Geek Girl - Books 1, 2 and 3

by John Zakour

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  Geek Girl

  Books 1 – 3

  John Zakour & Katrina Kahler

  Copyright © KC Global Enterprises Pty Ltd

  All Rights Reserved

  Table of Contents

  Book 1 – A Cool New Start

  Book 2 – A Little Romance

  Book 3 – Double Trouble

  Book 1

  A Cool New Start

  Prelude

  Okay, now this was bad. I was cornered in my tip-top secret lab by a bunch of angry plants, Venus flytraps to be exact. The plants chomped their way towards me and my best friend, Tina.

  Waving a broom at the man-sized Venus flytraps, I shouted, “Back!”

  One of them lunged forward, taking a big bite out of my broom.

  Polly, the parrot, flew onto my shoulder. “Bad plants! Bad plants! Bad plants!” he parroted.

  “Not very useful, Polly!” I told him.

  “Maya, tell me again, why you thought it would be a good idea to create giant people eating plants?” Tina asked me, taking a karate stance.

  "One…I wanted these to be pollution-eating plants. Two…I don't think karate is our best way out of this!" I told Tina.

  “Ah, okay,” Tina said.

  “I admit, the computer and I tweaked a wrong gene here or there, but I can fix this,” I added.

  Tina sighed. “If we don’t get eaten.”

  “Obviously,” I told her. I smiled. “Though you have to admit, these flowers are pretty darn cool!”

  “More like scary!” Tina said.

  Maya Fact: Venus flytraps truly are one of nature’s more amazing plants. Technically, there are a LOT of amazing plants in nature. Nature is amazing. But the flytrap is colorful, cool looking, and traps living insects and eats them. Cool and gross.

  Grandpa Jack’s image appeared on one of my lab’s giant wall monitors. “Hmm, looks like you three have got yourselves into another sticky wicket!” He laughed. Apparently, computer-generated grandpas have an even weirder sense of humor than normal. “See…Maya, honey,” he continued. “I knew when I left my lab to you that you’d have many great adventures.”

  I whacked the lead Venus flytrap in the head with my boom. It staggered back. It groaned like I had somehow cheated it.

  Grandpa Jack’s image made a fist. “That’s showing it, honey! You aren’t just brains! You got fight and gumption in ya, too!”

  For a super bright scientist, the way Grandpa spoke was a bit weird sometimes. Not sure if that was from being old or from having his personality and thoughts transferred to a computer. Yeah, my life is a little different, but different is cool!

  To explain, we need to jump back six months. I had just turned thirteen. I had finally become a teen, no longer a tween. My grandpa, the super duper brilliant scientist, died suddenly; apparently in a lab accident at work.

  Grandpa left my mom and dad (and I guess my brother and I) his old house. It was an amazing old house filled with memories. I had loved visiting as a kid. Grandpa always had something wondrous for me to see in his den. My heart filled with joy whenever we visited. But, I didn't want to LIVE there. It wouldn’t feel or smell the same without him. Okay, the smelling different part probably wouldn’t be that bad. But the feel...the house would seem empty without him.

  Not only that, but my friends lived all the way across town! Okay, I really only had two friends. Tina Quick, who you’ve ‘met,’ as she is in this mess with the Venus flytraps alongside me, and my other friend, Dexter Rose. Dex is more of a friendly rival. He’s pretty smart, and we push each other to higher places.

  I liked living near my friends, and I wanted to remain living in MY home with MY friends nearby.

  The good news was that we still owned our old house. I figured if I kicked up enough of a fuss, we would move back. I realized I was acting like a brat, but moving into Grandpa’s house didn’t feel right.

  As I said, let's go back six months so I can start from the beginning….

  Chapter I

  I sat in the back seat of Mom and Dad's car, a red Volvo wagon. We had just rolled up to Grandpa's house. I stared at it. A tear formed in my eye.

  Mom got out of the car and opened my door. “I know this is hard for you, honey,” she told me.

  “No, building a robot from scratch is hard. This is darn near impossible,” I moaned.

  Putting a hand on my shoulder, Dad said softly, “Honey, it’s hard on all of us. You lost a grandfather, but I lost a father; the man who taught me a lot of what I know today.”

  I really hadn’t thought of it that way. I’d been selfish, thinking only of my loss and not Dad’s.

  “Sorry, Dad,” I said, wiping a tear from my eye.

  Dad smiled. “I don’t think your grandpa would want either of us to be sad. He lived a full life. He loved this house. He loved us. That’s why he wants us to live here. It’s a wonderful place. Grandma always said this house was filled with hidden wonders!”

  Mom looked at the old three-story house and grinned. After all, each story of the house was painted in a different color. The bottom story blue, the middle story red and the top story yellow. Grandpa said he loved the primary colors.

  “It certainly has character. Just like Grandpa Jack!” Mom exclaimed, glancing down at me. “You trusted your Grandpa. Right?”

  I gave her a weak nod. "Yeah, he always told me the truth. He always treated me like I was older than I am. But he always told the worst knock-knock jokes. Yet, they always made me laugh.

