As I walked into the cafeteria, I scanned the room for my friends. A lot of the mentors were already there, talking to one another, waiting for the fair to start. They were all wearing special badges around their necks as a sign that they were allowed to be in the school.
Finally, I saw Faith sitting at a table on her own. When she saw me, she smiled.
Cutting a path across the lunchroom, I couldn’t help but notice that most of the students had stacks of Sebastian’s colourful erasers displayed proudly in front of them.
The corner of the cafeteria was packed with kids waiting in line at the Pit, excited that the erasers were on sale there. Every couple of seconds, someone would walk away from the shop hollering about how they managed to get their hands on one. It reminded me of a midnight release at a video game shop.
Jake and his wolf pack were sitting on the stage at the front of the cafeteria, eating their lunch and pointing at random kids, probably making jokes about their clothing or something.
I took the seat across from Faith. A voice came from behind me. ‘Chase?’
A young guy carrying a duffel bag was walking through the cafeteria toward me. I didn’t recognise him. ‘Yeah?’ I asked.
‘It’s me,’ the man said, stopping in place and holding out his hands. ‘Miko!’
Without the make-up, he looked like a completely normal dude. ‘Hey, uh … Miko. Is Miko your real name?’
The clown set his duffel bag on the floor and took a seat next to me. ‘It sure is.’
‘So you’re Chase’s mentor for the week, huh?’ Faith asked.
Miko nodded, setting a golden bicycle horn on the table. I lowered my head, embarrassed.
‘Before I get my gear on,’ Miko said, ‘I wanted to let you know that a bunch of my friends will be here tomorrow. I told Principal Davis your idea about us performing on Friday and he loved it.’
‘What?’ I said. ‘Dude, I was joking!’
Miko was unfazed. ‘Oh? Huh. Well, they’ll still be here tomorrow afternoon to put on a killer show.’
I shook my head, watching Faith’s reaction from the corner of my eye. ‘Sounds kind of alright,’ I said, trying to be cool.
‘I think it sounds fun,’ Faith said.
Miko sat up and smiled. ‘Thaaaank you,’ he said, and then he jerked his thumb at me. ‘Try telling this guy to lighten up a little.’
‘Dude, I’m already light,’ I said defensively. ‘I’m the lightest guy in the room, alright? I’m so light, I’m bright!’
Faith took a bite of her fries. ‘You’re doing that thing where you make no sense.’
I lowered my head, but didn’t say anything. I looked on the stage and saw Jake pointing and chuckling at me. Great. Now they’re making fun of me.
Miko must’ve seen how embarrassed I felt because he grabbed his duffel bag and stood up. He patted my shoulder once, and said, ‘See ya at the fair, kiddo.’
Once he left, Faith laughed a little. ‘That guy seems pretty cool.’
‘Really?’ I asked. ‘An adult that chose to be a clown seems cool to you?’
‘Totes,’ she said with a mouthful of fries. ‘So what if he’s a clown? He’s probably just doing what he loves, a lot like a good friend of mine. He goes around the school wearing ninja clothes under his street clothes. He’s even got a secret ninja clan that he trains with sometimes in some secret part of the school.’
I raised my hands, surrendering. ‘I get it,’ I said.
Faith took a swig from her orange juice. ‘We’re all just doing what we love, aren’t we?’
Just then, someone bumped into my back. I turned, expecting to see Miko again, but when I looked, there was nobody there.
‘Sorry about that,’ said a boy further down the aisle. The boy was wearing a hat so I couldn’t see his face.
‘No big deal,’ I said, waving at him.
The boy didn’t turn around, but waved back at me as he passed some students at the end of our table. They were busy stacking their colourful erasers in a line and knocking them over like dominos.
I caught a glimpse of Jake and the wolf pack again. They had finished their lunches and were throwing erasers at each other, like little kids trying to prove how hard they could throw something.
‘Where are all your erasers?’ I asked Faith.
She looked at the group of kids. ‘I could ask you the same question.’
‘I don’t really know anything about them,’ I said. ‘I’ve been too busy with the whole bandit thing.’
Faith nodded, understanding. ‘Well, I bought a couple, but they weren’t worth their weight in dollars. They’re terrible erasers. They just smudged all my stuff instead of actually doing what they were supposed to do.’
