Zoe started fumbling over some words about theft and a fight. I could tell she wasn’t comfortable exposing me as the kid who got beat up, so I saved her the trouble of doing so.
‘He beat me up,’ I said calmly. ‘Pretty bad too.’
Carlyle’s eyebrows rose. ‘Wow.’
Zoe came to my defence. ‘No, it’s not that he just beat you up. You stood your ground and refused to hit him back. So sure, he mopped the floor with your butt, but you basically let him.’
‘Ah,’ said Carlyle with a smile. ‘The hero of Buchanan then. That’s what you are.’
‘Hero’ wasn’t exactly a term I was comfortable with. ‘My cousin exaggerates.’
‘She’s your cousin?’ Carlyle asked surprised.
‘Yeah,’ Zoe said. ‘And proud of it.’
I would’ve felt embarrassed if I hadn’t suddenly stepped into the shadow of the obstacle course that Mr Cooper mentioned. Zoe, Brayden and Carlyle stopped in their tracks behind me, gasping as they looked up.
The obstacle course was enormous. It spanned almost the entire field in the centre of the track. In my head, I imagined that it was probably some kind of adult bounce house, but this definitely wasn’t that.
‘Holy moly,’ Brayden whispered.
I just nodded in silence.
The start of the course was a rope bridge that sprawled over a huge pool of water. Right after the bridge was a rock wall that didn’t have any floor beneath it. The kid running the course would have to grab one of the handholds of the wall while swinging from the rope bridge. At the top of the wall was a zip line with handlebars you had to grab.
After that point, it was difficult to see the rest of the course. There were walls among walls blocking the view. It looked like there were spinning pillars scattered throughout it. I saw other pools of water and mud that the runner would have to avoid, or worse yet, swim across. At the end of the course, there was a flat open space with barriers scattered throughout. High above the open space was a machine that shot tennis balls at the runner.
The course was a monster.
‘Beauty, ain’t she?’ Mr Cooper said proudly as he approached us. ‘Just got her imported from Norway. The pamphlet said it was something that the Vikings themselves trained with, but somehow I doubt that. It also says ninety-nine per cent of students who attempt it can’t make it past the first rope bridge.’
‘What’s it doing here?’ Carlyle asked. ‘Will students be running it today?’
Mr Cooper shook his head. ‘Oh no, it’s not ready by any means, legally I mean, buuuuut…’ he trailed off as he glanced over his shoulder. ‘I didn’t see nothin’.’
‘Race ya,’ Brayden said smiling at me.
‘How can I possibly say no?’ I asked as I started running toward the obstacle course at full speed.
When I reached the rope bridge, I didn’t hesitate and started climbing. Grabbing the ropes, I balanced myself and walked as quickly as possible over the pool of water. I wasn’t sure how deep it was, but I didn’t feel like finding out first hand.
Carefully, I stepped each foot over the other on the thick rope. I wanted to look back and see how far behind Brayden was, but this part of the bridge demanded my full attention. It really didn’t matter how far behind he was as long as he was behind.
Once I reached the end of the rope, I had to jump across and catch the rock wall that looked a mile away. I took the opportunity to catch my breath and make fun of Brayden, but when I turned around, he wasn’t there.
I had to spin in a full circle to see that Brayden was still talking to Carlyle and Zoe outside the obstacle course. That doofus didn’t even follow me onto the course!
‘Hey!’ I shouted. ‘I’m winning!’
Brayden didn’t even look over at me, apparently too busy talking with the new kid to realise he was losing the race. Whatever Carlyle was saying to him must’ve been important because Brayden had folded his arms and was nodding in some sort of understanding. Then I saw the two of them shake hands before Carlyle started walking back toward the school.
Whatever, I thought as I turned around. I was about to dominate this Norwegian obstacle course. I didn’t need Brayden tagging along.
With all my strength, I jumped from the rope and reached for the rock wall. I could feel the handhold in my fingers as I stretched my body out. All I had to do was firmly grab the handhold …
But I didn’t.
