Janice Avery

Janice Avery is the villain from the novel Bridge to Terabithia and its movie version. She is a fat 7th grader (8th grader in the film) who bullies younger children at school.

She is portrayed by Lauren Clinton.

History
Janice and her two friends, Wilma and Bobby Sue, visit the same school as Jesse Aarons and Leslie Burke. The trio commonly bully younger students, for example Jesse whose is teased for being poor, and Janice even throws her sandwich on him in the school bus. During break time, the girls usually stand in front of the girl's restroom and put a free on entering.

Leslie, frustrated from being bullied, once sits on the back seat where however only older students sit. Jesse who sees Janice and her friends coming, rushes to his friend to help her. Janice tells them to get out, causing Jesse to thoughtlessly insult the bully for her obesity. As a revenge, Janice later pretends to be pushed on the ground by Jesse in the school bus, leading the driver to order Jesse to walk home.

When Janice steals Twinkies from Jesse's younger sister May Belle, Leslie decides to stop the bully. At first, she gets a group of younger children and they head to the restroom, shouting "Free to Pee!" However, the older girls only laugh at them. Jesse and Leslie then decide to make a prank on Janice. They write a letter "from Willard Hughes", the object of her affection, who "wants to see her after school", and Jesse then hides the letter in Janice's notebook. Next day, Janice really waits for Willard after school, but he doesn't appear. In the movie, she speaks to him in front of all his friends, much to his surprise. When Janice finally realizes the letter was fake, all students who see it laugh at her.

Jesse and Leslie feel good due their victory until they hear sobbing Janice in the girls' restroom. Leslie comes in to talk with the bully and discovers she is abused by her sadistic father. Leslie advises her to pretend she has no idea what the other girls are talking about, and students soon forget about it. Since then, Leslie develops sympathy and a friendship with the miserable bully. The main reason for Janice's crying is different in the book and the movie. In the novel, Janice tells her friends about abusing, but the girls then tell it to everyone at school. In the movie, the police is recently called to Janice's house and now the whole 7th and 8th grade know she is beaten at home, so they ostracize her.

After this, Janice stops being a bully and becomes an outsider and a friend of Leslie.