Lunch that day for Jojo was, predictably, a nightmare. Actually, the whole day had been—scores of girls crowding him in the hallways, proclaiming their undying love for him, asking him which one of them he was going to take to the dance that night. At lunch, he had herded his sisters to sit at the smallest table possible, and yet girls kept pulling their chairs up to the table anyway, some even knocking Jojo's sisters out of the way… discreetly or otherwise.
"This is insane," muttered Faye. She was sitting on the floor and eating her lunch there, because three girls had literally kicked her out of her chair.
"I wish I had guys clamoring over me like this," sighed Virginia, trying to eat her lunch as best as possible with two girls sitting on top of her.
"For goodness sake, Jojo, do something!" wailed Rhiannon, having somehow been deposited under her seat and was now getting trampled on by squealing, lovesick, teenage girls.
"Like what?" cried Jojo pitifully, the food on his tray completely untouched, seeing as both his arms were busy trying to push girls off of him.
"Like—hey!—telling them which one you're taking to the dance tonight! Get off, this is my chair!" Zaneeta shrieked, in a literal battle to keep her seat.
"Or maybe you could just tell them all to take a hike!" shrieked Faye. "Grow a backbone and tell them how much you can't stand them!"
All of Jojo's fangirls collectively gasped in overly dramatic shock.
"That's not true, Jojee-poo! You love me!"
"No, you love me!" interjected another girl, abruptly kissing Jojo on the cheek. Jojo, alarmed, let out a sharp cry of disapproval.
"No, I'm the only girl for him! I'm a deep, tortured soul just like he is! We're soul mates," said another, with a very staged looking half-swoon.
"No, he hates all of you," snapped Faye irritably. "He said so himself."
"Is that true, Jojo?" one of the girls asked, her lower lip quivering. A frantic questioning wave of voices emerged from the rest of the girls as well.
Jojo glared at all of them, feeling his slow-burning anger finally hit the crisis point. "I'm not going to the dance," he said slowly, "and I'm not taking any of you! So get lost!"
"But—" about seven girls interjected.
"I said GET LOST!" Jojo roared, the strength of his voice knocking many of the girls off their feet. "Faye's right, I hate all of you! Now leave me alone!"
That finally did it. The entire hoard of girls stepped back, numb with shock, eyes wide and quivering.
This wasn't enough for Jojo. "Didn't you hear me? GET LOST! All of you! Now!"
Finally they began to slowly shuffle away, many sniffling back tears. Zaneeta, Rhiannon, Faye, and Virginia all exchanged looks, ranging from satisfied (Faye's expression) to shocked and appalled (Virginia's).
Courtney lingered the longest, angry tears running down her face. "You know, Jojo," she choked out vengefully, "I actually thought you were nice. I know you won't believe me, but I did even before you saved Who-ville. But wow, boy was I wrong."
"Yeah, you were," said Jojo simply and curtly.
Courtney spun her head around and stormed off, trembling with both anger and heartbreak.
Now it was just Jojo's sisters left at the table, who were now all looking taken aback. Even Faye's satisfaction was melting into a slightly dismayed facial expression, the full extent of her brother's rage finally settling in.
"You're a total jerk," Virginia blurted out.
"Good!" cried Jojo. "Maybe now those girls will keep away from me for good!"
"Ugh!" Virginia made a grunt of exasperation, picking up her tray and abruptly standing up from the table. "I never thought I'd say this, Jojo, but right now I'm totally ashamed to be your sister." And with that, she quickly left the table, running as best she could while holding a lunch tray to catch up with and comfort Courtney.
Faye sighed. "Oh jeez, that was all my fault. I'm sorry, Jojo. I was just so mad and so I started saying things that weren't true. You never did say that you hated them. Augh, I'm such a goober!"
"I never did say it," muttered Jojo, "but you know me so well, you were able to figure out the truth for yourself."
He looked down at his food now, shoveling it in and closing himself off to the rest of the world. Zaneeta, Rhiannon, and Faye all looked at each other worriedly, but said nothing.
Jojo was right—they did know him well—they were his birth siblings, after all. And they knew that when he was a mood like this, it was best to let him steam and cool down for a few minutes.
Only, none of them had ever seen him snap quite like that before.
