I plan everything on my own. It'll be fine, my friends don't need to be dragged into this mess anymore, they deserve they're freedom and I don't want to pressure them into doing this.

So I steal some posters and markers and sneak into the gym in the middle of the next night.

I'm all alone in the dark with a tiny flash light in my mouth. This has to be done efficiently and quickly

So I settle on the stage and prepaid my timer just in case I fall asleep or forget what time it is. There's a five o'clock time check in the morning. Gotta be back in my room before then.

"What're you doing?"

I nearly pee my pants and just barely clamp a hand over my mouth to keep from screaming bloody murder.

A curly dark head and large eyes blink rapidly against my onslaught of flashlight on his face.

"Carlos! You freakin' jerk!"

He flinches. "Sorry Maree."

He's the only one that calls me that.

"God, give a girl a warning next time, what are you doing here?' I breath out, so, so glad it's him and not a monster come to punish me for my upcoming sins

"I was just sitting here."

I give him a hard look. He only ever sits here alone in the dark when he's worried about something, or -

"They kick you out of the room again?" I say, anger sweeping into my face.

He nods slowly.

Mustards.

Due to the unfortunately uneven amount of boys in our school, my poor Carlos is stuck in a room with Milton and Daniel. Pricks always pull crap like this at random times. Nobody really understands Carlos except me, but that's because we've been friends since first grade.

He's super awkward, shy, antisocial, weird, but plenty smart. Guy has a real knack for movement and an incredible ear for music and rhythm. But nobody cares about that. Because he's literally at the bottom of the schools ranking system.

I'm five ranks above him.

"Sorry Carlos. Here, you can help me with this." I hand him a blue marker.

He smiles at me and takes it while scooching closer to me.

"What are we writing?" He asks and I give him a devil's grin.

"Guilt trips my friends. We are guilt tripping everyone at this dump."

At least . . . I hope we are.

---------

I overslept.

So instead of hanging the posters up to be anonymous I hung them up after math class.

Mr. Joel thought that was hilarious. He even corrected some of my grammar mistakes on the poster, even though he is my math teacher. Everyone else just ignored me and walked by like I wasn't standing on a chair in the middle of the hall way clogging up the bulletin board.

By now my crew knew about this and Jerry called me an idiot. Maybe I am but at least I know what I want.

Freedom of expression and freedom from ranks controlling our society!

That's what it says on my poster. Neat huh.

"Maybe I should have made it more colorful?" I say to Carlos who standing there in his huge hoodie sucking on a juice box.

He nods.

I sigh, nobody is looking yet. Guess I have to make some noise. So much for Anonymous.

"Hey, hey you bunch of self-deluded freaks!" I screech at the walking crowd. I sound deranged. Mr. Joel backs away nervously.

Carlos just sucks juice.

"That's right, I'm talking to you!" I continue at the few people that stopped and actually looked, now they're gathering.

Bingo, I got 'em.

------

Other side of the hierarchy

"Testing is this Friday. You want to look over my notes again Danny?" Milton asks his companion as he locks his locker.

Daniel doesn't answer, his eyes trained on some cacophony down the hall.

Milton follows his gaze.

"Hey, hey you bunch of self-deluded freaks!"

She sounds insane. If Milton cared he'd be having second hand embarrassment right now.

But this looks amusing. What's she doing anyway?

"That's right, I'm talking to you!" She's certainly not ashamed of sacrificing her dignity for attention, crazy girl.

Daniels feet move.

Milton startles after him. "Hey, hey, you aren't actually going to acknowledge her are you?"

Dan just flashes him a flat look. "She's insane."

Milton snorts. "Yah I know. Trust me, I know." He a glances at the petit girl on the metal chair, screeching about rights and breaking rules and finding freedom from tyranny, she sounds bonkers. But they don't have time for this.

Test where in three days.

Plus, Mr. Hao is coming down the hall.

Time to go.

Milton grips Dan by the lapel of his jacket and dragged him away from staring at the crazy chic in the hall.

Someone shouts "Hao!" And instantly everyone scatters.