I fell face first into the pool of water underneath me, and all I can remember thinking was, I’m glad this pool of water was here to break my fall.
When I came up for air, Zoe and Brayden were laughing at me. It was embarrassing.
I jumped out of the pool and told them to walk the track without me since I had to dry off. The truth was that I had a meeting with my ninja clan I had to attend. My wet clothing would have to wait.
About five minutes later, I found my way to the secret passage through the border of the woods at the edge of the school’s track. Before I was a ninja, the school had tried throwing away some old lockers, but the ninja clan salvaged them. Now they were used to store all the ninja outfits so they didn’t have to wear them under their clothing all day long. I heard they tried that when they first started, but the stench from the outfits was just too foul after about a week.
After slipping into my ninja outfit, I stepped out from the lockers. The entire ninja clan straightened their posture at the sight of me.
They punched their open palms and bowed out of respect. I’d been their leader for an entire month, and it still felt weird when they did that.
‘That’s enough,’ I said through my black mask as I patted the air in front of me.
‘What’s on the agenda for today, sir?’ one of the ninjas asked me.
‘Nothing in particular,’ I said. ‘The usual, I guess. Everything seems to be going okay?’
Several of the ninjas nodded at me. A few of them sighed.
I put my arms out and shrugged my shoulders. ‘Buchanan seems to be doing fine! I mean, if there were any kind of suspicious activity going on, it might be different, but … what did you guys do before I was the leader?’
The ninja in front of me answered. ‘The first week of school was spent sneaking around corridors and stealing all that money and stuff.’
‘Right,’ I said. ‘Which is something we’re not going to do. What about last year? What’d you guys do?’
‘Snuck around corridors mostly,’ said the ninja. ‘Stole some things from here and there.’
Standing in front of the ninja clan was awful. They all understood that Wyatt was a bully and needed to be removed from leadership, but I felt like I was also failing them as their new leader. I know they were bored, but I couldn’t give the order to steal stuff! ‘Ninjas don’t just steal things, you know.’
I heard many of the kids sigh, disappointed. A few of them returned to their slouching position while others folded their arms or placed their hands on their hips. The first week I was their leader, they never would’ve presented themselves in such a way. I hated to even think it, but I could feel their respect for me washing away.
‘So we continue to train out here?’ the ninja in front of me asked. ‘Like every single day for the past month?’
I paused, nodding my head. ‘Yeah. I guess for now, until I can think of something better to do, we’ll just continue our training. You guys can make those paper ninja stars too if you want.’
‘There’s no point in practising ninjutsu if we’re never gonna use it,’ said one of the girl ninjas in the back. ‘I just wish we knew what we were training for.’
Under my mask, I whispered, ‘Me too … me too.’
As always, I was the last in the room before the bell rang. Even though there weren’t assigned seats, all of the students tried to sit in the same spot every day. The seat behind Zoe was unofficially mine. I dropped my bag on the desk and sat.
‘You know you’re almost late every day?’ Zoe asked.
�
�Yeah,’ I said. ‘Maybe I’ll fix that someday.’
‘Careful, mate,’ said one of the students next to me, ‘Or it be Davy Jones’ Locker for ya!’
I rolled my eyes. ‘You know that ended almost twenty-four hours ago, right?’
The boy smiled. ‘There be a black spot on ya, matey.’
I glanced down at my shirt, but didn’t see what he was talking about.
The boy leaned back in his chair. ‘Yer days be numbered is alls I’m sayin’.’
‘Sure,’ I said, annoyed by the way he was chewing his lips. I thought it best to ignore him so I turned back to Zoe and tapped on her shoulder. ‘Hey, can I ask you something?’
Zoe spun in her desk, excited that I needed her advice. She set her hand on mine and spoke tenderly. ‘Of course. You can ask me anything.’
I laughed, pulling my hand away from hers. ‘Weirdo!’
Zoe laughed too. ‘I know. It took all my strength to keep a straight face just now.’
I wiped a tear from my eye. ‘But seriously, I think I need help.’
