Chapter+3

The girls finally left and Lanna Jo breathed a sigh of relief. She didn’t know how much longer she could have stayed in that uncomfortable position. Her legs were tingling. It felt like all circulation in her body had been cut off. She shook her tree like legs backwards and forwards and attempted to do a half hearted squat but stopped. Deeply she breathed a sigh of relief and exhaled so loudly it was surprising she couldn’t be heard in the hallway. No one ever told her anything and so she had to get her information somewhere. She knew the girls’ bathroom was her best bet. Quickly, she grabbed the out of order sign off the stall door and shoved it in the trash can before any one else came in. Lanna Jo threw open the bathroom door and almost knocked Raul down. He like most kids in the school was afraid of her. Even most of the boys in athletics were afraid of her too. She had the broadest shoulders of anyone including even the coaches. She was five foot ten and built like an army tank, rock solid. Her arms were bigger than most boys on the football team’s thighs. She had dark blonde shoulder length hair with short curly bangs. She never wore makeup or worried about keeping up with trendy clothes. Surviving day by day was her primary concern. Her mom had a paper route. She made Lanna Jo get up around 4:00 A.M. and help her roll and throw papers before she went to school. Her brother was the size of a giant. He worked at Cluck’s Fried Chicken. Since he worked the late shift he usually brought home leftover chicken. Lanna Jo’s typical breakfast was a chicken leg or two. Her family kept an empty chicken bucket in the back of her mom’s truck which was littered with chicken bones. It wasn’t unusual for Lanna Jo to find chicken bones inside her backpack. The kids at school thought it was funny but no one dared laugh at Lanna Jo. She would beat anyone up as soon as look at them. Rumor had it that all the kids in this year’s spelling bee deliberately misspelled words so Lanna Jo could win. They say she threaten them. Teachers were surprised when Blake Henderson, the second smartest boy in school missed the word, “Hygiene.” Everyone saw Lanna Jo crack her big man-like knuckles and scratch her throat with her claw-like fingernails when Blake went to the microphone. She squinted her eyes and gave him the evil eye as she looked him over from head to toe. Staring, she gritted her teeth when each contestant tried to spell a word. This year’s spelling bee was the shortest one ever in the history of the school. It only went a record six rounds. Lanna Jo had a secret liaison with Doyle. No one in the school would have ever suspected since they were an unlikely pair. At the end of the 7th grade, she cornered Doyle up against the brick wall behind the gym and told him that if he didn’t try out for the spelling bee in the 8th grade, she would defend him and have his back. Doyle had been the undefeated spelling bee champ since second grade. Terrified, he agreed. After all, who could tell Lanna Jo, “No?” She did a pretty good job watching out for him in the hallways. Whenever she saw he was getting picked on in the halls, she would come forward, belly bump anyone around and then growl. Then she would say, “What are you staring at, Reject? Take a picture next time. It’ll last longer. Pick on someone your own size, Moron or you’ll be toast.” Doyle and Lanna Jo rarely talked to each other in public. That would be too weird but neither forgot their agreement. All of Doyle’s teachers were surprised when he didn’t enter the spelling bee but he said he was putting all his attention into Destination Imagination, a competition for smart kids. He justified his decision by saying he had more to gain if he won that because they gave a $5000.00 scholarship to the winning team. Secretly, Doyle gave Lanna Jo tips on how to study for the spelling bee, only to have her title taken away the week before the district bee. She was caught beating up Nakodia Hernadez, a Goth girl with a big mouth that dared call Lanna Jo’s a cheat. She also called her chicken breath. A fight broke out in “A” Hall and Lanna Jo was stripped of her spelling bee title. It had worked out okay for her because she got to spend a lot of time in the principal office because there wasn’t an ISS (Inner School Suspension) teacher available and all places in the alternative school were full. Lanna Jo enjoyed opening all of Principal Thomas’ desk drawers and looking through her files and purse when no one was looking. She even got on Mrs. Thomas’ phone and told Coach Millhouse to send Nakodia immediately to the front office. Coach Millhouse bought it and Nakodia came up to the office only to find Lanna Jo swirling around in Principal Thomas’ wingback leather chair. It was priceless to see Nakodia’s face after Lanna Jo told her to come in and close the door. Nakodia screamed when Lanna Jo turned her chair around, faced her, and growled. She made her long fingernails look like bear claws. She had gotten another week of lunch detention hall but she didn’t care. She really didn’t have anyone to eat with during lunch and the office was a much more interesting place anyway. It kept her full of the latest referrals and gossip. Lanna Jo heard the first bell ring and she nearly ran into Doyle as she bolted out of the girl’s bathroom door. “What’s your problem?” she said to Doyle as she picked him up by his collar. “Nothing, it’s just that I don’t want to dress out in P.E. I’m afraid Dontavious will make fun of me,” Doyle whispered under his breath. Lanna Jo looked around and scared off anyone close enough to hear with her infamous evil glare and whispered, “Dontavious and Taiwan are planning a Halloween party this Friday at the old Haltom Mansion that’s supposed to soon be torn down. You and me are going to crash it.” Before Doyle had a chance to say, “No, I don’t have permission to go to haunted places and I would be terrified to go anywhere with you.” Lanna Jo left with a big grin on her face. She slammed Nakodia into a nearby locker and laughed her weird loud obnoxious laugh. Doyle didn’t know which made him sicker: dreading Dontavious and Taiwan make fun of him in his Power Ranger underwear or spending Halloween with Lanna Jo.
 * Chapter 3**
 * Super Spy**