Milton can't help glancing back at Mareesa as her eyes go comically wide and she nearly breaks her face getting off that chair, then she runs like a freaking cartoon character with that weird kid in tow.

Mr. Hao's face when he reads the poster was picture worthy.

-------

Fun side

I take it up a notch.

They can laugh at me, and call me crazy and say I'm wasting time and whatever, but I know what I want and what they need. Besides, most great revolutionary leaders are misunderstood in the beginning until people start to realize there is a method to our madness.

Carlos for his part is totally on board. The others?

"Sorry Mareesa, but I'm about to get kicked out as it is." Denim had said and left to actually go study!

"Can't, it's a lost cause anyway. You can't beat the Fivers." Sandra had never sounded so defeated.

Mikey had just shake his head and said, "it's my last year. I think I'm gonna lay low until I graduate."

Jerry had just given me a pained guilty look and opened a freaking book.

So it's just me and Carlos. I don't blame them though. They're afraid. I am too, it's just they're smart enough to protect themselves and I'm insane.

Oh well . . . I could always get a job at McDonald's.

"Free our school, no more Ranks!" I'm shouting and chanting and sticking posters on anyway I can.

Mr. Hao catches me more often than not and I get punishment.

He caught me hanging posters in the cafeteria, I had to clean the girl's bathroom.

He caught the poster in the math class, I had to wash the gym floor.

He found me hanging posters in the gym after that, I was forced into classroom clean up.

He discovered my stash of posters outside the school gate. I ended up being humiliated and squatting like a freak in the middle of the hall way with the words "delinquent and doomed to fail." Stamped on my head.

But the real doozy was when he found the poster in the teachers lounge. I get props for getting away with that one. But I ended up on dorm cleaning duty for a month.

So basically I didn't give up, and the noise was getting louder, nobody joined my rebellion but I got plenty of loud attention. Somebody even ousted my poster on the school forum.

That's when things got really loud and I was getting twice the stink eyes from the higher up students.

I felt awesome.

It was mid-term week after all.

And I'm pretty sure I bombed. But who cares! I'm going to get my club back if it kills them.

-----

Scary side of the school.

"We need to do something about this girl."

Mr. Hao nods frantically, "yes, but what madam? She won't stop no matter how many punishments I give her. She's absolutely crazy, maybe we should just give her the club back, the other students are suffering because of her."

Principal flashes him a deadly beady eyed look. "If we give in to her demands than she'll think she can have whatever she wants after this."

Mr. Hao shakes a bit under her stare and nods frantically again. "Yes but . . . If the other students don't get good marks for this term we'll suffer from their parents."

Nobody wants that.

Principal was officially stuck between a rock and money.

"Fine then, we must find a good reason to have this girl expelled. Disturbing the peace isn't air tight enough. We need a good solid reason." Principal's wheels are turning.

Her eyes land on Gemina walking down the hall.

That girl is ranked number two in this school, her mother is one of the main benefactors of this school and she is forcing agendas on them to make sure her daughter is top of the top notch Ivy League materiel.

"Madam?" Mr. Hao pipes up, afraid of her silence.

She looks at him, hard and slightly wild. "Perhaps we can use fire against fire."

-------

Dorks r us side

Sigh.

Another low grade.

Upside is, exam week is over and my rioting days are just starting. I'm pretty sure the principal has noticed by now, but she can't do anything about my insanity because it's not hurting anyone. Just their self-positioned rules on hierarchy.

Heh.

Mr. Joel says I've got guts.

I think he secretly admires me.

Carlos isn't with me right now, I'm alone in the closet that used to be our club room, now empty and void of any useful things we had in here. Just me, a crate and my report card.

Two F's, two D's, three C's and one actual A. That A's for gym.

Still, good news is, I didn't go down a rank. So that's cool, didn't go up either but whatever.

Then I hear a loud jolt against the wall.

And voices. Yelling. Familiar and - hold the phone. I tip toe towards the wall and press my ear against it.

"Calm down Danny I'm sure we can-"

That's Milton.

"I'm not calming the fuck down!"

Language much. That's Daniel all right.

"You know what's going to happen when he sees this!"

Huh, now that I really listen, Daniel sounds . . . Desperate.

That can't be right.

