Terror at the Talent Show

by Marcus Emerson

  Coach Cooper nodded. ‘Nice work, kiddo. Sophia will be glad to hear it, but probably not as much as Principal Davis.’ The coach continued to the light switch on the wall and flipped the lights off. He gestured to the stairs I had walked up. ‘Go back that way and shut the door, would ya?’

  I started to turn around, but paused, remembering my ninja clan was without a home. ‘Hey, coach?’ I said.

  Coach Cooper turned around in the doorway. ‘Yeah?’

  ‘What’s the deal with this room?’

  Leaning against the doorframe, Coach Cooper spoke softly. ‘Back in the day, we used to have a wrestling team, but the program was cut due to funding. This room is all that’s left.’

  ‘So it’s not being used for anything?’ I asked, hugging the penguin in my arms.

  The coach sighed. ‘Sometimes it’s used for gymnastics week, but for the rest of the year, it’s locked up.’

  ‘Is it something I could use?’ I asked immediately. ‘I mean, if I started some kind of athletics club or something?’

  ‘Don’t see why not,’ the coach said, scanning the room. ‘It’s empty like this all the time. The only condition is that the wrestling mats have to be cleaned daily.’

  That was a small price to pay for a full-size training arena. ‘No problem,’ I said, smiling.

  The coach pointed at the stairs behind me again. ‘What kind of athletics club do you want to start?’

  I paused, trying to think of a good answer. I didn’t want to say I was going to use it for ninja training, but I also didn’t want to lie. ‘Martial arts,’ I said finally.

  ‘Cool,’ Coach Cooper said, giving me a thumbs up. ‘Get back out to the talent show, Chase. We can discuss details afterwards.’

  I didn’t hesitate. I jumped down the steps, clearing all of them in one leap. Hotcakes didn’t seem to mind.

  After leaving the secret wrestling room, I pushed the short stack of boxes back against the thin metal door. I didn’t want to risk Wyatt or any members of his ninja clan finding it.

  The noise from the kids preparing for the talent show flooded the backstage area. As I marched down the narrow corridor, I found the cage that Hotcakes had escaped from. Gently, I set him back into it, and shut the metal gate, locking the latch.

  ‘Sorry, Hotcakes,’ I said, ‘but I think it’s best if I keep you in here while I find Sophia.’

  The penguin chirped at me.

  Jogging back to the cafeteria, I hopped from backstage onto the lunchroom floor. Zoe was still running back and forth between her crew, barking orders. Along the wall, I saw most of the students in the talent show sitting on the bench, waiting their turn. Eli and Sophia were the first two students on the bench.

  I was just about to shout for Sophia when someone grabbed my shirt collar with two hands and pulled me aside. It was Adam. Gavin was standing right behind him.

  ‘What’re you doing?’ I asked.

  Adam’s eyes were wide as he spoke frantically. ‘I saw Calvin outside in the lobby!’ he said. ‘I overheard him say something about messing with the stage again!’

  Gavin stepped closer. ‘We gotta find him before he does anything!’

  ‘We should go to Principal Davis about this, shouldn’t we?’ I suggested.

  ‘There’s no time!’ Adam said. ‘You have to go out there and stop him!’

  ‘But we don’t even know what this kid looks like!’ I said, feeling a little panicked.

  ‘He’s wearing an orange shirt with stripes!’ Adam said, pushing me toward the cafeteria doors.

  ‘Alright, fine!’ I said. ‘Just let go of me!’

  Gavin pulled open the door and left first. I followed, pressing the fabric of my collar down, trying to undo the damage Adam had done. There were tiny pink and green threads all over my shirt – probably from when Adam had grabbed me. It was annoying having to wipe them all off. I knew I had seen that kind of thread before, but I couldn’t remember where.

  I was so distracted trying to fix my shirt that I didn’t even notice Wyatt trying to enter the room. I stepped forward, accidentally knocking into him. He fell into the cafeteria door and bounced to the ground. A cup of water spilled down the front of his outfit.

  ‘Really?’ Wyatt shouted, angry.

  I stepped over him and chuckled. ‘Sorry, man!’ I said, and honestly. ‘Seriously, I didn’t mean to do that!’

