It all began when Robbie Allen, one of my best friends in sixth grade and red on the head like the dick on a dog (or so he said. He was curious that way.) got the hots for Alicia (I think that was her name), a well-developed seventh grader. The seventh grade guys were already rather pissed at him and the rest of us snot-nosed sixth graders because we were going to be the first seventh graders at Independence Junior High School. In the past, the junior high school has only had eighth and ninth graders, but now it wanted us too.

So, not only had this bug crawled up their cracks, but now Robbie and Alicia were making eyes at one another. Have I mentioned that Alicia was well-developed? Okay, that's a bit of an understatement. She had taters designed for a woman twice her age but firm as only a seventh grader's could be. I personally think she only pretended interest in Robbie to make all the seventh grade guys jealous. If that was her plan, it worked.

Some of the bigger, stupider seventh grade guys began bugging Robbie in the halls, causing myself and our other friends to have to intervene on his side. It got to the point where, for the last day of school, we scheduled a big old rumble to be held out in front of the elementary school -- two sixth graders for every seventh grader.