Author's note: updated on 10/21/18. Second edit 8/10/22 Enjoy!

Chapter 4: The Lunchoedown

English and Art class went very slow as if it were to never end. Though they went very slow today, Nate handed in his make-up work for Ms. Clarke and Mr. Rosa, much to their excitement and delight.

Nate never forgot the last thing he said to his friends before leaving them behind. Neither did Dee Dee, who thought to herself:

Why would he reject such a beautiful girl like that? He was given the opportunity of a lifetime, and he rejected it. Why?

Sure, the friendships between Nate and his friends are over for good, but Dee Dee urged Ruby and Nate's friends to not give up yet, as she claims to be suspicious of Nate and Randy, because she knows that (a) Nate still likes Ruby, but for some reason, Nate is pretending he doesn't anymore, and (b) Randy might have something to do with Nate, because Nate's friends witnessed Nate and Randy hugging earlier today.

Lunch arrived and Nate got his food and went to look for a place to sit. And after a long search, Nate finally found a place to sit. And it was with Randy and his gang.

"You gonna sit with us?" Randy asks.

"Yeah," Nate replied.

Nate sat with Randy and his gang and ate lunch and chatted a little bit.

A few tables away from Nate, sat Francis, Dee Dee, Teddy, Chad, and Ruby.

Francis looked around the lunchroom, before turning back to say:

"Man, people are angry at us."

"It's crazy, isn't it? No thanks to Nate, we are now part of the unpopular crowd," Teddy responded while sinking his teeth into his sandwich.

"Does anyone understand the significance of 'I'm sorry' anymore?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah...yeah, good point, Ruby," Francis responded before looking around again and asking: "What happened to the significance?"

Ever since the fight today, everyone turned against Nate's ex-friends through gossip and chit-chatter, and NO ONE was willing to talk to the group and has silently shunned them out from their own respective groups.

Chad opened up and said:

"Don't poke a bear. He might eat you."

Everyone looked at Chad in confusion.

"What does that mean?" Dee Dee asked.

Teddy spoke up quickly.

"I think that's one of his grandma's sayings or something."

"Oh...does...does that mean we played a part in this mess we're in?" Dee Dee asks in regret.

"I'm afraid so," Chad said sadly.

"Then, how did he manage to escape punishment today in Mrs. Godfrey's class today?" Teddy asked.

Silence.

"I don't know...but I am BOUND to know what Nate's problem is, and I will not rest until I do," Dee Dee said with determination in her voice.

"Well, good luck, but do it with EXTREME caution. I don't think that Nate liked on what ya did with him," Chad replied while drinking soda.

"You mean the way I wasn't talking to Nate until he calmed down?" Dee Dee asked.

Chad nodded.

"I was waiting until he..." Dee Dee started before Chad said back:

"Think he was trying to express his emotions to you, but you weren't allowing him to do so. It's like you're intolerant to someone who has a bad cold. It could still upset you."

Dee Dee immediately knew Chad was right, but she didn't know what to say.

Silence again. Then:

"Hey, Nate! Heard you broke up with Ruby and your friends today!"

Yup. Gina was teasing Nate over today's incident.

"Leave him alone, Gina," Randy hissed at Gina, who countered back, saying:

"I'm just having some fuuuuuuuunnnnnn here, so back off!"

That's when a light bulb went off Nate's head.

So Nate quietly waved for attention and-

"Hi, everyone! I'm Gina Hemphill-Toms! I'm the SMARTEST student in school!" Nate intimidated Gina.

Everyone began laughing. Everyone except Gina.

"Oh, so you're trying to intimate me, are you? Okay," Gina responded before intimidating Nate back by-

"Oh look everyone! I'm Nate Wrong! I'm the worst student in school and loves stupid comic books!"

Nate quickly responded by correcting Gina by saying:

"Two things. One: It's Nate WRIGHT. And two: I'm done with comic books, so…"

Then Nate snapped his fingers left and right and doing the swirl.