  ‘You soaked my shirt!’ Wyatt shouted. ‘Where are you going? Get back here!’

  I slipped into the crowd of students, following Gavin. If I had stayed to let Wyatt yell at me, I know the situation would’ve just got worse. Even though I didn’t want to, I knew I’d find him later to apologise because it actually was my fault.

  The lobby of the school was so full of sixth graders that it was almost impossible to move. As Gavin pushed through the crowd, I did my best to stay as close to him as possible.

  ‘You see him?’ Gavin asked over the noisy crowd.

  ‘A kid with an orange shirt?’ I asked. ‘Nope.’

  Gavin zigzagged through the students, checking each t-shirt. Then he stopped, and shouted, ‘Calvin? Does anyone know a Calvin?’

  The crowd of students ignored the question, except for the few girls nearby that shot dirty looks at Gavin for yelling in their ears.

  I clutched the back of Gavin’s shirt so I wouldn’t lose him. ‘There’s no way we’re gonna find him in all this,’ I said. ‘This is hopeless!’

  ‘We can’t just give up,’ Gavin replied.

  ‘What if we stood by the doors and checked everyone’s shirt as they entered the cafeteria?’ I suggested.

  ‘We need to find him before he gets in there,’ Gavin said. ‘We can’t risk him sabotaging the stage—’

  Abruptly, Gavin stopped talking and darted forward, grabbing another student’s elbow.

  When he pulled the student closer, I saw the orange shirt with stripes. It had to be the kid Adam talked about! It had to be Calvin!

  Gavin’s face twisted angrily. ‘It’s over, Calvin! We know what you’re planning!’

  The boy in Gavin’s grip looked confused. ‘What? What’re you talking about? Who’s Calvin?’

  ‘You are,’ I said after a pause.

  The boy escaped Gavin’s grip. ‘No, I’m not! My name is Max.’

  Principal Davis suddenly appeared next to us, as if he’d teleported to that spot. ‘What’s the problem here? Gavin? Chase? What’re you two doing?’

  Gavin spoke quickly, trying to defend himself. ‘We were trying to stop Calvin from—’

  ‘Calvin?’ the principal asked, confused.

  ‘Yeah,’ I said, pointing at the kid in the orange shirt. ‘His name is Calvin…we think.’

  ‘No,’ Principal Davis said, shaking his head. ‘This boy’s name is Max.’

  Max folded his arms and stared daggers at me.

  And then the principal said something that totally blew my mind. ‘There’s nobody at this school named Calvin. Trust me, I would know – that’s my name too.’

  My jaw just about hit the floor. That couldn’t be possible, could it? We had spent the entire week searching for someone named Calvin. Sophia, Eli and Adam said they saw Calvin messing with the penguin cage and the stage. But now Principal Davis was telling us he didn’t exist?

  I felt an itch on the front of my neck from where Adam had left all those tiny pink and green threads. When I scratched it, I suddenly remembered where I had seen those threads. It was the same pink and green thread that was on the rope tied to the scaffolding. The same scaffolding that had paint cans nailed to the top of it. The same scaffolding that was still in the lunchroom, looming over the heads of all the talent show acts.

  All the acts except for Sophia and Eli.

  My eye twitched. There was so many dots connecting in my mind that I was scared my head would burst.

  I spun around and ran back to the cafeteria windows. Cupping my hands on the tinted glass, I squinted so I could see clearly.

  Adam
was messing around backstage. He was alone, and I could see that the braided rope was in his hands He had the rope wound around his fists and he was pulling gently at it.

  I followed the rope with my eyes. It was partially hidden by the stage curtain that hung in front of it. On the other side of the curtain, along the cafeteria floor, the rope trailed all the way back to the bench along the wall, where it curved upward and was tied to the wooden plank on top of the scaffolding, which still hadn’t been removed from the cafeteria.

  On top of the plank, I saw the paint cans that had been nailed into place, but there were more cans up there now and the lids had been popped open.

  Every student in the talent show had taken their place on the bench. The students were all seated under the scaffolding, except for Sophia and Eli, who were just on the other side of the metal cage, safe from the paint cans above.

