"Ready for this?" I asked my new friends, who had all transferred to my school today.

"Oh yeah. Let's see if this Kara girl is as tough as she thinks she is," the jock guy declared.

"She might have her boyfriend Max with her. His dad's the principal at Hearst High!" Autumn squeaked.

"Don't worry, Autumn. We have this under control." I snickered. We headed to the parking lot, where a girl in a swamp green and yellow cheerleading uniform sat, anxiously checking every three seconds to see if anyone was coming or not. I checked her shoes. White, average nondescript cheerleading sneakers. Next to her was a guy whom I assumed to be Max. He had short, cropped blond hair and wore a yellow and swamp green varsity jacket, his mouth curled up in a smirk. His shoes were swamp green and yellow athletic sneakers. As we approached them, he spoke.

"So, Loser High got its first loser." Max sneered.

"And look, Little Miss Quirkface is already over here. I always knew Autumn was a dork, but I never thought she was a traitor…" Kara added. Quirkface? That's a new one, I couldn't help thinking.

"Hey, back off! What do you have against our school, anyway?" the nerd guy spoke up.

"There's a plan for this land, and it doesn't involve your crappy school!" Max puffed out his chest.

Tactic one: the guilt-trip card.

"I don't know who you two think you are, but you can't just go around bullying people…" I made my face sweet and sorrowful. That way, when Max and Kara lashed out, they would look even worse than they already did. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the nerd, jock, and prep start to become even more enraged towards Kara and Max.

Then Cake-Up, I mean Kara, got in my face. "And what are you gonna do about it?" she demanded.

I pretended to consider my options.

"Well, I definitely can't hit you," I began. "With all that caked-on makeup, it's like you're wearing face armor." I smirked and my friends behind me began to laugh.

"That's so true!" the prep girl chortled.

"Excuse me?" Kara screeched.

I put on a face of mock pity. "Oh, I'm sorry, were you intentionally going for the trashy clown look? If so, you still kind of overdid it on the eyeliner." My friends laughed even harder.

"This is so not funny. I'm not going to forget this." Kara threatened. Before I could sling another barb, Max interrupted.

"Enjoy your crappy school while you can, loser. Because it's not going to be around long."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I laughed. Did Max and Kara seriously think that their pedantic threats were intimidating?

Max took on an air of authority. "All new schools need at least fifteen students to stay open. And with Hearst High right next door… well, you've got a lot to compete with." He puffed out his chest yet again.

"Come on, Kara. Let's ditch these losers." And with that, he and Kara left.

"Now you can see why I don't really like being at Hearst High…" Autumn said quietly.

Then, my iPhone beeped with a reminder.

"Oh, shit! I have that interview with the local news right now!" My eyes widened. With all the drama that Cake-Up and her wannabe-stud boyfriend had caused, I had forgotten about the interview that I had promised to give the local news station. The story was a win-win situation for both of us. I gave them a story in a town that continually had slow news days, and they gave me publicity for my new school.

"Let's sprint and get back to school!" the jock guy exclaimed.

"Let's just walk there quickly," the prep girl interrupted him. "No need in getting sweaty for the local news."

"You have a good point there," I conceded. "We'll just walk there quickly."

We walked there briskly and entered the Admissions Office, where a reporter and cameraperson were waiting for me.

"There you are!" the reporter exclaimed. "It's the girl of the hour."

After having a mic placed on me and the camera adjusted to the correct angle, we began filming.

"It's not every day that a teen heiress suddenly starts her own school. What was your primary motivation for choosing to do so?" the reporter inquired.

'Cause I refuse to follow the rules. Especially when they're stupid and petty. So I decided to make my own school, with my own rules so I can have my complete and total autonomy. But that's not what the cameras—and the world—wants to hear. What could I say instead? Then I looked at Autumn, and inspiration struck. Maybe that clingy, annoying girl would be useful for something after all.

"Autumn, come here," I cooed. As Autumn came over, I draped my arm around her.

"It was for a very dear friend," I began, widening my eyes and placing my free hand over my heart. "Autumn here has been bullied so much at her school, and she didn't feel welcome there. Seeing all the pain she was in, my heart just gave out—" here I beguiled choking back a sob—"and I vowed to do something to help her. I told her, 'Oh, I see, all right. And I don't think anyone else should have to put up with bullies like them.' And I decided that I'm going to make this the best high school this town has ever seen, and I'm going to open it up to anyone who wants to come here. For everyone who feels bullied… ignored… or just plain lost… this will be the place for them." By the time I had finished speaking, the reporter's, cameraperson's, and my classmates' eyes all glistened with tears. The rest of the interview went smoothly as I spun my answers to produce the results I desired. After the news crew and my classmates left, Autumn and I were alone in the office.

"Oh, I wish I could transfer here…" Autumn lamented.

"Just give it time, Autumn. I know we'll be able to convince your dad." I smiled trickily.

"Yeah, well, right now, I need to get back to Hearst. I'll see you later." Autumn ran off.

Autumn wanted to be in my school? Well, she'd better be careful about what she wished for. If she got in, I'd make sure she'd regret it. After I got my revenge on Cake-Up and her boyfriend, of course.