  “He wanted us in this house,” Dad said. “Only us. Do not sell.” Dad smiled. “He told me if I ever sold this house he’d haunt me!”

  Grinning, I said, “Yep, that sounds like him.” I paused thoughtfully for a moment and then thought of an important question. “Does the house have internet!”

  "Of course," Dad said. "But it's dial-up."

  I frowned.

  "Don’t worry; we’re upgrading to 500 MPs," Mom said.

  Maya Message: Okay, I couldn't deal with super pokey dial-up speeds. I mean, come on, are we in the 90s? But I could really relate to 500 megabits per second. That wasn't as fast as it could be, but it was fast enough. I don't know how people in the 90s managed with dial-up. Dad said that if somebody answered the phone or made a phone call while you were on the internet, you’d lose your internet connection! So primitive!

  Walking up to the creaky old porch, I asked. "Why would a great inventor like Grandpa live in such an old-fashioned home?”

  “Grandpa always said that the lab he worked in was so high tech, he enjoyed being at home in a simple setting,” Mom explained.

  “Plus, Grandpa’s first love was mechanical engineering. He loved building stuff the old fashioned way!” Dad added, walking into the living room.

  Grandpa’s living room looked like it belonged in an old 1960s TV show. Well, except it was in color; lots of strange colors. The place did seem like a good fit for Grandpa. I didn’t want to like it, but I did. The old record player was neat, and the big orange couch was soft and fluffy. I’d also always loved the globe he had on the TV. The pink lava lamp was mesmerizing. Of course, the TV was thick and heavy and only showed black and white. Grandpa always said he liked black and white because it reminded him
of a simpler time. He would be quick to point out that simpler didn’t mean better though. Grandpa was a complicated man.

  I had to admit that I loved the big round red rug in the middle of the room. Grandpa said it was from Persia. He often joked that it probably once belonged to Aladdin himself. We often stood on it and pretended to fly! Grandpa could really tell a story.

  The weird thing about this room was the old rifle that was attached to one of the walls. Grandpa said he kept the old rifle to remind him of the days when he was in the army and fought in the war to end all wars. Since that war obviously didn’t end all wars, he kept the gun to show how pointless war was.

  Maya Message: Grandpa was a firm believer that everybody should be able to protect themselves. He taught me pressure points, judo, and how to target shoot. But he was an even firmer believer that no person should ever attack another person. Grandpa always said words are the best defense. He'd point to his head and note how spoken language is what separates us from most animals.

  Grandpa reminded me that some primates could use sign language. He added the fact that dolphins also seem to communicate with each other. As well, he said that squid and some shrimp are super smart.

  Grandpa kept a small Venus flytrap plant in the living room by the window. He thought the red and yellow plant, apart from being pretty, was a great natural way to catch mosquitoes. Grandpa said, “Bugs are our friends, but not mosquitos. Those little buggies are really icky.” Yeah, he was weird, but I loved him. He had a lot of different sayings, but most of them made sense in a grandpa sort of way.

  Mom bent down to me. She pointed up the long winding staircase. “Shall we go check out your room to make sure the movers put everything where they should be?”

  I smiled. “You guys have got enough to do here without worrying about my room. I’ll check it out and make sure things are up to code!”

  "Great," Dad said. "The cable company is on the way, and they’ll have our high-speed internet installed pretty quickly. We also ordered a new flat screen to replace Grandpa’s old TV. I hope he doesn’t mind.”

  Grinning at Dad, I told him, “Nah, Grandpa was cool. He loved the big screen TV at our house. He said he’d be afraid that if he had a TV like that in his home, he’d never get any work done.”

  Chapter II

  Opening the door to my new room, I saw my bed, my desk, and my dresser from our old home. They looked out of place here, but I figured (well hoped) I would get used to the new room after a little time.

  One thing I didn’t expect to see was a bird perch with a big green parrot on it. Slowly walking towards the parrot, I said, “You’re new.”

  “You’re new,” the parrot parroted.

  “Wow, you learn fast!” I told the big bird.

  “Wow, you learn fast,” the parrot said. Then it added, “Polly want a cracker.”

  I laughed. “That’s a pretty cliché thing to teach a parrot,” I said. “I expected better from Grandpa.”

  “No, kid…listen…I really do want a cracker,” Polly said.

  “Ah…” I responded. “I don’t carry crackers with me.” I frowned. “Why am I talking to a parrot?” I groaned.

  Polly put his wings on his hips and leaned into me. “Cause the parrot is hungry.” Pointing out the door, he added, “I know you aren’t a cracker machine, but I’m guessing Jack left me some crackers in the kitchen. I know he did because I’ve been eating them all week.” He showed me his wings. “Plus, I’ve been drinking out of the faucet! You know how hard it is to turn water on and off with wings!”

  “You can talk!” I gasped

  Polly hopped off his perch and moved even closer. “Yeah, very good kid. I can fly and poop too. That pretty much sums up being a parrot!”

  “But, but you’re talking intelligently!” I said.

  Polly rolled his eyes. “That makes exactly one of us!”

  “Suddenly, I have an urge for fried parrot!” I said, making a fist.

