The students clapped at the president’s command.
Sebastian continued. ‘I wish I could hand out gum to celebrate Chase’s heroism, but alas, the school doesn’t allow gum.’
A few kids moaned, ‘Awwww.’
Sebastian shut his eyes and held his hand in the air, waiting for everyone to quiet down. ‘But that doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate some other way. For the rest of the day, and today only, my erasers will be fifty per cent off!’
The entire cafeteria exploded in applause. It’s possible that a couple kids died of heart attacks – probably not, but they sure were acting like they were going to. I think I even saw someone in the back gasping into a brown paper bag.
‘Get your own eraser right now in the Pit!’ Sebastian shouted, but was barely able to get his voice above the shouting crowd. ‘Check out the new colour ‘wacky watermelon’! It smells just like watermelon!’
Zoe groaned. ‘Leave it to him to take this situation and make money off it.’
‘Oh well,’ I said. ‘As long as all the attention is off me, I’m happy.’
I sat on the stage as my friends went back to their tables for the career fair. Nothing was adding up in my head no matter how I tried spinning the story, but maybe Gavin was right – it’s possible that I was trying too hard to figure everything out when it was already figured out.
So why was my gut telling me something was still jacked up?
I got to school the next day hoping that everything would be back to normal. For all the other students, it probably was, but they also didn’t know about the week I had just gone through. In fact, most of the kids here don’t have a clue about anything that goes on behind their backs. It’s probably better that way.
As I walked to my locker, I couldn’t help but notice the sound of incessant gum chomping. It was impossible to shut out the slurpy slurp sounds coming from nearly every kid I passed. Man, and I thought pirate jargon was annoying? This was turning out to be a hundred times worse! I guess with the bandit behind detention doors, everyone kind of went crazy with their gum.
What made it worse was that I was more tired than a sheep after getting sheared. Wait, sheep don’t have to do anything when getting sheared, so maybe they’re not tired after that. Whatever – you get it.
I didn’t sleep the best overnight, I kept tossing and turning. I really wish I was the kind of kid who could push these thoughts out of my mind, but I just wasn’t. It’s my curse.
‘Grandmaster Chase!’ Faith said, meeting me by my locker. ‘What’s crackin’?’
I spun my locker combination into the dial and swung the door open, leaning into the opening so all the rubbish in the lower half didn’t fall out. ‘I’m still bugged by all this,’ I said.
Faith sighed, leaning against the locker next to mine. She watched the other students in the hallway.
‘Everyone seems to be cool this morning,’ she said. ‘Nobody has to worry about getting stuff stolen and they seem to be enjoying their new erasers. The world has returned to normal.’
Faith was right. Nearly everyone in the hallway had more than a couple of the coloured erasers in their hands. It even looked like a few people were trading with each other.
‘Can’t wait till that fad is dead,’ I said.
‘Oh,’ Faith said sadly. She reached into the front pouch of her hoodie and pulled out a bright blue eraser. ‘I actually got you one.’
Faith got me a gift? If I told my parents that, they’d totally make fun of me for it, saying something like, ‘Looks like you two are gettin’ pretty serious!’
‘I’m sorry,’ I said smiling. ‘I didn’t mean it like that. They are cool.’
‘Good,’ Faith replied, smiling. She held the bright blue block out to me. ‘I saw the blue one and thought you’d like it. Smell it! It even smells like blue raspberry!’
I held the eraser under my nose and took a big whiff.
‘Huh,’ I said. ‘It really does smell like blue raspberry. How does Sebastian make these?’
‘He probably buys them in bulk from somewhere,’ Faith said, ‘and then sells them at a higher price.’
The first bell went off. It was the warning bell, telling students they only had five minutes left to get to homeroom before school started.
Faith and I bumped fists and headed for our separate homerooms.
I managed to get into my seat just before the second bell stopped ringing. Zoe spun around and said, ‘Something’s not right.’
‘You feel it too?’ I asked. ‘That whole thing with Jake is still bugging me.’
