The Pretty Committee Strikes Back

by Lisi Harrison

  “Good thing we're okay.” Massie tried to sound positive. “Right?”

  “Yes, Massie.” Mr. Myner's voice sounded strained, like he was doing his best not to snap. “But I'm afraid you are still going to pay the price for breaking the rules. After all, we have to set an example for the other students. So, I have spoken to Principal Burns and she agrees.” He took a deep breath. “All of you have officially been expelled from OCD, effective immediately.”

  The girls gasped. They'd expected a lecture on responsibility and maybe a detention. But this? No one knew how to respond.

  “You mean suspended?” Massie felt queasy. His words floated right above her skin, unable to fully penetrate.

  “No, I mean expelled.”

  “Uh, don't you think that's a little harsh?” Massie asked, her insides churning. “Our parents will never go for that.”

  “They have already been notified,” Mr. Myner shot back. “We have arranged for a bus to take you home this afternoon. They will be waiting for you when it arrives.”

  Dylan stood up and put her hands on her hips. “If I hadn't been so traumatized by you and my mother, I never would have run off in the first place.” She glared at him. “Did you tell that to Principal Burns? Did you tell her I was traumatized? Or did that slip your mind?”

  “Your mother is not on the faculty and we are both adults,” Mr. Myner replied evenly. “We have every right to keep company.”

  “Well, she'll be dumping you now,” Dylan said under her breath as she sat down.

  “My father is so going to fight this,” Alicia said, trying to sound like she wasn't scared. “He is going to sue you for losing us, OCD for expelling us, and the Adirondacks for not making better trails.”

  “And for discriminating against the poor,” Kristen added.

  “The poor?” Mr. Myner shook his head in confusion.

  “Yeah,” Kristen sobbed. “If I weren't poor, I wouldn't have had to sneak up here and then I never would have gotten caught and I never would have run away and—”

  Mr. Myner lifted his palm. “That's enough. The bus will be here in thirty-five minutes, so you'd better hurry back to the cabin and gather your things.”

  “What about all of the stuff you stole from us when we got here?” Massie asked.

  “It will all be on the bus.”

  “Sorry,” Claire squeaked. It was the first time she'd spoken since he entered the room.

  “So am I,” Mr. Myner said. “There's nothing more upsetting than a wasted education.”

  Massie stood up and the rest of the girls followed. She was too shocked to accept the idea that she would no longer be going to OCD. There had to be something her parents could do, right? She had gotten herself out of worse situations in the past—how hard could this be? These questions would have to be answered later. Right now her insides felt heavy and tired, like they did after a major crying session. And her brain felt slow and numb. Yes, later.

  Mr. Myner held the door open for the girls. One by one they filed past him and stepped back out into the cold. Everyone was standing on his porch steps, waiting to see if they were okay. Even the nonsoccer guys looked concerned. If it hadn't been for the dirty clothes, the matted hair, and the ruined future, Massie would have felt like a total A-lister stepping out of the revolving door at the Ritz-Carlton.

  “What happened?” Derrington handed her a fistful of wildflowers. They were a little brown and crispy from the dry winter air but the gesture was a total ten.

  Massie took the flowers and sniffed them. One of the sharp leaves poked her Up and she fondly remembered Doose and his stiff whiskers. She had come such a long way in the past three days. And now this.

  “We've been expelled,” Massie announced to her public.

  “What?” Derrington's voice cracked. “You're joking, right?”

  He quickly realized she wasn't when he saw Kristen's purple face and swollen eyes.

  “Hey, what's she doing here?” someone shouted.

  Seconds later, the girls were enveloped by sympathetic hugs and words of encouragement and solidarity.

  “Let'sgoontrike,” Carrie shouted.

  “Yeah!” everyone shouted.

  “They will not get away with this.” Layne punched the air.

  Massie felt better than she had all day. She loved how everyone was uniting on her behalf. “Fight the power!”

  “Fight the power!” they responded.

  Massie looked for her friends, hoping they were feeling as invigorated as she was. But they had their own ways of dealing.

  Claire was off to the side of the group with Cam. He was wiping her cheeks with his thumb. Dylan was shouting at her mother, begging her to do something. Kristen was banging on Mr. Myner's door, pleading with him to reconsider, and Alicia and Olivia were hugging Josh and Plovert goodbye. Mr. Myner finally opened the door. Kristen fell to the ground and grabbed his legs.

  “Please, take it back,” she begged. “I'll do anything. I'll memorize the entire globe if you want. Even the latitudes and longitudes. Everything.”

  “Get up, Ms. Gregory.” His tone was cold and measured. “You now have twenty-three minutes to collect your things.”

  “Tree hugger!” Kristen shouted at him. She wiped the snot away from her nose and ran off to the cabin.

  “Girls, the bus is waiting!” Mr. Myner said. “Go!”

  Massie took one last look around.

  It was the last time she'd ever see these faces again.