About Nicki and Natasha

The phone rang last night. It was Nicki.

Nicki had enrolled in the sixth grade at my school, but she wasn't in my homeroom. Somehow, though, she'd heard about my decision to run for class rep.

"Well, all right!" she yelled into the receiver. She also told me her homeroom had already chosen its rep, a Heather someone she didn't like. The way she described Heather, she sounded a heckuva lot like Meredith. "At least you're making it a contest," she said.

She came over, then I introduced her to Harriet and the three of us grabbed a bunch of markers and made more signs.

Today was the first day that actually felt like fall. It was crisp and cool and I even wore my favorite hooded jacket. I walked over to the bus stop and waited for the bus.

When I got off to go to class, I met Harriet and Nicki in the hallway. They were already hanging up signs.

"Wow, you guys are quick," I said.

"Nicki and I said we wanted to get here before Meredith and her gang set up shop."

Hmm, I thought, couldn't blame them there.

We had barely finished when Natasha showed up. Natasha, you may remember, is Meredith's best friend, er, best lackey. She follows her around everywhere, and never does ANYTHING without Meredith knowing about it. That's why I was surprised to see her show up without her other half. And I have to admit, her hair is awesome, it's this lovely auburn shade and it falls in all these waves.

"What's that?" Natasha asked.

"A sign," I answered.

"I know it's a sign, dumbo," she shot back, "what's it doing there?"

"Haven't you heard?" Nicki said, "she's running for class rep."

Natasha burst in laughter. "You?" she asked herself as she shot a mean stare at me. "You mean -- you're -- running against Meredith?"

"Yeah," I said, straightening up.

"It's a free country," Nicki added. "If you're trying to stop her from running, forget it. She got in fair and square."

"You've got no chance. Meredith already has the votes she needs to get elected, and I suggest you either get with the program or get left behind." She tossed her auburn waves in our faces as she left.