My cousin looked at me, confused. Then she pointed at the blue eraser I had in my hand. ‘No,’ she said. ‘I meant that I could smell that eraser of yours. I thought you said you hated those things?’
‘I did,’ I replied. ‘But they’re starting to grow on me.’
Zoe’s eyes narrowed. She paused for a moment, but then spoke confidently. ‘Faith got it for you, didn’t she?’
I laughed, nervous.
‘Yeah,’ Zoe said grinning. ‘You’re blushing. Faith gave that to you.’
‘No, she didn’t,’ I said defensively, embarrassed.
Zoe paused again, watching my expression. ‘She did. She’s so into you.’
‘Whatever!’ I said. ‘No she’s not. She was just being nice.’
Zoe remained silent.
‘Why?’ I asked. ‘Did she say something?’
‘No,’ Zoe said. ‘But she doesn’t have to. I’m a girl, I can read these kinds of things.’
Mrs Robinson stood up to make the morning announcements, but Friday announcements were always half-heartedly delivered. Brayden leaned over in his chair. ‘You’re still thinking about that stuff from yesterday?’
I nodded. ‘Something about it feels off, doesn’t it?’
‘Like there’s more to the situation?’ Zoe asked.
‘Exactly,’ I said. ‘Like it’s unfinished.’
Brayden sighed. ‘I think I’m going to have to side with Gavin on this one, buddy. You might be digging too deep, trying to find a story where there isn’t one.’
I rolled the blue eraser on my desk, struggling to open my eyes because of how tired I was. ‘You guys don’t feel it?’
Zoe shook her head. Brayden did too.
‘Are your ninja senses tingling?’ Zoe joked. ‘Look, you saved the day for like, the sixth time! I say, put that notch in your ninja belt and be happy about it. Seriously. It’s Friday, the last day of the careers fair, which means today is basically a free day. None of our classes are gonna have any kind of work, and the last half of the day is just one big party. Isn’t your mentor performing?’
‘Yeah,’ I said, sinking in my seat. ‘He’s got a bunch of his clown friends coming too.’
Zoe curled her lip. ‘You might think it’s lame, but I think it’s super cool.’
Brayden chuckled. ‘What if, instead of being a secret ninja, you were a secret clown? Training on your unicycle in some dark part of the school. No, wait, I just imagined that in my head, and I think that would probably scare the spew out of me.’
Zoe and I laughed.
Mrs Robinson finished the announcements just as the bell sounded. The students filed out of the room and onto the rest of their day.
The rest of the morning was easier to get through as soon as I decided to forget about the nagging feeling I had. The careers fair was coming up, and I thought it’d be more enjoyable if my stomach wasn’t rolling over itself from stress.
I saw Gavin outside the kitchen doors, standing in line for lunch, so I joined him.
‘Hey,’ I said.
‘Howdy,’ Gavin said. ‘Good to see you’re still in one piece.’
I laughed. ‘Yeah,’ but then I stopped. ‘Wait, what? Why would I not be in one piece?’
‘Because Jake is looking for you,’ Gavin answered.
‘No, he’s not,’ I laughed. ‘Good one, dude.’
‘No, really,’ Gavin said, looking som
bre. ‘I saw him walking around the halls this morning asking about you. He even asked me if I knew where you were.’
‘No, he didn’t!’ I said, desperately hoping that Gavin was playing a cruel joke on me. ‘There’s no way he’s at school today, not after yesterday! How is he not suspended, or at least in detention?’
Gavin shrugged. ‘Not every kid that gets in trouble is suspended. Some only get a slap on the wrist.’
‘Jake got a slap on the wrist for stealing everyone’s gum?’ I asked loudly.
Gavin raised an eyebrow. ‘I’ve got a few friends on the inside still,’ he said, keeping his voice down. ‘And they said there wasn’t much evidence for Jake to get busted on. It was just that book bag and the note from the wolf pack. Jake’s parents threw a fit because there wasn’t anything that proved he was guilty.’
