A Game of Chase

by Marcus Emerson

  I was taking a breather, standing behind Gavin and Zoe. ‘Your project is safe and sound. I think the day can only get better from here.’

  Zoe turned around to face me. I watched her face go from happy to sad faster than the speed of light as she stared at something behind me. ‘Think again,’ she said.

  I spun around and saw what it was that made my cousin’s face white with fear. Under the bleachers behind us were three members of the red ninja clan wearing their full ninja gear, which included some top-notch armour. The leader’s face was covered with a mask, but I could tell from his eyes that it was Wyatt.

  ‘Hall passes!’ Wyatt yelled as he jumped at me. I felt a blinding pain on the top of my head, but it suddenly disappeared.

  I leapt up from the ground feeling better than ever. Whipping around, I grabbed Zoe and Gavin by their hands and sprinted out of the back of the bleachers. I was moving so fast that it was like I was flying! Then with a whistle, I called a flock of eagles that swooped down from outer space!

  ‘Need a lift?’ said one of the eagles with a twinkle in his eye as a lead guitar howled somewhere in the distance.

  ‘Sure do!’ I replied.

  Zoe, Gavin and I boarded the eagle, but it wasn’t an eagle anymore – it was a Tyrannosaurus rex!

  I lifted my fist in victory and shouted a battle cry that made the sun explode into millions of drops of light that—

  Wait, wait, wait…

  I looked down at the dinosaur I was riding, completely baffled. ‘What’s going on?’

  ‘How many fingers am I holding up?’ the dinosaur asked.

  I stared at the T-rex’s tiny little dinosaur hands. ‘What?’

  ‘I said, how many fingers am I holding up?’

  I opened my eyes and saw a bright white light. The pain on my head suddenly returned when I touched the bump on my noggin.

  ‘Am I dead?’ I whispered.

  ‘No, but you gave it your best shot,’ said Gavin.

  I rubbed my eyelids, helping my vision adjust. When I opened them again, I saw what looked like the underside of the metal bleachers. I saw my breath as the sound of students playing sports floated in the background. I sat up, looking at the dirt. ‘What happened?’

  ‘Wyatt happened,’ Zoe said, hovering over me.

  ‘But I called for the eagles to save us,’ I mumbled. ‘What happened to them? Or the tyrannosaur? I thought he was on our side.’

  Gavin looked at Zoe, puzzled. ‘Maybe he got hit harder than we thought.’

  Shaking my head, I picked myself up off the ground. ‘No, I was just out of it for a second. Wyatt hit me, and I must’ve blacked out. Where’d he go?’

  Gavin held his science project in his arms. ‘He and his goons took off after hitting you. I think they freaked out when you didn’t get up. They didn’t say anything about us finding my project either. It kind of makes me think Wyatt might not be the one behind all this.’

  ‘Really?’ I asked. ‘He’s been on my butt since the beginning of the school year, and he just happened to show up yesterday when I was digging Faith’s project out of my locker, and he’s the only one with access to the locked down projects, and he just happened to be out here when we were looking for yours? There’s a lot of ‘ands’ in that sentence for me to think he’s not behind it!’

  ‘I don’t know, it was weird,’ Zoe added. ‘Wyatt didn’t even look at Gavin’s project. He didn’t say anything about what we were doing. Don’t you think if he was the one behind it, he’d at least have given a scary speech?’

  ‘Who knows what’s going through that kid’s head?’ I asked sarcastically. ‘He’s gotta be the one behind it all.’

  Gavin tightened his lips. ‘When are you gonna hit that kid back?’

  Zoe answered for me. ‘Never, because he knows better.’

  ‘If I hit him back then the game changes,’ I said. ‘Right now, he’s just a jerk trying to show how much muscle he’s got. If I hit him back, then everything I’ve stood for falls over. I become another kid in sixth grade who got into a fight.’

  ‘Is that some kind of ninja thing?’ Gavin asked.

  ‘No,’ I said, shaking my head. ‘It’s just the right thing to do.’