Everyone was stunned then exclaimed:

"Ooooooooooohhhhhhhhhh."

Gina looked stunned. Then she tried to intimate Nate again but…

"Oh look everyone… I'm Nate Wright... and I just love trying to...trying to stand up to Gina and thinks I'm gonna win."

No laughter from the audience.

*Cue crickets chirping*

"Well, let me counter that…" Nate replied before getting into a lady pose and pretending to have hair in a ponytail like Gina's and stroked several times. Not to mention that Nate was getting quite the laughter from the lunch room.

"Oh, that's very funny, Nate. Let me try to counter THAT.." Gina responded before trying to pose like a man pretending to have spiky hair like Nate's and stroking several times. Unfortunately, not much laughter came.

"Let me counter that one," Nate replied back before pulling out a pair of scissors and looked ready to cut his pretend long hair of Gina's.

"Don't you dare, Nate. Don't you-" Gina warned but unfortunately, her warning fell on deaf ears as Nate pretended to cut Gina's pretend hair.

The entire lunchroom roared with laughter. Gina was STUNNED. She looked around the lunchroom as laughter arose her. And something was building inside Gina.

Rage.

And anger.

Hot, boiling anger.

And without warning, Gina begins shouting.

"OH YEAH!? OOHH YEEEEEEEAAAAHHHH!!!!!????"

Then Gina starts screaming at Nate like insane. And long and loud for the laughter from the lunchroom to quickly die down.

After a long scream, Gina stops and takes a few short breaths while staring straight at Nate, who said quietly:

"It's just a hoedown, Gina."

"WELL, THIS IS YOUUUU, NAAAAAAATTE!!!!!" Gina shouts before turning into a literal madman (or mad WOMAN if you want to call it that way) and starts going crazy. And not one person in the lunchroom laughed. Not one. It was all silent and nobody making a move but watching Gina going crazy.

"What...are you doing?" Nate asks in confusion.

"I'M YOU, NATE!" Gina snapped before jumping up and down and making noises and turning to a lunch table and jumping up and down like with it like WICKEDLY INSANE.

"HOW ABOUT THAT NATE, HUH?" Gina shouts.

Then Gina turned to Ruby and exclaimed with a risen hand:

"Oh, I'm gonna high five Ruby! Give me five!"

Ruby didn't high five Gina back. She just stared at Gina. That's when Gina GRABS Ruby's hand and hisses:

"Give me FIVE!"

And next thing you know, Gina is SLAPPING Ruby's hand like nuts for a total of three times.

"HUH? HOW ABOUT THAT, HUH? THAT'S YOU, NATE!" Gina shouted at Nate after slapping Ruby in the hand. Ruby looked like she was about to burst into tears.

Even Nate was disgusted and angered by Gina.

"Okay, p...please stop," Nate says quietly.

"I'm Nate. I'm Nate. And I need attention," Gina responded while getting on one of the lunch tables.

Then Gina exclaimed:

"YEAH, I'M NAAAAAAATTE! I'M NATE! LOOK HERE! LOOK, THAT'S THE FUNNIEST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED IN THE WHOOOOLLLEE WOOOORRRLLLLDDD!!!"

While exclaiming, Gina UNZIPPED her pants, slid her finger into her pants and starting waving her finger left and right, much to everyone's shock and disgust.

Nate felt like something was gonna happen, so he quickly hides his scissors away and continues to watch Gina go berserk and thought to himself:

I created a monster. Way to go, Nate. Way to go.

While wondering to himself, Nate then sees someone walking quietly into the lunchroom, wondering what the commotion is about.

It was Principal Nichols.

And to make it more interesting, no one else noticed the principal. Not one.

"I'M NAAAAAAATTE! I WANT ATTENTION! WOOGIE WOOGIE WOOGIE WOOGIE WOOGIE! I'M NATE! I'MMMMM NATE! WING NING NING NING NING NING NING NING NING NI-" Gina continued to go berserk, then she gets interrupted by Principal Nichols, who shouts:

"Gina Hemphill-Toms!"