I slapped my forehead. ‘Wasn’t it enough that he confessed?’
‘He didn’t,’ Gavin said. ‘My sources said he never actually said he was the one taking all the gum. Principal Davis had no other choice but to let him go, and I understand why.’
‘Because Jake might not have been the bandit,’ I said, finishing Gavin’s thought.
‘Booya,’ Gavin said. ‘But I think it was pretty clear that Jake had something to do with it.’
The twisting feeling in my stomach returned. The idea that something was still wrong weighed heavily on me. Jake might not have been the bandit, but he was still a part of the bigger picture, but the problem was that nobody knew what the bigger picture was.
I sat in the corner of the cafeteria, watching the doors like a hawk, waiting for Jake. From my spot, there was no way he could sneak up behind me. At least I hoped there wasn’t – Jake was a member of the red ninja clan, and if anyone could sneak up on someone tucked into a corner, it would be them.
My neck started straining from sitting up so straight and pushing myself into the corner.
A couple of kids commented about how I was in ‘timeout’, but I hardly cared.
I could tell my eyes were drying out because they would burn when I finally blinked. I was concentrating too hard on trying to see Jake before he saw me that I was beginning to feel exhausted. Bad news on top of the fact that I was already super tired from my lack of sleep.
My head started bobbing as students became blurry. Squeezing my eyelids shut, I shook my head wildly, trying to wake myself up. Every time I opened my eyes, my vision sharpened, and I could see everything again, but only for about three seconds before my head bobbed again.
Faces became blurs of colour, and voices became murmurs of nonsense, as a cold sweat chilled my body.
I set my head back against the wall and told myself it was okay to rest my eyes, at least for a couple of seconds. But when I opened them again, everyone was gone.
The cafeteria was completely empty. ‘Great,’ I said. ‘I slept through the rest of the day!’
The lunch tables had been folded and pushed against the far wall, and all the rubbish bins had been lined with clean bags. The floor had been polished and gleamed like an ice skating rink.
I stood up, feeling a little upset that nobody had tried to wake me up, not even my friends! Zoe was gonna get an earful from me when I got home.
Walking to the double doors at the far end of the room, I heard the sound of something grinding along a hard floor. I spun around to see what was behind me, but there was nothing there.
The grinding came again, but this time from the hallway. Carefully, I walked to the tinted glass windows and peered into the lobby, but there wasn’t anyone out there either.
At least I didn’t see anyone human. A line of aliens floated down the hallway, winding down to a spot in front of the principal’s office, where erasers were being sold by a puppet that kind of looked like Sebastian.
Strings were attached to Sebastian’s hands and head, pulling him back and forth, making him dance. I looked up, trying to see who was controlling the puppet, but the thread disappeared into the shadows.
I watched a transaction take place, as one of the green aliens handed the puppet version of Sebastian some gold bars in return for a bright blue eraser. The alien giggled like a kindergartener, and then popped the eraser into its mouth.
‘Sick,’ I whispered.
‘Chase?’ a voice asked from behind me. Chills ran down my spine.
The voice came from the cafeteria – the empty cafeteria! There wasn’t anyone in there a few seconds ago! I had been alone!
‘If it isn’t Chase Cooper, as I live and breathe!’ the voice said again, apparently recognising me.
I slowly turned, pushing my hands into my pockets to hide the fact that they were trembling.
The first thing I noticed was that the roof had suddenly disappeared and I was standing under a blanket of stars against pink and blue colours of the galaxy.
… what?
A man stepped forward, his face beaming. A black overcoat was draped over his shoulders and covered a white dress shirt underneath, along with a big white bowtie. The coat stopped short in the front but stretched out behind him, almost touching the back of his knees. The man looked like he was from an old-fashioned movie.
‘Lovely night, isn’t it?’ the man asked, looking at the stars. ‘The weather is perfect.’
I wasn’t sure how to respond, so I just hummed. ‘Mmm …’
The man paused when he saw my face. He stopped and held his hand toward me. ‘You are Chase Cooper, aren’t you?’ his voice boomed.