  Polly relaxed a bit. “Oh, Doctor Jack always said you had spunk and that you were special. I can see the spunk. Still can’t see the special. Maybe special takes time.”

  Relaxing my hands and dropping them my side, I said, “I see Grandpa tweaked you some.”

  Polly nodded. “Yeah, he did. I used to be redder, but he told me green would make better camouflage.”

  “I’m talking about the talking,” I said.

  “I’m a parrot; parrots talk.” Polly insisted.

  “Parrots ‘parrot’, hence the word,” I retorted.

  Maya Fact: The definition of the word parrot: repeat mechanically or echo.

  Polly grinned. “Okay, Doctor Jack might have enhanced me some. But I like to think I was a special kind of bird even before that. I’ve always wanted to host a talk show. A good one. A deep one. I’d be like Oprah, but for birds. And no car giveaways. Most people are fat and lazy enough…no need to encourage them to be lazier. They should walk more. I want to inspire and improve people.”

  “Glad you have goals,” I said. “But why are you here?” I asked.

  "Why are any of us here?" Polly said, answering my question with a deeper question. "Do any of us really know our purpose on this big blue planet? Do we understand our place in the universe or vast cosmos? I think not."

  He had a point. But I felt pretty certain he knew that wasn't what I meant. Still, I could be more specific, "Why are you in this house?"

  He rolled his eyes. “Because I live here.”

  “Fair enough, silly question,” I said. “But why are you in my room?”

  Mom and Dad walked in.

  “Who are you talking to?” Dad asked.

  “Polly,” I said.

  Dad nodded. “Right, Dad told me he was a getting a parrot for company. I guess it doesn’t hurt to keep him. Dad would have wanted it that way.”

  “But why are you talking to the parrot as though he’s human?” Mom asked.

  “Cause he’s really smart! And he can talk!” I told them. Pointing at Polly, I said, “Go ahead and talk!”

  “Squark!”

  “No, say words!”

  “Words, words, words, words!” Polly said.

  Dad smiled. “That’s pretty cool.”

  I frowned. “No, I mean he can really talk!”

  "Yes, we heard," Mom replied.

  "No, I mean intelligently!" I insisted. Looking at Polly, I said, "Tell ‘em, Polly!"

  Polly tilted his head and grinned. He seemed to give a bird shrug. “Squawk!” he added. “Crackers! Crackers!! Crackers!!!”

  Mom and Dad snickered. “Sounds like he might need a little nap,” Mom said, all mom-like.

  “Do you want us to remove the parrot?” Dad asked.

  “Nah, I’ll keep Polly here,” I said. “I MAY get to like him.”

  Mom and Dad walked out of the room.

  “Of course, I might fry Polly,” I added.

  “Oh, you have issues,” Polly told me.

  Spinning towards him, I demanded, “Why didn’t you talk to my parents?”

  Polly pulled his neck back. “Uh, I did talk.”

  “But you talked nonsense!” I noted firmly.

  “Not really. I did point out that I wanted crackers. Apparently though, your parents are just as dense as you are!” Polly said. “They think I’m just a dumb bird.” Pointing to his head, he added, “A birdbrain!”

  “That’s because you talked to them like you are one!” I said.

  “Your grandpa didn’t want your parents, or anybody else for that matter, to know I can talk!”

  “Why?” I asked.

  “Why did your grandpa do anything?” Polly asked.

  “Good point,” I agreed.

  Polly smiled. “Of course…you can ask him.”

  “No, Polly, he’s dead,” I said. My throat clogged over the word dead. “You didn’t know that? If you did know, then you’re cruel.”

  Polly put a wing on my shoulder. “Go into your closet,” he said.

&nbs
p; “What? No!” I said. “I think I’m going to get a cat!”

  Polly flew off his perch and nudged me toward the closet. “Trust me. I’ll be with you.”

  “That doesn’t make me feel any better…” I told him.

  No idea why, but I let Polly guide me into the closet. “Now what?” I asked.

  “Tap on the floor seven times.”

  I Stood there.

  “Do it!” Polly insisted.

  “Fine.”

  Stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp.

  “Now what?” I asked.

  “Wait for it,” Polly said.

  My closet door closed.

  A light from above shone down on me. “State name.”

  “Ah, Maya Wise…” I said.

  “I do not know, Ah, Maya Wise!” the voice said.

  “Maya Wise!” I replied.

  I felt the floor of my closet slowly lowering down to another level.

  “What’s happening?” I asked.

  After a few seconds that seemed like minutes, I was lowered into what could only be called the most amazing high tech lab I had ever seen. Computer screens lining the walls flashed on an off. Some screens were filled with numbers. Other screens had world events on them. Some beakers were bubbling with various colored liquids. Parts of the room were living gardens filled with plants of all colors and sizes. The room had more microscopes than my school. One wall was lined with test tubes filled with differently labeled chemicals. Computer and robot parts and chips were scattered all over the huge room. I noticed one lab bench had medical equipment on it. Another bench had a centrifuge hooked to a big computer. Little robots and androids rushed to and fro. The place bubbled and blinked with high tech energy.

  “This is pure chaos,” I said.