‘Everybody seems to be in love with them,’ I said. ‘And you gotta admit, they do come in some pretty funky colours.’
‘If I cared about brightly coloured rubber bricks, then I guess I’d have a whole stack of them to show off too, wouldn’t I?’ Faith said.
That was the best part about Faith. It didn’t matter what everyone else was doing – she made her own decisions about things, and the fact that she didn’t have any erasers meant she didn’t care if people thought she was lame for not having any.
‘I guess so,’ I said, casually looking around the students in the cafeteria. I swung my feet around to face away from the table, but something caught my foot. There was a small red book bag leaning against the table leg.
‘Is this your bag?’ I asked Faith.
Faith leaned over and looked under the table. ‘Nuh-uh,’ she said. ‘Is there a name on it?’
I hoisted the bag onto the lunch table, and inspected it. The zipper on the back unzipped a few inches from the weight of whatever was inside. ‘Not that I can see,’ I said, spinning the bag around. ‘It’s heavy though.’
‘What’s in it?’ Faith asked.
‘Books, probably,’ I joked, peeking into the opening on the side of the bag.
Suddenly I caught a whiff of spearmint. The smell was so strong that I flinched. And then I saw what was inside the bag.
It was filled with packs of gum.
I immediately pushed the bag shut and held it close to my chest.
‘What is it?’ Faith asked, concerned. ‘What’s in the bag?’
‘Nothing!’ I replied right away. ‘It’s empty.’
‘No it’s not,’ Faith said, poking one corner of the book bag. ‘It’s filled with something.’
I was so freaked that I spoke without thinking. ‘Corn dogs! It’s just a book bag filled with corn dogs! That’s all! There’s no incriminating evidence inside this bag that mysteriously showed up at my feet!’
I spun around in my seat and desperately searched for the kid who’d bumped into me. It must have been him! Why didn’t I pay more attention? I even talked to him! I talked to the Buchanan bandit! He was in the palm of my hands and I let him get away!
‘Chase, what’s your problem?’ Faith asked, leaning across the table and reaching for the bag. ‘Show me what’s going on!’
I jumped up and pulled the straps over my shoulders. ‘I know whose bag it is!’ I said, lying. ‘So I’m just gonna head to the principal’s office and drop it off! They’ll probably make an announcement about it being in the front office or something.’
‘Chase!’ Faith said, frustrated and reaching across the table for me. ‘Sit down!’
‘Lates!’ I said, saluting her. I turned and scrambled to the front of the cafeteria, keeping an eye out for the boy who ran into me. Was it Jake? No, he was still on the stage when it happened. Unless he was some sort of teleporting alien, it couldn’t have been him. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a member of his wolf pack.
I shuffled into the school lobby, unsure of my next move. I saw Principal Davis walk out of the front offices with Coach Cooper and I panicked. I had enough evidence on my back to put me in detention for life, and I wasn’t about to get caught with it.
Hanging a hard
left, I headed for the boys’ restroom down the hallway. It was the restroom with a million different exits, one to the hallway, one to the boys’ locker room, one to the gymnasium, and one to the cafeteria. If I got in a bind in there, at least I wouldn’t be trapped in a corner.
I pushed the door open with my shoulder and stepped inside. There was a boy washing his hands at the sink. He looked at me in the mirror.
‘Howdy!’ I said.
My brain started screaming at me. What’s the matter with you? Who says ‘howdy’? In fact, who even makes conversation in a restroom at all?? Are you trying to get yourself caught? Eyes on the floor and don’t say another word!
The boy nodded, and pumped the soap dispenser.
When I’m nervous, it’s impossible for me to keep my mouth shut.
‘Washing your hands, huh?’ I asked, pointing at the sink. ‘Yeah, you’ll really want to get that soap all bubbly. Did you know it’s actually the bubbles that clean the dirt off you? True story.’
Stop it! He knows how to wash his hands!
And then I pointed to the air dryer on the wall. ‘You can dry them off over there, good sir.’
You’re being weird right now, even for you.
‘Um, thanks?’ the boy said, raising his voice like he was asking a question. ‘But I prefer paper towels.’
