Chapter 8
Lunch had somehow managed to get even worse by Thursday.
Almost every conversation either turned into an argument or hovered at the edge of becoming one. Fists pounded on tables amid the raised voices, and shoving matches erupted in the lunch line as students jostled for standing room.
It wouldn't take much to throw the entire thing into chaos. The only trick was to figure out how. That was why Victor and Priscilla conferred with Kelly, the three of them scrunched up with barely more than a few inches between them.
"Damn!" Kelly said, shaking her head. "You needed Quinn for the petition to work. I told you she was important."
"There wasn't anything we could do," Victor said. "Sandi got in the way."
"Yeah, she's been gunning for Quinn since, well, forever. I should have thought of that. Okay, so you want to start something that's crazy enough to make the cafeteria rule too much trouble for Li. What kind of event are you thinking of?"
"Maybe a food fight?" Victor said.
Kelly scoffed. "Please, that's so elementary school. Hey, I know: one thing you could do is spread some rumors. These kids are already champing at the bit from being in such close quarters. It won't take much for them to turn on each other."
Priscilla drew herself up to her (considerable) full height. "I am not going to peddle in falsehoods. Besides, aren't journalists supposed to be objective and impartial observers?" Her eyebrows dipped into a suspicious V on her forehead.
"I see myself as a gonzo journalist. Anyway, we're just brainstorming here. You need some kind of instigating event. Like take Kevin and Brittany. Right now, they're on the outs. But Kevin will still get super-mad if anyone tries to flirt with Brittany. That's your fight, right there."
"But it's not fair to the person who gets blamed for flirting with Brittany," Victor said. He was starting to feel like he'd gotten in over his head.
"Just say Upchuck did it. He deserves a punch or two."
A thought came to Victor. "Wait. What if we talked with Brittany, Kevin, and a few others first and staged the fight? That way, everyone is in on it."
"That's a better idea," Priscilla said. "Kevin and another jock?"
"An intra-team fight? That'd be a helluva story… though it'd cripple the football team. Last time that something like that happened it made property values drop all over Lawndale."
"So? Football's a false idol. As is real estate value," Priscilla said.
"Limiting it to the jocks might be too narrow, anyway. We need more than just them," Victor argued.
"The punks!" Kelly said. "It's a perfect match-up. The punks don't care about getting into trouble—and the jocks can't get into trouble. But it will be a big disruption that embarrasses Li."
"Thus, everyone's happy with the fight!" Victor said. He almost compared them to Orks but pulled back at the last moment.
"And which of the punks do we gather for this? Bob got us zero signatures besides his own, so they don't care what he says," Priscilla said.
"Could be," Kelly said. "I'll admit my sources on them might not have been the best—punks don't trust the Lowdown after last year's editor wrote that 'Punk IS Dead' op-ed. Guess I can't blame them. Hey, what if we got Bob and Spike together?"
"I'll try to talk to them both," Victor said. "Also, Kevin's pretty difficult to… communicate with. If we bring him into this staged fight, do you think Brittany will be able to explain it to him?"
Kelly frowned. "She is smarter than him. But not by a ton. Plus, they're fighting. Bring Mack in. He's sick and tired of being Kevin's idiot wrangler, but he also hates this cafeteria situation, so he might be willing."
Victor took it all in. "Okay. We need to set up a meeting with Bob, Spike, Kevin, Brittany, and Mack. Is there anyone else who can help out with this? Jodie and Dawn were by far the most helpful when it came to getting signatures. Maybe they could do something?"
Kelly shook her head. "No. Thing is, starting a lunchtime fracas means trouble. That's fine for the jocks and punks, but Jodie and Dawn both have too much to lose."
"Understood. Priscilla, what's your take on Rebecca?" Victor asked. "I'm guessing she would not want to cause trouble."
"Uh, probably not." Though Priscilla didn't look too sure.
"Okay. The nerds don't seem inclined to risk themselves too much for this. Anyone else?"
Kelly's eyes turned upward in thought. "Daria's known for causing trouble—but she only does it for her own reasons, so she's probably not worth the effort."
But where Daria went, so too went Jane. Victor's heartbeat went into double-time as an impossible hope dawned deep within him.
"Are you sure?" Victor wondered. "What about Jane? The two of them together could probably do a lot. Maybe Jane could make inflammatory artwork and spark a school-wide uprising!"
Kelly gave him a cockeyed look. "Jane's Daria's shadow. She won't add anything. Stick with Bob and Spike for the punks. Get Brittany, Kevin, and Mack for the other side."
"Okay," Victor said. Maybe it was best to leave Jane out of this—as much as he wanted her by his side.
"What about you two?" Kelly asked, pointing at them. "Are you willing to get your hands dirty?"
"We already are," Priscilla said.
Victor hesitated. He'd never really been in trouble before. The only time he'd ever gotten detention was from tardiness. What else might happen? Saturday school? Suspension? Expulsion?
But what else could he do? Good leaders shared in the struggle, at least to some degree. He might not be a frontline fighter, but he still had to participate.
That's what the best Imperial Guard commanders did, right? The not-overly-evil ones, anyway.
Would it impress Jane? Because doing nothing almost certainly wouldn't.
He gulped. "Yes," he finally said.
"Great. Round everyone up and explain the situation. With any luck, we'll soon be free of the cafeteria, and I'll have a nice, juicy story."
"One more thing," Priscilla said.
"Yeah?" Kelly asked.
"Rebecca might not be willing to make a scene," Priscilla said. "But I can. I'll just need her help."