Chapter 1 – Spin Doctor Nemo

Nemo was sleeping peacefully under the shelter of a weeping willow at a river bank next to the park. She was dreaming, as usual. Dreaming of what kind of changes she would make to her life if she could.

She would live alone, she thought to herself…

Have new friends…

She would do whatever she wanted.

She would live in a nice place far away from the city of Gaia, her (current) place of residence.

Suddenly, someone shouted in her ear.

"GET UP, NEMO PERONE, YOU OWE ME A BATTLE!"

Nemo jumped up. It was her stupid younger sister, Maxie. They vaguely resembled each other in that they were both white Hispanics with dark hair, but Maxie's was cut short and made into a frivolous ponytail. Maxie glared at her, cross-eyed and flashing her Leonine beyblade at her.

"YOU PROMISED! No buts, missy! Wait… HEY!"

Nemo turned around and walked away. Stupid Maxie, waking her up like that. Time to find somewhere else to relax, she thought.

"COME BACK HERE!"

Maxie dogged her 13-year-old sister back to the park, pestering her all the way, but without response.

"Hey, Nemo!"

Megan waved to Nemo from across the park. She was sitting on the roundabout with Johnny and Alonso.

"Look, I think she's in a bad mood," Alonso muttered.

"Yeah, let's not say anything." Johnny suggested.

Megan stopped waving. Nemo went to sit on the swings. She was still mad that she had been disturbed from her nap, so she folded her arms stubbornly and didn't utter a word to anyone.

Maxie, meanwhile, spied on her from a nearby bush.

"Ah, now how can I challenge her?" She said to herself, before catching sight of a bug that was dangling in front of her. "AAAAAH!"

She tumbled out of the bushes. Everyone looked around at her. She rolled out into the park but bounced up like a balloon right in front of Nemo.

"NEMO!" She shouted. She walked up to her and forced her swing to stop whilst waving her bey in her sister's face with her other hand.

Nemo tried to ignore this gesture of invitation to battle, but everyone was watching them now. Some people were laughing.

"Looks like I have no choice." She said, calmly. Then she took out her purple bey, Dromeda, and walked over to the arena situated nearby.

They faced each other from opposite ends of the dish.

"Ready?"

They launched their beys together. Nemo's purple bey and Maxie's red one circled each other.

"ATTTTAAAACK!" Maxie shouted stupidly. Her Leonine bey broke the circle and came at Nemo's Dromeda, but it moved out the way.

Little Corina, Nemo's youngest sister, tried to gain an eye-line over the heads of all the onlookers to see what was happening, but in a matter of seconds her efforts proved redundant.

Dromeda charged at Leonine and it went flying directly out of the arena. It flew over the surrounding spectators and landed in a rubbish bin.

For the umpteenth time that week, Nemo smirked to herself.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"Yeah! Go Nemo! Go Nemo!" The crowd chanted.

"I want another battle!" Maxie hollered, rushing to retrieve Leonine.

"Forget it, idiot. You'll never beat me." Nemo said and turned away. She looked happier, so Megan, Johnny and Alonso made to follow her.

"Come back here!" Maxie shouted. "You- you- how? HOW do you do it?"

The more than one-timer loser was on her knees. Nemo turned round and stared at her. Everyone stopped chanting, awaiting an answer.

"What is it about Dromeda that makes it IMPOSSIBLE to beat?"

"It's not that I'm really that good," Nemo said, simply. "It's just that you're very, very bad."

And she walked away with her friends, leaving Maxie in a fit of rage.

The only occupant of the park who hadn't been watching this fight was Jordan.

The blonde eleven-year-old sat on a bench, eyeing her beloved classmate, Tyler.

"Ahhh, he's so dreamy," She mumbled.

The bell tower of Gaia High School chimed seven o'clock and the crowd disintegrated.

The next day, the student representatives were being decided at the school. For each sports subject, they picked a select handful of boys and girls that would take part in interschool competitions with neighbouring cities.

Nemo was one of the hopefuls, and she was confident she'd be awarded a place on one of the teams for her considerable talent in many sports.

She woke up that morning feeling happy, so unlike her usual self.

"I'm so gonna' be chosen as a student rep," She said to herself as she got dressed. "I mean, come on… I'm good at so many sports, football, tennis, hockey…" She counted them off.

Maxie noticed her uncharacteristic mood at the breakfast table.

"What are you smiling about?" she asked, grumpily.

"The student reps are being chosen today, stupidhead."

"What?"