‘Oh,’ she said surprised. ‘Um, okay. Does this have to do with talking to girls? Because it’s actually much easier than you’re making it. I know you think keeping your eyes closed as you talk makes you look laid back, but it actually just makes you look creepy.’
‘No!’ I said. ‘It’s about my ninja clan.’
‘Ohhhhh,’ Zoe sighed. ‘Nerd stuff. I’m still not interested in joining, if that’s what you’re going to ask.’
‘No, nothing like that. I think that maybe I’m not cut out to be their leader…’
Zoe’s brow furrowed. ‘Go on.’
‘Those kids are bored with me, and I’m not sure how to liven them up! All we’ve been doing is training every day.’
‘Nothing wrong with that.’
‘No, you’re right, but I can tell they all want a little more excitement. And I don’t know how to give it to them.’
‘What’d they do before you were the leader?’ Zoe asked.
‘Stole stuff and tried pinning it on you,’ I replied.
‘Ohhhh, riiiiiight. Yeah, I think it’d be smart if you didn’t do that kind of stuff again.’
‘Me too,’ I said. ‘I spent most of last night studying up leadership and stuff. It suggested I start with communicating the problem with the group and then hearing them out. Like, ask for their opinions and ideas.’
‘Maybe it’s just me…’ Zoe said with one eyebrow raised high, ‘but a ninja clan that was run like it was some kind of club or something? I think that’d be the lamest, most boring ninja clan in the entire history of ninja clans.’
‘That’s saying something coming from you.’
‘I know. I love resolving issues and clubs and stuff!’
Zoe made a good point, but it didn’t help me feel any better. The ninjas were getting bored, and I was determined to figure out a way they could be useful, even if it meant having lame board meetings and brainstorming sessions. Nothing I was doing felt like it was working anyway, so what’s the harm?
‘What do ninjas do?’ Zoe asked. ‘Don’t they just sit around, hiding for hours in dark shadows until the target comes around? And then, don’t they just go nuts in a blaze of black smoke and burn villages down?’
‘Um,’ I said. ‘We’re gonna do this again?’
I turned around and looked at Brayden, expecting a barrage of ninja jokes and insults hurled toward me, but they never came. Instead, he tapped at his desk nervously and tried to smile. His eye even twitched.
Have you ever seen a sixth grader fake a smile? It’s a sure sign that something is off.
‘What’s up?’ I asked. ‘Your eye just did a thing.’
Instantly, he rubbed his eyes with his hands. ‘Yeah, I’m just tired. That’s all. I got to bed late last night.’
‘Oh yeah?’ Zoe asked. ‘Studying up on werewolves and stuff?’
Glancing at the clock, Brayden nodded. ‘Sure. That’s it. Werewolf stuff.’
Brayden was acting so strange that it was just uncomfortable. I decided to leave it at that though. If he was still acting weird in gym, then maybe I’d say something again.
Hopefully, he wasn’t.
Brayden had acted a little strange for the remainder of homeroom, but by the time art class started, he seemed to be back to normal. When Carlyle started talking to him, he completely chilled out.
Oh, and Carlyle was still talking like a pirate. I made sure to look angry and say a couple of quick snips here and there, y’know, all sarcastic like. I’m pretty sure he could tell I wasn’t happy about it. Zoe and Brayden were eating it up though.
In fact, by the time we were out on the track, they didn’t even notice that I wasn’t walking with them. Carlyle was telling funny stories of his old school in his charming pirate language, and Zoe and Brayden were almost hypnotised by it. Seriously, did this kid think he was gonna go the whole school year doing this? What happens when he gets to middle school? High school? University??
The bottom line? It was eerie. Carlyle was eerie. I just hoped Zoe and Brayden would see it eventually.
When I knew I was alone, I slipped into the wooded area by the track. The ninja clan was waiting, and after all my research the night before, I was actually looking forward to hearing some suggestions from the other ninjas. For the first time in the past month, I felt like things were going to turn around.
Unfortunately, I was in for a big surprise when I showed up for the meeting. After I geared up in my ninja outfit, I walked out, expecting to see the ninjas waiting for me, but that’s not exactly what happened. When I stepped out, I saw that half of my ninja clan was absent.
