The Aluminum Bomb

With each step, the tiny feet slammed down with furious power. The short legs moved so rapidly that the longer-legged girls struggled to keep up as the petite powerhouse whipped around the hallway corner. Nearly slamming into a pair of students, she weaved between them effortlessly.

“Sorry!” a medium-length auburn-haired girl apologized, struggling to follow while carrying her overloaded book bag.

“Tin!” a caramel-blonde beauty yelled after turning the corner to get entangled with the surprised couple. “Tin, don’t do anything stupid.”

Not even close to the first warning since Bridget had dropped the news upon pulling up to school on Tuesday morning, Cassandra shot a look over her shoulder. With a stern shake of the head, she didn’t need to say anything to deliver the meaning. Bridget knew she should’ve told their best friend the news when she first got into The Book Bug. Waiting until they pulled into the school’s parking lot probably wasn’t the best idea. It didn’t give the fiery brunette any time to cool off; now, they were about to pay the price.

“Listen to her! Don’t cause a scene,” Cassie implored, getting a reaction from the focused teenager.

“Ha!” Tinny barked, turning her head briefly to look behind her at the sweet bookworm.

“Don’t get in trouble! Please!” Cassie begged.

“Shit,” Bridget moaned before looking over her own shoulder. Finding her little cheersister scurrying behind, she issued an order. “Sabrina, go get Topaz.”

Without any questions, the junior varsity captain peeled off the pursuit.

Struggling not to run down the hallway, Bridget shifted into a jog as her next-door neighbor shifted her trajectory slightly as her destination appeared. The captain yelled at the squad’s manager to handle the situation. Of course, Bridget had never been able to manage her fiery best friend like Cassie could.

Storming into the business classroom, Tinny’s hazel eyes scanned the classroom before locking on a chuckling guy with sandy brown hair and a laidback demeanor who sat at the front desk in the row furthest away from the door. Fittingly, Steve Gorman, possibly the horniest guy at Honey Hollow High, currently flirted with Jadyn Romer, a junior-year Sugarbee. Attempting to burn a hole in her Homecoming date’s skull, the laser lost contact as Velma Klass walked forward to Mr. Irby’s desk.

“Out of the way, Velma!”

The angry shout suddenly altered everyone filling into the first-hour class at the ticking timebomb. Steve’s eyes snapped away from the busty brunette toward the incoming spitfire. Realization hit his brain right as his mouth started a flirty welcome.

“What’s up, babe–Oh, shit!”

“Motherfucker!”

With the battle cry, the petite highflyer grabbed the front of the one-piece desk/chair. Before Steve could slide out of the side, adrenaline-enhanced strength sent the desk flying up to face the ceiling. Steve ended up on his back with his head hitting the desk behind him on the downfall.

“Order! Please maintain order!” Mr. Irby demanded, throwing his hands out while doing nothing else.

The frumpy man appeared unable or unwilling to intervene. Instead, he watched as Cassandra attempted to pull her friend away but failed until Bridget entered and immediately grabbed Tinny by the arms.

“You’re a scumbag, Gorman,” the buxom blonde declared, pulling the fighting brunette away.

“Don’t worry. Annie earned my vote,” Steve joked, attempting to save face as he extracted himself from the tipped-over combo desk/chair.

“I hope she gave you gonorrhea!” Tinny spat, actually launching a spit volley that landed on Steve’s shirt.

“I thought St. Pierre had chlamydia,” Danika Huskkova cracked from a rear seat.

“Shut it, Sugarbitch!” Bridget bellowed.

“Nah, she swallows and can give me a titfuck, unlike you,” Steve responded, his face burning from the onlookers’ laughter.

“Fucking kill you!” Tinny screamed as Bridget pulled her away.

Unobserved by either girl, Cassie performed a doubletake at Steve’s rude comment. Fully aware of Tinny’s occasional body issues over her medium-sized breasts, the bookworm knew the needle likely hurt more than Steve hooking up with Annette. Showing rare fury, Cassie turned, took two steps, and picked up Mr. Irby’s lukewarm cup of coffee.

“You got something to say, too?” Steve challenged as the redhead marched over.

