Team Cooper was sitting at a table across the room, waving at me to join them, so I started walking in their direction.
About halfway across the cafeteria, I heard Wyatt call out my name. He was sitting on the stage with his legs crossed. His girlfriend, Olive Jones, was sitting next to him, taking a bite from a cheese-deprived cheeseburger.
I nodded at him, but continued toward my friends.
‘Wait,’ Wyatt said. ‘I have some things to talk to you about.’
Stopping in place, I looked back to where my friends were seated. There was still plenty of time left for lunch, so I guess I had a few minutes to stop and hear what Wyatt had to say.
Resting my tray on the stage, I hopped up, and slid closer to Wyatt and Olive. It was a completely new feeling for me to choose to sit near Wyatt.
I had to get outta my bubble, right?
Olive smiled her awkward smile. She had got braces since the last time I talked to her. ‘Hi, Chase.’
I smiled back. If you’ve followed my life at all, you’d know how weird it was that Wyatt and Olivia were being nice to me, or even talking to me at all.
‘This isn’t easy for me,’ Wyatt said. Olive put her hand on his as if to comfort him. ‘But I wanted to thank you for letting me join your team.’
‘Yeah,’ Olive said. ‘It’s pretty cool of you.’
‘Well, I’m a pretty cool guy,’ I joked.
‘Did you hear that the mystery prize is a million dollars?’ Olive said.
‘No way!’ I said. ‘A million-dollar prize for a sixth-grade robot project?’
‘Tenderfoot’s a billionaire,’ Wyatt said. ‘A million bucks is nothing to him. I’m buyin’ a boat when I win – I mean, when we win.’
I had my doubts about the rumour, but it was pretty exciting.
I took a chance and asked a hard question. ‘What was up with those ninjas yesterday? Why’d they corner you and throw us into the library?’
Wyatt’s face tensed, but he quickly relaxed. ‘I’m only talking to you about it because you let me on your team,’ he said. ‘You remember how the red and green ninja clans were trying to steal our masks, right?’ Wyatt said quietly.
Olive looked sad.
‘Right,’ I said. ‘Whoever got our masks would be the leaders of those ninja clans.’
‘The green ninjas have their new leader because they got your mask last week,’ Wyatt said. ‘The red ninjas have their leader already, but they still want to send a message by taking my mask.’
‘What’s the message?’ I asked.
‘Get lost,’ Olive said, answering for Wyatt.
‘Do you know who the leaders are?’ I said.
‘No clue,’ Wyatt shook his head. ‘I showed up to training one day and was booted right out of my own ninja clan.’
‘Did you do something that made them mad?’ I said.
Wyatt took a deep breath. ‘My red ninja clan had got too big for me to control by myself. The rest of my ninjas knew it too. They questioned my leadership skills and wanted to do things I didn’t want to do.’
‘Like what?’ I said, dipping some fries in my broccoli cheese soup, and then shoving them into my mouth. Hey, don’t knock it till ya try it.
‘Dumb things,’ Olive said. ‘Like they wanted to start a website and sell t-shirts and junk!’
‘We’re a ninja clan!’ Wyatt said. ‘Not a business!’
I continued chewing on my awesome broccoli cheese fries, nodding as Wyatt went on.
‘So I guess everyone thought they could do a better job of being a leader,’ Wyatt said. ‘And that’s exactly what happened – one day, everyone stopped listening to me and started doing whatever they wanted. There wasn’t anyone loyal to me after that. Nobody sided with me. And that’s when I lost control completely.’
‘But what about the kid who ordered everyone to steal our masks?’ I said.
‘Nobody was listening to me,’ Wyatt said, ‘but when someone else stood up and spoke, they were all ears. The group was falling apart because it had nobody to lead it, and they knew it. They just needed a little direction from someone who wasn’t me.’
‘And that’s when they gave the order to take our masks,’ I added.
‘Not quite,’ Wyatt said. ‘I thought that stealing my mask would choose the new leader for the red ninjas, but I was wrong. They already had their leader. They just wanted to boot me from the game.’
‘And then someone decided that stealing your mask would be just as awesome,’ Olive added, ‘which is when the green ninja clan was born.’
I shrugged my shoulders. ‘No big deal. I got a million ninja masks in my locker.’
