Young Writers Society

Chapter 2: School can suffocate you

Jackson waited outside Mikey’s house for him, not really wanting to be awake at that moment in time. He had his box of books to sell and autograph. He sighed. Hopefully Mikey would leave the house before…

“Well, well… If it isn’t Jackson Pacer, the storyteller.”

Jackson cringed. Nope, today just wasn’t his day… He turned to face Shelby with a fake smile. “Shelby Keener. I see you still acknowledge me even though you hate me for no apparent reason.”

Shelby scoffed and did her hair flip thingee. Jackson hated when she did that. “I am not acknowledging you, I am, like, just talking to you like. Doesn’t mean I like you.”

Jackson smirked, she still had no idea what she was talking about ever. “You want to see a dictionary so you can actually ‘literally’ know what half the words you say even mean?”

Shelby shoved him. “Watch it, Pacer. Or I will do more than burn your stupid little novel notes. You think you’re nobody now? Just wait till I get done with you. Your books won’t even mean a thing.”

Jackson glared up at her, but didn’t do anything else.

Shelby chuckled, “Oh what, is that supposed to scare me? What? Are you planning how to murder me in your head like one of your characters?” She laughed in his face. “I’d love to see you try.” She turned to walk away

Jackson wasn’t going to admit it, but she was right… But he didn’t let his mind dwell on that, because thankfully, Mikey came outside. “Bug off, Shelby. One of your loyal fans might be watching.” He glared at her. “You don’t want to ruin your image.”

Shelby glared back with more intensity. “I’ll ruin your face with my heels if you don’t shut up you big brat.”

Mikey shook his head. “You wouldn’t risk it. Mom would take your car, your Friday night privileges, and your clothing allowance and I wouldn’t have to say a word to her. Plus, what would that school say if they found out their head cheerleader had a violent history.”

Shelby grabbed him by the collar. “But you won’t, because I am a nice person.” She let go and walked to her car.

“Sure… So very nice.” Jackson said as she drove off. “She is literally the only person I wish got hit by a car.”

Mikey gave him a look. “Watch it. As much as I don’t like her, she is still my family.”

Jackson grumbled and stood up. “I am just glad she isn’t mine. How do you handle her ego again?”

Mikey chuckled dryly. “Double shot of espresso, and lots of chocolate.” He nodded toward his car. “Come on. We should get to school soon.”

Jackson stopped for a second then ran after him, box of books in his hands. “Wait… Double?! I want double!”

………………………………….

Jackson sipped his double-shot chocolate mocha as he walked through the halls of his school. “I think I am in love with this drink.”

Mikey chuckled, “Dang that is going to be one short marriage.”

Jackson gave him a look, “No. That was an awful joke. No bad jokes until I am fully awake and happy.”

Mikey chuckled, “You are such a…”

“PACER!” Shelby stomped up to Jackson, looking very disheveled and angry. Her two co-cheerleaders (Alisha Hughes and Tasha Collins looked slightly amused but they didn’t show it too much lest Shelby caught sight of it and ripped their hair out).

Mikey chuckled, “Actually I was going to say spoiled sport.”

Shelby gave him a look, “Can it, loser!” She turned to Jackson. “I don’t know how you did it, but I am going to kill you.”

Jackson put his hands up. “Whoa, wait a minute! What did I do?”

Alisha put her hands on her hips. “You released a compilation of videos of Shelby bullying kids around campus and then ended it with the words “It’s Reckoning Day, Shelby Keener.”

Jackson cringed, “Ugh, please. That sounds really lame. Is this one of your mean pranks to get me arrested?”

Shelby shook her head. “No. You did it. It was posted on your YouTube account.”

Jackson laughed and looked at her with a grin. “You have to be kidding.”

Shelby glared.

Jackson went serious fast. “You’re not messing? Shelby, I don’t even have a YouTube account.”

Shelby snorted, “Really? No YouTube account? Every cool person has a YouTube account.”

Jackson gave her a look, “I am not cool. I don’t even have an email account!”

Shelby stopped, “Okay, so maybe you didn’t but since you just went full loser; we are done with this conversation.” She turned and walked off like she was a model.

Jackson threw his hands up. “I don’t even know what video she’s talking about.”

Alisha sighed and dropped her arms. “It is really weird… But if you ask me, I am glad someone is trying to expose that evil…” She paused deciding to use that word in a school so she didn’t get expelled. “But seriously… You didn’t make that video?”

Jackson shook his head. “No! I swear. I legitimately do not have a YouTube account.”

The other cheerleader, Tasha Collins, looked around. “Hurry Alisha. Before she notices were gone…”

Alisha crossed her arms, “Dang it…” She looked back at Jackson with a small smile. “See you at your book signing…”

Jackson nodded and gave her a small smile. “See you.” He smiled as he watched them walk away. Alisha had been a friend of Jackson’s since Shelby had torn up his notebooks. She had brought Jackson some of the pieces of his notebook so he could construct most of the ideas. They began a support group like thing where they would get together and just hangout, enjoying each other’s company. Jackson had begun to develop a crush on her.