Cassie's only response was to twist her wrist and lob the cup's contents directly into his face. A round of shocked gasps filled the classroom as Mr. Irby squealed, "Miss Bank!"

Arriving fifteen seconds late, Topaz rushed inside and halted upon surveying the scene. Several steps behind her was Mr. Molden, who taught psychology and sociology a few doors down. While the English teacher moved toward the squad’s shaking manager, Mr. Molden demanded to know what happened.

As Mr. Irby stammered a recounting, Tinny freed herself from Bridget’s grasp. Heading toward the door, she caught the psychology teacher’s attention.

“Stay right where, Miss Day!”

“Nope. I don’t need a psych exam,” the petite brunette shot back while still leaving.

“Where are you going, Tinsley?” Topaz yelled after her.

“Room 107!”

---

“She just left and went straight to 107?” Naomi Fitch asked, leaning forward in her seat.

Although on different sides of the cheerleader and dancer wars, Naomi and Bridget behaved civilly, often due to alphabetical seating in classes. Third-hour history with Mr. Grummitt was one such class with the Sugarbee sitting directly behind Bridget.

“That girl knew what was coming,” Duke Hager pointed out.

Seated behind Naomi, Duke was correct. Room 107 was the office of Fraser Lomax, the assistant principal who handled student discipline. Tinny was such a regular that his secretary, Rhonda, kept a bag of Tinny’s favorite candy in her desk drawer.

“I can’t believe they suspended Cassie too,” Kirk Langley remarked, seated in the row next to Bridget.

"Both their moms were called down and had to take them home," Bridget reported. "Boy, my mom will be shocked when she hears that and doesn't get a call."

“I bet she will be, but Mrs. Banks has to be more shocked,” Kirk added.

“Didn’t she throw Irby’s scalding hot coffee in Steve’s face?” Frankie Kord asked, turning around from in front of Kirk. “That’s what everybody is saying.”

“It was not scalding hot,” Bridget corrected the junior-year cheerleader. “Cassie would’ve never tossed it on him if it was.”

“Are we sure Tinny didn’t throw it?” Kirk asked. “Elliot seems to hope so.”

“Elliot just hopes everyone gets to experience one of Tin’s pranks or attacks since he’s suffered from the most,” Bridget responded before realizing she hadn’t answered the question. “No, Cass threw it.”

“Well, Elliot is already thinking of the article he wants to write for The Buzzy Bee,” Kirk revealed about the newspaper’s editor. “You know he has several files about their prank wars, including what he calls her Tin Bomb explosions.”

“Oh, gawd. I haven’t heard that nickname in a few years,” Bridget groaned, throwing her head back so she could look at the ceiling.

“Ellie is thinking of calling his article The Aluminum Bomb.”

“If she gets a whole article, Didi is going to be so jealous,” Naomi commented about Tinsley’s Sugarbee rival.

“Damn, I knew Gorman was horny, but what was he thinking? Cheating is playing with fire. Cheating on Day is holding a lit firework in your hand. You’re going to lose a limb,” Duke forecasted.

“They weren’t dating; just Homecoming dates,” Naomi clarified. “This so going to be the talk of dance practice today. You got trouble brewing, Bridget.”

“Why did it take so long to come out? Didn’t anyone see them at Shanty Point?” Kirk asked, shifting into a reporter for the Bee.

“I didn’t see Steve’s car there,” Bridget said before realizing that would bring more questions as Duke frowned. Whatever, the news about River is already out there.

“So maybe Steve and Annette weren’t there,” Kirk speculated.

“No, Freddy Singer blabbed all over Zurbrugg about what he saw. Hmm, ” Bridget sounded as a possible reason started forming in her head. “I bet Steve used his brother’s car. Freddy and his brother had beef back in their school days. So he probably went to pull a prank and found Steve and Annie inside instead.”

“Makes sense,” Kirk admitted. “Still, what was she thinking?”

“I bet it was **** for the water hose incident from earlier on Saturday,” Frankie suggested.

“What water hose?” Kirk, Naomi, and Duke asked simultaneously.

They didn’t receive an answer as Mr Grummitt cleared his throat. The group looked over to find their teacher and the rest of the class watching them. Shaking his head with a thin smile, the history teacher reminded them they had a class.

