“Don’t move!” the four of us shouted.
“What?!” Noah almost stumbled out of the room from the verbal assault.
Andrew repeated what we had told Sam and Amy, explaining about the pressure switches and how Osborne was the culprit.
“No way,” Noah said. He carefully made his way through the pad minefield and examined the trash can/ladder setup. “What is this one supposed to do?”
“I don’t know,” I replied as I joined him.
Sam and Amy stepped carefully around the pads to get a better look.
“Some kind of chemical reaction?” Amy suggested.
“Definitely,” I said, nodding. “Mr. Osborne has access to all kinds of stuff, remember?”
“Hello, Andy,” said an electronic voice behind us. I turned to see that Raider had cornered Andrew in the doorway.
“Ugh,” Andrew groaned. “It’s Andrew, you stupid robot.”
Raider didn’t make the correction. Instead, he turned toward us and rolled forward. “Hello, Tom.”
My eyes went wide. “Raider, stop!” I ordered.
Noah must’ve had the same urgent thought. “Stop, stop, stop!” he shouted.
“Hello, Noah,” Raider chirped as he rolled forward. “Hello, Sam. Hello, Amy.”
In the next instant, the robot rolled over one of the pressure pads and I heard a loud click behind me. I turned just in time to see the shelf drop and the bucket dump clear liquid into the trash can. The reaction was immediate. Blue foam exploded from the can like a volcano.
We tried to get away, but the four of us had been so crowded around the device that there was really nowhere to go, and we fumbled over each other trying to escape. Add to that the fact that we had a large robot at our feet and we didn’t stand a chance.
My friends and I yelled as the thick warm foam washed us away like a tidal wave, carrying us toward the door. The last thing I saw was Andrew’s terrified expression as he ducked into the hallway. After that, I saw only blue as we were swept into the corridor.
The final prank had been on us.
17 The Absolution Solution
RED-AND-BLUE LIGHTS FLASHED OVER OUR faces from the police car out front as we sat in the academy entryway. The four of us were dressed in matching gym shorts and Swift Academy Fencing team T-shirts. Our other clothes had been stained bright blue and were sopping wet. Andrew, who managed to get away from the prank unscathed, still wore his original jeans and T-shirt. He sat in a chair on the other side of the hallway.
All five of us had been questioned by the police, Mr. Davenport, and even my dad. Andrew had turned over the memory card showing Mr. Osborne setting up the prank, and the police had confiscated the rest of the cameras. One thing was certain: None of us would be stars in the latest blurred blogger video. Of course, after the fact, we all agreed it would’ve been kind of cool to see footage of us being washed out of the classroom in a tidal wave of blue foam.
Also after the fact, we realized that the last prank actually had a name—elephant’s toothpaste. Yeah, that’s a real thing. It’s a special science experiment, and you can find tons of video demonstrations online. Mrs. Gaines even showed it to us last year. You mix some dish soap, hydrogen peroxide, and a little food coloring. Then you add a water/yeast mixture. The yeast is a catalyst, causing an exothermic reaction. Of course, Mrs. Gaines didn’t fill a whole trash can with hydrogen peroxide, so her demonstration hadn’t had quite the kick of Mr. Osborne’s.
It turned out that Mr. Osborne was still in the building when everything went down. It’s really weird watching the cops put one of your teachers in the back of a squad car.
Once the questioning was finished and the police had driven away, we were all allowed to text our parents to come pick us up. Of course, my ride was already there.
“I have some of my people coming over to clean up the second floor,” my dad told us. “Between the mess and the lack of a teacher, I doubt you’ll have chemistry class tomorrow.”
“Why did he do it?” Sam asked.
My father sighed. “To get back at me for firing him. I think he thought that if he could make Swift Academy look bad, it would make Swift Enterprises look bad by association.”
“Whoa,” Noah said. “Talk about holding a grudge.”
“That’s a shame,” Amy added. “Mr. Osborne was a good teacher.”
“And crazy smart,” my father added. “I honestly thought he’d be a better fit over here. But… some people take advantage of second chances and some people don’t.” My dad caught my eye, then glanced over meaningfully at Andrew. “I told Andrew’s father I’d give him a ride home.”
Boy. Subtle hint there, Dad.