Mikey looked up from his phone and as if he could read Jackson’s thoughts. “Don’t forget about her boyfriend.”

Jackson turned to look at him. “Have I ever mentioned I sometimes hate you?”

Mikey shrugged and went back to tapping on his phone. “Better you hate me, than Jason Kendrick hate you.”

Jackson stopped cold. Jason Kendrick was on the football team. No he wasn’t the quarterback… That would be super cliché and cliché is boring. Jason Kendrick was much better than the quarterback. He was the guy that broke bones when sacking quarterbacks. He had a firm build and wide shoulders, his voice was deep and he almost sounded like a jazz singer. But he could get angry… really angry. “True…” He didn’t want Alisha’s boyfriend to shatter his spine… or anything else important.

Mikey handed Jackson his phone. “Dude… They were right… The video is on your… I mean… A channel with your name on it.”

Jackson watched the video in shock. “He hadn’t taken any of these videos… He was even in the last one… which was from that very morning.”

Mikey paled, “Dude… I think someone was spying on us.”

Jackson looked at Mikey, “Why use my name though?”

Mikey shrugged, then his eyes widened. “Dude. Maybe Shelby forced someone to make it and blame it on you.”

Jackson considered that, but it didn’t make sense. “Why would she ask someone to make a video that could ruin her reputation?”

Mikey shrugged.

Jackson also shrugged, “It’s probably just a harmless prank. There isn’t anything to worry about.” He sighed, “Come on we have class.” They made their way down the halls and to their first class of the day.

………………………………….

Halfway through the day there were a few more incriminating videos about Shelby which included that she was seeing Alisha’s boyfriend, Jason; that she had forced a young tech to change all her grades to give her straight A’s so she could stay on the cheerleading squad; and all sorts of other embarrassing things. All of them had the same words at the end of it. But the weird thing was, each of the videos was launched from an empty YouTube account with different name to it. And all of the accounts were fake. Jackson could tell. Because when Mikey saw that the account, under his name, that was used to send one of the videos, he realized that that the one video was the only one on his channel. He couldn’t find any of his gaming videos… and then he realized that it wasn’t his actual account.

Jackson sat at his desk in Physics thinking about that, and pretty much ignoring the teacher. For some reason, YouTube death threat pranks were much more interesting than… whatever his teacher was rambling on about.

Someone was making videos and fake accounts as a big prank. That was it. Nothing dangerous. Jackson had to hand it to the person doing this. It was a very interesting method, which kept the person from being revealed and getting into trouble. Now this was a well-planned prank... Someone was really out to make Shelby look bad, and they were probably driving her crazy. He hoped he didn’t see her for the rest of the day. He couldn’t imagine how mad she would be. She was probably dying to get ahold of the person responsible… He had never seen her do anything extremely violent, but he had heard several rumors about kids that crossed her that ending up in the hospital. And apparently from what he had heard, those were for little things. So what would Shelby do if she found the person who was trying to ruin her reputation?

He was brought of his thoughts by the bell ringing and he shot Mikey a look. It was time for the book signing. He picked up the box of books he had been tugging around all day and they made their way to the cafeteria.

When they got there, they saw Mr. Kingsley, the English Lit teacher, putting up a table for them to sit at. Jackson smile a little and sighed as they walked up to him. “Mr. Kingsley… You know you don’t have to do this for us.”

Mr. Kingsley looked hurt, “Jackson! It’s the least I can do for one of my best students. You are the only student I have that has actually published anything. And since you won’t let me give you the recognition you deserve, I can at least help you out.”

Jackson smiled, “That’s kind of you.” He smiled and began taking the books out of his box and putting them in stacks of ten. He counted them three times to make sure he had all thirty, and smiled turning around to look around the cafeteria.

He never really got the chance to though because someone was standing directly behind him and scared the living daylights out of him. “JAIME!?” He lowered his voice at all the looks he got. “How many times have I told you not to sneak up on me like that?”

Jaime smiled at him innocently and shrugged, “Probably a lot, but I kind of usually ignore stuff like that.” She held up a bag and a cup that she had. “I got you some food. Roast Beef sub with American cheese, pickles, lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, and vinegar and a frozen lemonade.”

Jackson shivered, she always knew just what to buy. “Oh my gosh. Jaime you are my new favorite person!” He took the bag and cup from her and sat behind the table eating it.

Jaime smiled, “So what time does the book signing start, again?”

Jackson shrugged as he chewed some of his sandwich. “As soon as I am done eating this sandwich.”

Jaime smiled, “Okie dokie!” She stood in front of the table just looking at the covers of the books for a long time. Jackson was a little nervous that she was still standing there, but he was glad someone was that big of a fan to come to every signing and buy his books. He hoped that Jaime would continue to do that even when if he never got super famous.

Suddenly he heard Jaime yell and looked up and saw Shelby and her crew. “Shelby.”

Shelby smirked at Jaime on the ground, then turned to look at Jackson. “Hey Pacer. Just came to see your new…” She froze and looked past Jackson.