"I don't expect you to know." Nemo said, "You won't be picked for any of the teams."

"Nemo!" Their mother said.

Maxie looked at into her cornflakes miserably. She couldn't fight back. Her older sister was never wrong, and this case was no exception.

"The only thing you're half-decent at is Tennis," Nemo said, "and let's face it, I'm way better than you at that and just about… everything else? Yeah, everything else."

Maxie tried to summon a retort, but none occurred to her.

They left for school. Maxie was only eleven, so Nemo was delegated the chore of walking her there.

"So, let's see," Nemo said, "I'm better than you at Tennis – "

"Shut up."

"Hockey – "

"Shut up."

"Football –

"Shut up."

"I'm just telling you, dummy." Nemo said, patting her on the head.

Maxie lunged out like a lion, snapping at her hand.

"You'll pay for that – "

Nemo made to punch the brat, but Alonso's own hand stopped her.

"Fighting again?" He asked. Johnny was there, too.

Nemo slapped his hand and walked away from them. She couldn't be bothered justifying her actions. Besides, she refused to let anything ruin her perfect morning.

She would finally be granted the position she had longed for.

There was a large crowd gathered around the school noticeboard where the chosen student representatives were listed. Nemo felt so self-assured that she decided not to check it until the crowd had died down.

She knew she'd been picked, it was just a matter of which sport it would be for.

"Nemo! Come look at this!"

It was her best friend, Ashley.

Nemo turned around and walked over to her.

"What?"

"See for yourself! Check the notice board!"

She wasn't smiling. Curious, Nemo pushed her way through the obnoxious crowd and tried to find out what the fuss was about.

"What's the problem?" Nemo said to Ashley. "Can't you see my name's under – "

She blinked. Her name HAD been there, clearly written, under the heading 'girls' tennis'. But it had been scribbled out and another, second scrawl was beside it, which, instead, read 'MAXIE'.

"Nemo?"

Nemo turned around and stormed across the school courtyard without a backward glance.

"Mr. James, why aren't I on the team?!" She demanded as she confronted the head of the sports department. "I'm WAY better than my little sister, Maxie, but she was chosen! So WHY - ?"

"Your school report."

"What?"

Mr. James held out a clipboard with meaningless numbers on it.

"I DID pick you for the team, originally." He said, swiftly. "That was before I saw your attendance record, Miss Perone. As you can see, your attendance this year has fallen to sixty percent. It's because of this that I cannot allow you to become a student representative."

Nemo gaped at him.

"Maxie…" She muttered under her breath, angrily.

She slumped over to the lockers in a huff.

"Yeah, I ALWAYS knew I would get in." Maxie boasted to her friends. "The school know it, too… the teachers are always saying how great I am, and man, are they right!"

"I got in too!" Johnny said, by his locker. "How about you, Nemo? I got in Boys' Tennis!"

"And I got in Boys' cycling." Alonso said, with a side wink that irritated Nemo. "Anyway, what about you, Nemo? Gonna' tell us?"

Nemo didn't reply. She was experiencing a mixture of different, but all negative, emotions, and knew they were about to worsen once she caught sight of the next entity that was strutting down the corridor.

Josh appeared before her with an arrogant sneer. Her age, but taller and sporting ginger hair, two other idiots flanked either side of him.

"Boys' Basketball." He boasted loudly to the hall at large. "And EVERYONE knows how hard it is to get into that."

He grinned and leaned against his locker.

"But I knew I would."

Nemo walked past him without a word.

"Hey, Nemo!" Josh said, following her. "Hey, since I was accepted for the team… as I'm sure you knew I would be…"

She closed her eyes and tried to pretend he didn't exist. He was even more tedious than Maxie, she thought to herself.

"… would you go out with me now?"

"WHAT THE HELL?!"

"Hey, I made the team didn't –

"Shut the hell up, runt!" Nemo shouted at him. Her hand plunged instinctively in her bag for something to hit him with.

It was no secret that Josh had harboured a crush for her since they'd first met, but this was the first and most inopportune moment for him to publicise it to the school.

"Hey, so it doesn't make a difference that I'm on the team? You're on the team too, right? What did you get into?"

He'd barely finished speaking before he was forced to duck. Nemo's bey, Dromeda, missed his head by inches and hit a locker. It landed on the floor and circled him.

He whipped out his own green bey and launched it in retaliation. The two beys slammed into each other aggressively as they plummeted up the hallway.

"You'll pay for asking me that out loud, idiot!" Nemo shouted.