  Zoe and Gavin helped me to my feet. After making sure Gavin had all the pieces to his project, we walked back to the school building. There was no sign of Wyatt or the red ninja clan anywhere on the track. Wyatt might’ve been one of the meanest kids I’ve ever known, but I had to give him credit for being a sneaky ninja. To appear and disappear so suddenly in broad daylight wasn’t easy.

  Gavin returned his project to the science room and explained what happened to Principal Davis and Mrs Olsen. He stood up for me, telling them I helped get it back, and that it had been stolen while I was in detention. They said they wanted to believe him, but there would have to be an investigation since the evidence against me was so strong. I understood since I did have Faith’s destroyed project in my locker.

  But the rest of the day wasn’t terrible. Some teachers were still trying to find all the mice Gavin let out in the cafeteria, so he was just as stuck as I was. We had assignments delivered to us in detention, but we didn’t touch any of them. Instead, we folded a small triangle and played paper football until school let out.

  Best Thursday I’ve had at Buchanan in a long time.

  I got to school dreading what I’d find in my locker. All week, I had been delivered little sticky notes, so why would Friday be any different? When I opened my locker, it was exactly how it had been for the last four days – a sticky note resting at the top of my rubbish heap.

  I took it in my hands, read it, and made my way to homeroom.

  ‘Checkmate,’ I said to Zoe. ‘That’s all that was written on it. No message and no signature. Terrifying, right?’

  Zoe nodded. She was in her usual place in the seat in front of me. ‘Jovial is saying you’ve lost. Checkmate happens when there’re no other moves left.’

  ‘Duh,’ I said. ‘But lost at what? Lost because I was in detention all day yesterday? Whose project do they have today?’

  ‘Hopefully nobody’s,’ Zoe said. ‘The science fair is this afternoon, so all this madness should end then.’

  I leaned back in my chair. ‘So do we wait it out and hope it blows over?’

  ‘Yes. All you have to do is last until the end of the day,’ Zoe said. ‘Once it’s over, what are they gonna steal then?’

  I felt a weight lift off my shoulders. I wanted to ignore the whole thing, but I just needed someone to tell me it was okay to do so.

  Mrs. Robinson stood at the front of the class. ‘The sixth grade science fair will be held immediately after lunch, so all of you will have to report to Mrs Olsen’s room to move your projects from there to the cafeteria.’

  ‘Those of us with projects that weren’t destroyed,’ Brayden said loudly.

  You know how everyone turns to look at you when some other kid in your class has the same name as you? That’s what happened after Brayden’s comment, but everyone had angry eyes when they looked at me.

  Even Mrs Robinson sounded upset. ‘Yes, those who still have projects.’

  One of the students near the front raised her hand. ‘What do we do with the chess piece we got in our locker?’

  I sat up, jolted by the girl’s question. Did she just ask about a chess piece? The feeling of relief vanished as I realised I’d have another project to find.

  Another student raised his hand. ‘I got one too,’ he said. ‘What’s it mean?’

  Mrs Robinson looked clueless. ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about. How many of you got a chess piece this morning?’

  I couldn’t believe my eyes. Every single kid in the class raised their hand.

  Zoe immediately turned around. ‘Are you sure that note didn’t say anything else?’

  ‘Pretty sure,’ I said. ‘Did you get another pawn?’

  She shook her head. ‘Brayden didn’t raise his hand either.’
>
  ‘Because you two got yours earlier this week,’ I said. ‘Jovial is now after the rest of the sixth graders at this school.’

  ‘This game has got out of hand,’ Zoe said. ‘You’ve been chasing after these projects all week only to have to worry about all of them now? That doesn’t make any sense? Why bother with a few of us during the week if they’re just gonna mess with everyone’s stuff now?’

  I pondered it for a second, rubbing my chin with my fingers like an old wise man. Finally, after a minute, I said, ‘I have no idea.’

  Zoe turned towards the front of class and grunted. She folded her arms and slid deeper into her chair. She acts like that sometimes when she’s angry.

  With only half a day until the science fair, there was no way I’d find everyone’s project in time, but I think that was the point. Whoever did this didn’t want me to succeed. The game that Jovial was playing just upped its difficulty setting to ‘hardcore’.

  As soon as the bell rang, I dashed out the door. There wasn’t any time to waste, so I didn’t wait for Zoe. She was a trooper though – I knew she’d catch up eventually.

