AN: From the low number of reviews and the lack of excitement in them I realize that most of you probably didn't realize just how bad Joe getting detention was. You can all blame my beta, even though I tried to sneak it in she figured out right away that something bad was going to happen to that little plot point and I foolishly assumed everyone would when I continued writing. Anyway, things get a lot worse in this chapter, so if you enjoy seeing beloved characters be tortured, you're in luck!
AN2: This chapter has a major-plot-point-equivalent for the classic, so I won't give you any clues. Though, that was kind of a clue, wasn't it?
A Little Bad
Stella, Macy, Kevin, Joe, and Nick sat in the boys' room. Nick kept spinning around in the chair at his keyboard, unable to break his funk even to compose a song, Kevin strummed dully at his guitar, Macy tossed a football in the air, and Stella and Joe sat hand in hand on one of the couches.
Nick had found Joe and Stella standing at the lockers. When neither of them responded to his questions he'd run to get Macy and Kevin. Luckily for them he'd only been relieved instead of confused at finding them together. Between the three of them they managed to get the whole story out of Stella and Joe and they'd all made their way back to the firehouse where they'd told Mr. Lucas what had happened.
That had been over an hour ago. Ever since Mr. Lucas had been on the phone with the school, asking if this wasn't "a bit harsh" for a one time offense.
"Okay!" Mr. Lucas said, running up the stairs. Everyone perked up, eager to hear him deliver some good news. He looked from face to face as he spoke, giving nothing away. "Here's the deal. Your new principal is claiming that since these have always been the rules and the old principal was just lax about enforcing them, that this isn't a first time offense and you should be punished severely."
"But you talked some sense into him," Nick asked, "right?"
"No. But I did give him an earful."
Joe stood and Stella kept her grip on his hand. "Did you tell him we're supposed to be performing for the President?"
"Yes, I did."
"Did you tell him it's the President of the United States?" Kevin asked.
Mr. Lucas's somber expression broke slightly. "Yes, Kevin, I did. He doesn't seem to care."
Joe groaned and fell back onto the couch.
"But," Mr. Lucas continued, "your mom did come up with what I think is a pretty good idea. You, Joe, go to Principal Angeletti tomorrow and plead your case. You can explain what happened and you can even offer the band's services the next time the school needs to do some fund raising."
"You think that'll work?" Macy asked.
"It had better. I do not want to be the one to cancel on the White House." Mr. Lucas left the teens to wallow in their misfortune.
"We're doomed," Joe said. "I'll never be able to talk Angeletti into letting me off the hook."
"Yes, you can," Nick said determinedly. "You just have to --"
"Nick. I'm not you. I can't present a sound and reasonable argument. I failed Debate. Twice."
"I wasn't going to tell you to debate your way out of this."
"You weren't?" Kevin asked. "Because I totally thought you were gonna do that and then we were gonna have a montage of you walking Joe through the steps of a debate."
"No," Nick said. "I was going to tell you to beg."
"That Joe can do," Stella said.
"Hey!" Joe cried.
"What? I'm just stating a fact. You are really good at begging."
"Oh yeah," Macy said with a grin. "Like that time you begged Stella not to punish you for wearing the wrong shoes. That was --" she saw Joe's angry expression -- "not funny at all."
Stella patted Joe's shoulder. "You can do this. I'm sure Angeletti will see reason. He probably just wanted to make a big show for the first day. He'll cool off soon enough."
"And if he doesn't?" Joe asked sadly.
Stella's gaze drifted off into the middle distance. "Then I will upend the world of fashion just to make sure that man is never In, ever again!" She blinked, looking around at the frightened faces around her. "Or -- something less crazy."
In the uncomfortable silence that followed Nick spotted Macy's football helmet at the floor at her feet.
"Macy?" he asked.
"Yeah?"
"Isn't football season over?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Why do you have your helmet?"
"Oh," Stella cut in, "Macy always keeps all her sports gear at school. That way she's ready in case there's a sports emergency."
"What's a sports emergency?" Kevin asked eagerly.
Macy smiled. "You remember last semester when Jared Summers needed to be punished?"
"You mean when he started bragging about getting to second base with Cheryl Wynn even though she said it never happened?" Joe asked.
"Did you ever wonder how he got so completely tangled in that volleyball net?"
"A scary girl in a football helmet came at him in a dark and foreboding hallway?" Nick asked.
"Well, it wasn't dark or foreboding. But yeah."
"But why is the helmet here?" Stella asked.
"No reason," Macy and Kevin said together.
Nick, Joe and Stella exchanged a look.