Gina immediately stops and turns to the shouter and gasps.

"Principal Nichols!"

"Alright, that's it! You're coming with me!" Principal Nichols angrily hisses to Gina and heads straight towards her.

"No what?" Gina cried as she immediately zippered her pants.

Principal Nichols then grabs Gina's arm so she wouldn't break free and leads her out of the lunchroom as Gina desperately tries to tell Principal Nichols about Nate.

"No! No no no no! No, it was Nate! It was Nate, Principal Nichols! No! Nate!"

Unfortunately for Gina, Nate did not come forward to confirm the truth. He did absolutely nothing but watch as Gina was dragged away by the principal. Gina was the thorn in Nate's back that wouldn't go away for too long, and Nate thought it was time to get rid of the thorn. For good.

"Nyyyyyahhhh! It was NaaaaAAAaaate! IT WAS NATE! IT WAS NAAAAAAAAAATE!!!!!" Gina screamed before being lead out of the lunchroom.

And the lunchroom stayed silent and still, not even making a single move. Then everyone looked at Nate, who immediately put down the scissors and waited for everyone to react to Nate getting rid of Gina.

Silence for a few seconds. Then…the lunchroom exploded with cheers and excitement. And everyone got up and went over to Nate and began cheering:

"Nate! Nate! Nate! Nate! Nate!"

Even Randy was impressed enough he nodded to his friends and went over to Nate and slowly lifted Nate in the air. Randy's friends went over and helped Randy too.

Nate was excited. He stood up to Gina. He won.

But the only who wasn't excited was Nate's ex-friends.

Soon, lunch came to an end. And Nate still felt pretty good for himself. Soon it will be gym class so Nate began heading that way.

Randy was heading down to gym the exact same way when Nate's ex-friends approached him.

"Hey, Randy!" Teddy hollers to Randy.

Randy turned around and replied with a smirk:

"Well, well if it isn't Nate's ex-friend tattle-tellers? What's up?"

"Alright, Randy. What did you do to Nate that made him turn against us?" Dee Dee angrily demanded.

"Me? I didn't do anything wrong," Randy replied back.

"Don't EVER lie to us, Randy. We know you did SOMETHING to Nate, so start talking!" Francis demanded.

"Still no involvement. Nate came to ME about what you did to him yesterday. He wasn't happy with that little game you pulled off on him."

"Is that why you two were hugging this morning? You guys are best friends now?" Teddy asks coldly.

"Yup. I understand him more than you three COMBINED," Randy replied with a smirk.

The word 'COMBINED' echoed in Dee Dee's mind. Now she was starting to feel Nate's anger but somehow she wondered whether she did the right thing by not talking to Nate unless he settled down.

So after a brief moment, Dee Dee opens her mouth and asks:

"Did you have any involvement with Nate?"

"No I did-" Randy started but got cut off by Dee Dee.

"Did you HAVE any involvement with Nate?"

Dee Dee just wanted to hear the word 'yes' come out of Randy's mouth so she could report him and shut down the problem as it was getting out of hand.

That's when a voice comes in.

"No, he DIDN'T."

It was Nate.

Everyone turned to Nate and Francis asks:

"What's WITH you today, Nate?"

"What do you mean?" Nate responds.

"You tased Gina in social studies (which I'll give you points for that), turned away the opportunity to ask Ruby out, had everyone turn against us, and you got Gina caught during a hoedown and be lead away by the principal (which was GOLD, by the way). What's the problem?"

"Well, Einstein, I am THIS CLOSE to getting expelled by Principal Nichols," Nate replied by having his two fingers a quarter inch from each other. Then Nate finished his sentence:

"And the last thing I want is more trouble so I get kicked out of school. For good."

Francis simply shook his head and says:

"We're already aware of that...but why would you skip the mud bowl practice for good?"

"Yeah, we can't beat Jefferson without a full team," Teddy chimed in.

