"You're telling me that you never had a homecoming at your old school?" Sophia said when Peyton told her that she had never been to an actual homecoming before. It was lunchtime and Peyton and the other girls were already making plans to take down Cassidy Newton.667Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjkbmNsAFeY
"Nope," said Peyton.
"Why not?" said Kirsten.
"My old school decided that dances were meaningless," said Peyton.
"What a shame," said Kirsten. When Peyton glared at her, she said, "At least you didn't miss anything. Every year, Cassidy always wins Homecoming Queen."
"I ran against her last year," said Kayla. "She sabotaged my victory and stole my crown. I want to make her pay for that."
"And how will you do that?" said Peyton. "MasterCard or Visa?"
"I love her," said Kayla. "She's like a Martian!"
"Really?" said Chester Barlow. "That crazy chick? She needs to be in the special ed room instead of hanging out with you guys."
Kayla turned on him, saying, "I know you think that she's socially retarded and weird, but she's my friend...so, just promise me you won't make fun of her?"
"That is a load of baloney," said Chester. "Are you really that dumb to think that she is your friend?"
"Yeah," said Kirsten, "so you better back off now or else we're going to make you."
"And don't think your friend Cassidy will help you this time," said Sophia, "because we all know her dirty tricks."
While the Sirens argued with Chester, Anna and Nicholas pulled Peyton aside, saying, "You better be careful, Peyton. Those girls are dangerous."
"But what if I'm friends with those girls?" said Peyton.
"Kayla Spencer isn't the least bit for real," said Anna. "She totally humiliated me last year. I'm not letting it go. So help me, Peyton Hanner, I'm going to get through to her; and if I have to use you to hit her back, so be it!"667Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ1QgOohSrC
Nicholas grabbed her arm, saying, "What if we had Peyton running for homecoming queen against Cassidy?"
"Are you serious?" said Anna. "Cassidy planted that video about Peyton being a complete retard on the Internet. Peyton won't last a second against her."
"But what if I do run against her, and manage to beat her?" said Peyton. "Then everyone will forget about the embarrassing video of me at the computer."
"Well, it's worth a shot," said Nicholas. "Besides, what do we have to lose?"
They had no idea that Dulce and Azalea had overheard them and were making their report to Cassidy. "I see and hear that Peyton is planning to run against me for homecoming queen," said Cassidy. "I thought I made it explicitly clear to the students at the school that I'm to run for homecoming queen unopposed. She's cramping my style."
"I know," said Azalea. "You do remember when we taught that Kayla Spencer a lesson about trying to beat you last year? I'm surprised she's even showing her face around here, let alone lead the Sirens."
"So we're going to have to try a different tactic to knock her down," said Dulce, "seeing that that video trick didn't exactly work."667Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE5TyTyhSeJ
"Oh, I'll knock her down all right," said Cassidy. "You just wait and see..."667Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuMyQTNmZBB
"Are you sure you want to go through with this?" said Jacquelyn when Peyton told her and the other girls of Nicholas and Anna's plan to have her run for Homecoming queen against Cassidy. "You do know that Cassidy likes to run every election campaign unopposed."667Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCbOXsjpKMN
"She's crazy," said Summer.
"Not just crazy," said Marley. "She's gone power-mad."
"Like, check out this ad for her homecoming queen election," said Abigail as she showed them a video on her tablet.
The ad showed Peyton at the computer. Yet instead of Peyton, there was a boy that looked like a poor man's version of Harry Potter who was superimposed in Peyton's place. Strange magical symbols were around the boy. Underneath the picture were the words DO YOU SERIOUSLY WANT THIS "GIRL" TO BE YOUR HOMECOMING QUEEN??? VOTE FOR CASSIDY NEWFIELD!!
"That is insane!" said Marley. "Just who does she think she is?"
"Outrageous," said Jacquelyn. "Even worse, we don't have anything to hit her back with."
"But what if we don't have to hit back at her at all?" said Peyton. The girls stared at her. "What if we played up my good qualities? That would be better than what Cassidy is doing with her "smear" campaign against me."
"Maybe it's time to get your cousins involved in this, Jacquelyn," said Summer. "We know they have the dirt on everyone in this school."
"Everyone but Peyton," said Summer.
"And since no one knows about Peyton, save for those bad videos that Cassidy decided to make about her, I say it's time for her to get an image makeover," said Abigail. "With a new hairstyle and outfit, no one will think twice about not voting for her."
"Is this a good idea?" said Peyton. "Are we going to change me?"
"If it helps you win," said Jacquelyn. "And not just with the election, but the hearts and minds of the students here. I don't know if you know this or not, but everyone around here is sick and tired of having to deal with Cassidy's one-sided elections. We need some variety around here, and not just Kayla Spenser flavor either. Peyton Hanner, we need you."
Peyton couldn't believe her ears; the girls claimed that they needed her to dethrone Cassidy Newton. All the same, the main question was, though, was she up to the challenge?667Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGRvS81hded
