A Little Bad

By the time Monday rolled around and the new dress code was in full force Stella had come to terms with her fate. She walked onto campus that day wearing the exact same outfit everyone else was. No alterations, no accessories, just the simple uniform.

"It's gonna be okay, Stells," Joe said, coming up beside her and taking the rolling suitcase from her hand. "Hey," he said, pausing, "this is empty." He lifted the suitcase up with a single finger as proof.

"I know," Stella said sadly, "it's so I can take home all the extra clothes I keep in my locker."

"Don't you mean lockersss?"

"Yes," she bit out. "I suppose I can give that extra one back now."

He leaned into her and was pleased when she smiled back at him. "Do you want any help?"

"You don't have to --"

"Hey. I aced Stella Malone's Clothes Folding 101 course. When else am I gonna use those skills?"

Her expression turned serious and he quickly added, "Other than every single time I fold my laundry or pack for a trip, I mean."

"That's right," she said as they reached her lockers. "And I'd be glad to have your help."

They started with the second one, emptying it of various accessories, fabrics, and odds and ends before moving on to the locker she actually used for school. Inside it were extra uniforms for both her and the guys, each of them altered to be more fashionable than the simple uniforms they were forced to wear now.

"Aw, man," Joe muttered, folding his extra shirt, "I love this one. You think it'd be weird if I wore it on tour?"

"You're serious?" Stella asked.

"Yeah. We could have a whole number where we wear the old uniforms. There's no point in letting them go to waste."

Stella grinned. "Thanks."

"I'm not doing it for you," Joe said. "Well, not just for you. We all really do like the uniforms you made us."

Stella took the shirt from him and put it in the suitcase with a sigh. "That's the last of it." She zipped it up and pulled it up onto its wheels. Joe grabbed it from her and threw his free hand around her shoulders, pulling her towards the parking lot so they could put the suitcase in her car before class.

"They're so cute," Macy said, watching Joe and Stella pass her by.

"Yeah," Kevin agreed. "But not nearly as cute as Mr. Piebald."

"The hamster?" Macy asked.

Kevin nodded. "Did you bring the you-know-what?"

Macy pulled the clear plastic ball out of her book bag. "I'll put it in my football helmet when I change for PE, then I'll swing by the firehouse after school and no one will ever suspect a thing."

"Thanks, Mace."

Macy's eyes widened and she quickly stuffed the ball back into her bag, along with her Chemistry and English books, neither of which she needed until after lunch. Kevin had called her Mace! He'd used her nickname! And all she could do was think about how much she wished he'd leave so she could text Stella and how much she wished he'd stay so they could talk some more. Of course, the talking would be easier if she actually paid attention to anything he was saying.

"I'm sorry, Kevin, could you repeat that?"

"Do you think Stella's gonna be okay? I mean, she spent like all weekend at our house watching Clueless and Pride and Prejudice."

Macy winced. "That's never a good sign. The last time she power watched girl movies was when that Sharona Knows blog put you guys on the fashion don't list."

"Yeah," Kevin said slowly, "that Sharona's mean."

"But she'll be fine," Macy said quickly. "If Stella could somehow let Fiona Skye walk out of this school alive then she can get used to the uniforms. Just give her a few days."

"Hey!" Kevin said suddenly. "Maybe if she was excited about this weekend it'd help get her mind off the uniforms."

"Kevin! That's a great idea!"

"Really?" Kevin asked, genuinely surprised.

"Of course." The bell rang before she could say any more. "Dang," she muttered. "I'll catch her between classes and tell her how excited I am to be coming along. I -- am -- still coming along, right?"

"Yeah. Mom and Dad said it was a great idea. 'Cause Mom was gonna room with Stella and Dad was gonna room with Frankie and now they're gonna put Frankie in our room and you'll room with Stella and Mom and Dad'll be together. They were really happy. It was kind of creepy."

Macy snickered. "Good, I'm glad they're okay with it. I'll see you at lunch."