Jackson turned around to see Mr. Kingsley standing behind him. “Miss Keener… I must say I am disappointed in your behavior… I saw those videos this morning and I didn’t want to believe it.”

Shelby glared and stomped. “Its not what you think sir… I merely bumped into Jaime.” She helped Jaime up off the floor and gave her a hug. “See? All fine.”

Jackson could tell by Jaime’s face that it was NOT all fine. She looked majorly ticked off.

Mr. Kingsley must have noticed it too, because he sighed and gently took ahold of Shelby’s arm. “You’re going to need to come with me to the office Miss Keener. That type of behavior cannot be tolerated. One day, you are going to realize how you treat people has consequences…”

Shelby tried to pull away. “No. You can’t tell me what to do.”

Mr. Kingsley sighed, “Would you like me to call your parents instead, Miss Keener?”

Shelby froze and sighed, “Fine. I will go with you to the office. But I didn’t do anything wrong.”

Mr. Kingsley led her away towards the office. “I’ll let Principal White be the judge of that.”

Jackson looked back at Jaime who was rubbing her arm. “You okay Jaime?”

She winced, but nodded. “Yeah… I am alright.”

Alisha and her boyfriend came up, behind Jaime, to the table and looked at the books. “Is it time for the book signing?”

Jackson looked up at them, “Yes.” He tried to keep his expression clear, but Jason was a big guy and was kind of intimidating. He had never personally met the guy. But being face to face…

Alisha noticed his expression and smiled, “Oh… You have met my boyfriend right?”

Jason smiled a small smile and stuck out his hand. “I’m Jason. I really loved your book.”

Jackson smiled as he shook the big guy’s hand, afraid not to make any wrong moves so he wouldn’t have a broken hand. “T-Thanks Jason.”

Jason chuckled low, “It’s okay. I am not going to hurt you. I am so ready to read more of your writing. You have a way with words.”

Jackson smiled, “Wow… Thank you.” He shifted in his seat. “Okay then. If you are here for my signing form a line behind Jaime… you know because she got here first.”

Jaime squealed. “I can’t wait to read this one!”

Jackson smiled and took one of the books and signed his name on the inside front cover. “What do you want it to say?”

Jaime grinned widely, “Address it to your biggest fan!”

Jackson chuckled and scribbled down. “To… my… biggest… fan!” He closed the book and handed it to her. “I hope you enjoy!”

Jaime took her new book and immediately started reading it as she walked to her lunch table.

Jackson picked up another book and scribbled down his name in it as Alisha stepped forward. He smiled up at her. “What do you want yours to say?”

“To my good friend, Alisha!” She chuckled, “That sounds good right?”

“Of course!” He said as he wrote it down. “To… my… good… friend… Alisha!”

Alisha grinned and took the book. “Thanks!”

The line went by fast, for some he asked what they wanted him to write. Like for Tasha, she wanted him to write “To the queen of cheerleading.” Others, like Jason, he wrote something on his own. For Jason he wrote “To the next big name in professional football.”

His favorite autograph was the one that he gave Mikey. Mikey had asked for him to write “To the Mikeynator!” But Jackson, instead, wrote “To the biggest goofball in the universe!”

The books went super quick and in no time Jackson was handing his last copy of his book to Mr. Kingsley. “Wait…” He took the book back, “What should I write in it?”

Mr. Kingsley shrugged, “I don’t know…”

Jackson smiled, “I have the perfect thing.” He scrawled something down and handed it to his teacher. “To my favorite teacher!” He smiled.

Mr. Kingsley chuckled, “This is nice, but no… I am still not changing that C you made on your late report last week.”

Jackson laughed out loud. “I had actually forgotten about that. Whoops…”

Mr. Kingsley smiled, and walked off to his classroom as Jackson packed up his things and got ready to move on to his next class.

The rest of the day went smoothly. The classes went by fast and Jackson and Mikey headed home to play video games at 3 o’clock. They didn’t see any Shelby, seeing as how she had cheerleader practice. They played video games till about five o’clock, when Jackson decided to go home and sleep.

When he got home, there was a note on his fridge from his parents. He read it and realized this was the week of a big business trip and that they wouldn’t be back for ten days.

He shrugged and laid down on the couch and closed his eyes.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Jackson opened his eyes and looked at the clock. It was 6:30. He mumbled, “Who the heck could that…”

The knocker knocked hard. “Jackson Pacer? This is the police. Open the door.”

Jackson sprung up from the couch and raced to the door to see two cops standing outside his door. “Is there a problem officers?” He rubbed his eyes.

The officer on the left, an older gentleman, gave him the once-over. “Are you Jackson Pacer?”

Jackson nodded, a little worried but curious as to what was going on. “Yes sir. I am.”

The officer on the right, a rather intimidating young blonde woman, gently took a hold of his arm. “We need you to come with us. You are wanted for questioning.”

Jackson struggled a little, “Wait a minute, what is going on here?”

The woman turned to Jackson. “Shelby Keener is dead, and as of right now, you are the prime suspect in a murder case.”