by Luke Sharpe
As I open my mouth, Felipe interrupts me.
“Oh, wait! I almost forgot. Before you make up your minds for the final time, I would like to make the offer a LITTLE SWEETER.”
Manny raises an eyebrow. Emily leans in closer, and another glob of fake zombie skin slides off her face. Felipe continues:
“Really Great Movies will not only put you in the movie and invest in the company, but we will also create a hovercraft ride at the Really Great Movies theme park, complete with a sign letting everyone know that this was invented at Sure Things, Inc. And, of course, you both will get lifetime passes to the park. Emily too, naturally.”
“And our friend Greg, too?” says Billy. “It was his idea, and he helped us finish the hovercraft.”
“Yes, Greg too, of course. Of course!”
Then I remember something else.
“And the members of the Fillmore Middle School inventors club? We got some great ideas from them, too.”
Felipe nods. “Of course! Of course!”
This makes sense to me. I love the idea of people being able to fly the hovercraft at the theme park, rather than out in the world, which, as Manny pointed out, could cause ALL KINDS OF TROUBLE.
“So, do we have a deal?” Felipe asks.
I look over at Manny and Emily. They both nod enthusiastically.
“Yes, Felipe,” I reply, extending my hand. “We are having a deal.”
“And, I think you just solved the problem of what to call the invention,” says Manny.
I had almost forgotten about Manny being stumped on a product name for the first time in his life.
“Since the hovercraft is now the property of Really Great Movies, I think we should call it . . . the REALLY GREAT HOVERCRAFT!”
“I love it!” says Felipe. “A deal is a deal!”
Manny is happy. Everyone loves the name, and we can officially close the books on this invention—something that always makes Manny’s day. As an added bonus, Felipe says we also get to ride the hovercraft any time we want—WITHOUT WAITING IN LINE!
Emily is beaming. Not only is she getting a chance to be in a movie and hang out with Gemma Weston, but her wild hovercraft ride has now led to a really great deal for Sure Things, Inc.
“Oh, and one more thing,” Emily says.
Uh-oh, I hate it when Emily says “ONE MORE THING.” You never know what that one more thing is.
“I know I’m inventor-in-chief and all of Sure Things, Inc., but we all know that’s not really a good title for me. If we are working with the Hollywood movie industry now, can I be the the Sure Things, Inc. VERY OFFICIAL HOLLYWOOD COORDINATOR?”
That’s it? That’s all she wants? I smile.
Manny shrugs. “Why not?” he says.
Emily screeches, “YAAAAAY!” Plop! Another piece of zombie flesh falls off her face and squelches on the ground.
“Glad to see everybody is happy!”
I turn around and see Dad, back from his tour. He looks like a kid who has just gotten home from his favorite theme park, which I guess is what he is right now.
“Look what I got!” he shouts, holding up a rubber monster mask.
Dad pulls the mask over his head. His monster has eyes that have melted halfway down to his cheeks. His mouth is on the side of his head where his ear should be.
“How do I look?” he asks in a voice muffled by the mask.
“Very handsome, Dad,” says Emily.
Dad pulls off the mask.
“The tour was so cool! I got to visit the costume and makeup department, and the special effects department. Look what I got there!”
Dad holds up a TOY MODEL of a spaceship. It looks identical to the spaceship that Philo jumped on.
Felipe turns pale and starts waving his arms frantically.
“Uh, no that is not a toy, no-no-no-no,” he sputters. “That belongs to the department for special effects. No-no-no, I will take that back, please.”
“Oops. Sorry!” says Dad, handing the spaceship back to Felipe.
Felipe composes himself, and then turns back to me, smiling.
“Really Great Movies is PROUD to work with Sure Things, Inc.!” he says.
The Really Great Hovercraft
“I HAVE ONE more request, Billy,” says Felipe. “Could you take me on a test ride?”
“Sure,” I say, happy for an opportunity to fly the prototype one last time before handing it over to the studio.
Felipe and I climb into the hovercraft.
“Hang on,” I say, “HERE WE GO!”
I press the starter button. Nothing happens. I press it again. Still nothing.