  My mouth felt dry as I realised that one good tug from Adam and the plank with the paint cans would flip over, dumping paint all over the kids in the talent show. Except for Sophia and Eli.

  ‘Good gravy,’ I whispered.

  Those three had been playing us all week!

  I pushed my way through the crowd and jumped back into the cafeteria. I wasn’t sure if Gavin was behind me or not, but I couldn’t waste any time to check.

  Glancing at the clock, I saw that there were still a few minutes until the talent show officially started. Zoe was back at the sounding-board, making final adjustments to the speaker system. Gavin was still in the lobby, Faith was nowhere to be seen, and neither was Brayden.

  Sneaking along the wall, I climbed the steps to the backstage and scanned the area. Adam was hidden behind the curtain on the opposite side of the stage, holding the braided rope in his hands. When was he going to pull it?

  ‘Places everyone!’ Zoe said over the speakers. ‘The show starts…now!’

  I stared at Adam from across the stage as the sixth graders poured into the cafeteria. Conversation and laughter filled the air as kids took their seats in the audience. If I ran across the stage, someone would definitely notice me. I didn’t want Adam to freak out and pull the rope, so I waited, thinking of what my next move should be.

  And then something hit me in the back, knocking me to the floor. The stage curtain had been pushed to the side, blocking anyone from seeing me.

  ‘Our leader thinks you oughta be punished!’ said a raspy voice.

  When I rolled over, I saw five red ninjas standing over me. Wonderful, I thought. This day just getting worse and worse.

  ‘How ’bout we do this another time?’ I said, standing up. ‘Wyatt can play bully all he wants on Monday, I promise, as long as you guys leave me alone right now.’

  The red ninja in front shot his foot out at me. Obviously they weren’t going to listen. I tried dodging the attack, but it struck me right in the chest. The force from the kick knocked me backwards. As I stumbled over my feet, I knew I was going to land out in the open in front of everyone. I pulled my ninja mask over my head.

  I was finally able to stop myself in the middle of the stage, in front of every sixth grader in the school. I stood up slowly. Everyone was staring at me. Hushed whispers filtered through the room about the ninja on stage.

  I thought for sure the red ninjas would keep themselves hidden, but they boldly stepped out into the open and formed a circle around me. I couldn’t believe what was happening. Were these guys really looking for a fight? On a stage? In front of the entire grade?

  One of the red ninjas balled his fists and pointed them at me. ‘Sup, nerdling,’ he said from behind his mask.

  I studied the ninja’s eyes. ‘Jake,’ I whispered.

  ‘You embarrassed me on the field,’ Jake said. ‘Now it’s time for a little payback.’

  The other four red ninjas slowly started circling me. My heart raced as I looked out into the room. Principal Davis was standing at the back just watching! Why wasn’t anyone trying to stop this?

  I scanned the room until I made eye contact with Zoe. She was back by the sounding-board, glaring at me with her arms crossed. I had no doubt she knew it was me on the stage, dressed in a black ninja outfit.

  Jake turned, punched his fist into his open palm, and bowed to the crowd. Everyone clapped, and then I realised that was why nobody was doing anything – they thought it was part of the show!

  I sunk down on one foot and raised my open hands, taking a defensive stance. I stared at the open space in front of me, allowing my eyes to relax so I could see everything by looking at nothing.

  I’ve said it a million times before, but I’m against fighting. I won’t throw a punch even if one is thrown at me. Faith helped me realise that a couple of months ago at the skating party. The second I throw a punch, I just become another kid who got in a fight at school. Standing up to bullies meant that I couldn’t bring myself down to their level – and fighting a stupid fight would’ve done just that. I’m Chase Cooper, and I knew I was better than that.

  Orange spotlights started pulsing on and off. Apparently the kid by the light board thought he’d try and make things look cooler. I’m sure to the audience it did, but it was a little distracting for me.

  The tallest of the red ninjas threw a couple of intimidation lunges at me, saying, ‘What? You want some? What now, huh? What?’

  I had to look up because the ninja was so tall. They must’ve been the same height as an adult, but there was no way any teachers were in Wyatt’s red ninja clan. And then I remembered that there was one student that was, like, two metres tall. It was probably her.

