This meant war.

It was in this moment right here that, more than ever, she wanted to slap the smart-alecky smirk right off his smarmy little face. Maybe she should just take him down right here in the hallway.

"So, looks like the rinky-dink Garden Club has seen its final days, huh, Harley?" Dave stared down at her condescendingly- at least, it seemed that way; his signature pair of Raybans did wonders at concealing the eyes. The honey-blonde brat had a masterful poker face going for him, at least.

At her sides, her hands were balled up into angry, trembling fists. She furrowed her eyebrows, gritted her teeth, and growled. "Shut up, Strider."

There was one more month, after all. One measly month left. Jade knew she could do it, she just had to. She'd raise the money and gain some members and her happy little garden club would prevail once again. Jade Harley would emerge the heroine of it all, the girl who made the impossible happen, the girl who made Dave Strider eat his words like the dirtbag he so obviously was.

/ . / . / . / . / . /

Think, come on, think!

During that afternoon's study hall session, Jade could be found scribbling away furiously in her notebook. It was one of those cheesy ninety-nine cent pads of paper you could buy at any discount store- the kind of notebook with a crapload of glitter and cute dogs and retina-burning neon colours on the front. She crunched numbers and doodled daisies and formulated plans, none of which was adding up to anything productive. Think, think, think. She just couldn't lose to Strider. She loved her little garden club.

She'd been the sole creator and president of the club since the start of freshman year; usually only two or three people showed up at a time, and that was the absolute maximum. But the amount of people didn't matter- sinking her calloused hands into warm earth soil, planting rows of happy little petunias and cheery tulips and impressive-looking irises, watching sunflowers sprout and stretch up for the skies- that was what really mattered! Most of all, she adored caring for her prized collection of chrysanthemums.

Sure, Dave's dumb Music Club was undeniably the most popular extracurricular offered. They called it "The Apex," as if it were some sort of teeny-bopper night club. Jade had no idea why. The Apex was essentially a whole bunch of sweaty teenagers jam-packed into one room listening to hipster-esque playlists, and as far as Jade was concerned, that was miserable. No match for playing out in the open fresh air, or soaking up some sweet rays of Vitamin D in the green house room. Nothing was better than that.

So when the school's faculty approached Jade personally after announcing a series of budget cuts and told her that one of the clubs had to be slashed out of the roster, her heart absolutely crumbled into a million pieces. Just because no one cared to ever show up to garden club (except for her cousin John, whom was forced to come to support her, and his best friend Rose), they deemed it the top contender for demolition. "Please," she begged, "Give Garden Club one last chance! I can make it work, I promise!" She was so darn insistent on keeping her club that they had to give her one last option. As it was now, Jade's Garden Club was on the bottom of the list; next to no attendees and held a hefty expense fee. At the top of the list was The Apex, which was led by none other than the infamous Dave Strider, which is exactly why Jade refused to give it the time of day. Always subject to his constant teasing and pestering…what a nuisance!

A note landed on her desk. She ripped herself from the rigorous round of brainstorming to unfold it. "Hey Jade, I have an idea!" She scribbled a reply with her signature green Sharpie. "Oh! What is it, John?" She folded the note back up and tossed it to her right.

"A Car Wash!"

A car wash? Yes, of course! A car wash! How had she not thought of that herself? Car washes are universally known to be the staple of all fundraising events! Considering they couldn't do a bake sale (Jade was one of the worst cooks in history, unfortunately) and absolutely no one wanted to buy those big honkin' catalog-books of coupons, a car wash would have to do. They'd likely be washing the cars of mostly adults as an additive plus, which would mean they could charge high and rake in the big bucks.

"John, that's great! Where/when are we gonna do this?"

"Don't worry, meet me and Rose in the parking lot of Shut Up and Eat Your Burger ™ tomorrow at 3:00. Leave it all to me."

Oh yeah, they were totally going to make this happen. But, she had to wonder if someone would trust a couple of goofy kids to wash their car in the parking lot of a fast food restaurant. Oh well. She'd just have to hope. She could hardly contain her eagerness as she waited in her seat for the last five minutes of Study Hall, and the bell ringing was a blessed relief. Collecting her things and shoving it in her bag, she sauntered out into the hallway to make the venture to her next class.

"'Sup Harley, how's it goi-"

Jade just smiled brightly and kept on going. Not even a guy like Dave could put on damper on her enthusiasm.