Uh-oh. Now that I feel good about the deal we just made, I don’t want Felipe to call it off. What if the hovercraft has just stopped working? Will all of this be for nothing?
Wait a minute. Calm down, Billy. Check the fuel gauge.
Sure enough, the fuel tank is empty!
“Looks like we’re out of fuel,” I explain. “We’re going to need another load of stinky socks.”
Without missing a beat, as if powering a vehicle with stinky socks was something he did every day, Felipe pulls out a walkie-talkie and calls the studio’s laundry department, where they wash the various costumes.
“I need stinky-type smelling socks,” he says into the crackling device.
“I’m sorry, did you say smelling salts, Mr. LaVita?” asks the voice on the other end.
“No, no, darling, socks . . . socks that smell bad,” Felipe says.
“Gotcha, Mr. LaVita,” comes the reply. “Coming right up. You’re in luck. We were just about to do a huge load of laundry.”
As we wait for the laundry to arrive, Emily walks around the working hovercraft.
“Hmm,” she says, nodding and looking at all of the hovercraft’s parts. “Clever. I would not have thought of that.”
“Greg was a big help,” I say.
Just then, a golf cart pulling a trailer filled with a mountain of dirty socks pulls up. Everyone immediately pinches their noses closed and waves their hands in front of their faces to keep away the TERRIBLE SMELL.
“Why do stinky socks have to be so stinky?” asks Felipe.
I hop out of the hovercraft to help speed up the loading process. Manny and I shove the mound of socks into the fuel tank as fast as we can, securing the door tightly.
I climb back into the cockpit and push the starter button again. This time the hovercraft’s engines roar to life. Pushing the controls forward, we lift off into the sky.
“Oooh, this is exciting!” squeals Felipe as we soar above the studio.
Felipe decides to give me his own personal tour.
“Down there, that is the costume shop,” he begins, pointing to a long building.
I see people pushing racks of costumes out through the building’s wide doors. On the racks hang everything from a knight’s armor to a queen’s ball gown, cowboy outfits with hats and boots, and a 1920s pinstripe suit, complete with shiny white shoes.
Felipe continues, “And that is the workshop where people build creatures and rockets and, ooh, look, a pirate ship!”
I glance down and see an authentic-looking pirate ship roll out of the workshop. It looks so real with its wooden decks, tall masts, and skull-and-crossbones flags all flapping in the wind.
The tour goes on, and I get so engrossed that I forget to keep track of the time—or the fuel gauge!
The hovercraft starts to sputter and lose altitude. I glance at the gauge. The arrow is practically touching the “E.”
“So what is happening right now?” Felipe asks calmly, unaware of the imminent danger of crashing. “Is this BUMPY RIDE supposed to be so bumpy?”
“We’re running out of fuel,” I say as calmly as I can, trying to hide my own worry at the real possibility of a crash. There’s only one thing to do. Not only do I need to pull off my own socks, but I have to ask this big-time Hollywood director to give me his.
“I hate to ask this of you, sir, but
can I have your socks? We only need a few to give us the fuel we need to make a safe landing.”
I start to pull off my own shoes and socks.
To my surprise and relief, Felipe does the same.
Gross!!! Felipe’s socks have the STINKY SUPERPOWER of about a hundred other socks. They smell really bad.
“I always wear the same socks the ENTIRE TIME I am making a movie,” Felipe explains. “It is my superstition, but I am afraid that if I change my socks then the movie will be terrible. But in this case, here you go.” He hands me the socks. I take them. I feel like I’m going to hurl.
Suddenly I feel really bad for the people who do Felipe’s laundry.
“Thank you, Felipe,” I say.
“It is nothing, my friend,” Felipe replies.
“I have one more favor to ask of you,” I say. “The fuel tank is down there on the side of the hovercraft. I need you to hold my ankles while I lean out and put the socks in.”
“So what are we waiting for?” Felipe says. “Let’s go!”
With Felipe holding my ankles, I lean out of the cockpit, grasping the socks in my hands.
“A little lower!” I shout back up.
