‘Meh,’ I said, stretching my back and cracking it while keeping an eye on the breakfast line. A few other kids had joined it, but it was still short enough.
Zoe scanned the registration form. ‘So your club is going to be … the Moose? What’s that? Some secret term for ninjas?’
‘No. Going public with a ninja clan is Wyatt’s thing. I’d like to keep mine secret, especially since it’s so tiny now.’
‘So what’s the Moose?’
‘Did you read it?’ I asked, pointing at the form in her hands.
‘Just explain it to me since you’re standing right here,’ Zoe said.
The line for breakfast was getting longer. I could feel my breakfast slipping away from me.
Zoe’s forehead wrinkled as she waited. ‘Are you going to sit around in a room, cutting pictures of moose out of magazines so you could clip them to the wall? Is this a strange hobby that your parents should know about?’
‘Nooo,’ I whined. ‘The Moose is just the name, but I chose it because I want start a club that represents what this school is all about.’
‘And what’s that?’ Zoe asked.
‘The students,’ I replied. ‘It’ll be a club where nothing is required – no tryouts or competitions. Just kids.’
‘Okaaaaaay,’ Zoe said. ‘But what’ll you do?’
‘Hang out,’ I said. ‘Kids have the most fun when they’re allowed to just hang out, right? Like, before school in the hallways, or in the locker room before gym. Or even sometimes during gym class when we walk the track and talk. So I want to have a place where kids can just come and hang out with each other.’
‘Hmmm,’ Zoe hummed, which was a good sign because it meant that she didn’t think my idea was completely coconuts. ‘Who’s going to join a club that doesn’t do anything? How are you going to get members?’
I smiled. ‘I’m going to spend the budget on a candy bar. It’ll be set up like a salad bar, but instead of lettuce and carrots, it’ll have different lollies. Kids will only be allowed to take as much as a small cup can fit. I thought it’d be cool if the group only met on Tuesdays and Thursdays too. That way nobody’s binging on sweets.’
Zoe paused, furrowing her brow. I think she was trying to find an argument, but couldn’t. ‘That’s … wow, that’s actually not a terrible idea.’
‘I know, right?’ I said joyfully. ‘I’m full of not-terrible ideas.’
Zoe waved the registration form at me as she turned around. ‘Awesome,’ she said. ‘I’ll give this to Principal Davis and let him know your team is competing.’
Throwing Zoe a thumbs up, I flipped around ready to get in line for my breakfast sandwich, but of course the line was about three times longer now.
Rolling my eyes, I headed to my locker.
The first bell went off just as I got to my locker. I yanked on the handle while pressing my shoulder into the door so none of my stuff would fall out.
Sure, we have a locker clean-out every couple of weeks, but you know how life gets busy sometimes. That and I was pretty sure I was feeding a small family of rodents living in there. I’m not sure I could live with myself if I did anything to take food off their table.
Squeezing my fingers into the cold, dark, and somehow damp locker, I managed to scrape the top of my maths book just enough so that it would tip into my hand.
‘Gotcha!’ I exclaimed as I slid the book out slowly. After it was free from the locker, I slammed the door shut with my knee.
Suddenly, like she’d materialised out of thin air, Naomi was standing on the other side of my locker door.
‘Whaaaaaaa!’ I screamed, but slapped my hand over my mouth to keep from making any more of a scene.
‘Nice,’ Naomi said. She was leaning her shoulder against the wall of lockers. ‘What’s up?’
I stared at her for a moment. Did she just ask me what was up as if nothing was wrong? As if she didn’t end our friendship by betraying my trust? As if she didn’t crush my social life under the weight of her fist?
Naomi smiled softly at me. ‘Look, I know what you’re thinking …’
‘Do you?’ I finally managed to say.
‘I wasn’t sure whether I should talk to you after what happened last week,’ Naomi said. ‘But then I was like, whatever, right? I know you hate me for what happened, and I don’t blame you, but I want you to know I’m not mad at you anymore.’
‘You’re not mad at me?’ I asked, shocked. ‘What about me?’
