The Cyber-Wave Epidemic

The incident starts in the last 15 minutes of lunch. The teachers herd us into the lawn or let us sit it the cafeteria on our cell phones.

At least that's what used to occur.

There was always a victim and a chocolate cat. Nobody knew who or why.

The first victim was Heather Drume, the most popular girl at school. Rumor has it, she got a message with the cat. The feline wasn't an issue, but the message that appeared said she was a whore and had enough obscenities to make a drunkard sober.

Things went downhill fast after that. There were at least two victims a DAY after Heather, with the number steadily increasing. Principal Faunce attempted to intervene, but the messages spread to faculty too. Now Robinson High was in a full scale cyber-bullying attack.

My BFFAE, Tracy Romero, keeps me informed on everything. Wilbur Lewis, my secret crush, also helps with information.

Currently, I'm consoling Tsuruko Martin, one of the latest victims. She's bawling her eyeballs out.

"Hey, hey!" I say calmly, "Look. It doesn't matter what that bozo thinks. You're a beautiful girl who can and will do amazing things."

"But-" Tsuruko stutters.

"No buts," I say, "You're a smart girl and you're beautiful the way you are."

Tsuruko sniffles, "Promise me something. Promise me that if you find that jerk, you'll punch him in the face."

"We'll see," I chuckle.

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Another piece of my new encouragement plan is that I take posters, personalize them according to the victim's likes, add some motivational quote, and hang them on their lockers. Wilbur and Tracy are tremendous helpers in this job. Since I'm not artsy, I leave the artwork to Tracy. Wilbur is the one that hangs them around the student's lockers.

"I got a rumor," he says at lunch.

"New victim?" I ask.

"Nah," Wilbur says, "Somebody thinks that it's Michael Daratoma who's doing the messaging."

"The most popular guy?" Tracy asks disbelievingly.

"Proof?" I ask.

"Not sure," He answers.

I roll my eyes, "Tracy?"

"Not sure either," She admits, "Followed up on Heather."

"And?" I ask.

"Still recuperating," Tracy reports.

"Dang it. Anybody got some good news?" I ask. Both shake their heads.

"Hey, guys."

Heather's voice makes us jump. She NEVER talks to us. Like ever.

Wilbur finds his voice first. "Yes?"

Heather sighs, "Michael got busted."

"Called it!" Wilbur hoots. I glare at him and he apologizes.

"He's been expelled," Heather sighs, "Now I have nobody to hang out with. All my friends ditched me."  One look and I know that the expulsion was for the bullying.

"Actually," I say, "We were actually looking for another person to come to a movie night tonight. Would you like to come?"

Heather seems surprised, but asks, "Can I pick?"

"Sure," I say, "Anything as long as it's not Frozen."

Heather laughs, "Totally. Or anything scary, I don't do scary."

"Any underrated Disney okay?" Wilbur asks.

"Perfect," Heather says, "I haven't seen them all anyway. Okay if I bring my favorite?"

"Which one?" Tracy asks.

"Treasure Planet," Heather answers.

"That's my favorite!" Wilbur grins.

"Then ring, stupid bell!" Heather grins, "So we can have our movie night!"

"Amen!" We all say.