Felipe leans down, moving me just close enough. I pop open the fuel tank, toss in the socks, then slam it closed.
“Okay! Pull me up!”
As Felipe pulls me back into the cockpit, I hear the engines pick up.
Tumbling into the pilot’s seat, I guide the hovercraft back toward my family, landing safely on the ground.
“Thank you for helping,” I say as we climb out. “I hope you weren’t frightened.”
“NONSENSE!” says Felipe, patting me on the back. “I trust you completely. But now it is time to make a movie!”
Felipe raises the megaphone to his lips.
“Oh, Frederick!” he shouts.
A few seconds later a young man appears. He is tall with short blond hair and carries a clipboard, a computer tablet, and a thick movie script. I glance at the script and see that it is for the movie that Manny, Emily, and I will be in—Alien Zombie Attack!
“Yes, Mr. LaVita?” says Frederick.
“Frederick, can you please take these nice people to makeup?” asks Felipe.
“You got it, Mr. LaVita,” says Frederick. “Please come with me.”
Manny and I climb into a golf cart, and Frederick drives us to the makeup department. On our phone call earlier, Greg said he wasn’t interested in acting in the film as long as he got credited at the end. Felipe was happy to oblige.
In the makeup room, Manny and I sit in a tall chair, the kind you sit it for a haircut.
Two makeup artists appear and get to work.
“Hold very still, please,” says the makeup artist. She paints jagged red streaks of dripping blood all around my mouth. “This will take about two minutes to dry.”
I do my best to hold perfectly still for two minutes. Who knew that two minutes could feel like TWO HOURS!
Finally I am freed from my chair. I look over and gasp. Manny, who is getting out of the next chair, has been fully transformed into a totally creepy zombie.
“Whoa! You look amazing!”
“You too,” says Manny. He points to a mirror on the wall behind me. I turn around and jump back in shock. It’s a strange feeling to look at your own face in a mirror and see a zombie staring back, complete with rotted skin and dripping blood.
“Okay, boys, time to get you to the set,” says Frederick, leading us back to his golf cart.
A couple minutes later we arrive at a remote corner of the lot. It is a thickly wooded area. Emily, still in her zombie makeup, is waiting for us. Dad is there too.
“So, Em, what do you think?” I say, making my scariest zombie face and GROWLING. Do zombies growl? I guess they make more of a moaning sound.
“What do I think about what?” she replies.
“About my zombie makeup?”
“Oh, I didn’t notice. You look about THE SAME to me.”
Movie star or not, she’s still my big sister.
“You all look amazing!” Dad says, cracking up. “This is so cool!”
“All right, now!” Felipe shouts into his megaphone. “It is time to make a movie!”
Manny, Emily, and I follow Felipe and the camera crew into the woods. Waiting there are four teenage actors. They are not in zombie makeup. My guess is that they will end up being zombie dinner.
“Okay, everyone, listen up,” Felipe announces into the megaphone. “In this scene, the teenagers are lost in the woods. They have made a wrong turn. Our lighting will make it look like the sun is about to set. And that is when the alien zombies show up.”
Yup. I was right. ZOMBIE DINNER.
Frederick leads Manny, Emily, and me deep into the woods.
“When you hear the line, ‘I guess we should have turned left, not right, at the big rock,’ that’s when you attack,” he explains. “Got it?”
“Got it,” I say.
“Quiet now, everyone, please,” Felipe shouts. “Roll the cameras . . . and ACTION!”
From our hiding place in the woods I see the four teenagers walking.
“I’m sure our campsite is this way,” says a girl with red hair.
“We’ve been walking for an hour,” says a short boy with dark brown hair and freckles, wearing a T-shirt that says: ZOMBIES? HA! BRING ’EM ON! “We should have passed the campsite a long time ago.”
An owl hoots in the distance. Critters scamper through the fallen leaves. I feel myself getting scared—and I’m supposed to be the monster!
A second girl points in the direction from which the campers had just come.
“I guess we should have turned left, not right, at the big rock,” she says.
That’s it! WE’RE ON!
I stumble, stiff-legged from my hiding place.
