The 47 People You'll Meet in Middle School: Chapters 31–48

“I might have known this group would be doing something illicit,” Smeed said, shining his phone flashlight in our faces.

The sound coming out of the speakers was a staccato guitar that was somehow happy and dark at the same time.

My song was over. Amber was glaring at me. I wanted to go home.

The next morning, I got that terrible feeling you get when you wake up and for a second you think it’s a normal day, but then you remember all the things that went horribly wrong the night before. Like all the bad music at the dance. And the hostile looks from the Silver Sisters.

Dismal as the dance had been on Friday night, I was still glad to be going back to school Monday morning.

He and some of his JROTC buddies were giving the dingy wall a new coat of white paint.

Sarah nodded. “This one could be awkward for a while, huh? What if Mr. Singer becomes your stepdad?”
Like I hadn’t already thought of that supremely insane scenario.

When I got to my locker, he was already there, drying paintbrushes on a rag with military precision and meticulously wrapping them in paper towels before putting them in his locker.

On the far wall of the courtyard, near where Elaine sat every day with her book, was kind of a rough mural.

“Vandalism and destruction of school property are very serious offenses,” Smeed said, barely able to contain his glee as he rattled off those accusations.

“Well, Augusta, what do you have to say for yourself?” Dad said as soon as I was in the door, kicking off my shoes. “Moreover, can you tell me what I should say to my boss, since I keep having to leave work for your antics?”

“We believe you,” Mom said. “We believe that you didn’t do the graffiti.”

I ventured forth my real theory: “I think it was one of the Silver Sisters. So does Sarah.”

Syd went over to the Sarah caricature and started spraying Graffiti Delete on it.

Keira gave him a light slap on the arm. “I just like the way they look. Gus knows what I mean, right?” She looked at me like we were in a high-fashion-glasses conspiracy together.

“Ack, you’re so lucky! I’ve been wanting to get them forever, but my mom said she wasn’t going to spend money on something ‘frivolous’ like that, so I saved my babysitting money to get the frames I wanted.”

Ironic, right? I was babysitting to pay for contacts, and Keira had used her babysitting money to pay for glasses.

I almost forgot Elaine wanted to stay anonymous.

“Tomorrow we get vindicated,” he said.
“Ha, so dramatic,” I said. “But I hope you’re right.”

Look what you’ve done! Ms. Olin would shout. We have persecuted innocent children because of your false accusations!

“To be honest,” said Principal Olin, “we’d forgotten the camera was there. It was installed long before I was principal here, and I’ve never had to use it. But in any event, we thought we’d ask you all here in case there’s anything you need to tell us while we wait,” Principal Olin said. “Mr. Solo says you have reason to believe this video will exonerate you.”

“Well, I was kind of eavesdropping. On Marcy and Addison. They were talking about the graffiti.”

Marcy put her hands up to her earrings again. “Me?” she said. “Oh...b-butterflies?” From the way she stumbled on the word, I could tell she wasn’t sure she had the right answer. And Addison and Heidi thought this was uproariously funny.

Now Addison was the one looking ghostly. (Heidi looked nearly comatose; I was waiting for her to pass out.)

I glanced at Addison and Heidi, who had definitely been quieter since the two-day suspension they got last week, for defacing school property and for failing to come forth as other students were punished for their crime.