Josh regained his balance, grinned, and ran after his bey. Nemo was hot on his tail. Amidst the crowd, it was difficult to see where they were going exactly.

His ginger hair re-appeared behind a glass door and Nemo flung it open and stumbled into the courtyard. She took the collar of Josh' shirt as Dromeda slammed into his bey in the battle that unfolded next to them.

"I've got you now!" she said, triumphantly, as his green bey flew uselessly through the air and smashed through a school window.

Everyone was silent, until:

"MISS PERONE!"

Some figure of authority that Nemo could not discern was marching towards them.

"You're in big trouble now!" Josh muttered to her.

Headmaster Billiot was holding Josh' bey and waving it before their eyes.

"Both of you!" He shouted. "What is the meaning of this?"

"That's not mine, sir!" Josh said. "The window was her, I saw her!"

"Miss Perone!"

Nemo wanted to deny it, but Dromeda was circling her, giving her away.

"I would've expected BETTER of you!" Their headmaster bellowed. "How DARE you beyblade in the school grounds! I reminded everybody in assembly just last week that this ridiculous game was banned! Does the safety of your classmates mean nothing to you? What do you have to say for yourself?"

Not much, Nemo thought. She habitually made things worse for herself when she tried to defend her actions, so she didn't.

"As you are ALREADY on your final warning, for your attitude, attendance and failure to hand in your homework on time," he droned on, to the amusement of everyone around them, "I'm afraid I have no other choice. You are forbidden from attending the student representative award ceremony tomorrow."

And he dropped the bey like a piece of litter and stormed off. Nemo gazed hopelessly after him.

Jordan watched nearby with her gang of preppy cheerleaders. They cowered as the headteacher passed by.

Nemo picked up her bey and went to find Ashley.

"Nemo, what's up?"

They met at their next lesson. Nemo explained to her what had happened. Ashley looked at her sympathetically.

"Well, you know what you should've done. You should've just ignored Josh, everyone knows how much of a moron he is."

"It's not that," Nemo said. "He asked me out in front of everyone."

"So?"

"Whatever."

"Why does it matter so much to you?"

"What?"

"Becoming a student rep." Ashley said. "You don't half-enjoy the sports you do. And you certainly don't enjoy being at school."

"Exactly, Ash." Nemo reasoned, "student reps are allowed to stay at hotels for free. I'd be allowed to visit other cities any time I like at the price of nothing. All I'd need is a student rep badge."

"I didn't know that," Ashley said quietly. "Why does that appeal to you, though?"

"I was dreaming again yesterday about life away from home, what it'd be like… not having to be with my family… what would happen if I ran away…"

"Nemo!"

"What?"

"You can't do that!"

"Says who?"

"Me!" Ashley said, "You can't just run away from home! How could you?"

"I told you, didn't I?"

"It's for good reason the school didn't let you join any of the teams!"

"What do you mean?"

"It would be foolish to go out on your own!"

"No, it wouldn't!"

"Yes, it would! You know perfectly well it would, you're so stubborn! The police will come after you and catch you and then you'd probably be grounded for life, knowing your parents!"

"Maybe why I want to be away from them?"

Ashley was about to retort, but they were filing into the classroom and she lost Nemo amidst the line. The next time she saw her, she was sat on the opposite side of the room, obviously not wanting to speak to her.

Ashley could not remember Nemo ever being happy. She had expressed nothing but hatred for her teachers, whom she believed were unfair to her, her sisters, whom annoyed her constantly, and her parents, whom openly treated her siblings better than they did her. Nemo had been vulnerable and shy as a little girl, and Ashley believed that the hurt she'd suffered then was unresolved and had manifested itself into the emotions she had today.

Nemo had plenty of friends, though, and they'd learned quickly not to provoke her and what not to joke about. Ashley was the smartest of them all, and the one Nemo connected with the most.

But no matter what terms with Nemo she was on, Ashley thought, she would never encourage Nemo to do such a stupid thing as leave home…

At the end of the lesson, Nemo left for the library, still annoyed by Ashley. She sat there, flicking through books without interest.

"… With a base speed stat of 120, no' one can outrun mine…"

"Oh yeah? Well, mine has a base defence stat of 130."

"Anyone want to see mine? Base special of 120. Not bad, huh?"

A gang of computer nerds were talking nearby. Nemo watched them and hurled insults at them within her imagination.

Her anger gradually lessened as she observed them for a while longer. A stroke of inspiration crossed her mind and got her to her feet. She was approaching them before she knew what she was doing.