  Weaving through students, I rushed straight to the locked-down room that had the science projects. Taking that many projects would mean there was some kind of clue left behind, right?

  As I ran through the hall, I saw kids showing each other the pawns they found in their lockers. Every sixth grader I passed had one in their hands. It was almost impressive that Jovial was able to get his hands on so many pawns.

  I finally made it to the door next to Mrs Olsen’s science class. I grabbed the metal handle, hoping it was unlocked. It was.

  I pushed open the door, ready to start scanning the room for evidence, but I was shocked to see that everyone’s project was still safe inside. Olive was walking down the centre aisle.

  Stumbling over my words, I spoke. ‘I thought … what’s … is everything alright?’

  Olive looked confused. ‘Of course,’ she said. ‘Why wouldn’t it be?’

  I stepped into the room, catching my breath. ‘Someone said there was a problem down here.’

  Looking over her shoulder, she shrugged. ‘Seems pretty normal to me,’ she said. ‘What kind of problem were you expecting?’

  I scratched the back of my head, totally stumped. ‘Did you get a chess piece in your locker this morning?’

  Olive paused, staring at me. Finally, she answered. ‘Yes. How’d … how’d you know?’

  ‘Everyone did,’ I said, pointing my thumb at the door. ‘Every sixth grader got a chess piece.’

  ‘Huh,’ Olive grunted. ‘What’s it mean?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ I sighed.

  Olive stepped toward me, sliding her hand on one of the countertops. ‘Did you really do it?’ she asked with a hint of smile on her mouth.

  ‘Do what?’

  ‘Break Faith’s project.’

  ‘No!’ I replied, upset that anyone would think such a thing. ‘I’d never do that! Someone framed me!’

  ‘Who would do such a thing?’ Olive asked, hopping up and sitting on one of the desks.

  I wanted to blame Wyatt for it, but the truth was that I wasn’t certain he did it. So instead, I said, ‘I don’t know. Someone who knows too much about me.’

  Olive’s face twitched. ‘What’s that mean?’

  ‘Nothing,’ I replied, heading for the door.

  I waved as I let the door slide shut. ‘See ya at the science fair. If anything happens here, come find me.’

  I heard Olive’s voice through the thick wood. ‘Okay! I’ll stay in here and make sure nobody else comes in!’

  What kind of game was Jovial Noise playing now? All the sixth graders got a chess piece, but none of the projects had been touched. All week I’d been searching for the projects in order to save them so if that was the game, then I just won … again. I was glad that Olive was staying behind. I doubted Jovial would try something with a witness. Then again, if it was Wyatt, I don’t think he’d care about witnesses at all.

  Before I went to the cafeteria, I paid my ninja clan a visit. With all the excitement in the week, I’d only seen them once on Monday. None of them would mind, but I felt like I’d let them down.

  I entered the training room. The other members of the clan were already in the room talking with each other. They were all wearing their ninja outfits under their street clothes like me.

  ‘Sir!’ they shouted together, standing at attention.

  I dragged my feet across the room as I made my way to one of the seats in the back. ‘It’s been a long week, guys.’

  One of the smaller ninjas walked towards me. It was Naomi. She fumbled over her words nervously until she finally said, ‘Was it you that destroyed Faith’s project?’

  ‘Of course not,’ I said, saddened by her question.

  She sighed, relieved. ‘We knew it, but had to hear it from you.’ She pulled off her black ninja mask and spoke again. ‘The red ninja clan has grown stronger this week.’

  ‘I know,’ I said in a whiny voice. ‘Wyatt’s taken the position of hall monitor captain, and I think he’s replaced all the regular hall monitors with members of the red clan.’

  Naomi nodded. ‘We saw that too,’ she said.

  ‘They’re planning something,’ I said. ‘But I have no idea what, and with the week I’ve had, I haven’t had time to check into it.’

  Naomi smiled. ‘Lucky for you, you lead a loyal clan that’ll check into things for you when you’re too busy.’