Nick sat in the atrium, strumming out what he hoped would be the chorus to a new song. Usually he would sit with his brothers during lunch but he'd gotten this idea during History and really wanted to get the song hammered out before the lunch hour ended. He leaned over, making a note in the binder he had laid out on the bench beside him.

"Mis-ter Lucas!" a harsh voice snapped.

Nick jumped, he hadn't heard the door open. The shiver that ran up his spine at the sight of the new principal confused him a bit. He'd never been intimidated by authority figures before. He shrugged it off and stood politely.

"Hello, sir."

Principal Angeletti looked down his nose at the guitar in Nick's hand. "Are you enrolled in any music classes, Mr. Lucas?"

Nick frowned. "Um, no, sir."

At the "um" Angeletti's frown deepened. "Well then, it seems we have a problem."

"Problem, sir?" Nick wasn't sure why he kept ending every sentence with the term of respect, he just felt compelled to do so while under Angeletti's unwavering gaze.

"Musical instruments are to be used only in the music rooms unless part of an approved performance."

"But the music rooms are for classes," Nick said slowly. "Sir. I can't go in there to work on my songs."

"Exactly. Which means you won't be lugging your guitar around campus and breaking into song any longer. You can keep your guitar with you for the rest of the day but I don't expect to see it on campus again. Are we clear?"

Nick's hand tightened around the neck of his guitar. He was starting to see why the others had been so against Angeletti's crack down.

"Crystal, sir," he said stiffly and watched angrily as Principal Angeletti went to find a new student to torture.

"He's evil," Nick said, sitting down so hard at the lunch table that he almost bruised his tailbone.

"Who?" Kevin asked.

"Angeletti," Nick said so viciously it sounded like a curse. "He just told me I can't bring my guitar to school anymore."

"What?" Kevin and Joe cried in unison.

"You heard me," Nick said, not wanting to repeat the painful fact.

"Well don't tell Stella," Kevin hissed, watching as Macy and Stella approached with their lunch trays. "Macy's trying to cheer her up and if you ruin all her work she might kill you."

Nick's eyes darted to Macy and he paled slightly. He nodded just before the girl's attention turned to them.

"Hey, guys," Stella said, "what's up?"

"Nothing," the three chorused.

Macy and Stella exchanged a look. It took only a second but in it the guys could see an entire conversation of girl-speak.

"They're hiding something."

"Kevin's voice was a pinch too high."

"It would be better not to ask though, don't you think?"

"Why ruin their chivalry? We'll let it go. For now anyway."

"Definitely."

And then they were back, smiling and asking Joe if he'd taken notes in Physics last week.

"Yeah," Joe said, pulling out his binder. "You wanna look them over before the quiz?"

Macy nodded. "I need to bring my grade up. I have a B, but if I don't have at least an 88 I don't feel comfortable."

Joe tried to hand the binder to Stella but since he wasn't one to organize it was bursting and slipped out of his hand. It landed on the edge of his tray with enough force to send his soda and his burger flying at him. The burger opened as it flew and hit him square in the chest, leaving a trail of mustard, ketchup, and pickles in its wake. The soda hit his shoulder, the icy liquid soaking almost instantly through his jacket to his shirt.

Macy's hands flew to her mouth, Nick and Kevin looked on in horror, and Stella merely stared, her face betraying no emotion at all -- which was probably worse than if she'd been visibly furious.

"Wow," Nick said, breaking the silence.

"That was --" Kevin began.

"Don't say it," Joe and Stella said at the same time.

Joe opened his mouth to ask Stella to meet him at the nearest boys restroom with a new shirt (he'd know her by the super secret knock they used in situations like this) but then realized she didn't have a new shirt for him.

"We don't have a choice," Stella said. She'd clearly realized the same thing. "You can't go around all day like that. Not only will some paparazzo magically show up to take a photo, but the uniform rules include sloppiness."

