It was Tuesday, four days before we were to play Johnny Harris High School in the state football championship.  The school was decorated in peach and red, the school colors. (the uniforms looked rather cool, thank you)  Me and the usual group of kids sat at the usual table in the back of the cafeteria.   Michael had his nose buried in some Nintendo magazine while Jimmy seemed to be upset about something and wasn't talking.  Dean was busy studying for a Calculus test, which he was going to have in roughly twenty minutes, after the lunch break.  I sat bored, with nothing to eat, study, or ponder over.  The table was usually engaged in lively geek conversation, which sometimes seemed embarrassing if overheard by other students but was sometimes too sophisticated for those of average wit to understand.  After a moment or so of silence, I got up and went to the snack stand to purchase a box of miniature chocolate chip cookies.  When I got back I figured I should ask Jimmy what was bothering him.

"Stuart.  I'm just a plain 'ole dork.  I'm never going to fit in and I'm never going to get a job because people don't want geeky people to be working with their clients and their customers!"

"Whoa chill." I said back to him.  It's not that big of a problem.  Jimmy handed me a rolled up copy of the school newspaper.

"Read the editorial on the third page." He said.  I turned to the third page to find a long column that nearly took up two full pages of the eight and a half by eleven inch page.  I noticed the author's name written at the top.  Brittany Singletary.  Not a cheerleader, but a popular none the less.  She like the others never spoke to us when it could be avoided but her grudge against me and the other of my ilk was extraordinary.  Last year I beat her at a debate regarding school uniforms.  She was a fashion nut and religiously defended the liberal dress code, which was one of the few dress codes in the country that permitted things like spaghetti straps and skirts with a sport bra.  She resented it greatly, and I felt not an ounce of guilt for trouncing her in the debate.  My argument was based on hard facts and hers a passionate argument about self expression –a bunch of BS if you ask me. Luckily, the conservative teachers evaluating our words did not buy her cow dung.  I almost laughed at the mere sight of her name at the top of such an editorial entitled "Teens of the 2000's".

"You're going to let the words of that brick head bring you down, Jimmy?" I said in as cheerful as a voice as I could.

"Just read it, Stuart" he said back.  "The little priss may be on to something here."

I looked back down at the long editorial.  It read:

'For those of you who have been around senior citizens, whether it be grandparents or other acquaintances, you have probably heard them say a nasty word about today's youth more than once.  It angers me greatly to hear them criticizing our generation when clearly there is little difference in our generation and theirs.  Of course, the new more liberal attitude towards education has led to some violence in our schools that was not present in their day, but they have no right to degrade our generation as they do.  Many old people are not exposed to normal teens, and are given the wrong picture.'

I skimmed the next few paragraphs, not caring to read what was something about the definition of a normal teen.  I began reading with full attention when I noticed there was a mention of the Ruby Falls High School Marching Band.

'While many of these "geeks" assemble into mafia and separate themselves from the crowd, man can be found in the organization of the Ruby Falls Marching Band.  I don't want to create any generalizations, but has anyone been around any of these people?  You can sometimes feel more embarrassed for them than you can feel for yourself.  They are really nothing but an embarrassment to the entire school when we have football games and there are people from other schools in the state that are watching them.  Need I remind you that our school also hosts the North Georgia Marching Festival?  It is embarrassing to be breathing the air of a school that hosts such an event.  Call me a radical, but I think students such as these need to be sent to alternative schools, where they can either learn to live as normal human beings, or stay out of our civilized society,  it would certainly solve some of the problems of school violence, and the bad images of today's teens would go away.'

Well to say that this infuriated me would be an understatement.  We give teenagers a bad name?  Is it or is it not us "geeks" that are getting pregnant, drinking beer, smoking pot, and rebelling against authority figures in any way possible?  Of course we were still far from sin free, but I just knew that if every teen in the world was like us, then teenagers would have a MUCH better image in the eyes of the elders than they do now!

 "Guys" I said that historic day at the lunch table.  "This calls for some action.  They have done some pretty nasty things to us, I think it's high time we got a little vengeance.  What do you say?"

"We could go around the school shooting cap guns to give 'em a scare." Michael said.

"Don't even joke about joking about that." I said in a serious tone.  "I know a way we can get them good.  It's perfectly legal…and we may actually get some praise for this…"

"Sounds darn good to me" said Michael.  Even Dean's mood seemed to perk up at the sound of this.