Jefferson Middle School was P.S 38's arch-rival. They're just about good as everything in sports, dance contests, whatever. But unfortunately, P.S 38 suddenly broke the 7-year record from Jefferson by challenging them at a snow sculpture contest and winning too. But unfortunately for P.S 38, Jefferson stills the record of winning the Mud Bowl for THIRTY-SIX YEARS. And because of Nate dropping out of participation from the Mud Bowl, Jefferson could get the THIRTY-SEVENTH YEAR, AGAIN.

Anyway…

"Didn't I terminate my friendship with you guys anyway?" Nate asked.

No answer.

"L...look. I don't know WHAT you're going through right now, Nate, but...but can you at least show up to practice so we can win against Jefferson?" Dee Dee asked Nate with mixtures of anger and desperation in her voice.

"Is that a good reason why I shouldn't leave you on the sinking ship?" Nate responds quietly.

Dee Dee nodded.

"Fine. I'll come," Nate sighs.

"And you can have your new friend join if you want."

"Great idea," Nate replied with a casual smile on his face.

Then Dee Dee cleared her throat and hisses to Nate:

"Just do us all a favor and get yourself together and get your head out of your butt... before Jefferson takes the 37th year in the mud bowl!"

Then Dee Dee walked away close to crying. Francis and Teddy looked at Nate for a bit but didn't say anything. Then they shake their heads and began to walk away, catching up to Dee Dee in the process.

Nate turns to Randy, who said:

"Thank you."

Nate nodded then sighs.

"You gonna be alright?" Randy asks.

"Yeah, I never needed them, anyway. Who needs them?" Nate responds.

Randy shrugged then said:

"Come on. Let's get to the gym."

"Right."

Elsewhere, Gina was led to the car by her parents. She tried to explain what really happened, but she couldn't because her parents wouldn't listen to her. As Gina was being driven home, another car came from behind and…

BANG! BANG BANG!

Turned out an unknown individual pulled out a gun and fired at the car. One hit the tires, the other two hit Gina's father, killing him instantly and causing the car to crash and Gina losing conscious for a few moments.

"Oh...my head. Wha...what happened?"

Then Gina heard something click. She looked up slowly and saw a man with brown hair, blue eyes and a slight mustache pointing a gun at her head.

"Don't move," the man said.

Gina sighed and said:

"If you're gonna do it, go ahead. I'm already in big trouble."

Silence. Then…

"What did you do?" the man asked.

"I've tried to get back at a student, but got caught in the process," Gina responded.

"I see...If you want to strike back, then join me and we will topple your enemies for good."

"You mean that?"

"I do mean that."

Gina didn't answer immediately, then she heard a voice crying out for help.

It was Gina's mom.

"Help...me…" she cried out.

Gina didn't want to kill her mom but she knew if she tried to help her mom, she would get killed by the assassin.

Then something clicked.

It was revenge.

Hot-boiling revenge.

Gina thought about Nate and all the things he said and did to her that made her mad. And the more she thought about it, the more she agreed to accept the assassin's offer to join.

So Gina took the gun from the assassin and went up to her mother and-

BANG! BANG BANG!

Gina Hemphill-Toms committed her first murder.

"Good. Wonderful!" said the assassin in delight.

"Thank you," Gina replied with a sinister smirk on her face.

"I'm Jason Evans," the assassin introduced himself.

"I'm Gina Hemphill-Toms," Gina responded.

"So tell me. What got you into this mess?"

"Nate Wright. He's a classmate that got me here. He has spiky hair, a blue-yellow shirt, and draws comics a lot."

"I see. Now tell me, where do I find him?"

"School is going on. I think he's there as of right now."

"Okay, what time should we get him?"

"Soon...very soon," Gina replied with an evil grin on her face.

You just wait, Nate Wright. You will pay for what you did to me. Gina thought to herself.

Revenge was about to strike.

* Uh oh. What will happen next? Stayed tuned for more chapters of 'The California Plan'.