When Taffee and Swifty pulled into the parking lot one brisk autumn day after weeks with no occurrences, it was obvious the skirmish was far from over. Spot Conlon, who had been attending school sporadically at best the past few weeks, had parked his car in its rightful place, but was nowhere in sight. Likewise, Relic's car had been parked parallel to it, but she also couldn't be seen. As Taffee and Swifty climbed off Swifty's motorcycle, they knew that this couldn't be good news. Spot Conlon being early was enough cause for concern; a missing Spot along with a missing Relic was FBI-worthy.

            Taffee sighed in relief when she caught sight of Relic's bouncing hair ahead. "Good, at least she isn't insinuating anything with Spot," she smiled, grabbing Swifty's hand and pulling him along.

            Spot, in fact, didn't turn up all day, yet his car stood, unguarded, in the parking lot. This seemed to upset Relic even more than the members of the Crimson Gang, who were understandably worried about their egotistical leader.

            At lunchtime, the two gangs sat together on the Quad. This was permissible on the days when Spot was absent; when he was present, the two groups hardly even interacted. The days that were Spotless were the party days.

            Since Relic had held off with her pairings, the Crimson Gang was starting to lose its suspicion. Perhaps they didn't think the rest of the Clover Gang were interested, or they might have thought that the whole Itey-Stress situation had made the girls back off. Whatever the case, the boys were blissfully unaware that Relic's mind was continuously revolving around her darling of a group and the potential couples. She couldn't wait to hit the next guy off-guard.

            But today wasn't that day.

            By lunchtime, rumors about Spot were flying everywhere. Since his car was so hard to miss, everyone in the school had seen it, and yet no one had caught sight of the short, angry boy who drove it. Girls, whispering behind their hands, decided he had killed himself in a janitor's closet by mixing bleach and ammonia and smelling it, while boys tried to declare that they had fought him and won and that he was lying in a ditch somewhere, immobile. Nobody really believed the rumors they created… except Relic.

            She ran through the school, checking every janitor's closet, and then, not having produced Spot's body, drove through town searching ditches instead of going to her third period class.

            At lunchtime, she was forlornly looking about, when she realized she was ravenous. Having spent all of her own money on gas to search ditches, she began flitting from person to person, taking bites of their lunches. When she got to Pie Eater, she grinned at him. The football hero had a tray so full of food it was falling off the edges. There was a big game that weekend, she remembered, and he was trying to bulk up. She sat next to him primly. He gave her an odd look but continued eating; he wasn't one much for words. When he looked at his friends in other directions, she would snitch food off his plate and smile innocently when he looked for the missing delicacy.

            Having had her fill finally, she got up and walked over to Squibble. "This weekend's when we make our move," she murmured. "Meet me after sixth period to discuss your obtaining Pie Eater." Then, not feeling nearly as guilty about eating his food, she sauntered casually away.

            It was French class, and two girls were missing.

            In fact, many girls were missing from the school.

            No one had particularly noticed the absences, because they weren't a group of friends or anything. But Relic, grabbing the absent list that the office handed out to the after-lunch teachers as she took attendance for Mme Durouge, noticed the strange amount of unexcused absences. And, oddly enough, there was Spot's name atop the list. Well, she countered herself giddily, his real name. Gabe Conlon.

            The thing that made Relic think was that the two girls missing were the two who hadn't joined the Clover Gang, Jaclyn and Danielle. She thought it odd they would be the two missing from their class. And unexcused? Both girls had perfect records so far.

            Squibble felt uneasy when she looked into Relic's excited face. "What are you gonna make me do?" she asked, sounding as nervous as she felt. Relic had a certain gleam in her eye which frightened Squibble beyond what was thought possible.

            Relic reflected that many of the girls were starting to get the same panicked look on their faces when she was about to tell them her plan. It was a bit unnerving.

            She shrugged it off.

            "What's Pie Eater doing this weekend?" she asked, tilting her head innocently.

            Wondering if it was a bit of a trick question, Squibble shrugged. "Playing in the football game."

            "Exactly." Relic's grin grew a bit ridiculous. "And who is the most important members on that field to the football players, besides the other players?"

            "Uh… the band?" Squibble said, not following.

            "No!" Relic nearly shouted. "The cheerleaders!"

            Squibble looked at her in disbelief. "Oh, no. No, Relic. I can't be a cheerleader!"

            Relic laughed. "Of course you can!" she said. "It's not that hard."

            "There aren't any openings on the squad," Squibble tried.

            Relic only laughed harder. "After what I did last period, there is."

            "Oh, no," Squibble said, looking distraught. "What did you do?"

            Relic nearly cackled as she hugged herself. "I overheard Sammi telling Traci in the bathroom that she thought she was pregnant. I just happened to have a trick pregnancy test in my backpack—" Squibble gave a little sound of amusement and Relic tried to look innocent. "Well, I did! Anyhow, I acted all sympathetic to Sammi and said that I was going to give it to my aunt after school, but that this was more important than my family. So Sammi took the test, and of course it says she's pregnant (even though she probably isn't)… she was in hysterics when I left, and I made it my personal duty to inform Carli, the head cheerleader, of the situation. I said that you were a cheerleader last year in your school in Quebec—" Squibble gave a downright snort of laughter this time. Relic continued, "and she, like, totally, y'know, believed me!" She began tossing her hair as she impersonated Carli. " 'Oh, my, like, God! Do you, like, think that she'd, like, totally be up for, like, cheering with us from, like, now on?'" Relic grinned. "I told her you'd only be too happy to. So now, all we've gotta do is make you a cheerleader!"