‘Excellent choice,’ I said, watching as he pulled the brown paper towels out of the metal box on the wall.
Finally, he left the restroom and I was alone. I went into one of the stalls near the back and locked the door. I got up enough courage to look inside the bag again.
There had to be hundreds of packs of stolen gum, crammed into the canvas bag. Sitting on top of the pile was a folded sheet of paper.
I took it in my hands and unfolded it, expecting another threat, but instead it read:
Kind regards, the wolf pack.
It was the wolf pack.
A small chirp came from inside the bag, and then the loudest siren I’ve ever heard started going off. The wolf pack had set me up with a bag of stolen goods and an alarm to get everyone’s attention!
I freaked.
Stumbling back, I fell against the stall door and steadied myself. The alarm was so loud that my head started hurting. I thrust my hand into the bag and felt the small siren at the bottom, but it was attached to the lining of the bag.
I couldn’t remove it so I did the next best thing – I stuffed the book bag into the toilet bowl, splashing toilet water all over the place, hoping the siren would short out from getting wet.
‘Oh my god,’ I said, clenching my teeth. ‘I hope the last person who used this flushed!’
The blaring siren became muffled and started bubbling, but it was still going off. I gripped the bag tighter and thrashed it around at the bottom of the toilet until finally, it shut off.
I stood frozen, catching my breath, soaking wet, with my hands gripping a backpack that I had just stuffed into a toilet. Easily one of my top five worst moments at Buchanan, maybe even my entire life.
I dragged the wet bag on the floor behind me as I stepped out of the stall. I didn’t feel like things could get much worse.
I was wrong.
One of the restroom doors creaked open, and Principal Davis’s voice echoed across the tiles. ‘What in the world is going on in here? Who’s back there?’
I ran to the side entrance behind the stalls, hoping that it would lead to the boys’ locker room. Kicking the wooden door open, I jumped through carrying the wet book bag over my shoulders.
Stumbling over my feet, I fell to the floor, squeezing my eyes shut, afraid of getting hurt. The book bag slid to my side, dragging me along with it because of how heavy it was, and I rolled onto my back. I heard a few packets of gum bounce out of the bag, and then everything fell silent. I was glad too because I wasn’t sure if I had chosen the correct door, but the fact that there weren’t any other sounds made me feel better … until I opened my eyes …
… and saw the upside-down faces of other sixth graders staring at me, the boy who just exploded out of the bathroom, dripping with water.
I was in the cafeteria, to the right of the stage. I saw Jake and his wolf pack glaring at me. When Jake saw the packs of gum on the floor, his eyes bulged.
Hopping off the stage, he started to speak, but I picked myself up and cut him off.
‘Jake’s the one who’s been stealing everyone’s gum!’ I shouted. ‘And he’s been trying to set me up the entire time!’
Jake stopped and looked shocked. His mouth was open, but he didn’t say anything.
‘See?’ I said, pointing at him. I dropped the book bag. It hit the cold floor with a gross splat. I unzipped it, flipped it over, and dumped hundreds of wet packs of gum onto the ground.
Everyone in the cafeteria gasped.
Wyatt suddenly appeared at the front of the onlookers, staring at all the gum on the floor. President Sebastian was right behind him, wearing a disgruntled looked on his face.
Jake remained silent, which surprised me, but the colour of his face did a good job of letting everyone know he was getting angrier.
Again, I accused him. ‘He’s been doing this all week! He’s the gum bandit!’
Principal Davis stepped forward, looking me up and down, probably wondering why I was soaked to the bone. He looked at Jake and said, ‘Even though gum isn’t allowed here, doesn’t make it okay to take it.’ And then the principal addressed the crowd of students. ‘Has this been going on all week?’
Many of the students mumbled together.
‘Why hasn’t anyone said anything?’ Principal Davis asked. He turned back to Jake. ‘Is this true? Are you stealing from your peers?’
Jake’s face was as red as a beetroot. I expected steam to shoot from his ears.
