The Diamonds (23 page)

“What
kind
of proof?” asked Darcy.

Jenny cleared her throat. “Yeah, how do you prove someone's a bitch?”

“Good question,” Tommy said. “Clarissa's crime is not that she's, you know, a bitch. She happens to be one, sure, but that's not what's going to get her in trouble. Priya or Lili, either. What we need is substantial evidence against them. We need to build a case that is so solid no one—not even someone as dense as Principal Newman—can deny the truth.”

“Easier said than done,” said Jed. “Where do you propose we begin?”

“That”—Tommy pointed at me—“can best be answered by Marni.”

Tommy was right. If anyone knew the true evil of the Diamonds and the letter of the law, it was me.

“Everyone thinks that Clarissa, Priya, and Lili are bringing
justice
to the halls of Bennington,” I said. “That they're following proper conduct and exercising the rights and regulations people would have in a real court of law. Now, we know that isn't true, but that's why Townsen has let them have so much control, and why Principal Newman and Dean Meyerson are allowing them to determine actual punishments.”

I thought about how Clarissa had twisted all the privileges she'd been given, about what she'd done to Joy Darling and other jury members who hadn't voted her way, about how she'd concocted lies and attacked people like Sharon Wu for no other reason than personal gain.

“We have to prove the Diamonds are actually doing the opposite of what the administration
thinks
they're doing,” I said. “That they've tampered with the jury through bribes and intimidation, and that no one has
ever
received a fair trial.”

“How do we do that?” Anderson asked.

“I can help,” Tommy said. “We need to use the same tactics I use as a journalist.”

“Sifting through people's trash?” Jenny said jokingly.

Tommy looked at her seriously. “If we need to.”

“Dude,” Turbo said, “I'm
not
putting my hands in Clarissa von Dyke's garbage can. That's rank.”

Then Darcy spoke up. “My dad is a police detective.” I was surprised; I hadn't known that about her. “He keeps a lot of equipment and stuff at home. I can't take anything important, but I do know how to bug a phone.”

Jed turned his head. “You do?”

“There aren't a whole lotta perks to being the daughter of a cop,” Darcy said, “but there are a few. My dad has these tiny mics you can put in someone's bag and they'll pick up everything that person says and record it. I don't know if I can get any of those, though. He might notice.”

“Try,” Tommy said, writing
record conversations
on the board in perfect script. “If we can get a clip of one of the girls talking about influencing a jury member or something, we can go straight to Principal Newman.

“Next,” he said, writing
surveillance
,“we need to stake out the Diamonds. Someone has to be watching their every move.”

Monique raised her hand. “I could do that,” she volunteered. “Eet would be my pleasure.”

“Ditto,” said Boyd. “I watch Clarissa all the time anyway. I may as well be doing it for a reason other than copying her strut.”

“Most importantly,” said Tommy, “we need to be working diligently to stir up anti-Diamond sentiment. We can't let anyone know about our group, but connecting with other students who have suffered at the hands of the Diamonds could prove useful in the future. They could be our greatest allies.”

“So, once we get all of this information,” Jenny said skeptically, “which is basically going to be, like,
impossible
, what are we going to do? Show it to Principal Newman? What if he doesn't care? What's the point of putting all of this time and energy into catching the Diamonds doing illegal stuff if we don't know what we're going to
do
with that evidence once we get it? We need a game plan.”

Then it hit me. “Hold on a minute,” I said, rummaging through my purse. I took out a crumpled piece of paper I'd nearly forgotten about, unfolded it, and passed it to Tommy.

He stared at the flyer for a moment, a smile inching across his face until he looked genuinely pleased. In thick lettering he wrote:

FASHION SHOW

Tommy paused for a moment, letting the words sink into our brains. Then, underneath, he wrote:

THIS IS WAR!

We were about to call it quits for the night when I realized one major element in our freedom crusade that had been forgotten.

“Wait,” I said, standing up from the couch. Anderson, who had been squished next to me, ran his fingers along the outside seam of my jeans as I spoke. “You know what I think we're missing?”

“A wedge of Brie and a poor attitude toward foreigners?” asked Monique.

“Not exactly,” I said. “Our own declaration of independence.”

I ran over to the Post-it board and grabbed the marker. “We need to write down what we want and use it as a motivator. That way, when times are tough, we can always remember what we are fighting for.

“So what is it that we want?”

“Er, liberty!” cried Monique.

“Justice,” Darcy bellowed.

“The right to wear jazz pants whenever we feel like it!” Boyd shouted.

“Yes!” I said, the ideas coming faster than I could record them. “What else?”

We were done in less than twenty minutes. Please keep in mind that a good portion of this was borrowed from the actual Declaration of Independence. Don't think of it as copying. Really. It's more of an homage.

T
HE
(S
TONECUTTERS
)

D
ECLARATION OF
I
NDEPENDENCE

In High School

The Unanimous Declaration of the Stonecutters
,

When in the Course of high school events, it becomes necessary for one people to react against the indecencies forced upon them by another, and to stand up for themselves
against adversity and nasty skanks, taking hold, of their God-given rights, it is necessary that they declare the reasons why their foes, the Diamonds, have given them no choice other than to revolt
.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all teens are created equal, even those with physical deformities and/or fugly faces and/or bad breath, that they are protected from pretty, mean girls who try to deny them their Rights, which include but are not limited to: freedom, justice, and tongue-kissing whomever they desire
.

Those rights should be protected by their institution, the Bennington School, and not denied them by any student-run organizations acting as a Government, such as the mock trial team. In such a case, after insurmountable abuses and injustices, it is the Right of the Students to overthrow said Government, the Diamonds, replacing it with a new foundation based on the above principles to ensure Equality, Happiness, and Good Grades
.

Such has happened at Bennington, and we, the Stonecutters, have united to speak on the Students’ behalf. It is necessary to abolish the Diamond Court, as their history is one of repeated wrath and indignities, having established an absolute Tyranny over the social lives of the Students. To prove this, below are a few of many wrongs enacted by the Diamonds:

They have refused to create laws for the good of the whole—only a select elite
.

They have not abided by the rules of a “fair trial” and instead have unfairly influenced rulings for personal gain
.

They have issued rulings outside of the courtroom (also referred to as the chorus room)
.

They have placed one of their Representatives at the helm of the student government, therefore denying the opportunity for any checks and balances from other arenas on their actions
.

They have attacked innocent individuals for their own benefit and made it impossible for said individuals to walk the halls with pride
.

They have attacked the moral fiber and character of individuals whom they do not like, and have insulted them in front of the entire community
.