lot easier to keep track of, paperwise.”
    The idea appealed to our gym teacher, you could tell. “You’re right,” he said. “We’ll keep the same teams.”
    Max and Prairie smacked palms. “Wait a minute.” Lydia waved her hand in the air. “I think we should change.”
    I looked at Lydia. My spirits sagged. I thought for sure she was with us, that she’d made the right choice.
    She said, “I think we should keep the same teams but be allowed to change leaders. We want our team leader to be Jenny Solano.”
    My face flared a fire stick.
    “Sure, sure. That’d be fine,” Dietz said. “Can we get started now?”
    “When did you decide this?” I whispered while Dietz droned on about how to use the weight training equipment without injuring
     ourselves or others.
    “While you were in g-getting weighed,” Prairie said.
    “It was unanimous.” Lydia smiled. I looked at Max. She slugged my shoulder. Good thing I still had some fat reserves left.
    Leader? Me? Suddenly I felt different. Changed. As if the old me had died and a new me had been born. A vision materialized
     in my mind. The Death card. Maybe this is what Max meant by a change of consciousness. A death and a rebirth.
    “Jenny, snap out of it.” Lydia snapped her fingers in front of my face.
    “Must be the concussion,” Max said.
    “P-permanent brain damage.”
    “You guys.” I waved them away. “All right, as your newly elected commander-in-chief, my first duty is to inform you that Sunday
     is my birthday. You are all invited over Saturday night for a sleep-over. That’s an order, not a request.”
    Max clicked her army boots together and saluted. “Yessuh.”
    Prairie and Lydia saluted, too. That made us all collapse into hyena hysterics. Ashley stormed past and snapped, “Shut up.”
    We all did the Snob Squad salute, finger to nose to Ashley. She just sneered and stomped away toward the principal’s office.
     Strange. I didn’t hate Ashley Krupps anymore. At least not as much as I used to. I felt kind of sorry for her, if you want
     to know the truth. Ashley was just being Ashley. I forgave her for that. Someday I might even forget.
    My last thought, before the whole class got put on notice was, This is going to be the best birthday I’ve ever had. Between
     the four of us, we might eat enough cake to fill my void. To fill all our voids. Yes, I thought. Mow down misery, snuff out
     suffering, laugh at loss, defy defeat. Next year was going to be better. Sweet, as Lydia would say. Isn’t that how revenge
     is supposed to taste?