Chapter 1

"Ok class, who can tell me what five times five is?" Mrs. Eynon asked her 5th grade class. With her back turned to the chalkboard, she didn't notice two students were furiously waving their hands. One was a boy and the other a girl. The boy had a bowl cut dirty blonde hairstyle, thick circular glasses, and multiple freckles on his face. The girl had brown hair that framed her head almost like a lion's mane. She had no freckles in sight but her hair and eyebrows were bushy and she had a bit of buck teeth. Both of them were the top of their class, the most organized, the most active in clubs, and they both had flawless records. As most kids would put it: they were nerds. Every day it was the same thing, the teacher would ask them a question and the boy and girl would fight to answer. While the other children kept score. Whoever answered the most questions right was the genius for the day. Currently said boy and girl were glaring each other down. "Does anyone have the answer to my question?" The teacher turned around to see her best students practically standing on their desk raising their hands. "Yes, Kenneth?"

The blonde haired boy smiled in triumph, "25."

"Correct," the teacher said as she wrote the answer down. Kenneth turned to his rival and grinned at her. When Mrs. Eynon wasn't looking, the girl stuck her tongue out at him.

"Mrs. Eynon," Kenneth whined, "Hermione stuck her tongue out at me."

"Is this true Ms. Granger?" questioned a shocked Mrs. Eynon.

Hermione was in trouble. She didn't want to lie, yet she didn't want to hurt her untainted record. As the teacher looked at her sternly waiting for a reply, she made her decision, "Yes Mrs. Eynon." As soon as the words escaped she put her head down waiting for her punishment.

"Well then, I can't say I'm not ashamed of you. I expect you to be more mature than that," Mrs. Eynon spoke with disappointment, "however, you did tell the truth and you have never caused any major trouble. So I'm letting you off with a warning." With that said she turned around began writing problems on the board. Hermione shrunk down in her seat out of embarrassment. Then she tore out a piece of paper from her Hello Kitty notebook. After scribbling something down, she tossed it onto Kenneth's desk. He opened it.

'Thanks a lot four eyes!' It just made him laugh. Nevertheless, he replied.

'It's what you get bushy brows!'

'Pizza face!'

'Snagle tooth!' For a few seconds they kept tossing the paper back and forth firing insults at each other. Once the paper reached Hermione's desk again she came up with an idea. She took out another piece of paper, wrote on it, and folded it inside the first paper and passed it back to Kenneth.

Inside it read: 'Whatever mommy's boy! Can you pass the note below to Sarah?' That caught him off guard. Kenneth looked at her with confusion. Hermione just nodded her head as if to say "Go on then." Shaking his head he took out the note and turned around to give it to Sarah. As soon as he turned around Hermione "accidently" knocked over her heavy math book. The loud bang caused the teacher to turn around.

"What is….."Mrs. Eynon spoke but stopped when she saw Kenneth, "Mr. Powell! Are you passing notes in MY class?" Kenneth's blood ran cold as he turned around.

"No Mrs. Eynon," he spoke really nervous, "I wasn't. Honest."

"Then what is that in your hand?" she demanded.

"It's…..umm….a…well it is a note," Kenneth replied stammering, "but it's not mine! It's Hermione's!"

Before she could think about consequences she shouted, "No it's not! He's just a tattle-tale!"

"Hermione Ganger!" Mrs. Eynon looked at her sternly, "watch what you say. If it's not his nor is it yours, then whose note is it?"

"I don't know," Hermione started back tracking on her actions, "I just know it's not mine. Since it's in his hands, it must be his." She knew what she was doing was wrong. It was too late to go back now. Plus she did make sense. The note was in his hand and he can't proof she gave it to him.

Kenneth just got angrier by this, "Mrs. Eynon, she is lying! The note is hers. She asked me to pass it and I have proof!" After realizing what he just said, his and Hermione's eyes grew wide. Saying he had "proof" meant he had to admit to passing a note with Hermione.

The teacher, unaware of their scared expressions, strolled over to Kenneth's desk, "If that's so, where is your proof?" Mrs. Eynon stuck out her hand. Kenneth just sat their staring at it, barely breathing. "Kenneth I will give you to the count of three to present this 'evidence' to me or I will have to assume it was your note. And you know the consequences of passing notes." All the students did. Passing notes in class earned you a ticket to lunch detention. "One." Kenneth just kept staring. "Two." He started to open his mouth but closed it. "Two and a half." He glanced at the other students who gave him a look that he better do something. "Thr….."

"Here," he said with his head down defeated. He pulled out the note Hermione and him were passing earlier. Hermione groaned and placed her head in her arms on her desk. The other students just watched on in silence. Each one waiting to hear the punishment of the two brightest kids in their class. Mrs. Eynon read through the note, with each sentence making her eyes grow wide.