Naomi laughed. ‘That’s why I’m here,’ she said. ‘I wanted to say I’m sorry.’
My heart started beating faster. What was Naomi thinking? That she could just show up to my locker and say sorry and everything would be fine between us?
I didn’t know what to say. You want to know the truth? Naomi was such a good friend before I found out she was a Scavenger that part of me wanted to forgive and forget. Part of me wanted things to go back to normal.
‘I’ve been ordered to give you one last chance to join us,’ she said calmly. ‘If you do then you’ll be forgiven for everything you’ve done.’
That one made me angry. ‘I’ve done nothing!’ I whispered harshly. ‘All I did was respond to what you put me through last week! I’ll probably be dealing with it for the rest of my life!’
Naomi pushed her lips to the side, annoyed.
‘Wait a sec, I thought you were the leader of the Scavengers,’ I said. ‘Who’s giving you orders?’
‘I’m the leader of the sixth-grade Scavengers, but there are seventh- and eighth-grade Scavengers that I answer to. I think there are even Scavengers in high school.’
‘Great,’ I sighed. ‘This whole thing is going to follow me around for the rest of my life.’
‘Chase,’ Naomi said with a pleading look. ‘Please join us. Please. I know this sounds so lame, but I’ve missed joking around with you.’
Naomi had no idea how hard that hit me. I did my best to keep my face emotionless.
Pushing herself off the locker and starting to walk away, Naomi shot me a look over her shoulder and said, ‘Also, if you don’t join us, I’m not sure what Victor’s gonna do to you.’
‘What?’ I said as she walked away. ‘Wait, who’s Victor? Who’s Victor?’
Naomi turned the corner and disappeared. The bell rang a second time, signalling the start of class, which meant I was totally late for homeroom. Again.
A few hours later, I was back in the school lobby, waiting for the rest of my team on the steps in the nook. The nook was about the size of a three-car garage with a little set of stairs where kids would hang out between classes and during lunch. Many students were wearing their giant masks as they gathered in the lobby. For a second time, I questioned reality.
Faith found me first and stood next to me. She was clutching her book bag straps, smiling at all the students that walked by.
‘Hey,’ I said.
She nodded, but didn’t say anything. She wasn’t mad, at least not that I knew of, so I wasn’t sure why she kept quiet.
I leaned my head over so that I was in her line of vision. ‘Hey,’ I repeated.
Again, she just smiled. It wasn’t a fake smile, like the kind where you just tighten your mouth on both sides and nod. It was a soft smile. Real.
But it was still making me nervous. ‘Why aren’t you saying anything?’
Faith leaned away from me, staring at me like I was crazy. ‘Why do I need to say anything?’
‘Because not talking is weird!’ I replied.
‘Why can’t we sit quietly with each other?’ she asked.
I wasn’t sure I understood, and she could tell.
She went on. ‘You ever just sit with someone? You ever feel comfortable enough with someone that there doesn’t need to be small talk about the weather or TV shows?’
I thought for a second. ‘My family, I guess.’
‘Best friends are the same,’ she said to me in a way that made me feel stupid for not already getting it. ‘Best fri
ends can just hang out and be real without having to say a word.’
I tried to hide my smile, but I was blushing a little. She definitely noticed but kept quiet about it. Faith was cool like that.
Together, in silence, we watched the giant heads stumble and fumble in the lobby, occasionally bumping into each other. Every few seconds, a muffled ‘Excuse me’ or ‘Sorry ’bout that’ would filter through their masks. It was eerie.
When Gavin and Brayden showed up, we all huddled together for a quick team meeting.
‘Guys, these heads are freakin’ me out,’ I said. ‘I’m not sure I like today’s theme.’
‘I know, it’s weird,’ Brayden said, his voice muffled by his kitten mask. ‘But good call on the whole ‘sleeping in my mask’ idea. I zonked out a few times today and nobody suspected a thing!’
‘Dude, half our classes were together this morning! Is that why you barely said anything when I talked to you?’
The giant kitten mask slowly nodded up and down like a bobble head.