‘The red and green ninja clans are basically sister clans,’ Wyatt said. ‘They’re working together, but wearing different colours.’
‘Holiday ninjas,’ I whispered, shovelling more fries into my mouth.
Olive snickered.
Wyatt took another deep breath, and said, ‘Which brings us to the reason why I wanted to be on your robot team.’
‘Of course,’ I said hesitantly, worried that I might’ve fallen for another one of Wyatt’s tricks.
‘No!’ he said defensively. ‘It’s not like that. I honestly want to get on your good side, because … well, I need your help.’
‘Go on …’
‘I want to work with you to figure out what to do about the red and green ninjas,’ he said. ‘Letting them continue is just crazysauce, right? I mean, those kids are dangerous!’
‘So what do you wanna do?’ I asked, not sure if I wanted to hear the answer.
Wyatt smiled, and it was genuine. ‘I just want things to go back to normal, like the good ol’ days, with only the red ninjas versus the black ninjas.’
‘Normal?’ I said, laughing. ‘Normal for you is only one enemy? Normal for me is no enemies!’
‘I’m not saying we should be enemies!’ Wyatt said. ‘I’m saying that maybe we should team up and be … frenemies. C’mon, think about it. You wanna deal with two ninja clans who are out to get you?’
I hated that Wyatt was kind of making sense. I had no idea who the leaders of the new ninja clans were, but at least I knew Wyatt.
Wyatt’s plan was to make it so it was only his ninja clan against mine, but I needed more than that if I was gonna help him.
Finally, I said, ‘I’ll help you under one condition.’
‘Name it,’ Wyatt said seriously.
‘Once we figure this thing out with those other two ninja clans, we stop being enemies,’ I said. ‘We don’t have to be friends, but we’re definitely not enemies.’
‘You’re telling me to give up my ninja clan?’ Wyatt asked, narrowing his eyes.
‘No,’ I said. ‘Two ninja clans can exist in the school without ever bumping into each other. You leave mine alone. That’s all I want.’
Wyatt didn’t hesitate. ‘Deal,’ he said.
Olive swooned over her boyfriend. ‘I’m so proud of you, babe!’
Wyatt leaned back, smiling smugly.
And for the first time in a long time, I saw a glimmer of hope for the future. A truce with Wyatt would be an epic win for me. Of course, there was always the chance it would turn into an epic fail – Wyatt can be shady like that.
All I could do was hope for the best.
Naomi met me in the lobby, next to the statue of James Buchanan, and together we headed to the science lab.
‘Yo,’ Naomi said.
‘Whassup?’ I replied.
‘Nothing. I just wanted to walk into the science lab with you.’
I paused. ‘Because you feel like everyone hates you?’
Naomi didn’t answer, which meant I was right.
‘They don’t,’ I said. ‘They might not be happy with you right now, but they’d never hate you.’
‘They might. Kids can change their minds about people.’
‘You just gotta give it a little time. It’ll be weird at first, but once they see that you’re the real deal, th
ey’ll warm back up to you,’ I said.
Naomi smiled. ‘You really think it’s that easy?’
I nodded, smiling.
‘I don’t even know why I’m so stressed about this,’ Naomi said, laughing nervously. ‘I thought I didn’t care about what others think about me.’
I laughed. ‘I’m pretty sure I’ll always care about what people think of me. I can try to ignore it, but that doesn’t mean I don’t care.’
‘At least with Wyatt on the team,’ Naomi said, ‘everyone has something else to focus on besides me. It’s cool that you let him on Team Cooper. I couldn’t do it. I’d be too paranoid about him.’
‘Well, I’m not gonna lie,’ I said. ‘I’ve got a terrible feeling in my butt about it.’
‘What? Your butt?’ Naomi asked, frowning.
‘Yeah,’ I said. ‘Y’know, a butt feeling.’
Naomi laughed so hard she choked a little. ‘Gut feeling! You got a terrible gut feeling about it!’
‘Ohhhh,’ I said, embarrassed by a lifetime of saying it wrong. ‘I’m an idiot.’
Naomi tried to hide her smile, but she couldn’t.
A minute later, we were standing outside the science lab. Pushing open the door, I let Naomi go in first.
From the moment I entered the room, all I could hear were the sounds of hammers and drills.