"Maybe he doesn't know yet Danny." Milton sounds like a Mom? Weird.

"Like hell he doesn't know, they send these straight to email Milton! I'm so - so - so fucking screwed." He sounds like he's having a panic attack.

Then I hear footsteps, sharp, a girl. They stop yelling. Their door opens.

"What are you two doing?" Gemina, I recognize that undertone of condescension anywhere. I always hated her.

"None of your goddam business." Daniel snaps and I hear him stomp off, Milton at his heels.

I quickly wrench away from the wall like its burned me and stare at my door, afraid that they know I'm here and are going to kill me for eavesdropping.

Their footsteps pass my door and I breath. After a second I scurry to my feet and pop my head out the door, cost is clear.

Time to get the hell out of dodge.

But something is sniggering in the back of my mind. Something didn't sound right with those two. Usually Milton's so calm and cold and Daniel's moody and hard. What I just heard was comforting and desperation.

I have a weird feeling about this.

Like maybe this is my fault?

It's not . . . Right?

-------

After exams we get a weekend off of campus, thank God, to see our families. I'm one of the lucky ones that actually looks forward to seeing my Mom.

So here I am, standing at the entrance of the parking lot waiting for Carlos to get here so we can go together, everyone else already left.

I'm just minding my own business, rocking on my heels, back and forth and La-la land, ignoring anything else until I hear a sharp stinging sound so loud it echoes in the concrete area.

I startle and pock my head around the wall.

What I see makes my blood run cold.

Daniel.

One second he's standing there, head hung in uncharacteristic defeat, the next, a short thick burly man sends a fist right at his face and the boy is throw over nearly falling into the floor. I jolt at the sudden hit and freeze.

"You little bastard, you expect me to accept this?!" The man's voice is deep and terrifyingly sever as he spits at Daniel who stands again, head hung low. I can hardly believe my eyes.

"No sir."

The man flares and punches him again.

I nearly step out then pull back. No, no, I can't do anything. I squeeze my eyes shut as slap after punch come and come and, I press against the wall, my heart in my ears.

Wait a minute. My eyes fly open and I have a crackers idea. I take a deep breath.

"Uh - uh, Danny! Danny where are you!" I yell, then slap a hand over my mouth. Did I just . . .

The man stiffens looks around, adjusts his suit jacket and throws a vicious glare at Daniel who looks equally confused and relieved.

"Next time, if I see anything less than perfection you will suffer worse." The man threatens in a low edging voice that fits perfectly for a villain of a story.

Then he gets into his fancy BMW and drives off, even his driving is scary intense.

My heart's still hammering as I take a look at Daniel standing there. His lip busted and rubbing his shoulder.

He looks around confused still and starts heading for the entrance. I freeze up, no, no he can't know that was me, he can't know I saw that. . . I tip toe run to the nearest garbage can and hunch behind it as quickly and noiselessly as I can and cringe as I wait, holding my breath, for him to pass.

After what feels like an eternity, he does, still a dazed look on his injured face. But he goes back into the dorms and I melt in relief behind the can, my eyes closing.

I see him get punched and fly backwards. My eyes flicker open, they blur, what kind of Rear End punches someone like that? And for what? Suddenly a gripping fearsome thought pops into my head.

Less than perfection? The guys. . . He-he might have been Dan's dad and . . .and he might have been talking about Daniel's grades which might have been less than stellar because I - because I . . . Aw crapples.

I didn't know that's why he needed perfect grades!

"Maree?"

I startle and find Carlos and his curly head tipped at me in confusion.

"Oh, hey Carlos." I smile and stand as if I was meant to be sitting behind a bunch of trash.

"Why are you hiding behind garbage?"

Ah, the ever perceptive Carlos.

"No reason, just got tired of waiting for you."

"So you sit behind garbage?"

I give him a fake annoyed look. "Look Carlos, I can sit behind trash if I want, it's a free country, even if this school oppresses us. Now c'mon, Mom said she's making Chow Mein for lunch, your favorite." I grab his hand and tug, trying to speed walk away from my thoughts.

And the uncomfortable feeling that what just happened to Daniel is my fault.