Restart: Chapters 15–21

I’d lie down on railroad tracks for an ounce of her attention, and here’s Chase, totally oblivious to the fact that she’s practically drooling over him!

I’m gratified to see that Chase is still filming, his hand steady even though he’s doubled over with hilarity.

I can’t tell if it’s Aaron and Bear who are wary of Chase, or Chase who is wary of those two.

“Don’t you have to get to homeroom?” I ask her, fighting to keep exasperation out of my voice.

“I don’t even know what to say to you,” he begins in a voice I barely recognize as his arrogant Alpha Rat bravado.

It is the finding of this court that the three juveniles, Chase Matthew Ambrose, Aaron Joshua Hakimian, and Steven Beresford Bratsky, acted recklessly and with malice, not merely destroying property, but creating chaotic circumstances that could have endangered the public safety.

The judge’s words have been burning themselves into my brain: pattern of intimidation...zero remorse...pathway to criminality if left unchecked...

The judge’s words have been burning themselves into my brain: pattern of intimidation...zero remorse...pathway to criminality if left unchecked...

One afternoon, I’m standing there, hoping Shoshanna’s mom doesn’t glance out the window and turn the sprinklers on me, when I hear music coming from the house. It’s piano, and I realize this must be Joel, Hiawassee’s musical prodigy.

I try to explain. “I’m just waiting for Shoshanna. We’re going to visit Mr. Solway.”
“And that’s a reason to skulk in our bushes?” Mrs. Weber demands icily.

I take a lot of flak from the team, who can’t understand me hanging out with “Dork Nation.”

Then I use the video-editing program to superimpose those images onto the various seats on the band risers, until I’ve got a whole orchestra — and they’re all me.

The school’s three most notorious bullies are right there. One of them — Chase — still wields a fire extinguisher. And their number one target — Joel — is down on the floor with a rapidly swelling face, obviously the victim of an assault.

The sound of wet sneakers squishing in the slop jolts me out of my melancholy. I look up to see Kimberly standing over me.

We’re not totally off the hook. We get a bit of a lecture on how we should have called for help or pulled the fire alarm before taking matters into our own hands. He tells us we need to be less impulsive and not so rough with our fellow students.