“Here I am”, Spencer thought, standing on the front steps of her new school. It was the first day of middle school. She felt scared. Even with her dark brown hair straightened and new outfit this day could be a mess. What if I am late for class? What if my friends ditch me? What if I forget my locker combo? What if I trip and fall on my face in front of the entire school? Nervously, Spencer walked up to the school.

The halls were the same as they were during orientation. Spencer walked up to her locker and tried the combination again and again. It’s the right one. It should be working, she thought. No, it should work on the same locker, the floor above it. Great! She stalked back to the hall and to the stairs. Wait. Was that the bell? Spencer ran for the stairs, getting called out by a teacher. Brilliant, and on the first day, she thought sarcastically.
“Spencer!” She whirled around and saw Carly coming toward her with a new book and binder in hand, her red brown hair tied back. “Hey, are you nervous?”
“No, not really.” She turned back to her locker and trying the combo again. “I already did something stupid.”
“So what is your first class?” Carly asked.
“History, you?”
“Math, but we have English, Science, and Phy. Ed. together,” Carly said after grabbing Spencer’s schedule. “Gabriel has all your classes.” Gabby was another good friend.
“Talking about me?” They turned around to see Gabby with a grin on her face.
“No, just discussing schedules.” She rolled her eyes.
“It’s so complicated. There are so many classes and teachers to remember, plus homework.”
“It’s ok,” Carly said. “I’m worried about Allison, drama, and of course homework, but that’s about it.”
“Why Ally?” Spencer questioned. Allison was smart, pretty, and a part of their group.
“Ally took over Queen Bee this summer. Jenna moved to NYC. Where have you been?” Great locked out again! There are several reasons why not having a phone in middle school was a nightmare. This situation covered reason 5 and 105. You miss out and you get bugged about it. Here it comes.
“You should ask your parents again.” Gabby said. “They’ll get you one sometime.” And there it goes.

First hour was good, but Spencer wished they could study World History. Art was fun, because painting is awesome, before Spencer tipped over the paint bottle and got laughed at. Other subjects were a blur. In some they, got homework on the first day. Spencer didn’t understand Algebra at all. How could y=x. They are two different letters. Letters do not belong in Math. Only numbers make sense, Spencer thought, before Gabby waved her hand in front of her face to get her out of the trance.

Finally, lunch came. The most loved and feared subject in school. Lunches were as good as the older students had promised. Bad! Some things don’t change. Please get a good table. Lost in thought, Spencer didn’t see the spilled milk. She slipped and dumped her lunch on the one person she most wanted to avoid. Any other person would have saw that it was an accident, including a teacher, but Ally screamed like a cat being sat on, as her clique gasped. Everything went quiet as her classmates watched Carly and Gabby help her out of the puddle of milk. Spencer wanted to cry. Allison was never going to leave her alone. The look on her face said it. She used to be so sweet and funny, but power does go to the head.
“What the heck!” Ally yelled, making her curls fly behind her.
“It was an accident” Carly stuttered.
“It doesn’t matter. You’re going to pay.”

Spencer was waiting to see what she was going to do. In Science, they were paired up for an experiment. Just her luck, she got Ally. The entire time Ally mocked Spencer about anything she had ever done wrong. But Spencer knew it was just the beginning.

It was finally the last class of the day, Phy. Ed. After changing, Spencer went down to the gym with the rest of the girls. Unfortunately, that included Ally. All the way through dodge ball the clique stayed at the back of the gym plotting something, but when was it going to happen?
“Don’t worry about it,” Carly said “she won’t do anything today. Too many witnesses with the teachers.” That didn’t reassure Spencer. She knew Ally’s plans for revenge. She used to help plan them in elementary school. Now Spencer was on the receiving end and knew what was coming.

She went up to the locker room as soon as the bell rang, but her locker was empty. She heard someone behind her burst out laughing.
“Just walk around in your gym clothes. It’s better than your usual ones.” Allison’s friends started laughing.
“Give them back!” Spencer yelled. She felt her face getting redder, making her feel as if she were about to explode.
“Or what? You’ll tell on me.”
“Yes.”
“Then everyone will think you’re a tattle tale.”
“I’ll tell,” Carly and Gabby came up behind her. Knowing how queen bees work, Allison will pick on them too. But when she looked at Ally, she looked scared, like the idea of getting in trouble scared her. She was always a goodie-goodie. Ally ran to a deserted locker, pulled out Spencer’s clothes and threw them to her.
“Whatever” she ran out of the locker room.

The first day of school was finally over. Spencer was walking home with Carly and Gabby.
“What’s that?” Gabby looked a little ahead from where they were standing. In the middle of the side walk there was a phone. An iPhone with a pink bedazzled cover. Spencer ran ahead to pick it up. I know this phone, Spencer thought. Then it came to her.
“It’s Ally’s!”
“You should give it back to her. Ally would never pick on us again, if you gave her back her all precious cell phone.” Gabby was trying to make fun of Ally, but they knew it was true. “Or she would say that you stole it.”

Spencer was thinking about it up until after dinner when she was washing the dishes. She could give it back and risk getting yelled at and embarrassed or keep it so she could have revenge against Ally. Spencer wasn’t the kind of person to do that. She decided she would give it back tomorrow.

The next day when Spencer went to school, Allison was outside her first class. She didn’t say anything to Spencer. All day whenever Spencer saw her she thought of when to give it back.

The day went by quickly. Spencer ran out of the school and ran home. She could smell the pond water. The crickets were already chirping. It seemed a little early, but it’s their decision. Spencer’s breath was a cloud of white as she breathed out. Her fingernails slid roughly over the rind stones on the phone case. “Plunk!” went the phone as she tossed the phone in the pond behind her house.

Spencer spent the evening doing her homework. She went to bed early. Spencer woke up in the middle of the night and started to think about the phone. It was the right decision to get rid of it. She got back at Ally. Let’s see how you feel about not having a phone Allison, she thought. But by morning Spencer had worked out a plan to make up for what she did. Sometimes revenge isn’t so sweet.