‘No!’ Jake shouted. ‘It’s not true! I mean, yes, I did it, but I was doing it because wha—’
‘Whyyyyy can’t you simply take the blame for what you’ve done?’ Wyatt said, cutting Jake’s sentence off. ‘You’ve stolen everyone’s gum. It doesn’t matter that gum isn’t even allowed in school. What matters is that you and your wolf pack are the Buchanan bandits.’
Jake’s clenched his fists, but he didn’t argue. He shook his head, glaring at Wyatt, and then he looked at Sebastian for a moment as if waiting for the president to say something.
Sebastian lowered his gaze and turned away. Things were quiet, and honestly pretty awkward.
It was weird.
Jake stepped forward and said, ‘Why aren’t you—’
Sebastian pointed his finger in the air. ‘To detention with you!’
Jake bit his lip, but said nothing else.
Principal Davis raised an eyebrow. ‘Thank you, Sebastian, but how about letting me handle this?’
Sebastian smiled. ‘Of course, I’m sorry. I got carried away. You may take him away now.’
The principal shook his head, sighing. ‘I’ve had a long day, Sebastian, please don’t make it any longer.’
Sebastian nodded, flashing his award-winning smile.
Principal Davis gestured for two of the hall monitors to clean up the book bag mess. Jake and his wolf pack had to leave the cafeteria for questioning. Wyatt and Sebastian stood in the corner, deep in conversation.
The principal approached me. ‘I’ll have a couple of questions for you in a little bit, Chase.’
‘How come?’ I asked.
The principal shot me a stern look. ‘Because you’re soaking wet with a bag full of stolen gum! Do you honestly think I’d miss a detail like that? You’re obviously involved in all this somehow, and depending on what Jake says, I’ll have more than a few words for you too.’
I lowered my head. ‘Right.’
Principal Davis sighed. ‘I know it’s been a rough couple of months here,’ he said softly. ‘But I’m just trying to make sure you’re not mixing with the wrong crowd.’
‘Like chocolate milk and lemonade?’
‘Like what?’ Th
e principal asked.
I shook my head. ‘Nothing.’
Principal Davis walked out of the cafeteria. One of the hall monitors handed me a towel to dry myself off. Taking a seat on the stage, I ran the towel through my wet hair.
Faith, Brayden, Gavin and Zoe sat beside me, watching as everyone began setting up for the career fair.
Faith was the first to speak. ‘So was that whole thing weird, or was it just me?’
Zoe nodded. ‘It was weird alright, but why? The bandit was busted and the day was saved, wasn’t it?’
Brayden shrugged. ‘Is it weird because we want it to be weird? Maybe in this case it really was as simple as it turned out to be.’
‘It feels like it was too easy,’ Gavin said, staring at nothing. ‘But I say take what you can get.’
My friends all nodded, but I wasn’t so sure I felt the same. ‘Jake might’ve been the gum bandit all week, but he wasn’t the one who planted the book bag by my feet.’
Faith looked up. ‘But you never saw who dropped it, did you?’
‘No,’ I said. ‘But I saw Jake on the stage about a second after that kid bumped into me.’
‘What kid?’ Zoe asked.
‘Someone bumped into Chase’s back and apparently dropped the backpack full of stolen gum by his feet,’ Faith explained.
Zoe rolled her eyes. ‘Of course they did. I forgot this was Chase we were talking about.’
I laughed. ‘But Jake was on the stage when that kid dumped the bag by me, so it couldn’t have been him. It’s like someone’s trying to frame Jake, which means somebody’s trying to frame him framing me, if you can wrap your head around that.’
‘Why’d you accuse Jake to begin with then?’ Brayden asked.
‘There was a note in the bag,’ I said. ‘And it was signed ‘the wolf pack’.’
‘There it is,’ Gavin said, nodding. ‘It wasn’t Jake that put the bag there, he got one of his minions to do it instead. Jake was behind it all the entire time. Sometimes you can get caught in a circle if you overanalyse things, y’know?’
Just then, President Sebastian raised his arms and started speaking loudly. ‘We’ve all had a pretty crazy week here at Buchanan School, but I think we can now rest easy knowing that the bandit has been caught!’ He smiled and pumped his first toward me like he was giving a speech. ‘And we have our very own Chase Cooper to thank for bringing the criminal to justice! Everyone give Chase a hand!’
Buchanan Bandits Page 8
