“Me, mess with Joe’s skates? How would I do that? And why?”

“They’re saying you had a crush on him, but he liked me better and you were mad.”

“You have got to be kidding me.”

“I’m not.”

“You don’t believe them, do you?”

“Of course not, Rose. How could you ever think such a thing?” She sounded hurt.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m just worried about you.”

“Me?”

“Look, Rose, just stay alert. I think the Trio of Doom aren’t settling for a broken ankle. They want to break you too.”

Suddenly the meeting with Sibby seemed more important than ever. But she didn’t want to say anything yet. “Look, Susan, I’ve got to go right now. But I might need your help soon. Yours, Myles’s, Anand’s, and Joe’s if he can.”

“All right, but look out for yourself.”

“I will.”

Rose quickly got dressed. Just as she was stepping out the door, September appeared.

“Wanna come?” September cocked her head slightly and jumped into her arms.

It was a fifteen-minute walk to the corner of Delaware and Hampton. She spotted Sibby slouched on a bench as she crossed the street. There didn’t seem to be any Mean Queens around. But there was a teenage boy. He looked a lot like Sibby. He must be her older brother. He stood up as Rose approached and so did Sibby, slowly. She had been crying. Her face was puffy and tearstained.

Her brother gave her a slight nudge on her shoulder as if to urge her on. “Uh, Rose, I’m Michael Huang, and Sibby has something to tell you.” Sibby began crying harder and sniffling.

“I . . . I . . . I did something awful, Rose.”

“Does this have something to do with Joe Mallory breaking his ankle?”

“Uh . . .”

“Louder, Sibby,” Michael prompted.

“It does.” Sibby blurted it out with a wail. “Those skates. Well, you were right. They were too big to be Brianna’s. They were Joe’s.”

“Did you take them?” Rose asked.

“Yes, but it was all Brianna’s idea. Well, Brianna, Carrie, and Lisa’s idea. They knew about Michael’s metal bender for speed skates. Because, you know, my brother is a champion speed skater. She sputtered. “I . . . I bent them.”

Rose looked at the sniffling, shaking little girl. “You bent the blades?”

“I . . . I . . . made Joe fall. I bent his skate, and it made him fall.”

“You bent them? You’re so little; how could you bend a metal skate blade?”

“I used the bender in my brother’s shop in the garage.”