Using my knuckles, I lightly backhanded Brayden’s mask, enough to make him lose his balance, but not enough to actually hurt him. His dampened laugh came through wherever his air holes were.
‘Ew!’ Faith said, looking over her shoulder. ‘Look at the mask that kid is wearing!’
My head popped up like a meerkat. Across the lobby was some kid who had a mask with Wyatt’s face on it.
‘Who is that?’ Gavin asked, but before anyone could answer, the kid removed his oversized head.
It was Wyatt. Wyatt was wearing a giant mask of his own face.
Faith laughed. ‘Talk about a big head.’
‘Who does that?’ I said. ‘Who wears a mask of their own face?’
‘Don’t you read his blog?’ Gavin said. ‘He’s been working on that thing for weeks.’
I groaned. ‘That’s definitely one corner of the internet I’d like to forget.’
Principal Davis climbed to the top step and blew a whistle to get everyone in the lobby to pay attention. I had never seen the lobby so packed with students. We had no problem filling out the gymnasium during an assembly, so you can imagine how shoulder-to-shoulder we all were in a space half that size.
Principal Davis tapped on the mic, thoomph thoomph thoomph.
Zoe was standing behind the principal, gesturing for another student to join her on the steps. From the crowd, I saw a well-dressed boy hop onto the top step of the nook, next to Principal Davis and Zoe. It was Sebastian, the ex-school president.
‘What’s he doing?’ I asked aloud and to nobody in particular.
‘Zoe told me she was going to give Sebastian a second chance ’cause he asked for it. She thought it would be cruel if she didn’t at least try and throw him a bone,’ Faith said.
‘But he scammed the school,’ I said.
Faith nodded. ‘I know, but she said he was super bummed out and she felt sorry for him.’
‘Well,’ I sighed watching Sebastian take the place by my cousin’s side. ‘I guess that’s what makes Zoe so … Zoe.’
‘Yeah,’ Faith agreed. ‘She really thinks this could be a new Sebastian, you know, like he’s turned over a new leaf or something.’
‘Huh,’ I grunted, watching the ex-president stand next to the new president.
‘What?’ Faith asked me.
‘I don’t know,’ I said, thinking about my ninja clan. ‘Zoe is such a natural leader. I wish that was something in my family’s blood, that way maybe I’d be a good leader too.’
‘You’re kidding, right?’ Faith asked. ‘You’re one of the best leaders I’ve ever seen.’
If only she knew that my entire ninja clan had left to the join the Scavengers. ‘I think you’d be surprised at how terrible of a leader I really am. You know how they say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks? Well, I couldn’t teach a new dog new tricks.’
Faith folded her arms. ‘Being a good leader doesn’t always mean being a good teacher.’
I stared at Faith, trying not to look too dumb because I wasn’t exactly sure what she meant. ‘Yup,’ I said finally.
She lightly punched my shoulder. ‘I can tell when you’re having a brain fart so let me explain that a little—’ she said, but was cut off by the crowd of kids cheering and staring right at us.
Gavin and Brayden were standing on the step under Zoe, waiting for Faith and me to join them.
Zoe raised the microphone back to her mouth. ‘Any minute now, guys.’
There were several other groups of students lined up on the steps too. Faith and I were so into our conversation that we didn’t even notice that Zoe had obviously introduced the teams.
As we joined Gavin and Brayden, I looked down the line to see who we were going to compete against.
Wyatt was with his team, which was made up of red ninjas. I could tell because all the red ninjas wore red bracelets, which kind of looked like friendship bracelets.
Next down the line was Carlyle, Wyatt’s cousin. He was almost the same flavour of evil that Wyatt was, except he had a pirate obsession. He was the only kid in school who talked like a pirate when it wasn’t ‘Talk Like a Pirate’ day.
The rest of his team were wearing pirate costumes and eye patches too. I recognised most of them except for the shortest student. I couldn’t see much of her face since it was hidden under her oversized bandana.
Sophia was on the next team. She was a hipster and so were her teammates, so I would’ve figured that the Spirit Week games would be too mainstream for them. Maybe they wanted to start some hipster club so they could sit around in a circle playing acoustic guitars and banging on drums while saying everything was so last week.