Although he was only in his mid-fifties, Mr. Grummitt already, with his personality and tweed suits, had the air of a much older grandfather. And despite his occasionally stuffy demeanor, he had a soft spot for Tinsley. A student of his for all three years of high school, he’d long abandoned punishing her frequent tardiness. Strangely, the hyper, short-attention-span teenager had become one of his favorite students. This mainly came from her exceptional memory, which made his classes a breeze for her.

“Yes, we could have a class called Histortinny. I imagine the theater field trip, last year’s Snowflake Ball, the sophomore year school elections, and the Home Economics manifesto would provide ample chapters. Not to mention, the Prank Wars with Mr. Ridge could fill a whole section. However, we do have an actual class that started six minutes ago.”

“Um, sorry, Mr. Grummitt,” Bridget apologized sheepishly.

---

“I’m going to get to the bottom of this,” Bridget told Frankie as the two cheerleaders exited history class.

The younger girl bemoaned that she had class for the fourth hour instead of lunch so she'd miss the confrontation with Annette. Splitting off, Bridget headed to her locker, where Shayla quickly met her. The varsity captain and her likely successor shared a look as they waited for Maura.

Once the sweet, innocent cheerleader joined, they started toward the cafeteria. Never one to gossip, even Maura heard about the incident this morning.

“Cassie got suspended, too?” she asked, sounding shocked.

“I heard she threw scalding coffee in Steve’s face before slamming one of her thick-ass books down on his head,” Haley recounted as she and Zita joined them.

“Really? I heard Cass tossed Tin her math compass, which she used the sharp end to stab Steve’s balls,” Zita added.

“What? Cassie doesn’t even have geometry this year. C’mon, you know she’s in calculus,” Bridget replied, shaking her head. “Seriously, can’t we have somebody in this school to manage the gossip?”

“Don’t give Haley any ideas,” Shayla warned. “So what’s the fallout from all this?”

“Oh, I’m going to give Annie my two cents before demanding an explanation,” Bridget said. “She’s out of control.”

“Can we still eat lunch?” Maura inquired.

Shayla, Haley, and Zita insisted on getting food, forcing Bridget to join them. While in line, the blonde captain scanned the cafeteria for her slutty subordinate. Numerous students could be overheard gossiping about the attack. However, when the girls went to their usual table, Annie still hadn’t appeared. Sabrina and Regina appeared a few minutes before Miranda and Kimberly.

“Where is she?” Bridget questioned the one person who would know.

“I don’t know. I swear!” Miranda replied, throwing her hands up. “I also didn’t know about Steve. Annie’s off doing her own thing since she got pissed about the float changes.”

“Maybe Tinny shouldn’t have sprayed her with the hose,” Kimberly pointed out.

“And maybe you should be next,” Haley threatened, growing annoyed with the platinum blonde’s attitude over the last week or so.

“Uh-oh. Flirty Trash alert,” Zita whispered.

Most of the cheerleaders knew who she meant. So they weren’t surprised when Rick Trask appeared at the end of the table near Bridget. Scanning the table, he commented on Annette’s absence.

“Is she suspended from the squad? Or do you kick off girls who steal their teammate’s date?”

“No one is suspended or kicked off,” Bridget replied, still looking at her food.

“Outside of Day and Bank, you mean,” Rick chuckled. “I admire their ****. Still, it wouldn’t have been necessary if Tinsley had chosen me first. However, I’m a forgiving man. I’ll gladly escort you and her to Homecoming if needed.”

“Dream on!” Haley scoffed, but Zita placed her hand on her friend’s arm. Despite his serial dating and various nicknames, Rick was popular with women for a reason.

“Move on!” Shayla yelled.

“Thanks, Rick. I’m sure Tin will be thrilled to hear you want to be her backup date. As for me, I keep on getting offers left and right. And that’s after I said not to ask,” Bridget reminded, causing the flirt to throw up his hands and back away from the table.

“Did you really get asked by more guys?” Zita inquired.

“Ooh! I bet it was that hunk living in your basement,” Haley guessed.

“Was it?” Shayla asked, noticing Bridget’s reaction.

“Kinda. His mom offered him up first. But my mom isn’t thrilled by the possibility.”

“So? Who are you going with?” Sabrina asked.