"Hey," She greeted them, and four eyes analysed her from every direction. "What's up?"

One of them, the geekiest looking, opened his mouth and replied:

"The sky is up you silly pup!"

"What?"

The boy smiled. Nemo suddenly recognised him as one of Josh's friends.

"My name is Elmo, you dig me, hey yo!"

The computer nerds sighed.

"Elmo likes to rhyme." They said in chorus.

"And I'll do it for a dime!" He answered.

"Well, let me just get straight down to it. I have a favour to ask of you guys. Can one of you duplicate a student rep badge just for me?"

"I saw what happened an hour ago! You should've just let it go!" Elmo said.

"Yeah, but I need that badge." Nemo said, firmly.

"I don't think I can make another badge, but to help you sneak into the ceremony wouldn't be hard! You don't need to make a double, you can steal one without trouble!"

"I can? I can steal someone else's?"

Nemo thought.

"How would that work?"

Elmo pointed at Tyler, who was studying nearby.

"We could pretend to be him and take his reward! Then I guess you can go abroad!"

Nemo ignored this gesture of knowledge he was not entitled to. Geeks know everything, she re-assured herself.

"The tallest boy in the basketball team! We'll dress up as him when we're doing our scheme!"

"Eh," Nemo said, "what is there to lose? The important thing is that I get a badge. Alright, I'll do it."

Nemo and Elmo found a private corner and started concocting their plan.

The following day was the awards ceremony.

"Everyone line up here! Single file please, quickly as you can!" shouted a teacher over the drone of the assembly hall.

"My class here, please!"

"Thiago, pay attention! Get in line!"

Ashley sighed as she joined the rest of her form. Nemo wasn't there, obviously. She'd been forbidden from attending.

The teachers marched the students out onto the school field in single-file. There was a large stage erected there, before a hundred rows of seats. Parents, staff and pupils alike flocked every aisle, which made it feel extremely claustrophobic even for the outdoors.

"Woah," Ashley said to Megan, gaping at all the audience members. "If only Nemo was here to see this."

But she was.

Nemo and Elmo were standing in one of the queues. Nemo was wearing sunglasses so nobody would see her eyes, and she was forcing herself to smile so nobody would believe it was her.

"Is now the time?" Nemo whispered.

"Yes, let's do our crime!"

"Would you stop with the poetry?"

They departed their line and hurried, amidst all the people, into the changing rooms off the presentation ceremony. The crowd was too thick for anyone to notice them.

"In here!"

Elmo pointed to a cupboard. They jumped inside it just as Tyler burst in with his friends.

"Yeah," He said to them, "Yeah, all my family plays basketball. My cousin, my brother… it's like we were born to play… they weren't surprised when they heard I was made student rep… alright, I'll see you outside. I just need to get changed."

The door shut. Tyler was on his own.

He reached down into his sports bag. Nemo eyed him through the crack in the door frame.

"NOW!"

They jumped out of the cupboard and grabbed him. They pulled him into the cupboard together and shut him inside before he knew what was happening.

"Hey – what THE?"

Elmo twisted the lock as Tyler thundered on the door in protest.

"We got him!"

"Yeah, great," Nemo said, breathing hard.

"Let me OUTTA' HERE!" Tyler shouted. "Hey – what are you-?!"

Ignoring his pleas, they rummaged inside his bag and found his intended wear for the occasion.

Elmo climbed onto Nemo's back and threw Tyler's black gown over them, hiding Nemo completely. He adjusted his dark glasses and collar carefully to hide his face. Now all that could be seen were Nemo's legs and Elmo's head, so that they appeared to be one person. It was unconvincing, Nemo knew, but at least their combined heights matched Tyler's very tall frame quite accurately.

"Alright, legs, let's go! Keep our profile low!"

"Don't call me that!"

Nemo walked them through the door and out into the ceremony.

The rest of the team was waiting for them.

"Where've you been? You should've got changed long ago."

Elmo, disguised as Tyler, didn't answer this.

From the buttonholes of the gown, Nemo observed the vast amount of people, parents, school officials, and other important-looking individuals on the school field.

"This idea is risky," She thought to herself. If their disguise was foiled, it would be in front of all these people.

The Nemo-Elmo entity sauntered over to the aisle of seats.

"Why are you hiding your face?" a friend of Tyler's asked from his seat.

"It's bright out here!" Elmo said, mocking Tyler's voice. "Be quiet before I kick you in the rear!"