  Jake jumped at me first, spinning in the air and launching a kick at my head. I trusted that my reflexes would respond because I knew if I thought about it too hard, I’d freeze up and get pummelled. It worked perfectly.

  I casually stepped to the side, and Jake sailed straight past me. Two of the red ninjas in front came at me at the same time, throwing fists in the air like they just didn’t care. I put my hands behind my back and leaned to the side, dodging both punches like it was my job.

  ‘Thanks for the offer, but I think I’ll pass on your punches today,’ I added sarcastically.

  Spinning around, I faced all five red ninjas. I kept my hands behind my back. Honestly, I felt like some sort of wise old ninja guru playing with a bunch of kids. I had to smile.

  Jake ran forward, screaming some sort of battle cry. I shifted my feet so my body twisted sideways, blocking his punch with my elbow. Frustrated, Jake tossed out a flurry of jabs. I leaned away from most of the attacks. The rest I continued to block with my elbow. The craziest part about it was the way time slowed down as it happened. After each attack, I watched as he slowly dragged his arm through space, giving me enough time to just step away.

  The sixth graders in the crowd cheered each time I dodged an attack. They had no idea it was an actual fight, but they probably wouldn’t have cared since nobody was actually landing any hits.

  Several of the red ninjas ran towards me at the same time, a few taking the high road, while the rest took the low. I leaned over and spun on my feet, letting the ninjas kick at the air above me. When they were past, I continued my spin, raising one of my knees to avoid a low spinning sweep at my legs.

  I was feeling good, better than I ever had in my life, but that came to an end pretty quickly. When I turned to face the ninjas, Jake was diving towards me. I tried to move out of the way, but it was too late.

  Jake’s shoulder smashed into me, knocking me to the ground. The audience gasped, probably shocked because the attack looked and sounded so real. They didn’t know it was real.

  Tasting blood in my mouth, I set my knee on the ground and looked up just in time to see Jake coming in for his finishing move. Lifting my arms, I blocked my face, but instead of feeling pain, I felt a rush of air blast past me, and then a loud whoomph.

  I heard Jake’s muffled shouts. When I opened my eyes, Jake wasn’t standing in front of me. Instead, I was staring at the mysterious white ninja. He was st
anding like a superhero on top of a small mountain of red velvet that looked like a curtain. And then I realised it was the curtain.

  The white ninja had dropped the stage curtain on the red ninjas in order to save me! The white ninja was on my side!

  ‘Who are you?’ I asked.

  The white ninja turned toward me, his mask fully covering his entire face.

  ‘A friend,’ he said in a low growl, obviously disguising his voice.

  Spinning in a circle, the white ninja threw a small pouch at the floor. It popped, instantly creating a white cloud of chalk dust. When the dust cleared, the white ninja was gone.

  ‘Awesome!’ I whispered.

  The audience burst into applause, thinking it was part of the act. Everyone stood up, shouting loudly, completely clueless about what had actually happened.

  I scooted to the back of the stage and took my ninja mask off. The red ninjas were still struggling under the red velvet curtain.

  I glanced across the room and saw Adam. His mouth was wide open as he stared at the curtain too, but his hand was still gripping the rope attached to the scaffolding.

  I stepped forward, accidentally catching his attention. His eyebrows furrowed as his eyes flashed with rage. Grasping the rope with both hands, he yanked it to the side, pulling it hard.

  My eyes darted to scaffolding. The plank of wood, along with the paint cans, started tipping over.

  Frantically, I searched the stage for anything that could help me, and saw the frisbees. I dove across the stage and grabbed one. Spinning my arm out wide, I flung the frisbee as hard as I could at the spot above the contestants.

  The crowd was still busy cheering for the ninja performance that they didn’t notice what was happening. I watched with wide eyes as the frisbee flew across the room. The plank tipped further and further until finally…

  CRANK!

  The frisbee lodged itself between the plank and the scaffolding, jamming tightly in place. The four-pointed star stuck out like a ninja star. The paint cans spilled a couple of drops of paint over their rims, but nothing fell from the scaffolding. ‘Ha!’ I shouted, raising a fist into the air.