Rules of a Rebel

Chapter 34: Plan B

Mission: Get Rid of Peyton's Crush on Archer

Plan B - Scare Him Away

- () - 

After Plan A backfired and made my crush on Archer even worse, I decide to take a different approach. Clearly my crush is too big for me to forget about him and mischievous smile. No, I need Archer to forget about me.

I need to scare him so bad that he'll never want to see me again. 

And if I don't see him ever again, my crush will go away on its own. 

It's the perfect plan. 

At first, the task seems easy. In Chicago, I would terrify people just by walking up to them. So all I need to do is grab my old outfit, gothic makeup and revert back to the old, scary, Peyton for a few days. But it took me one look in the mirror to realize what was wrong with my plan. 

Old Peyton didn't have pink hair. 

Since dying it again is out of the question, I have to come up with a creative way to make pink - the friendliest of all colors - look scary.  I examine myself in the mirror, formulating different ideas in my head, until one jumps out at me. 

Tomorrow is the Holiday Barbecue, held at the house in front of ours. 

The theme is festive. 

Of course, I'm sure they mean Santa Claus hats and elf boots with little bells type of festive, considering Christmas is just in a few days. But why not get a little creative? 

Clowns are festive too. 

- () - 

A day later, two hours before the party, I sit in my closet, rummaging through my black and white clouds to see if I can find some hideous pantsuit or something. Unfortunately, thanks to Irene's work, all my clothes turn out to be perfectly fine for a barbecue.

So now I need to find somebody with awful taste in clothing. 

I knock on Bettie's door.  

Now that most of our relatives left, she and Aunt Sue occupy the guest bedroom. Aunt Sue is currently in the kitchen baking candy-cane shaped cookies, so that just leaves Bettie alone in the room, reading another one of her trashy romance novels.

Bettie glances up from her book once I enter, scowls, then goes on reading again.

"Hey, so do you still have that outfit with the polka dot orange and pink skirt?" I ask and try to lean against the door casually, but my hand accidentally slips and I end up hitting my nose against the wall. 

Ouch.

Bettie's not amused. "I thought you said it was the ugliest thing you've since the Fifty Shades of Gray trailer came out." 

"Yeah, but now the sequel's trailer came out, so..." 

Bettie's scowl begins to grow murderous.

"Kidding, kidding," I amend. My voice is muffled since I'm pinching my nose. "Your skirt is the most amazing thing I've ever seen in my entire life. Can I have it? Please?" 

"Why do you even want it?" 

"I want to wear at the party tonight."