Chapter 36: The Revenge of Kurst the Worst

Kurst the Worst was not content to just sit around and let Mundy plan and take care of everything concerning 'the Spinelli problem.' In fact, as much as she would like to see Spinelli taken care of by those who could certainly do the job, she still bore a personal resentment due to being beaten by such a scrawny opponent.

She couldn't take the humiliation of it all and she'd never feel vindicated unless she added a personal touch to the group's revenge plan. In addition, she was not as stupid as people were apt to believe. Kurst knew that although the challenge would be enough to lure Spinelli in, it would not necessarily keep her there. Specifically if the older kids were running late.

Kurst figured they needed insurance and she knew exactly who she wanted to use. The perfect pawn for her revenge. The small, kid who looked like a human version of Piglet from Winnie-the-Pooh. He was the best target since would bring out the most sympathy. And she couldn't believe none of her group had thought of messing with her old crew. Now that would cause Spinelli to go back!

Everyone knew that when it came to do-gooders and even not-so-gooders, friendship was not so easily thrown away because of one differing decision. Spinelli had a loyalty to her old crew, whether she was willing to admit it or not. She was protective of them and refused to mess with them. That much had been evident during the Junglegym fight. Spinelli had no problem messing with King Bob and other associates, but when it came down to it if she'd wanted to prove her 'badness' she would have gone after her old crew.

Because Spinelli had not, Kurst knew she wasn't as bad as she said she was. Until Spinelli went after her own crew, Kurst would never consider her bad. So her revenge was also a test of sorts, if Spinelli did something about it then her revenge worked. If she did not then Kurst would have to accept her into the group. But she was banking on revenge and that was why she took this chance and why she had prowled the playground to find the Piglet boy as soon as Spinelli had gone off home.

Interestingly enough, Kurst found him seemingly hiding behind a dumpster. She wondered if the boy had figured out somehow prior that she was coming, but she couldn't fathom a way that could be true. She hadn't told anyone or said anything to anyone about the plan.

So perhaps she wasn't the only one with thoughts of either using this boy as revenge against Spinelli or going after him in general. For him to be this paranoid before she even showed up had to be a sign of some kind of foul play. Kurst almost felt bad for him as she looked down at him, looming a few feet away, her shadow covering him even as she just stood there.

She had half a mind to let him go from that spot. All she had to do was turn around and walk away. She may have been a bad kid, but she wasn't evil. And worst of all she knew that this was not only revenge, but also a betrayal of a kind. After all she was still friends with Mikey, not to mention they were food buddies and all. But she had a reputation to uphold and to her, rep was more important than "them other things."

And so the minute Gus looked up at her his fate was sealed. She would not back out now. She did the sinister chuckle and talked the talk. Then it was time to walk the walk.

After claiming him as insurance, Kurst picked the boy up and threw him over her shoulder, even as he struggled and did her best to remain inconspicuous. When he was about to yell she covered his mouth with her own hand. She couldn't afford for any of his crew to get a glance at him now. No doubt they'd plan some cockamamie scheme that ended up with Kurst minus a hostage. Or they'd use Mikey against her. And that wasn't something she was ready to face. She supposed one day she'd have to be, but that day wasn't today.

Kurst figured her best bet was to stick to the school building where few people would actually be paying attention to during recess, including teachers. She managed to do pretty well until she passed the window to the Music room.

A deep voice sung outwards from the room through an open window. Kurst froze, eyes widening as she recognized the voice. For a full minute she stood stock still, one hand over Gus' mouth, the other maintaining holding him, listening to the voice. Her eyes seemed to glisten then, which for most kids would have meant that they were crying. But Kurst didn't cry.

'It must be allergies.' She told herself as she turned her face to look over at Mikey.

He looked so innocent and at peace there singing his heart out, never suspecting that a sort of friend of his, at the very least food buddy, was betraying him as he stood there. His voice seemed to call out to friends and had a sort of power all its own. Kurst was held by it for a minute and allowed herself to linger a bit as she put all efforts into fighting the urge to forget the whole thing.

The truth is she was already too far gone in the plan to stop now. Morals and reputation had clashed and reputation had won in the end. It might have been upsetting, but that was the case anyway you looked at it. Kurst allowed herself a little bit of time in case this was the last time she'd be seeing Mikey's happy face. Then she steeled herself, stood as tall as she was able to, and marched herself and her insurance right off school property.

There were only two people on the playground that noticed anything of what happened. One who simply saw a lock of orange-red hair and a red shirt as it glided past the window and the other who saw exactly what had happened.