After Amy, Sam, and Noah had been picked up, Andrew and I were alone. My father was still organizing the cleanup detail, so I knew we had some time to kill. Might as well get it over with. I got up to join Andrew.
Before I even made it across the hall, he was laughing at me. “Nice outfit, Junior.”
I sighed and slumped my shoulders. This kid was really making the whole second-chance thing super difficult.
I plopped down in the seat next to him. “Man, why do you have to be like that?”
He smirked. “Like what?”
“You know… mean. Ever since we were kids, you’re always putting everything down. Always putting me down. You know I hate when you call me Junior, and you keep doing it. Why?”
“That’s for me to know—”
He stopped short as I shot him a look that would’ve made Sam proud.
“Come on,” I said. “We’re the only ones here. What’s the deal?”
Andrew was quiet for several moments. “Do you remember when we were little? We were best friends, right?”
“Yeah, I do remember.” I motioned between us. “That’s why I don’t understand any of this.”
“Well…” He let out a long breath. “That was before you thought you were better than me. You got more attention because you were smarter, came up with cooler ideas. I guess I just got sick of it, that’s all.” He threw up his hands in frustration. “There. Are you happy? Is that what you want to hear?”
I shook my head. “No. Not really. I don’t think I’m better than you, and who says I’m smarter?” I pointed at him. “You figured out it was Mr. Osborne, just like I did. You picked up on all the same clues.” I glanced around before continuing, lowering my voice. “In fact, we are the only two people in the whole school who figured it out. And this place is crammed full of smart kids.”
“Hey.” He raised an eyebrow. “I guess you’re right.”
As we sat in silence, I remembered back to when we were best friends. Sure, we had our disagreements, but we also had our own share of fun adventures back then.
I nudged him. “You remember that time when the wind carried our model rocket into the woods behind my house?”
Andrew grinned and nodded. “Yeah. And it got stuck up in that tree. And then you got stuck after you climbed up to get it.”
“We got stuck,” I corrected. “You were right up there with me.”
Andrew shrugged. “I was just there to keep you company. I wasn’t scared to climb down like you were.”
“Yeah, right.” I shook my head. “I guess you just kept me company for two hours until our dads found us.”
Andrew chuckled. “Well… it was a really big tree.”
We both laughed as my dad came around the corner.
“All right, fellas,” he said, digging his car keys out of his pocket. “You ready to put a period behind another grand Swift Academy adventure?”
“Oh yeah,” I replied.
As Andrew and I got to our feet, he let out a snort. “What? Stuff like this happens here a lot?”
I shook my head. “No, not really.” Then I shrugged, thinking better of it. “Well, yeah. Kinda. Have lunch with Noah, Amy, Sam, and me tomorrow, and we’ll tell you all about it.”
Andrew nodded. “All right… Tom.”
More
from this Series
The Drone Pursuit
Book 1
The Sonic Breach
Book 2
Restricted Access
Book 3
The Virtual Vandal
Book 4
More from the Author
On Top of the World
Rocket Racers
About the Author
VICTOR APPLETON is the author of the classic Tom Swift books.
Aladdin
Simon & Schuster, New York
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Read all the books in the TOM SWIFT INVENTORS’ ACADEMY series!
The Drone Pursuit
The Sonic Breach
Restricted Access
The Virtual Vandal
The Spybot Invasion
Augmented Reality
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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First Aladdin paperback edition June 2021
Text copyright © 2021 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Cover illustration copyright © 2021 by Kevin Keele
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Appleton, Victor, author.
Title: The blurred blogger / Victor Appleton.
Description: New York : Aladdin, [2021] | Series: Tom Swift Inventors’ Academy ; book 7 | Audience: Ages 8 to 12. | Summary: Tom and his friends track down a mysterious blogger who pushes pranks too far.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021000539 (print) | LCCN 2021000540 (eBook) | ISBN 9781534468924 (paperback) | ISBN 9781534468931 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781534468948 (eBook)
Subjects: CYAC: Inventors—Fiction. | Blogs—Fiction. | Practical jokes—Fiction. |
Schools—Fiction. | Friendship—Fiction. | Science fiction.
Classification: LCC PZ7.A652 Bl 2021 (print) | LCC PZ7.A652 (eBook) | DDC [Fic]—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021000539
LC eBook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021000540
The Blurred Blogger Page 9