“Urrrrrgh!” I moan, extending my arms as I lurch toward the teens. Manny and Emily do the same.
“Zombies!” screams the redheaded girl. “Run for your lives!”
As the teens run, Gemma Weston comes bursting through the bushes, confronting our little band of zombies.
“I’m Agent Jean, Zombie Division, and I’m here to save the day. Back off, zombies!” she cries, then pretends to suck us into her ZOMBIE VACUUM!
“And . . . cut!” yells Felipe. “Wonderful! Beautiful! You are such naturals, I would think you are real alien zombies!”
We repeat the same scene as the camera moves to capture it from a few different angles. An hour later, our filming is all done.
“That was great fun!” I say as Frederick starts to remove the zombie makeup from my face.
Gemma comes over to me.
“I’m a huge fan of your company,” she says. “Let me know if we can work together in the future. I’d love to be a celebrity spokesperson for Sure Things, Inc.! And, Em, stay in touch, okay?”
“Sure thing, Gem,” replies Emily as Frederick removes her makeup and Gemma heads to her trailer.
“Em?” “Gem?” . . . Gee, Emily really did make friends with a real-life movie star. That is pretty cool.
“Thank you, Billy Sure, for your wonderful hovercraft,” says Felipe, shaking my hand.
“You mean your Really Great Hovercraft, right?” I reply.
“You are right, Billy Sure. Good-bye to all of you. And thank you. Come visit anytime you like.”
• • •
A short while later, Manny, Emily, Dad and I board a train headed for home, leaving the Really Great Hovercraft at the movie studio.
“So, WHAT’S NEXT?” Manny asks as we roll along the tracks.
“Well, Dad better teach me how to drive a car,” Emily says, smiling.
“That’s probably not going to happen for a while, since you’re grounded for the rest of your life,” says Dad. “And thankfully, I’m going to have help enforcing that grounding. I’M MAKING WAFFLES TONIGHT!”
I perk up. “Waffles? That means that Mom is coming home!”
<
br /> Dad says nothing. He just smiles at me. Which is all the confirmation I need.
Meanwhile, Emily sniffles. “Grounded?” she says. “And more supervision. Just great. I wish I could be invisible.”
Hmm. Invisibility.
Now that Sure Things, Inc. isn’t working on the hovercraft—or selling it—we need a new Next Big Thing. Emily may not yet know it, but I think she just inspired a new idea. . . .
Usually dinnertime at my house isn’t something to look forward to. My dad likes to make all kinds of wacky dishes. My mom travels a lot for work. And my sister, Emily . . . let’s just say she’s not the nicest person in the world, all the time.
But tonight, dinner is different. That’s because my family—and my best friend—are gathered around the kitchen table, eating the best take-out pizza in the whole wide world!
For those of you who may not have heard of me, my name is Billy Sure. I am one half of Sure Things, Inc., an invention company that I share with my best friend—and current pizza-eating pal—Manny Reyes.
About a week ago Manny, my dad, Emily, and I returned from an unplanned adventure at the Really Great Movies studio. Manny, Emily, and I got to play zombies in a new movie, Alien Zombie Attack! It’s funny to think about it, because this all started when Emily stole my latest invention, a hovercraft, and crash-landed at the studio. We had to rescue her.
While at the movie studio, we sold the hovercraft—renamed the Really Great Hovercraft—to the film’s director so he can use it in his films.
But Manny, being the super businessperson that he is, kept all the hovercraft’s merchandising rights for Sure Things, Inc. That means money from any products related to the hovercraft get to stay ours. Pretty smart, huh? Because he sweats the fine print of every business deal is reason #934 why I’m glad that Manny is my best friend and business partner.
Although this happened a week ago, it still feels like just yesterday. On the actual “just yesterday,” my mom came back from her latest work trip. I say “work trip,” but it’s much cooler than that—my mom is a spy. She’s away on different missions a lot.
For her current mission Mom is able to work remotely from home. I really miss her when she’s not around, so it’s great having her here, for lots of reasons. One of those reasons is that, unlike my dad, Mom loves to order in food—like this super-awesome twelve-cheese pizza!
