just smiled at her friend and focused her attention back on her lunch. Her thoughts were interrupted again by a steady humming. Lily knew this was the gift her father had told her about. She tried to remember what he had told her. He had said she would hear the thoughts of the wicked. She didn’t know if that meant that she could hear only the thoughts of truly wicked people, or if that included the wicked thoughts of normally good people. The humming progressed into words as clear as glass.
“That nerd deserved what I gave him. They shouldn’t even let dorks like that onto the school grounds.” She was hearing Dean’s thoughts again. “Montana’s such a dork sometimes.” Lily glanced sideways to see what he was referring to. Montana Blakely, the youngest of the group, was repeatedly sticking a straw up his nose, holding his empty nostril and launching the straw at unsuspecting students. Landon finally made an appearance and sat in the chair across from Dean.
“At least Slade is sane. Good thing he isn’t all preachy anymore. I would have clobbered him if he said a single word about tripping that nerd.” Lily was pleased to hear that Landon had tried to stop Dean from bullying, but was disappointed that he had apparently given up. So even though he wasn’t the biggest bully in the school, as she had once thought, he allowed his “friends” to continue. She had hoped that the Landon she had become friends with would decide to show up to school today, but he didn’t. Lily decided she wouldn’t get her hopes up for him making an appearance anytime soon.
***
After lunch, Lily limped to her algebra class. Robert was already seated in his usual seat in the front row. His attention was focused on his homework lying on his desk, which was already completed of course. Lily wasn’t usually one to talk to people she didn’t know very well, but she decided that she could make an exception in this situation.
“So, your homework survived the flood of spaghetti sauce, huh?”
“Yes, it was safe inside my backpack, as usual,” Robert said, squinting his eyes slightly.
“That’s good,” Lily said smiling. “Oh, and congrats on getting the highest grade in the class the other day.”
“Thanks,” he said with a dimpled smile. Yes, his clothes were pretty bad, but Lily didn’t think anyone could argue that his smile was probably one of the handsomest in the entire school.
“I think the only reason I beat him was because he had the 24 hour flu the day before the test, and wasn’t on top of his game that day.”
“Well, you deserve it anyway,” Lily said, lowering herself into her chair. Robert shot her one last friendly grin before turning his attention to the teacher at the front of the room. Even though he was looking at the teacher, he wasn’t thinking about the equation Mr. Giles was writing on the board.
“My shirt looks so stupid, and I think I still have spaghetti in my hair. I bet the only reason Lily said a word to me today was because she felt sorry for me. Boy, if I could get my hands on that Dean, he would be sorry. There has to be something I can do to teach that guy a lesson.”
Lily tried to focus on the equation she was haphazardly writing on the paper in front of her, but it was nearly impossible with Robert’s thoughts broadcasting to her brain.
“I’m twice, no, three times as smart as that guy, so why can’t I think clearly about this. I’ve never been one to seek for revenge before, but this has all gone too far. Revenge is such a strong word. It’s not something I’ve really done before, but there’s a first time for everything. I have to do it for every nerd in this school. It’s got to be big, bad and terrible. This school’s jerk infestation is about to be terminated.”
“Robert? Robert?”
“Um, yes?”
“Do you have the answer to problem three?”
Lily didn’t hear Robert’s thoughts of revenge or any other thoughts at all after that. She spent the remainder of class in a confused stupor. Just when she thought algebra couldn’t be any more confusing, it always found a way to prove her wrong. When the class was finally over, she was mentally exhausted. She wanted to collapse over her desk, and stay there for the rest of the school day. Instead, she hunched over her desk and rubbed her