I nodded. ‘Who’re you?’
The man put his hands out, and then pointed to his smiling face. He didn’t say anything, trying to make me guess who he was.
I stared at him and finally shrugged my shoulders.
Again, he smiled, but this time bigger, and then pointed at his face another time.
‘I don’t know, dude,’ I said. ‘Do you work here?’
The man stood up straight and sighed. ‘It’s me! James Buchanan!’
‘Ohhhhhh,’ I said, leaning my head slowly back. I looked at the empty cafeteria under the twinkling stars. ‘So I’m dead then. I died. My afterlife is going to be spent in the empty hallways of Buchanan School while James Buchanan tries to make small talk with me.’
James jumped back and put a hand on his chest. ‘Am I … dead?’
‘Only by a few hundred years,’ I replied. ‘Hate to break it t’ya.’
Buchanan walked over to the stage and took a seat. He leaned forward, resting his head in his hands. ‘Dead,’ he said softly in disbelief.
I walked up to the stage, feeling sorry for the old man.
Suddenly, he jumped forward with his hands up. ‘Boo!’
A very not manly sound escaped my mouth as I hobbled backwards and fell to the floor.
James jumped up and pointed at me like an immature child. ‘Burn, sucka! That’s for making my mascot a moose!’
I had never felt more confused. ‘What?’
James spun in a circle with his palms facing up, and then spoke like he was a surfer. ‘C’mon, bro,’ he said. ‘Look at the ceiling! It’s gone and you can see stars! You really think you died?’
I stopped. ‘This … am I dreaming?’
Suddenly, fireworks erupted in the sky.
‘Boom!’ he said, clapping his hands. ‘You’re dreaming, and I’ve been dead for hundreds of years!’
I remembered all the times I thought the ghost of James Buchanan had been messing with me. ‘Are you haunting the school?’
James raised an eyebrow. ‘Are you serious?’
‘No,’ I said, immediately, ‘… sorta.’
‘No,’ James said, opening his eyes wide. ‘This is all in your head.’
‘But why?’ I asked.
‘You probably fell asleep during lunch,’ James said, taking a seat on the stage again.
I hopped up next to him and watched the line of aliens out the door. On the floor where I had been standing, giant puzzle pieces appeared. They were scattered out of plac
e.
‘Got any gum?’ James asked.
‘No,’ I answered.
‘No matter,’ James said, pulling out one of Sebastian’s pink erasers.
I shook my head and joked, ‘Even if I did, the bandit probably would’ve got it by now.’
‘Ahhhh, yes, the bandit,’ James sang. ‘Whatever came of that?’
I decided to give in and talk to James like he was a real person. Maybe it was part of my brain trying to talk to me, who knows?
‘The bandit was caught. At least, I think he was caught.’
James raised his hand. ‘Start before that.’
‘Oh,’ I said. ‘Someone dropped a bag of stolen gum by my feet and—’
Shaking his head, James said, ‘Before that.’
‘What, like the beginning of the week?’
James nodded.
I took a deep breath. ‘It all started on Monday. Some kids got their gum stolen. I thought it was strange because it wasn’t just one kid, but a whole bunch of them, and only gum was taken.’
Two of the puzzle pieces on the floor connected clicked into place.
CLICK.
‘Go on,’ James said, furrowing his brows as he listened intently.
‘So I wanted to help find the bandit, but none of my friends did,’ I said.
‘But you did get help,’ James added.
‘I did,’ I sighed. ‘Wyatt offered to help.’
A third puzzle piece slid across the tiles and attached itself to the other two.
CLICK.
‘And to Wyatt, you said …’ the president’s voice trailed off.
‘I said no at first.’
‘At first?’
‘Yeah. Wyatt and I aren’t exactly besties, if you know what I mean.’
‘Surprisingly, I do,’ James joked. ‘So what made you team up with him?’
Buchanan Bandits Page 9