…………
Usually Virginia walked with Jojo to their next class, life science, together. Obviously, that day Jojo figured that Virginia wasn't going to want to spend any more time with him than absolutely necessary, so he didn't wait for her after lunch, instead tearing down the hallway as quickly as possible, alone. Even if she did want to talk to him—no doubt to reprimand him more—Jojo didn't want to hear it. He didn't want to feel guilty for how he felt… or rather, how he didn't feel. Obviously, he should have been feeling terrible about how he had blown up at those girls, judging by his sisters' reactions—and yet all he could feel was a calming relief—they were gone, they were gone and not bothering him anymore. Why did he owe them any politeness at all? Those irksome girls had it coming to them.
Which was why he was surprised—and irritated—when Virginia sprinted down the hallway to catch up with him. "Wait up!" she cried.
"What do you want?" he mumbled sullenly.
"Why didn't you wait for me?"
"Because you're mad at me… right?"
Virginia sighed. "No, I'm not mad… very disappointed, but not mad. I guess I should have known you were due for meltdown any day now."
"I couldn't help it," sighed Jojo, "but those girls just drove me crazy. You know I hate being crowded."
"I know, which is why I'm not mad at you," said Virginia. "I explained that to Courtney, too."
She looked at him, as if waiting for a reaction. Jojo blinked. "Okay, and…?"
"I think she understands. She's—well, she's still mad, but she's trying to forgive you."
Jojo shrugged, a little confused at why Virginia was pursuing this topic of conversation, but otherwise unaffected. "Uh, okay…"
Virginia grabbed Jojo by the shoulders and stopped him in his tracks abruptly. "But you've got to apologize to her."
Jojo snorted. "What for?"
"Jojo, she really likes you, and you were overly rude to her and hurt her feelings. And yet she's still willing to give you another chance. You don't run into a Who like that just anywhere!"
Jojo groaned, knowing what this was leading to. "Virginia, stop trying to hook me up with your friend. I meant it when I said I didn't want to take anyone to the dance!"
"But you're going to take Courtney," said Virginia firmly.
"Get real."
"I am. It's an order. You're taking Courtney. I'm not going to let you be stupid and lose a girl like her!"
"I don't want to date her, Virginia! I don't want to date anyone!"
"Just take her as a friend, then! I'm doing you a favor here, if you can't figure that out—you've made about half of the student body here hate you in about five minutes. I'm not going to let you miss your chance of patching things up with one of them!"
"Virginia!" groaned Jojo—he was never very good at arguing, or anything that involved speech, for that matter.
"Look, I'll even pay your way for you. I'll go too, if you want—you, me, and Rhiannon, with Ryan and Courtney. It'll be fun. It doesn't even have to be a date at all, just five friends hanging out. And if you really hate it, you can leave early. But you have to at least take her with you, to show her that you really are a nice Who, and that I wasn't lying through my teeth when I told her that you are!"
Jojo blinked. "You told her I'm nice?"
"Of course I did," said Virginia. "Like I said, I knew that you were obviously having a bad day today. I mean, we all have those days. It doesn't make what you did okay, but you're not like this all the time."
"I thought you'd be telling her what a jerk I am," said Jojo, still surprised. "I thought you said you were ashamed to be my sister."
"I said I was ashamed to be your sister today," Virginia clarified, smiling a little bit. "There's a difference."
Jojo slowly smiled, although still looking astounded by Virginia's charity. "Wow… thanks," he murmured.
"If you're really, truly thankful, you know how you can show it?" said Virginia sneakily. "You can tell Courtney that you'd like to take her to the dance."
Jojo sighed in resignation. "I'll think about it, alright?"
Virginia smiled, knowing that that one statement pretty much meant "yes" from Jojo. "You do that."
…………
Lunchtime and recess in the elementary schools were free from the middle-school relationship dramas that the mayor's oldest children dealt with, but their younger sisters had their own issues to handle. Recess was, of course, supposed to be a fun play break for the kids, and for many it was… but unfortunately, for others it was a half-hour of being bullied and belittled.
Claire would have thought she was used to it by now, but she wasn't.
"I really hate recess," she admitted to her sister Pam. The two were sitting in the schoolyard sandbox, Pam constructing magnificent castles and moats, but Claire hadn't made so much as one little hill, instead sitting sullenly and tugging at Milford's trunk.