My team was to the right, hunched over the blueprints. Wyatt was in the middle of the group.
Even though I couldn’t see the other teams, I knew that Carlyle’s team only had a few kids on it. I heard the voices of two or three students from his side of the room.
Dante’s area was super quiet. Like, dead quiet. If I hadn’t seen his shadow moving behind the sheet, I would’ve sworn there was nobody there.
‘Is Dante still on his own?’ I asked Naomi.
She nodded. ‘I think so. Zoe said something about Dante being the quiet type. Not creepy loner, but just … quiet.’
‘She said the same thing to me too,’ I said. ‘That Dante never even tried to get anyone else on his team.’
‘Oh, I heard he asked some peeps, but they said no,’ Naomi said.
I sighed. ‘Bummer.’
Naomi and I grabbed a couple of empty chairs and joined the rest of our team.
Zoe chewed on the end of a pencil as she held my blueprints in front of her. Faith was next to her pointing at different spots of my drawings and quietly commenting on them.
Gidget was busy tapping away on her phone, researching for the project. Slug was slouched over with his hands on his round belly. He looked like he had just finished off his tenth plate at a pizza buffet.
Brayden was next to him, munching away on some kind of tortilla filled with cheese and meat. It was too thin to be a taco, which meant it was probably …
‘Quesadillas,’ Slug slurred with his eyes half open, pronouncing it kay-suh-dill-ahs. ‘Wyatt made chicken quesadillas. I might’ve had one too many …’
‘How many did you eat?’ I asked.
‘Eight,’ Slug answered, breathing heavily.
‘Eight triangles?’ I said.
Slug shook his head. ‘No … eight full quesadillas.’
‘Dude,’ I said, my jaw dropping to the floor. ‘That’s, like, um … four times eight … thirty-four pieces!’
Naomi quickly corrected me. ‘Thirty-two.’
‘Thirty-two!’ I repeated.
‘This kid can pack ’em away!’ Wyatt said, bringing another plate of quesadillas to the group.
‘Gidgy …’ Slug said, reaching for his twin sister, who was scooting away from his greasy fingers. ‘I might need a stomach transplant after this.’
‘Gross,’ she said. ‘Don’t touch me.’
‘Gidgyyyyyy!’ Slug groaned. ‘We’re twins! Your stomach is an exact match for mine! Only you can save me! I only need half of it. It’ll grow back!’
‘Dude,’ Gidget said, raising an eyebrow. ‘You can’t have my stomach.’
‘But what if I need it?’ Slug whined, sliding lower in his chair. ‘You’re just gonna—’
And then Slug let out the grossest burp I’d ever heard in my life. It was loud, and it was bad. Like, my eyes started watering.
Slug instantly sat up in his seat with a smile beaming across his face. ‘All better,’ he said, reaching for another quesadilla. ‘Mmmm, gimme, gimme, gimme!’
Gidget shook her head at Slug, looking disgusted. ‘Hashtag so gross.’
Slug stuffed the loaded tortilla into his mouth and chomped loudly, leaning closer to his sister to annoy her. ‘Did you hear my face fart?’
‘Get out!’ Gidget said laughing loudly as she pushed her elbow into Slug to keep him away.
‘Wyatt makes the best quesadillas,’ Faith said. ‘We’ve appointed him the official chef for Team Cooper.’
Wyatt nodded and faked the kind of laugh a politician would have. ‘Hey, I’ll take what I can get,’ he said, presenting a quesadilla to Faith.
‘I thank ye, kind sir,’ Faith said as she took a tortilla off the plate.
‘My pleasure, m’lady,’ Wyatt replied, nodding.
Even Zoe chuckled, shaking her head at Wyatt as she took a quesadilla from him.
I thought it was gross.
It was shocking how quickly my team had warmed up to Wyatt. Not that I cared … I just thought it was gonna take a little more time.
And then I noticed Olive sitting way off to the side. She was on a seat that was backed against the wall. And she did not look happy.
‘Why’s Olive over there?’ I asked. ‘And why’s she glaring at us?’
Brayden sat up, pushing his chest out, and beating on it twice like a caveman. ‘She’s allergic to my cologne,’ he said proudly. ‘She has a sneezing fit whenever she gets close.’
‘Ironic, isn’t it?’ Zoe said. ‘The thing you’re spraying yourself to attract girls is actually repelling them.’