"They also include wearing uniforms that haven't been augmented," Nick pointed out.

"Principal Angeletti's one man," Stella said. "He can't be everywhere. Joe'll just explain to his teachers why he's wearing a non-regulation shirt, which will be barely noticeable under his totally regulation jacket."

"There aren't any regulation jackets in the suitcase, Stella," Joe said.

"No," Stella said, smiling at his brothers, "but Nick has PE next and Kevin has PE after that and then it's the end of the day. You can borrow their jackets. They won't fit as well, but they'll have to do." She stood. "Joe. I'll meet you at the nearest bathroom in ten minutes. Listen for the knock. Macy. Study. A fashion crisis is no reason for you to fail the quiz." With that she walked away, heading for the nearest exit.

Joe breathed a sigh of relief as he walked out of Trig with Stella. School was over, they'd all done well on their Physics quiz last period, and Stella wasn't even ranting about Angeletti. In fact, she was gushing about how much fun they were all going to have in D.C. that weekend. Other than Nick not getting to bring his guitar to school anymore, things seemed to be going just fine.

"Kevin!" Joe called, slipping off the jacket he wore. He caught up with Kevin by their lockers and handed it over. "Thanks, man."

"No problem," Kevin said, putting the jacket on. "I'm just glad Angeletti didn't catch you. One Lucas brother in trouble is more than enough."

"What do you mean 'one Lucas brother'?" Stella asked. When Joe winced and Kevin shot him a wild, desperate look Stella asked, "Kevin! Did Angeletti bust you for something?"

"Of course not," Joe said. "Kevin just meant Frankie's usually up to something so that gets him in 'trouble.'" He made exaggerated air quotes. Everyone knew Frankie almost never got in trouble for his stunts. After three older boys, the Lucas parents had grown much more lax in their punishments.

"Exactly," Kevin said, his voice growing higher. "Oh! Do I see Kimmy over there? I should go say hi, mend that bridge, it's been long enough, bye!" Kevin sped away.

Stella folded her arms over her chest and leaned casually against Kevin's locker with a "you don't seriously expect me to buy that" look. Joe pointedly avoided her gaze, rummaging needlessly in his own locker. After nearly a minute Stella huffed.

"Come on, Joe! Tell me what Kevin meant! Did he get in trouble with Angeletti?"

"No, but Mr. Joseph Lucas is about to."

The two teens turned slowly to face Mr. Angeletti.

"Nice shirt you have there, Mr. Lucas."

At once they both began speaking.

"Oh, come on! School's over! You can't bust me for this now! No one even saw it during class! It wasn't distracting anyone at all! And isn't that the whole point of the uniforms, so that our outfits don't distract from the educational process?"

"You can't blame him! It's all my fault! I made him change into the shirt and made it seem like it was a sound plan when really we all knew it wasn't going to work -- our plans never work! They always end in fire and chaos -- well, not fire, but something horrifying like fire --"

"Quiet!" Angeletti bellowed so loudly that all traffic in the hallway ceased. At the sudden quiet he turned, facing the rest of the students. "I believe you all have homes you were quite eager to return to." Traffic immediately picked up once more. "Now, as for you Mr. Lucas."

"It's my fault!" Stella repeated, putting herself between the two of them. "Really it is. I'm the one who made the shirt and I'm the one who made him wear it when his other one got ruined. Punish me."

"No!" Joe said, pushing Stella behind him. "I'm the one wearing the shirt. I'm the one who should be punished."

"Joe!" Stella hissed.

"Stel-la," Joe returned.

"Regardless! Mr. Lucas is correct, Miss Malone. You are 'off the hook' as it were. Mr. Lucas, you have detention."

Joe sighed, his shoulders hunching. "What room is it in today?" he asked sadly.

"Oh no, not today. You have detention this Saturday. Eight o'clock sharp. A.M. Don't be late."

Stella and Joe gaped at his retreating back.

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