"Let's let that go," Nick said, "we have enough to worry about. Come on, Joe, let's see how good you are at begging."
Joe moaned but Kevin let out a "Yay! Begging montage!" When everyone turned to him he said, "What? I like a good training montage, it doesn't matter what the training's for."
Joe said "please" a total of 87 times. The others knew, they were standing outside the principal's office listening while he gave his apology and plead for his freedom.
Angeletti wasn't hearing any of it.
"Come on, Mr. Angeletti!" Joe said. He was fully whining now. All of his other begging tactics had failed and he was left with the most immature one of all. "We're performing in the White House! The President's gonna be there and everything! You can't tell me that's not an amazing opportunity for a young guy like me!"
"It is an amazing opportunity, regardless of age. But you lose opportunities when you break the rules. You're not going."
"But -- but we're also gonna go see the capitol, take in all that history. And it's not just us! Our little brother Frankie's coming too and Stella Malone and Macy Misa. They were all so excited about learning."
"You're friends were going to go with you?" Angeletti asked but before Joe could pounce on his moment of weakness Angeletti went on. "Then they will just have to suffer for your mistake with you. No! No more begging. I have work to do and you have classes to get to. Goodbye, Mr. Lucas. I trust you'll stay out of trouble."
"Yes, sir," Joe muttered. He shuffled out of the office.
"I'm sorry, Joe," Stella said, lacing her fingers between his and nudging him comfortingly in the side.
"It's okay," Joe said, squeezing Stella's hand. He led the slow, sad procession down the hallway. "It's no one's fault. If that harda--"
"Miss Misa!"
"Eep!" Macy gasped. Everyone turned to look at her, each wondering the same thing: what could Macy have done wrong?
"May I see you in my office?" Angeletti asked.
"Yes, sir," Macy said sadly.
The bell rang, summoning the others to class as Angeletti spun on his heel back towards the office. Macy's friends gave her encouraging half-smiles. Kevin couldn't quite manage one but pulled her into a quick hug before letting her go. She gave him a genuine smile and followed behind Angeletti.
"Did you need something, sir?" Macy asked when Angeletti had settled himself in the office and still given her no sign of why she was there.
"You're on almost every sports team in the school, Miss Misa."
"Yes, sir," Macy said with a frown. If Angeletti was going to say something about it being against the rules to be on more than X number of teams she was going to throw a Himalayas-sized fit.
"And each team you're on does markedly better once you join. Your coaches say you're not just a great athlete, you're also an amazing team-builder."
"Thank you?" Macy said, not quite sure where this was going.
"But I see one team you were approached to join but never did."
Macy's frown deepened as she wracked her brain, trying to remember -- no! He couldn't mean --
"I'm sure the chess team could have benefited from your help."
Macy felt the blood drain from her face. "Sir, I'm not so sure. I mean, it's chess, it's not like throwing a ball through a hoop or hitting a target. I'm a natural athlete, those are the sorts of things I'm naturally good at --"
"And so is chess. At least according to you permanent record. The teachers in your old school district seem to think you were --" He glanced down at the open folder on his desk -- "'a talented player with a natural gift for the game of chess.'" He looked expectantly up at her.
"I would really rather not join the chess team, sir. I don't enjoy it." She'd only played in elementary school because that jerk Timmy Sanberg had pulled her pigtails. He'd been the reigning chess champ of the classroom -- only because no one else played -- and she'd enjoyed putting him in his place during recess that day. If she'd known beating him at his own game would mean being forced to play students in other classes, then in other grades, then in whole other schools, she would have just let the pigtail thing slide. She'd been happy when her family moved and she got to go to a new school where no one knew she was good at chess -- until now anyway.
"We're playing Lupine Prep on Saturday," Angeletti went on, not seeming to care about her opinion of the game. "I'm sure the team could benefit from your experience."
"I understand, but I'd really rather --"
"Of course, it'll be hard for me to watch you defeat those Lupines if I have to keep an eye on the Saturday detention crowd."
Macy's whole body seemed to shudder though it remained perfectly still. Was the principal seriously trying to extort her?
When she didn't say anything he elaborated. "And since there's only one person in Saturday detention right now, I'd probably just let him off the hook with a light warning. If you did play of course."
Macy's hands clenched at her sides. She had never wanted to physically harm an adult before but right now it was taking all of her will-power not to leap across the table and show Angeletti what a person with seven MVP trophies in her room could do! But, even if she did vent her considerable anger, that still left her friends at home on Saturday.
Macy unclenched her hands and hung her head.
"I'll play."
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