The half that did show up punched their palms and bowed to me. I bowed back.
‘What gives?’ I asked. ‘Was there some kind of assembly or something today?’
The ninjas grumbled and looked nervously at one another, but nobody answered me. ‘Come on,’ I said. ‘Is there something else going on today that I don’t know about?’ A shorter member stepped forward and stared at the ground. ‘Sir,’ he said softly. ‘The others … they’ve decided it was time for them to…’
He was so quiet it was driving me crazy. ‘What? Speak up! Where’s everyone at?’
The ninja looked into my eyes and spoke boldly. ‘They’ve decided it was time for them walk away from this, sir! It was time for them to hang up their ninja robes and move onto greener pastures!’
‘Greener pastures?’
‘It means ‘better things’.’
‘I know what it means,’ I said, upset. ‘It’s … I guess … I’m a little shocked is all.’
‘Shouldn’t be,’ said one of the ninjas from the back. ‘This group was getting lame. What else did he think was gonna happen?’
I wanted to shout at that ninja, but I felt like I had been punched in the gut. Half of my ninja clan quit, and all I could do was blame myself. When I looked up, I noticed that the other ninjas were standing and awaiting my orders, but I didn’t have any. I looked at each of the remaining members before I noticed that one of the ninjas in the back wasn’t wearing his proper ninja robes.
When I squinted, I saw that the ninja was only wearing a black sheet draped over him. ‘You there,’ I said. ‘What’s with the cape?’
At that moment, the kid flipped the cape off and jumped through the trees. It wasn’t someone I recognised and right before he disappeared, I swear it looked like he was wearing … an eye patch?
I didn’t waste any time and started sprinting through the wooded area of the ninja hideout. From behind I could hear the other ninjas start following me, but because they were all action junkies, I knew this kid would be dead meat if they caught him.
‘No!’ I shouted at them. ‘I’ll handle this! Everyone stay here and keep training!’
When I burst from the trees, I could see that the kid was running as fast as he could through the grass and toward the school. He had already passed the Norwegian obstacle course. T
he black cape he was shrouded in was flapping wildly behind him as his fat boots stomped on the ground. It was clear as day. This kid was dressed like a pirate, which I would’ve made fun of, but then I remembered I was dressed as a ninja.
I started running through the field, ignoring all the kids who were probably pointing and laughing at me. From the corner of my eye, I saw Zoe and Brayden walking along the track, but Carlyle wasn’t with them.
As soon as the costumed spy reached the school building, he entered through one of the doors next to the cafeteria. I did my best to keep up with him, but it still took me about thirty seconds to make it to the door.
The cafeteria windows were only a few feet away, and I could see that one of the lunches had already started. If I entered through this door in a ninja outfit and someone saw me … it wouldn’t be the worst thing to happen to me, but it definitely wouldn’t be good for my social life. My street clothes were still sitting in the woods, too far to return to. If I waited much longer, then I risked losing the spy.
I decided to ‘toughen up’ and entered the door.
Inside, the room was dark, but far from quiet. I let the door shut behind me as I found a nice shadowy area to hide in. I was on the stage that was attached to the cafeteria. There was a heavy curtain blocking the students from seeing anything on the stage at the moment. I smiled to myself, happy that the darkness was my friend.
The spy was nowhere to be seen, at least not right away. I could see shadows from the cafeteria moving under the curtain, but I could also see some movement coming from the centre of the stage up ahead.
Looking to my left, I saw a thin metal ladder that reached into a dark area above me. Once my eyes adjusted, I could see that there was a catwalk spanning the entire stage area, and with my black ninja robes and low light, it would’ve been nearly impossible to see me.
When I reached the top of the ladder, I crouched down and walked as quietly as possible over the spot where I saw movement. From up here, I could see everything on the stage. There must’ve been almost forty kids moving around and working on various things. The noise from the cafeteria was enough that these guys didn’t worry about anyone hearing them.
Pirate Invasion Page 2
