Chapter 10

The next morning, I woke up on time. In fact, I got to the bus stop about ten minutes before the bus even got there! I sat next to Mae on the bus. Chris got on at the next stop and sat across from me. However, when Justin got on, he sat way up front, instead of in the back with us. Mae and I looked at each other, and we both knew that Justin was still mad at us.

It was pretty much a normal school day. I went to all my classes, we all gathered for middle school announcements, etc. Everything was as usual. That is, until lunchtime.

I had just finished eating, and I was walking back to my locker, when I saw Delilah. She was face to face with another girl in her grade. Her name was Diane Rosenstein, I think.

Diane was popular in the 7th grade, but pretty low in terms of the whole school. From where I was standing, I could hear Diane making all these insults about Delilah's appearance. That ticked me off enough to step into the situation.

"Hey kid, who the heck do you think you're talking to?" I asked demandingly.

Delilah turned around, and Diane had to look past Delilah to see me. Delilah's embarrassed face broke into a huge smile.

"Who are you talking to?" Diane asked rudely.

"Who the hell do you think I'm talking to?" I snapped.

"Who are you, and why do you even care what I'm doing?"

"I'm Bucky, and I'm Delilah's older brother."

Diane looked a bit shocked. "Really? Oh I see now…you too look somewhat alike…weird and ugly!"

"Hey, I don't care what you call me. But when people pick on my sister, things can get ugly, if I must admit!"

"What are you going to do about it…huh?"

There was a long pause.

"I didn't think so. I mean, you couldn't hit me, because you'd get in huge trouble."

By now most of the kids had come back from lunch, and they were all around us.

"You know what," I sighed, "You're right. I would get in trouble if I hit you, wouldn't I?" I pretended to look defeated.

Diane smiled proudly.

I smirked. "But I know who can. Hey, I could use a little help over here!"

Diane looked confused. What I had just done was basically send a signal. Luckily I had said it right when it would be heard. I saw a section of the kids surrounding us start getting shoved out of the way. I heard a familiar voice:

"Coming through! Get out of the way, idiot!"

Out from the crowd came Sabrina. She quickly jogged up to me. "What is it?" she asked.

I explained the situation.

Now Sabrina had her well known icy glare. She turned towards Diane.

"Look kid, you're picking on the wrong girl. It case you didn't know, I could beat you up in a minute. I've never stood up for anyone but myself before, but that's all going to change right now. I swear, if you say anything insulting to Delilah again, or even look at her rudely, and I find out about it, you're not going to live to see another day. Do you hear me?"

Diane scowled and started to walk away. That's when Sabrina lost it. She ran up to Diane and punched her, really hard. Diane fell flat onto her stomach. Some of her friends hurried over to help Diane up.

"What was that about?" one of them asked her.

"I don't know. Some freaks just came out of nowhere and hit me."

Some freaks came out of nowhere, I repeated in my head. Who the heck did that girl think she was dealing with?

That night, I walked into Delilah's room. She was sitting on the floor, reading a book.

"Hey, Deli," I said. That was the nickname I gave her.

"Hey."

"You alright?"

"Not really."

She looked up from her book, and slowly got to her feet. "You see, I want to be more popular at school, but everyone thinks I'm weird. They always say that I dress weirdly, or just anything about how I look or the way I act…like Diane. I always try to look better, but it never works!"

She sat down again, and she started to cry. I felt terrible. I had to cheer her up, and I knew exactly how.

"You know what," I said, "I think it's time for one of my famous Bucky Anderson Makeovers! How about it?"

This is something I used to do when Delilah and I were younger. I would wait for her to take a shower and get dressed, then she would call me in. I fixed her hair and stuff like that. I know it sounds like something a girl would do, but it was the only time I used to really feel connected to my sister.

Don't judge me…I'm the only boy in the family (besides my dad, of course)!

"Are you serious?" she asked, sounding surprised. "You haven't given me one of those since you were in…what…5th grade?"

Obviously, she agreed. I think she looked pretty cute when I was done. She kept staring into the mirror for minutes on end! "Thanks, Buckinator! I love it!"

I groaned. As much as I loved my sister, I still hated it when she called me Buckinator. She laughed and gave me a hug.

"Well, I hope that helps," I said to her.

"Me too."

"Goodnight."

"Later, Buckinator!"

I tucked her into bed. Almost immediately, she was fast asleep. I kissed her forehead, and tip-toed out of her room, shutting off her light as I left. When I got back to my room, I saw that my clock said it was 10:03.

That's when I remembered something: It wouldn't be long before I would have to be over at Mae's house. I quickly changed and waited. 10:15 actually came faster than I had expected. In no time flat, I was out the window, onto the ground, and racing off for the tree house.