"Well" I began "I'm not supposed to know this, but someone has a copy of the key to the underground gym.  After the game Friday they are secretly throwing a huge party down there…practically all the populars as well as many of the other influential people will be there.  It's going to be a huge celebration…they are going to have a beer drinking contest- free cigars- you name it.  Well of course we aren't invited – like we'd want to go to that idiot convention in the first place…anyway, this is criminal trespass you know, but they won't get caught, unless…someone who knows about this party squeals to the police.  Are you catching my drift guys?"

"Loud and clear Stuart" said Michael.  He and the other boys had maniacal smiles on their faces.  We left for lunch that day in high spirits.

For the remaining three days before the big game, football fever had struck pretty much the entire school.  Everyone was excited, including some who usually were not into sports, a good indicator that they were just going to get into the top secret lock-in they were having in the gym.  I have heard many of the high in crowd people talking of "the celebration" and I knew they must be discussing the party.  It was a very big deal to be getting an invitation to "the celebration".  It meant you were among "the coolest".  Left and right rumors were flying about the people organizing it, people planning to crash it, events going on at it, and people who knew nothing of it were also trying to speculate of where this party would be held. With every conversation I overheard regarding the party, I grew more excited as I was going to fry them or underage drinking, criminal trespass; and not to mention the felony of having an illegal copy of the gym's door key.

The band was pretty excited too, as most of them were football lovers, with the exception of the really gifted players, who usually weren't quite as in to the game as they were the music.  Apparently Michael had let a few others in on our plan, and I wasn't real worried as I trusted the involved.  I did confront him and made sure he was careful who he discussed it with, as obviously if anyone found out about our plan it would be ruined.

The day of the big game finally came.  None of the teachers bothered in trying to teach a lesson, as the excitement of the upcoming game was just too tremendous.  The faculty seemed to notice the greater than usual amount of excitement but thought nothing of it.  Me and my comrades were also anxious to get the party on, so we could get to see the looks on their pathetic faces when they were carried away in hand cuffs.

That night at the game the stadium was packed and many people had to stand on both sidelines and in both end zones.  We made sure to play our songs extra loud, so as to try and piss the cheerleaders off.  While we did have three penalties called on us, it meant exactly squat as the team went on to win 51-13.  Me and my friends told our parents we were going to an activity at the church, and at midnight we made our move.

"Yes I'm calling to report trespassers at the Ruby Falls High School Gymnasium."  We stayed out of sight in the student parking lot.  Within five minutes a single police car arrived.  An officer got out of his cruiser, looked into the overhead window of the gym, said something into his radio, and got back into his car.

"Dammit!" yelled Jimmy out loud.  "He must not have seen anything!"  But that couldn't have been true.  The officer was standing there, as if waiting for something to happen. 

"No" I said.  "Jimmy, I think he's calling for…backup!"

"Sweet!" he said and we all exchanged high fives.  Sure enough, moments later, roughly a dozen or so patrol cars pulled into the student parking lot, blue lights lighting up the area.  The officers armed themselves and broke the locked door into the gym.  The slight thumping noise you could hear from the base of the party music stopped.  Moments later they emerged again with all of the students with their hands on their heads.  We used our binoculars.  It was just as sweet as we imagined.  All of them who had shunned us as being inferior had had their arrogant and rebelling attitudes catch up with them.  I, Michael, Jimmy, Dean, and several other guys that were in the marching band were going out of our mind with joy.  Revenge was so sweet…and to think we can be good citizens and still get away with frying those preppy people.

I know it is a great sin to wish bad fortune on anyone or to delight in anyone's bad times, but it was so sweet to see the demoralized in-crowd bummed out for the next two weeks.  I did not feel an ounce of guilt as it was they who brought it on themselves.  In that one night there were 36 arrests for underage drinking, 52 counts for underage possession of tobacco products, 6 counts of possession of illegal drugs, and 73 counts of criminal trespass.  The story of course made the Atalanta newspaper, the "Atlanta Journal Constitution" and I had it framed and placed on the wall in my room.  I still to this day do not regret this deed.  As a matter of fact, it is one of the great highlights of my young life.

Now that this tale is concluded, allow me to get back to the philosophical aspect of all of this.  If you are a "geek", and it takes a real big person to admit he or even she is one, try to be proud of it.  You are of the most intelligent and kind people that there is.  Except for what remains for us in the afterlife, there is nothing greater a mortal man or woman can have than intelligence.  In a civilized society, the intelligent rule…period.  You are among the most intelligent living things on this planet…this entire freaking planet.  And do not be ashamed of being involved in the marching band. You have to be pretty darn intelligent to be successful in it, and sometimes those cheerleaders just don't have what it takes.  I certainly hope the football band program at your school gets more respect than they do here, but just in case you ever get mocked for it, remember this.