‘I know, right?’ Brayden said, rolling his eyes. ‘But I’ve allowed myself time to learn how to use the cologne properly.’
‘Allowed yourself time?’ Zoe repeated, lowering the blueprints to get a better look at Brayden. ‘Until what? Until you woo all the ladies in the world with your musk?’
Brayden snapped two fingers and pointed at Zoe. ‘Totes,’ he said slyly.
Zoe did her best to hide her smile. ‘Oh, jeez.’
I looked at Olive again.
‘I don’t mind,’ I said, ‘but why is she here? If Brayden’s cologne is makin’ her sneeze, why would she stick around?’
‘She’s here for me,’ Wyatt said, waving at Olive. She didn’t wave back. ‘Her presence comforts me.’
‘That’s such a weird way to say that,’ I said. But I looked at Faith and she smiled at me, and I knew exactly what Wyatt meant.
‘I vouch for her,’ Wyatt said. ‘Just like you vouched for me. How’s that?’
‘Okay,’ I said, not really bothered either way. ‘She can stay. As long as she doesn’t mess up our flow.’
Wyatt nodded seriously. ‘Of course,’ he said. ‘She’s cool.’
The door to the science lab swung open, and someone in a Tenderfoot Industries shirt wheeled in a flat-screen television.
‘Students,’ the employee said. ‘Students, if you could please look up here, Dr Tenderfoot has recorded a message for you.’
Everyone in the room stopped what they were doing and stepped out from behind their sheets. Carlyle was with his pirate buddies. Dante was on his own, covered in grease.
The employee took a small cassette tape from his shirt pocket and inserted it into a slot on the television.
The screen flipped on and showed Dr Ashley Tenderfoot’s face, complete with old-fashioned moustache, top hat, and a monocle over his right eye.
‘Hello,’ Tenderfoot said. ‘First of all, I’d like to congratulate all of you for being selected for the competition. I’m sure that Carlyle, Dante and Chase have chosen their teams wisely, so be proud if you’re listening to this me
ssage.’
Some kids looked at Dante because he didn’t have a team standing behind him. He was obviously embarrassed.
With all the excitement of the last twenty-four hours, I had completely forgotten about Tenderfoot selecting the team leaders from his top hat. The slips of paper in his hat were blank, and if you asked me, that rated pretty highly on the mystery scale.
My brain was so busy running that I missed the rest of Tenderfoot’s video message. All I caught was the very last part.
‘… and I thank you again for playing your part in this historic competition,’ he said. Tenderfoot tipped his top hat down, and the video stopped.
The employee from Tenderfoot Industries removed the cassette and pushed it into his front pocket. Wheeling the television out the door, he looked over his shoulder, said ‘Good day,’ and left the room.
The other teams moved back behind their bed sheets and continued their work.
Faith said what everyone else was thinking. ‘Tenderfoot’s weird.’
‘Who records a message like that?’ Wyatt said.
‘Dr Tenderfoot is a super busy man,’ Zoe said defensively. ‘I’m just happy that he sent us any kind of message.’
I pondered for a moment … That’s such an adult-sounding thing to say, isn’t it? Pretend I have an old-school gentleman’s voice. ‘Mmmmm, yes, I pondered for a moment …’
The tape had me thinking. I turned to Zoe. ‘Remember when I was talking about hiding messages to our future relatives in the school? Like, a hundred years from now, I could talk to my great-grandkids or whatever?’
Zoe sighed, shutting her eyes. ‘Yeaaaaaaaaah,’ she said.
‘I could record videos like Tenderfoot did!’ I said, excited. ‘I could hide them all over the school and send our great-grandchildren on treasure hunts and stuff!’
Slug nodded, scratching his chin. ‘I like the way you think, mister.’
‘No way,’ Wyatt said abruptly. ‘In a hundred years, cassette tapes won’t even exist. I’m surprised Tenderfoot even used one! Think about it – do you send messages using morse code?’
Gidget was the one who answered, still jabbing at her phone with her thumbs. ‘Um, no way, dude.’
‘Exactly,’ Wyatt said. ‘Let’s say you did leave a bunch of tapes hidden in the school, and your great-great-great-grandkids found them.’
My Worst Frenemy Page 5