Crumpling up the note she said, "I am very disappointed in both of you! First you, Hermione, acting like a child. Second, you both break the rules and pass a note in class. Then lastly, you both proceeded to lie to me about it! You two are the greatest students this school as ever seen yet you act like three year olds! You are supposed to be role models for your peers! The two of you leave me no choice but to give you lunch detentions." Both raised their heads to protest.

"NO Mrs. Eynon you can't!" "Please I've never had a lunch detention!" they spoke in unison.

"I can and I will Ms. Ganger, Mr. Powell. You should've thought about that earlier, you two of all people know the rules." Mrs. Eynon walked to her desk and wrote out two lunch detention slips. She gave them to both Kenneth and Hermione. "Now I expect the rest of you to behave yourselves." With that said the lesson continued. Hermione on the brink of tears and Kenneth clenching the pink slip in his fist.

*Ring Ring*

Hermione's stomach became a giant knot. It was time for lunch. Time to serve her first lunch detention. She walked to her locker to get her bagged lunch while she ran her fingers across the pink slip in her hands. Wanting more than anything to take back what she said and did, she couldn't; she just strolled slowly back to Mrs. Eynon's classroom. With her head down looking at her feet, she could hear the murmurs and whispers of her fellow peers laughing at her. Before the tears could spill, she sprinted to classroom 114 and slammed the door shut. Taking deep soothing breathes, she looked around the classroom. Also in there was: Rodger Rivers, known for the great bathroom flood, Dean Burban, once let chickens loose through the school, and finally; Jimmy Hood. Rumor has it he has done some nasty things. Stuff that put him in an insane asylum. Then he got bored, busted out, and took on a new identity.

'These people are troublemakers, law-breakers, hooligans!' Hermione thought to herself. 'I feel so filthy just being in the same room as them. Inching her way to a seat, she sat down and locked eyes with the very boy who got her into this mess. If he wouldn't have been such a tattle-tale, she wouldn't be here! She felt her blood boil just looking at him but she calmed down when Mrs. Eynon walked in.

"Lunch detention lasts for 45 minutes," she said glaring at each one of them, "I will be in the teachers' lounge. I don't want to hear a peep out of any of you." Mrs. Eynon walked out the door and slammed it behind her.

Then Jimmy Hood got up and started mimicking her, "I don't want to hear a peep out of any of you! Bleh! Old hag needs to hurry it up and kick the bucket." Dean and Roger just laughed at the joke.

"You shouldn't say things like that about a teacher!" Hermione spoke without thinking, "What goes around comes around!" Jimmy and his crew stopped laughing. They gave each other a look then looked at her. Jimmy sauntered towards her with Dean and Rodger close behind.

"What was that little Ms. Goody Two Shoes?" Jimmy asked leaning towards her. She just pursed her lips to keep from talking. "That's what I thought. Now why is a goody goody like you in lunch detention?" Hermione didn't answer.

"Looks like she's trying to ignore you Jimmy," spoke Rodger.

"Yeah," Dean laughed, "maybe cause her mommy told her not to talk to troublesome kids like us." Biting her tongue and clenching her fist, she still refrained from speaking. All three boys circled around her desk.

"So know-it-all," Jimmy spoke, "did you get caught making out with your boyfriend over there?"

"He is not my boyfriend," Hermione glared up at him.

"Oooh feisty little demon," Jimmy laughed, "it was just a question." Hermione huffed at herself for breaking down and speaking to him.

"Well listen here Jimmy," Dean said, "there's no way she has a boyfriend. Because she's way to freaking ugly!"

Rodger laughed and joined in, "Yeah. I mean just look at that hair. She couldn't snog a guy because of her buck teeth!" All three of the guys grabbed their sides they were laughing so hard. Before Hermione could think about what she was doing, she spit in Rodger's eye. Next thing she knew, Dean grabbed her by the hair and threw her to the ground. Then Jimmy grabbed her by her t-shirt and lifted her off the ground.

"Just exactly who do you think you are little know-it-all?" Jimmy asked menacingly. She just silently whimpered. She glanced to the side and saw Kenneth looking at her. Her eyes were pleading for help. Kenneth just turned his head to look out the window.

'Prat!' Hermione yelled in her mind, 'That little prat is just going to sit there while I'm in trouble!'

Then Jimmy shook her, returning her to reality. "Answer me!" he shouted.

Hermione answered slowly choking out, "I'm no one." Jimmy approving of her answer let her drop to the ground. Then he took her lunch bag and ripped it open. He gave her PB & J sandwich to Dean, her sugar cookie to Rodger, and he took the apple.

"You got that right," Jimmy spoke to her while eating the apple, "you're nothing but a worthless, ugly, goody two shoes, book loving, bushy haired, weak, little know-it-all, brat!" That was the last straw. Hermione could feel her heart racing in anger, her blood boiled beyond control, and her fists were clenched as she lay on the ground. She stared at the apple in Jimmy's hand. Her eyes focused solely on the apple while her eyebrows furrowed downward. And before her very eyes, the apple in Jimmy's hand burst into flames.