"Don't rhyme!" Nemo whispered, angrily.

They were deafened by intermittent applause as the headmaster called each new student rep to the stage to formally receive their badges. The preppy cheerleaders, including Jordan, burst into song each time this happened and waved their pom-poms, which became infuriating after a while.

"Next up," Mr. Billiot said into his microphone, "the last chosen for the girls' tennis team, Miss Maxie Perone!"

Nemo blew steam out of her nose as Maxie received what should've been her handshake and badge.

"First up from the boys' basketball team – "

"Legs! This is our cue! We got to go join the crew!"

"Don't call me that!" Nemo hissed.

She stood up and marched over to the stage with the rest of the team. Josh was there, looking vindicated. Nemo felt another twinge of anger at the sight of him, and all thoughts of stage fright were gone.

"… Finally, Mr. Tyler Boswell!" Mr. Billiot announced, after a few minutes.

The Nemo-Elmo figure took to the podium and everyone applauded loudly for 'Tyler'.

Elmo waved from beneath his hat. He clumsily accepted the badge and shook hands with the headmaster.

"Well done, Mr. Boswell, glad to have you on the team."

"Yeah! Way to go Tyler!"

"You're awesome, man!"

Elmo bowed down low, obviously enjoying the attention; Nemo writhed in pain, not knowing how much longer she could take Elmo's weight…

"STOP!"

Suddenly, a cry emerged from the group of cheerleaders. The applause died, and it didn't take long to find out why; Nemo's eyes flickered as she spotted Jordan through the buttonholes of their gown. She had marched onto the stage, pom-poms and all.

"That's not Tyler!" cried Jordan, assuming the microphone. "That's – "

She sniffed at the disguise like a dog.

"… An IMPOSTER!"

"What?"

"What's she saying?"

"IT IS AN IMPOSTER! Two of them!"

Jordan pointed at them dramatically and the crowd gasped.

"Rats, she may be a dumb blonde, but she recognises Tyler's smell!" Nemo whispered urgently at Elmo. "Quick, say something – "

But Elmo had already sensed defeat and had leapt from her shoulders. With one sweeping arm movement, he tore the glasses and the outsize gown from both of their persons.

The crowd gasped again.

Elmo coughed and took the microphone.

"I have waited and watched for many a year, in yearning of that which I hold dear. Ever marked as geeky and weird, I have suffered the wrath of my former peers, but now with the badge I desired for so long, nothing for me can ever go wrong."

The crowd was transfixed by this dark poetry. Nobody moved, nobody spoke; and then:

"Elmo!" Josh screamed from the front row. "What the heck are you doing? Snap out of it, you're not making any sense!"

Elmo smiled and sprinted from the podium. He dodged the uproar of the off-stage sports department and hurtled across the field to the bike rack.

"Hey… Nemo?" Maxie poked her.

Nemo whipped around. The headmaster was trying to gain control of all the chaos.

"What?" she uttered.

"Didn't you want that badge, too?"

"I know that, dummy!" Nemo shouted. "Wait… get back here with my badge!"

Elmo had taken Alonso's bike, so Nemo mounted a second bike to pursue him with. Members of the audience screamed and dived out of the way as the rogue imposters veered close to them.

"Come on, let's get them!"

The boys' cycling team, equipped with their own bikes, went after them, but were unsuccessful; Nemo and Elmo were going too fast.

"Remember the deal, Elmo!" Nemo hollered at him, but he let the hat catch the wind and blow back into her face, blinding her.

"Stop! STOP!" came cries from behind them.

Nemo wrestled the hat from her face and flung herself off the bike as it landed in the school pond.

Elmo departed his own as it crashed through a school door into the Home Economics classroom and broke everything in there.

"Get back here!" Nemo screamed at him, running after him. For a geek, he was fast.

They ran across the playground and up the wooden bell tower until they reached the very highest floor.

Nemo had him cornered. He was seemingly defenceless.

Meanwhile, four storeys below, the entire school was gaining on them; a swarm of dots below, Headmaster Billiot, the school reps (including the real Tyler) and the sports staff at front, closed in on them from all sides. Nemo watched them through the large gaps in the wooden beams.

"Give me that badge!" Nemo shouted. "It's mine now! This is what we planned! There's no turning back now, I've gotta' get out of – "

Elmo fished in his pocket, and Nemo instinctively checked hers. There was a clash as their two beyblades met in the air, launchers at hand.

