For the next forty-eight minutes, the world ceased to exist. Nikki, Chloe, and Zoey huddled in their corner table, devouring chapter after chapter. MacKenzie Hollister, who normally patrolled the library like a perfume-soaked shark, was too busy facetiously ‘studying’ by the window to notice.
Then, in her best dramatic voice, she read aloud from the book: “‘McKenzie’s smile was so fake, scientists could use it to study artificial sweeteners.’”
“You’re right, MacKenzie,” Nikki said, standing up. She grabbed a dry-erase marker from the whiteboard. “We’re terrible rule-breakers. We deserve… public shaming.”
Chloe and Zoey gasped. Mr. Grumbles looked up. And MacKenzie… MacKenzie blinked. Her lips twitched. The carefully constructed fortress of her coolness cracked.
The story was epic. Nikki (the fictional one) had accidentally been nominated for class president against her arch-nemesis, the perfectly ponytailed McKenzie (notice the subtle ‘K’ – pure evil). There was a subplot involving a runaway hamster named Sir Fluffington, a disastrous school bake sale, and a boy-band concert where everything went wrong in spectacular, doodle-filled fashion.
An idea sparked. It was risky. It was dorky. It was perfect.
Later, after the final bell, Nikki carefully placed the advanced copy back on the ‘New Books’ cart. She’d only gotten to page two hundred. But she felt a strange sense of peace.