"How can you hate it?" Pam asked, making a face. "It's way better than being in class!"
"At least in class, Bailey and Sharona don't make fun of me," Claire sighed. "When there's a teacher there, they're way nicer because they don't want to get in trouble."
"If you want them to be nicer to you during recess, then just always hang out by a playground monitor," said Pam logically.
"Yeah, and look like a total loser!" Claire cried.
"So? You always do."
Pam and Claire both looked up in surprise—there was Bailey, the girl who was definitely a bully, but not in the traditional physical way. Perhaps it was because Bailey was a girl and not a boy, or perhaps it was just in her haughty nature, but Bailey's form of bullying was the one that scarred the soul—verbal.
"Go away, Bailey," snapped Pam. "Leave my sister alone."
Bailey hesitated—she was outnumbered, and would be even more so if their six other birth siblings got in on the act to defend their crybaby sister. "Why should I?" she finally sniffed, not able to resist taunting Claire. "Look at her! She still carries that stupid elephant around with her everywhere!"
"His name's Milford!" Claire protested, although curling up in growing fear.
"Who says she can't carry her elephant around with her?" Pam protested.
"Everybody who's not a moron! It makes her look like a baby!"
"I'm not a baby!" whimpered Claire.
"Oh yeah?" taunted Bailey viciously, quickly snatching Milford out of Claire's arms.
"Give him back!" Claire shrieked, sounding on the verge of tears.
"Crybaby!"
"Knock it off!" snapped Pam angrily, standing up to better face Bailey. "Give it back now!"
"Make me!"
Pam grabbed Bailey's arm and twisted it tightly, and Bailey shrieked in pain, although she still kept a hold of Milford.
Unsurprisingly, this schoolyard tussle had drawn the attention of many of their classmates, including Pam and Claire's birth siblings. And they were not going to take kindly to seeing their sister be mistreated so… especially not Zoe, who never needed an excuse to fight… but always welcomed any excuse anyway.
"Aw, who's the baby?" she growled at Bailey. "You're the one who won't let go of the elephant now!"
"I will so let go of the stupid elephant!" shouted Bailey, holding Milford over her head, swinging him in the air a few times—
"No, don't!" shrieked Claire.
—and flung him into the pond that lay just beyond the school property.
"Alright, now you've asked for it!" growled Pam, flinging herself at Bailey. Her sister Becca was quick to follow. The two girls, in a dive, pinned Bailey to the ground… and Zoe was right behind them.
"Take this!" she hollered, swinging punch after punch on Bailey's chest.
Claire, meanwhile, had sprinted after her tossed toy, and had in fact ran straight into the lake, far enough so that she was completely underwater. Her remaining birth siblings—Hailey, Annie, Betty, and Winnie—all ran after her, screaming, "No, Claire, stop!"
Because Claire couldn't swim, after all—and while she had quickly found Milford, floating right above her, she couldn't reach the surface—she couldn't breathe! She couldn't—
And suddenly she was hoisted up to the surface, Hailey pulling her up by one arm and Betty by the other. Neither of them had ever learned to swim either, yet they were still somehow instinctively doggy-paddling to keep their sister afloat and breathing. "Hurry up, hurry up, bring her back!" Annie and Winnie cried, nearly sobbing, standing on the bank.
This, then, was the scene that the principal came rushing out of the school building to find—Hailey and Betty bravely hoisting Claire out of the water, Annie and Winnie sobbing with relief and hugging their rescued sister, and Pam and Becca still pinning Bailey to the ground while Zoe flung punch after punch to her chest—and now face as well.
"STOOOOOP!" the principal screeched.
…………
Ten minutes later, five nine-year-old girls were in the principal's office, all looking forlorn, but for different reasons.
Claire, still damp and shivering, was huddled up in a blanket, sobbing despite her best efforts. As for the other four, they were all getting lectured by their mothers, who had been called in as soon as possible.
"I've really had it about up to here with you, Zoe," Sally admonished her daughter, who was staring sullenly at the floor, not daring to look her mother in the eye. "It seems like every day I hear that you've been bullying someone at school—"
"But Bailey started it!" Becca protested.
"I don't care who started it. It's never okay to hit someone! I thought you'd have known that by now." She glared sternly at Zoe, Becca, and Pam. "The three of you are all grounded until further notice… and trust me, that's not going to come for a very long time."
