Free The Rise of Rachel Stark by J.A. York

anonymous – no one will know who
these committee members are. And their job will be to report
directly to Mr. Peterson whenever they witness incidents of
bullying.
    "The trick is that this committee
will not only be anonymous, it also will be a phantom committee. In
other words, it won't really exist. The idea is that if bullies
just think there are spies in their midst, and they don't know who
those spies are, they might be less inclined to do their stupid
stuff.
    "And third, Mr. Peterson, you can
bring the parents into this. You can ask them to talk with their
kids about the problem, tell them how wrong it is, etcetera
etcetera.
    "OK now, here's the kicker. Are
you ready for this? If Peterson won't go along with the plan, or
even if he just dances around the question and says he'll have to
think about it, or talk to the school board, or whatever stalling
tactic he might come up with, we tell him this:
    "If you don't, at the very least,
call a special assembly within the next two days – that's tomorrow
and Thursday – and talk about the bullying problem and tell the
kids that you plan to take action to eliminate that kind of
behavior at Chante High, we – Sheldon Beasley, Bull Evenshot, Jimmy
Blaze and Rodney Stark – will quit the football team immediately
and not return until you do."
    Rachel gasped.
    "That's how serious we are about
this," Jimmy said. "But let me tell you something. You could
threaten to eliminate the music program at Chante High, and nothing
would happen. You could threaten to cut out the drama department,
and nothing would happen. You could drop math, history, science,
art, you name it, and no one would say a word.
    "But don't you dare fuck with the
football program, or there will be riots in the streets. Don't you
fucking dare."
    "And if they call our bluff,"
Sheldon said, "they will find out just how serious we are. Every
one of is absolutely committed to quitting the football team if we
have to. And everybody knows that without the four of us Chante
would not win another game this year. That's not braggadocio,
that's a fact. But if we have to hold the football program hostage
to get what we want, that's what we will do."
    "Because what we want," Rodney
said, "is for the school, for the adults, to do the right thing,
and for the kids to do the right thing."
    Tears welled up in his
eyes.
    "Football is a game," Rodney said.
"It's just a game. Rachel is my sister. Somebody has to stand for
up for her, and for kids like her. If I don't, if we don't, who
will?"
    Rachel gave him a hug. They cried
on each other's shoulder.
    ●●●
    The next morning the four football
players met with Mr. Peterson and Coach O'Connor.
    "You're kidding," the coach said
when the players laid out their ultimatum. "That's crazy. Sheldon,
Jimmy … are you … are you guys nuts? You can't be
serious."
    "Does it sound like we're kidding,
coach?" Bull said. "Do you really think we would be having this
meeting if we were kidding? C'mon, coach."
    "Well, it's crazy," the coach
said, growing angrier by the second. "It's crazy. Do you know what
you're doing? Do you know how upset and angry people in this town
would be if you guys quit the team? They'd probably string you guys
up. This is unreal. I can't believe this is real."
    "It doesn't have to happen,
coach," Sheldon said.
    "No, it doesn't. Not if you guys
pull your heads out of your ass," the coach said.
    "What's important to you, coach?"
Jimmy asked.
    "What do you mean? What the hell
are you talking about?"
    "No, really," Jimmy said. "What's
important in your life? If someone were to ask you what's important
to you in life, what would you say?"
    "What's important to me is that
you stick to your word. What's important is that you don't let
people down. You don't betray their trust. You don't walk out on
your teammates, who are counting on you. That's what's important to
me. Now you tell me what's important to you."
    "The exact same thing, coach,"
Jimmy said. "The exact same