  Then a boy named Cain stepped forward and spoke. ‘Wyatt has replaced the hall monitors with the red ninja clan. It was Sebastian that allowed him to do so. We’re not sure what their goal is, but we know it has something to do with power. Sebastian doesn’t have the cleanest track record as the president of Buchanan. In fact, he almost got kicked from the position last month during a lolly scandal.’

  ‘I heard about that,’ I said. ‘Who helped catch him?’

  ‘Brody,’ Naomi replied.

  ‘That’s right,’ I said, nodding. ‘Brody Valentine. Cool last name.’

  Cain continued. ‘What we do know is that Wyatt has been hired as Sebastian’s personal body guard, which is how he became the hall monitor captain. We think that if Sebastian has a team of bad eggs working for him, it’d be easier for him to get away with trouble.’

  I leaned against the desk, thinking about what my ninja clan was saying.

  ‘Is Sebastian related to Wyatt?’ I asked. Carlyle ended up being Wyatt’s cousin, so I was worried that Sebastian might be too.

  Naomi shook her head. ‘No,’ she said. ‘We wondered the same thing. They’re not related at all.’

  ‘Good,’ I said. ‘I don’t know what I’d do if there were three members of that family at this school.’

  Cain straightened his posture and folded his arms. ‘What do you think we should do about Wyatt and Sebastian?’

  I rolled my eyes. ‘Nothing for now,’ I said. ‘We have more important things to worry about.’

  ‘More important than the red ninjas taking over the school?’ Cain asked.

  I paused. ‘Did you get a chess piece in your locker this morning?’

  All of the members of my clan glanced at each other and then back at me.

  ‘That’s what’s more important today,’ I said. ‘That chess piece means your projects are in danger. Everyone who got a pawn this week has had their project stolen. I was able to save Zoe and Gavin’s stuff, but I wasn’t fast enough for Faith’s.’

  ‘Or Brayden’s,’ Naomi added.

  ‘Do you know who it is?’ Cain asked.

  I shook my head. ‘I have no idea,’ I sighed. ‘They call themself ‘Jovial Noise’. Any ideas?’

  My ninja clan murmured amongst themselves, but nobody had any answers.

  ‘What kind of parent names their kid Jovial?’ Cain asked.

  Naomi raised her fist and clenched it in front of her face. ‘What would you have us do, sir?’ she growled. />
  ‘I think something big is coming,’ I replied. ‘Something bigger than what I’ve been dealing with all week. Everyone got a pawn, so the stakes have been raised by like, a bajillion.’ I walked back to the door and cracked it open. ‘Stay alert. Hopefully this is all someone’s terrible idea of a joke and nothing will happen, but somehow I doubt it.’

  The ninjas punched their open palms and nodded their heads toward me. I opened the door and slipped into the hallway. The lunchroom wasn’t far, so I started making my way there. If Jovial was up to something, he’d definitely be in there.

  I decided to skip the lunch line. I find it hard to eat when I’m stressed, and Jovial was stressing me out. I entered the cafeteria, scanning for anyone who looked suspicious.

  But in a lunchroom full of sixth graders, everyone looked suspicious, especially as they all gave me dirty looks since they still thought I was the one who destroyed Faith’s project.

  The table closest to the door was filled with goth kids, dressed in black and wearing too much eyeliner. A dark and brooding bunch who hunched over their food while they ate, randomly poking a head up to see where a sound came from. It was easy to see Jovial mixed in with those kids.

  Jocks sat at the table behind them, but not the typical television jocks you might be familiar with. Sixth grade is still training kids to become full-time jocks in high school, so it probably made more sense to call them the athletic kids. A table filled with loud talkers and one-uppers. Jovial might be a good fit for them too since this whole thing might be one huge joke.

  The table after the jocks had the cheerleaders. Zoe and Faith were at that table. It was hard for me to think of any of them being the kid I was looking for, but I had to shake that idea from my mind. I didn’t want to see any of those kids as the suspect.

  Most of the rest of the room was filled with your everyday average sixth graders. You know the ones – just trying to get through the school day without making a fool of themselves. Involved in a few extracurricular activities outside of class, like orchestra or yearbook, but only for something to kill the time before dinner. Not dorky, but not popular either – just kids in a sea of other kids. Obviously any one of them could be Jovial.