Gravity Brings Me Down by Natale Ghent

the oven. But I can do it for you if you like. I’ll cook it now and you can eat it for dinner. Do you want me to do that?”
    “That’s sounds grand.”
    I turn on the oven and wait for it to heat, then pop the pie onto the rack. It only takes about twenty-five minutes because I’ve cranked the dial to 450 degrees. When the pie is nice and golden, I use hot mitts to extract it from the oven and place it on a saucer to cool.
    “Wonderful,” Mabel says.
    “I’ll try to come back tomorrow for lunch, okay?”
    Mabel pats my hand and kisses me on the cheek. “You’re such a good girl, Marie.”

Divine Retribution
    I ’m so late for school, I go directly to the office and ask to speak to the nurse. I make up a story that she’ll swallow, telling her I got my period and had to run home to deal with it. She goes to speak with the principal and comes out with a note for my teacher. Easy.
    Chocko’s not so nice, though. He gives me a searing look from behind his shades as I hand him the note. He doesn’t even bother to read it, tossing it aside and glaring at me in front of the whole class. He’s trying to make me squirm. But I’m on to him. I don’t pretend to be nice, the way I would with Miss B. Summoning my best poker face, I stare blankly back. If he wants a challenge, he’s come to the right place. After an excruciating amount of time, he averts his eyes and I win this particular little battle of wills. I take my seat next to Sharon.
    She writes
Creep
on the edge of her
Great Thinkers
text, then scribbles

    I roll my eyes. But I have to confess, she might be right. I wouldn’t put it past Chocko to take someone’s underwear. I start to write a reply on the corner of my text when I notice him glaring at me again.
    “What is it with you?” he says.
    “What?”
    “You come in late, disrupt everyone and give me all this attitude. I’m sorry if I bore you so much.”
    The whole class turns to look at me, including Biff, who sneers from his seat. If there’s one thing I hate, it’s being singled out. I can feel my face start to burn. I’m sure it’s as red as a tomato, which totally pisses me off because I put a lot of effort into keeping my skin as pale as possible. I should have known Chocko wouldn’t let me off so easily, but I never expected this. He strolls over to my desk and leans on one side.
    “I’ll tell you what,” he says, glancing over his shoulder at the other students for approval. “Why don’t
you
tell
me
what you’d like to learn? Or better yet… why don’t you just teach the class?”
    A grenade blasts in my head as everybody bursts out laughing. He holds up a piece of chalk, posing long enough for full impact. Then he saunters back to the front of the room and continues to drone. From time to time he’ll ask a question, looking pointedly at me, but I just stare back, blowing him up with my mind. I’m so furious, I spend the rest of the class plotting my revenge.
This means full-out war
.
    Sharon clings to me like a chimp as we leave the class. “What was that about?”
    “He’s going to get it.”
    “What do you mean? What are you going to do?”
    I tell her where to meet me and what time. But I don’t give her any details yet. All I say is this: “Chocko’s going to pay.”
    Back home, I tell Mom I’m tired and going to bed early.
    “Are you sick?” she asks.
    “No, I just need to sleep.”
    “Did you take your multivitamin today?”
    “Yes,” I say, climbing the stairs to my room.
    Placing my “Do Not Disturb” sign on the door, I find my little flashlight and two extra-fat indelible black Magic Markers, then wait the necessary amount of time before climbing out my window to effect my plan. From the porch roof, I can easily jump to the ground. It’s pretty dark out already, so I don’t have to worry too much about being seen. But I do crawl past Dad’s office window because I know he’s in there reading.
    Once I’m safely past the house, I stand upright,