NIKKI MAXWELL: THE MAKING OF A POP PRINCESS! EPISODE #6
MONDAY, MARCH 24
I feel really bad about not being more supportive of Brandon and his scholarship project.
I know what it feels like to be SUPERworried about how your tuition is going to get paid. Been there, done that! Got the T-shirt!!
I just hope he’s not at risk for having to transfer schools !! I need to talk to Brandon today to find out when we can meet again so I can help him.
Anyway, I was a little nervous about showing my face in my martial arts class today. Hey! You’d feel a little AWKWARD too if you’d almost knocked out your teacher!
And it didn’t help matters when I saw MacKenzie and Jessica whispering about me and giggling.
OMG! I CRINGED when I actually saw Sensei Hawkins. It looked like someone had toilet-papered his face or something!
Come on! The punch wasn’t that hard. Were the ten rolls of bandages really necessary?! Or the three pints of assorted Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavors he’d piled on a waffle cone?!
“Listen up, pip-squeaks! Being a karate master isn’t just about kicks and . . . um, PUNCHES,” the Hawk said, glaring at me. “It’s about a killer instinct!”
In spite of his tough talk, I could have sworn he flinched when I suddenly leaned forward and sneezed. He almost dropped his ice-cream cone.
“You have to be wise and clever to outsmart your enemy. For instance, take these bandages!” He pointed at his head. “They’re FAKE! I’m just using them to make a point. Got it? In real life, you’ll never see bruises on the Hawk, because they’re too SCARED to show up!”
He did a three-punch combo and yelled, “HIIIIIIIII-OOOUUCH!!” Then he grabbed his jaw and whimpered in pain like a small puppy. Next he made a very shocking announcement. . . .
ME, IN SHOCK OVER THE FACT THAT WE’RE HAVING A POP QUIZ IN GYM!!
“And don’t you DARE think it’s because I’m sore or injured. Or that I’m PUNISHING the class for my, um . . . FAKE fractured jaw. I just wanna see if you have the knowledge required for a true martial arts warrior.”
“What? No punching?” a boy in front of me grumbled sarcastically. “Why don’t you spar with Knuckles Nikki today? That’ll be fun!”
“Nah! He’s probably afraid Muscles Maxwell will knock his lights out again!” the boy next to him snickered.
Knuckles Nikki?! Muscles Maxwell?!
I groaned and buried my face in my hands.
Hey, call me a DORK! But NEVER, EVER call me those names! It makes me sound like a heartless THUG or BULLY!!
“It’s okay, Nikki,” Chloe said, patting my shoulder sympathetically. “Look on the bright side. With your new rep, you won’t be the first person eliminated in dodgeball anymore! Everyone will be scared to death to hit you!”
“Hmm. Actually, that would be nice . . . ,” I mused.
Wait a minute, WHAT was I saying?!!!
“I’m NOT that type of person!” I muttered. “It was all an accident, people! An ACCIDENT!!”
“No talking, pip-squeaks! The Hawk better not hear a pin drop!” Sensei said. “Now get to work so I can EAT this ice-cream cone before it melts! Er, I mean, um . . . MEDITATE . . . to become more awesomely powerful!”
When did a martial arts pop quiz become more difficult than a math one?! When I read over my quiz, I suddenly realized that everything I knew about karate I’d learned from the Disney and Nickelodeon channels and Saturday morning cartoons.
And unfortunately for me, it was all WRONG!! . . .
THE HAWK’S POP QUIZ NAME: Nikki Maxwell
There are many different styles of martial arts. Name at least 8:
What belt is the lowest rank, and what does it represent?
Seat belt - lowers the chance of injury in a car accident
Leather belt - can be worn low on your waist
Snowbelt - snow has a low temperature
Sunbelt - hot with a low chance of rain
Match the following words with their definitions:
I guess I thought the questions were going to be SUPEReasy, like, “Who’s your favorite Ninja Turtle?”
Wow! That quiz was really HARD!
If I want to pass this class and earn a belt, I’d better start studying for the final written test. It’s on Friday, which means I only have five four days left to prepare for it!
I guess I’ll be adding THIS to the long list of Stuff That I’m Way Too Busy to Get Done So Why Even Bother to Try!!
!!
TUESDAY, MARCH 25
AAAAAAAHHH!
(That was me SCREAMING !!)
OMG! Am I becoming a TOXIC friend?!! Like in those over-the-top teen TV dramas with the sappy emo music? You know, where the dimwitted teen drama queen accidentally-on-purpose ruins her chances with the guy of her dreams.
Only to HATE herself for it later!!!
Then she whines obnoxiously all day long about the relationship that SHE torpedoed. And feels so pathetically sorry for herself that you just want to PUKE!
Or change the channel. Or BOTH!!
I’m really worried about my friendship with Brandon.
I need to talk to him and apologize again for being too busy to help him with his scholarship project.
Oh! And for standing him up last week.
And for um . . . falling asleep in the library. While he waited for me, like, FOREVER!!
ARGH !!! I’m such a HORRIBLE friend. And Brandon deserves better.
Lately, I’ve just been reliably UNRELIABLE. And the guilt is totally eating me up inside .
I really think I should talk to my BFFs, Chloe and Zoey. I’m sure they can help me with my Brandon problem. They always do!
Anyway, I was waiting for my BFFs when suddenly MacKenzie walked up to me and got all up in my face.
Then she actually started screaming at me. . . .
I was already in a pretty cruddy mood. So I looked right into MacKenzie’s beady eyes and told her off really good!
“Okay, MacKenzie! Here’s my excuse. . . . My CRAZY choreographer had plenty of time to tell me about a MORNING practice when she forced me to rehearse until ten o’clock last NIGHT! But instead, she decided to call me at six o’clock this morning, while I was in the shower, and leave a message that I just got ten minutes ago! Which was fifteen minutes AFTER the practice was OVER!”
“Well, you’d better make up that practice or I’ll call Trevor Chase!” MacKenzie threatened.
“Actually, MacKenzie, go right ahead! You can call the TOOTH FAIRY for all I care! I barely have time to breathe. So I can’t just drop everything anytime YOU get the whim to torture me with an unscheduled dance practice. Sorry, but I’m NOT giving YOU the pleasure of giving ME a nervous breakdown! I know you’re trying to make me quit so you can take over my band AND my TV show!”
“So, are you done with your delusional little rant?! It’s not totally MY fault that your life’s a wreck!” MacKenzie sneered and narrowed her icy-cold blue eyes at me. Then she just stared at me for what seemed like FOREVER! I could tell the gears were turning in that tiny brain of hers. She was up to something!
“Actually, Nikki, you’re right! You DO need a break. I’ve been pushing you too hard. So dance practice is canceled for the rest of the week!”
“WH-WHAT?!” I sputtered. My mouth dangled open in complete shock.
“I said, I’m giving you the week off! You know the choreography so well you could do it in your sleep. And believe me, I’ve actually seen you do it in your sleep! Use the time off to get some rest!”
Before I could say a word, MacKenzie turned and sashayed down the hall. I just hate it when that girl sashays! No dance practice?! That was too good to be true! I could apologize to Brandon at lunch today and offer to help him with his project. I was starting to think maybe MacKenzie wasn’t such a WITCH after all. That is, UNTIL she HIJACKED my TV crew!!