I pushed hard, watching the cheese spread over her cheeks. The tomato slid down the top of her magenta shirt, and when I pulled my hand back, the rest of the cheeseburger plopped onto her lap.
Rose didn’t react at first. Then her eyes bulged and her mouth opened wide, and she let out a shrill, angry scream that sounded like the wail of an ambulance siren.
Everyone in the restaurant turned to watch as she bolted up from her seat and, still screaming, wrapped her hands around my throat, and tried to pull me over the table.
Heather was screaming now and struggling to get out of her seat as the table came crashing down, plates and glasses clattering, water puddling. Rose and I landed on top of it. She still had her stranglehold on my neck, and I was struggling to shove her arms away. We were wrestling and squirming over each other. The shouts of customers in the restaurant drowned out my groans and cries of pain.
And then Lefty’s voice broke through the noise. He was standing in the middle of the restaurant, his head tilted to one side like a parrot, his chef’s cap in one hand, waving a metal spatula in the other.
Then he gathered a breath and bellowed in a tone I did not know he possessed, “Poppy!”
Everything froze. Everything and everyone. And the big room grew silent. Rose’s fingers slipped from my throat, and she fell back onto the floor and seemed to deflate like a balloon losing its air.
Lefty pointed the spatula at me. “Can I see you for a minute?”
Gasping for breath, I scrambled off Rose and turned to Lefty. “Am I—am I fired?”
Lefty narrowed his eyes at me. “Three guesses.”
“Rose is ruining my life,” I moaned. “I know what you’re going to say. She and I have been enemies since time began. But now it’s different.”
Manny had his flip-flops off, bare feet on the coffee table. He leaned back in the big leather armchair and laughed. “Poppy, I didn’t know you were training for the WWE. You and Rose! A steel-cage match. We could take bets. Maybe put it on our YouTube channel.”
I was on the couch across from Manny. I kicked his feet. “You’re about as funny as stomach cramps. I’m being serious here. She tried to strangle me. Look at my neck. You can see her fingerprints on my skin.”
“I think maybe you started it,” Jeremy said. He and Ivy sat cross-legged on the carpet at the other end of the couch. “You know. Shoving a cheeseburger into her face.”
“I had no choice,” I said. “It had to be done.”
Jack came in from the kitchen carrying two cans of Coke. He handed me one and dropped down beside me. “It’s a violent world,” he said, shaking his head. “I blame the rap music and video games.”
“Give me a break, Jack.” I shoved him. “You’re about as funny as Manny.” I jumped to my feet. “Are you all with me or not? Rose has declared total war!”
Ivy climbed to her feet. She stumbled over Jeremy’s legs as she walked over to me. She wrapped me in a hug. “We’re with you, Poppy,” she said softly. “I’ve never seen you like this. I’m really sorry this happened to you, and we . . .”
Blah, blah. I only half-heard what Ivy was saying. My thoughts were swirling in my head, spinning like a merry-go-round gone berserk. “My own sister is on her side,” I moaned.
“Heather was just trying to push your buttons,” Jeremy said. “That’s what sisters are for, right?”
“Wrong,” Ivy said. “Heather knows the score. She knows how Poppy and Rose feel about each other.”
“Heather has a lot of anger,” I said. I dropped back down beside Jack. “You’re being quiet,” I told him.
“I’m thinking,” he said. He was tossing his car keys from hand to hand. The can of Coke was tucked between his knees. He hadn’t touched it.
“Aren’t we the Shadyside Shade?” I said, feeling a surge of energy. “Forget about Rose Groban. Come on, guys. Help me forget about her and my sister and everything. Let’s do something wild.”
Ivy curled and uncurled a strand of hair. “I don’t think so,” she said. “That last prank ruined my whole life, Poppy. No New York. No modeling course. Nothing. I say forget the Shadyside Shade.”
Jack finally spoke up. “Unless we have an awesome idea. And I’ve got one.”
Jeremy rolled his eyes. “We’re all in so much trouble, we may not survive high school. We should never pull another prank again.”
Jack shook his head. “But we’re famous, Jeremy. We have tons of followers. They’re waiting for our next stunt.” A thin smile crossed his face. “And I have a good one.”
I gave him another shove. “Enough introduction. Stop keeping us in suspense. What’s your big idea?”
“We go rogue!” Jack said.
I squinted at him. “Huh? What does that mean?”
“We go outlaw!” he exclaimed.
“Jack, what are you talking about?” Ivy demanded.
His silvery eyes flashed. “We rob a store.”