Pam and Becca joined Zoe in staring down at the floor in shame.
Meanwhile, Bailey's mother was also reprimanding her troublesome child. "How would you like it if someone threw your favorite toy into the lake?" she asked.
"Aw, come on, Mom, I just—"
"You just nothing! Now go and apologize to Claire."
Bailey gave a moan of irritation, but apparently knew better than to argue with her mother. She looked across the room to Claire, still shivering and sobbing under her blanket. "Sorry," she mumbled inaudibly.
"It's… it's okay," whimpered Claire.
"Becca, Pam, Zoe—apologize to Bailey," Sally demanded.
Zoe looked up in protest. "But—"
"No buts! You attacked her and hurt her badly, and the very least you owe her is an apology. Apologize right now or you'll be grounded even longer!"
"Sorry," the three girls mumbled, non-convincingly.
The principal sighed. "That's the best we're going to get out of any of them right now, so it'll have to do," she said. "Now, the four of you are going to also be staying after school for the rest of the school year."
"What?" cried Becca in dismay. "But that's—"
"It's only a week," said Pam.
"But still, that sucks!" whined Bailey. "Do I have to? My chest hurts too bad!"
"Yes, all four of you have to," said the principal sternly. "We have to do something about your bullying behavior." He turned to the fifth child in the room, the first victim. "As for Claire—"
The school nurse stepped forward. "As for Claire, she's running a temperature. The lake's still very chilly, and I'm afraid she might have caught a cold when she submerged. You'd better take her home with you, Ms. O'Malley."
Sally nodded. "Alright. Come on, Claire, we'd better get going. Your grandma can only handle your youngest sisters alone for so long."
Claire sniffled, nodded, and stood up slowly, fiercely holding a wet and dirty Milford close to her body.
Becca, Pam, and Zoe all quickly averted their eyes back down to the floor when their mother walked by them, although they could still feel her glower at them. "We'll be talking about this more when you get home," she said sternly.
"We have detention, we'll be late," Pam mumbled.
"You certainly will be, but don't think I'm done with you yet." And with that, she took Claire by the hand and led her out of the office and outside.
"It's cold," Claire whimpered, her teeth chattering. She had left the blanket in the office, seeing as it was the nurse's and not hers.
"Here, sweetie." Sally put an arm around her shoulders as she walked her down the schoolyard and on their way back home. "When we get home I'll give you a nice warm bath."
"Milford too?" Claire asked hopefully.
Sally smiled softly. "Yes… Milford too."
Poor Claire. Her attachment to Milford was… well, in a way understandable and even normal. What kid didn't have a favorite stuffed animal? But Claire was nine years old, far past the age of bringing security toys to school and crying when parted with them. Sally wasn't about to rush any of her children into "growing up" before they were good and ready, but Claire's abnormal behavior concerning that elephant certainly singled her out for bullying, as today's incident had made crystal clear.
"I'm sorry you had to leave home, Mommy," she said sadly, still sniffling back tears. "This wouldn't have happened if I weren't such a big baby."
"You don't look like a big baby to me," said Sally. "You look like a very intelligent and kind-hearted nine-year-old girl. And it's not your fault that you were bullied. It's good for us grown-ups to find out about it, so we can help put a stop to it."
"But you had to leave all the youngest girls and come take me home and take care of me—"
"Oh, come on, I almost welcome the break," said Sally. "I would have preferred it if it was a break that didn't involve having to dish out punishment to your sisters, of course…"
"But—ah… ah… ah-choo!" Claire sniffled again, but this time it was from her weak sneeze rather than from crying. "But I'm sick and you're going to have to give me a bath and give me medicine when all my little sisters need you more!"
"Hey now," laughed Sally, "I can manage thirty-seven girls all under the age of six all by myself on a normal day. Adding just one more older girl isn't going to completely throw me off! Besides," she added with a knowing smile, "your grandma probably won't mind staying and helping with your little sisters."
"Really?" said Claire hopefully.
"Really."
Claire finally smiled. "I hope she brought candy. Grandma always brings the best candy!"
"Oh, of course, candy! That's just the thing you need to curb your fever!" said Sally, playfully sarcastic, and affectionately squeezing Claire's shoulder.
Claire sniffled again, but she also giggled softly.