"Haha! What a geek!" Nemo shouted at him; his bey had nearly flown from edge of the banister and out into the crowd. "This is your last chance to give me that badge, Elmo!"

Elmo shook his head silently.

"Fine! FINAL ATTACK!" She commanded, and her Dromeda came at his bey for the kill.

Suddenly, Elmo's blue bey turned purple, exactly the same colour and shape as Nemo's.

"What the - ?"

The tides turned. She didn't know whose was hers, she couldn't attack. The beys nailed each other and dealt sparks.

"Haha! Only I can tell the real one, you great big dunce!"

One of the beys was knocked toward the edge of the tower. Nemo realised it was hers and made it dodge his attack just in time. Elmo grinned with malice.

"Can't tell which ones yours, you should now be on all fours!"

Nemo growled. A storm of people charged up the bell tower; she felt it tremble. She could almost imagine them carrying pitchforks.

Elmo's bey turned blue and he jumped onto the banister.

"This is my own back! Chameleon, attack!"

His blue bey, Chameleon, slid up the banister and dropped down onto the floor below, hitting Dromeda. It started to wobble.

"My bey is a chameleon! There's no word that rhymes with chameleon! It mimics the colour and shape itself! You look pretty good yourself! I invented this move all on my own! But I don't like to drone!"

"Guess I can't hold back any more." Nemo said through clenched teeth. It was time to use her secret weapon.

Elmo's bey turned purple and hit Dromeda. It went near the edge. He got ready to knock it from the structure, when…

"Gone?"

Dromeda had disappeared. Elmo gasped.

Nemo jumped onto the banister, and then to the roof of the tower. She was supported only by fine wooden planks. From here, she saw the whole of Gaia city.

"FREEEEDOM!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. "I must win!"

Dromeda re-appeared in front of her, suspended in the air, well above the Chameleon bey.

"Vanishing attack!" she shouted.

It plummeted down through one of the gaps in the roof plinths and smashed into Elmo's bey, hurling it from the tower just as the headmaster and the other student reps climbed the last staircase.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Elmo burst into tears and jumped off the bell tower after his bey. He was caught by an assembly of people below.

Nemo was left in big trouble.

"Miss Perone!"

Nemo lost her balance and fell from the roof.

"I'll catch you!" Josh shouted, dashing forward, but Nemo simply fell flat on top of him.

"Uh, thanks for being a cushion, I guess," Nemo said. She picked up her bey. It had nearly stopped spinning.

Mr. Billiot was not looking pleased.

"Explain yourself!" He roared.

Nemo inhaled deeply, clutching Dromeda.

"I didn't mean to cause trouble," She said, "I was just mad that I wasn't chosen as a student rep, so I gate-crashed, okay? The only reason you didn't choose me was because I was hardly ever here!"

Mr. James shuffled uncomfortably.

Nemo awaited her punishment, but it never came. Instead, Billiot dissolved into a look of delight.

"That beyblading exhibition you just displayed," he said, "was so intense, and amazing to watch, that I will happily revoke what I said yesterday about it being a 'ridiculous game'. It was ludicrous to dress up as Tyler to take his badge, but after witnessing your display of sheer talent, I am prepared to do something ludicrous also. Beyblading will become its own competitive sport. If there are really people like you who can play as well as you can, it deserves to be considered one."

It seemed nobody could believe their ears. Tyler looked aghast.

"… Which is why I'm offering you," he finished, "a place, as lead student rep… of the newly enacted sport of beyblading. What do you say?"

Nemo's mouth dropped open. Maxie charged forward.

"Wait!" She exclaimed, "You can't make HER a student rep! What she did was wrong, she deserves punishment!"

She pointed at Nemo, but the headmaster shook his head.

"Nemo's exceptional talents won't be put to waste any more."

Nemo could not remember feeling this happy in a very long time.

"Thanks sir," she said, quietly. "I definitely accept that position."

The crowd, dotted at different regions around the bell tower, burst into applause. There was whooping and cheering; Billiot's word had spread right across the bell tower in a matter of seconds. Nemo shook hands with the headmaster and would openly laugh at the expressions of the boys' basketball team later.

The award ceremony was resumed in the evening. Tyler received his rightful badge and at long last, so did Nemo. Her applause was loudest. She accepted the badge and joined her friends Ashley, Johnny, Alonso and Megan.

As she passed Maxie, Nemo muttered, "at least I'm a beyblading student rep now, something you'll never be, dork."

Maxie exploded in rage, shouting:

"NEMO PERONE, YOU OWE ME A BATTLE NOW!"