“I’ll decide by tonight. As for now, I have other things on my mind,” Bridget stated, searching again for Annette. “Where the hell can she be? This is the second day in a row that she’d skipped lunch.”

A round of shrugs followed before Maura looked up from her pizza slice.

“Oh! Remember that I overheard her talking to Archie about the Sci-Fi Club meeting for today? Maybe that’s where she’s at.”

“That’s right. You mentioned that yesterday,” Shayla recalled, nodding at her best friend.

“Why the fuck would Annie go hang out with those geeks for lunch?” Zita questioned.

“That’s an excellent question,” Bridget replied, gobbling down another bite of pizza. “Do you know where they’re meeting?”

Maura shrugged.

“I think it might be in Mr. Kellogg’s room,” Regina said. “I just had a class there and know he has his lunch now.”

“I’m going to check,” Bridget announced, grabbing her tray.

Immediately, Miranda gathered her things. “Let’s avoid a scene. You girls stay here.”

Moans and groans sounded around the table. However, Shayla and Sabrina agreed to stay behind after a nod from Bridget. Still, as the pair of seniors left the cafeteria, they found Kimberly tagging along.

“Where do you girls think you’re going?” Coach Earnshaw asked, blocking their path.

“Miss Stall requested we stop by. It’s about the cheer squad’s Homecoming float,” Bridget lied with ease.

“Well, okay. Just don’t cause any trouble like your friends,” the gruff coach warned.

“Why did you tell him that? Earnshaw might notice we’re going the wrong way,” Miranda pointed out as they neared the hallway intersection.

"None of the staff know what an art teacher does, but they might know what hours an English teacher has class," Bridget explained why she didn't say they are meeting Topaz.

Fortunately, the girls appeared to get away with heading in the wrong direction. With the science classrooms at the far end of the first floor, they didn’t talk on the lengthy walk. Once they reached Mr. Kellogg’s room, Bridget peeked inside through the long, narrow glass window alongside the door. Not spotting the biology teacher, she entered his classroom/lab.

When the door opened, just under ten students reacted with alarm. Annie wasn’t anywhere in sight. But while scanning their faces, Bridget noticed three people who should have been with the group were missing.

“Where’s Archie?” the bossy blonde inquired.

“Uh, he’s not here today,” one junior replied after visibly gulping.

"Yes, he is. We have second hour together," Miranda pointed out.

“What about Ferber and Newhouse?” Bridget rattled off, acquainted with the two other prominent club members she’d known for years.

“I…I don’t know,” another senior stammered.

However, Bridget caught multiple eyes flickering towards Mr. Kellogg’s office/storage room. And when she started in that direction, one brave club member stood up as if he planned to block her.

“Sit back down!”

Expecting the command to be followed, Bridget didn’t see him do so. Instead, she focused on the door, which she whipped open with a loud thud.

“Ohmigawd!”

Clad in a tight pair of jeans and a spaghetti-strap top that Bridget knew Annie loved as it showed off her large breasts and cleavage, the missing cheerleader was bent over with her ass facing Bridget. Archie Zahn, the club's president, was seated before her with his pants around his ankles. On his two sides were Ferber and Newhouse, also with their pants down by their shoes.

“Annie!” Miranda screeched.

In the rear, Kimberly didn’t make a sound as she stared in shock at Annette giving Archie a blowjob while alternating hands to jerk off one of the other two guys. The platinum blonde did shudder as an interrupted Annie lifted her mouth off of Archie’s cock, exposing it to the less experienced cheerleader.

“Do you mind?” the dark-haired cheerleader challenged, covering her shock at being caught.

“Are you fucking blowing the whole club?” Bridget questioned.

“You better not be doing more!” Miranda shrieked.

“Only Archie’s getting a blowjob!” Ferber pointed out. “Presidential privileges.”

“Yeah, the rest of us only get a handjob for now,” Newhouse declared.

“For now?” Bridget and Miranda squealed, with the captain turning her head to look back into the classroom.

“Only seniors!” Newhouse added hastily.

“Dude!” Ferber yelled.

“Only…the…seniors,” Bridget repeated before she realized why. “Oh. My. Gawd! Are you blowing guys for votes?”