…………
At the end of the school day, Jojo ran as fast as his short legs could carry him down the hallways, hoping to catch Courtney at her locker before she left. He still had no real desire to take her—or anyone—to the dance, but he had a feeling Virginia would probably kill him if he didn't. Or, if she didn't kill him, be very disappointed in him… and Jojo couldn't stand the feeling of letting someone down.
Although lord knows I've done it so often, I should be used to it by now, he thought as he rounded a corner and nearly slid and fell. But he managed to keep his balance, and good thing, too, because this was the hallway where Courtney's locker was, and she was thankfully still there, putting her books away for the weekend.
"Hey!" he blurted out. Courtney turned and looked at him quizzically, and still a little bitterly.
"What?" she asked.
Jojo took in a deep breath… and said nothing. Because he didn't know what to say to her. Apologize? That was what Virginia had told him to do, but he still felt he had nothing to apologize for. What should he say—"Sorry you've learned what the real me is like, guess you don't like me anymore, huh? Thank goodness!"
"I don't hate you," he finally said abruptly.
This made Courtney, if anything, even more confused. "What?" she asked again.
"I—I don't hate you," Jojo repeated awkwardly. "I mean, I don't really like you either, but I don't hate you like I said at lunch."
"Oh…" A small smile began to creep up on Courtney's face, as she began to realize that Jojo was attempting to apologize to her. "Uh, thanks?"
"I actually think you're annoying," said Jojo tactlessly. "But I don't hate you."
"Well, that's a step, I guess," said Courtney, blushing a bit as her smile grew larger.
Jojo sighed inwardly. Oh, great, she'd better not go lovesick on me again. "Um, anyway… Virginia's making me take you to the dance tonight."
Courtney's smile was still there, but it had morphed into a confused one. "What?" she asked for the third time.
"You're—you're going to the dance with me tonight," said Jojo. "I don't really want to go, and I don't want to go with anyone, but Virginia told me I have to take you. So… so you're going with me."
Courtney almost fell against her locker, a look of total astonishment on her face. "Oh my gosh, he's actually asking me out," she said in disbelief, but still smiling in wonderment, not even looking at Jojo anymore. "I think he's actually trying to ask me out."
"I'm not asking you out!" Jojo protested. "I'm saying that you're going to the dance with me so Virginia won't be mad at me, alright?"
"It's really happening…" Courtney continued, still talking to her locker. "It's not the conventional way of doing it, but the one and only Jojo McDodd has just asked me out to the dance!"
"I'm not asking you! I'm telling you!" cried Jojo in frustration. "You're going with me, and that's final! Stop smiling like that… this doesn't mean anything," he growled. "I don't like you, remember? And you don't like me either, I thought. I mean, you don't like me anymore."
"Oh, I could never stop liking you!" sighed Courtney dreamily.
Jojo rolled his eyes. "You suddenly started liking me without warning, so I'm sure you could stop liking me just as fast."
"I've always liked you, Jojo!" Courtney protested. "I mean, I'll admit I haven't liked you…" She blushed furiously. "I haven't liked you like… like this for very long. But I always thought you seemed pretty cool."
"You never talked to me," said Jojo.
"Because you never talked to anyone—and I figured you just don't like to talk!"
Jojo blinked. "Well… well, I don't…"
"And then when you saved Who-ville, and all these girls were crowding around you… I don't know, I got a little possessive. I saw you first, after all. Well, not in a like-like way," she added quickly, "but at least I knew who you were before anyone else did!"
Jojo raised an eyebrow, his expression softening in slow recognition. Courtney was still annoying, true, and Jojo wasn't sure if he could put up with her for more than two seconds. But there was more to her than what met the eye. Maybe she could, given time, become somewhat… tolerable.
Courtney smiled. "So what time are you picking me up at my house tonight?"
"Uh…" Jojo frantically thought back to yesterday, when Rhiannon had landed Ryan as a date. "Uh… 6:30?"
"Alright… see you then." She smiled sweetly at him, closed her locker, and ambled down the hallway.
Ambled, then walked. Then power-walked. Then ran. Then sprinted, leaping into the air. "WOOOOOOOO-HOOOOOOOOO!" she finally let herself shriek for joy.
Jojo moaned. Virginia, what have you gotten me into?