And finally, on the last team was Jake and his wolf pack. To put it bluntly, it was a team of bullies who even went as far as howling when walking the hallways.
At the foot of the steps were five shopping trolleys. Each cart had a helmet hanging from the handlebar.
‘Players, helmets on,’ Zoe said into the microphone. ‘As they’re getting ready, the other two members of your teams can go ahead and take their places down the hall.’
I grabbed the helmet from the grocery cart in front of me as Faith and Brayden sped off down the hall for some part of the game that I missed the explanation for.
‘What are those guys gonna do?’ I asked.
Gavin snatched the helmet from me. ‘Where’s your head at, dude? Didn’t ya hear Zoe tell the rules?’
‘Totes,’ I said, squeezing my hands around the handlebar of the grocery cart. ‘But I wanna hear you repeat them so I know you know the rules.’
Gavin pressed air through his lips, making a pfft sound. ‘Whatever, man. You and I are the ones competing in this race. One of us rides and one of us pushes to the first checkpoint challenge.’
‘Cool,’ I said. ‘What’s at the first checkpoint?’
‘Brayden will be waiting with a bucket of baked beans and an apple.’
‘Awesome. Wait … why?’
Gavin took a deep breath as he clipped his helmet on. ‘We’ll have to bob for the apple in the bucket of baked beans.’
I leaned my head over and stuck out my bottom lip. ‘Pretty nasty, but alright,’ I said, trying to keep a positive attitude. ‘What’s after that?’
‘We switch places in the grocery cart,’ Gavin said, hopping into the metal cage of the cart. ‘Then we race to the second checkpoint, where Faith will be waiting with a balloon and shaving cream.’
‘Because we need to shave the balloon?’ I said.
Gavin glanced over his shoulder as he grabbed the front of the grocery cart. ‘Bingo, partner,’ he said.
‘What do these games have to do with Spirit Week?’ I asked, revving the grocery cart handlebar like it was a motorcycle. The other teams were already set up next to us and ready to go.
‘Nothing,’ Gavin said. ‘It’s all just a bunch of games to make us all look like fools!’
I nodded, laughing.
Zoe rai
sed an air horn over her head and paused. Everyone fell silent.
HOOOOOOOOOOONK!
I flinched, and then with all the power I could muster, I shoved the grocery cart forwards.
The crowd was pressed against the walls, hooting and hollering.
All five teams were side by side, banging our carts into each other like we were driving bumper cars.
‘Watch it, Chase!’ Gavin shouted as he ducked his head lower. ‘You’re gonna crush m’fingers!’
Sophia pulled ahead of everyone, thrusting her cart down the first hallway as kids cheered her on from the sidelines.
I stole a peek over my shoulder to see where Wyatt’s cart was. I was happy to see that he was bringing up the rear. Hopefully his team would get eliminated first.
Jake’s cart smashed into the side of mine on purpose. He rammed his cart into mine again immediately.
I didn’t want to risk tipping my trolley over so I ran faster to try and get ahead of Jake, but his passenger grabbed the side of my cart.
‘Hey!’ I shouted. ‘Let go! You can’t do that!’
The kid in Jake’s cart laughed as he jerked our cart back and forth, making it wobble.
Gavin grabbed the boy’s fingers, peeling them away from our cart. As soon as he lost his grip, Gavin raised his leg over the side of the metal grate and kicked Jake’s cart away.
Sparks flew as Jake’s trolley scraped against the metal lockers. He fell behind just enough that I didn’t have to worry about a second attack.
I’m pretty sure Principal Davis was going to regret giving this race the go-ahead after seeing what kind of damage it caused.
‘Easy now!’ Gavin shouted, pointing at the end of the hallway. ‘Slow down! You’re gonna take the turn too fast!’
Digging my feet into the carpet, I tried slowing down, but my shoes weren’t getting any traction. They slid across the floor like I was skating on ice.
‘Dag gummit!’ Gavin shouted, dropping to the bottom of the cart in a fetal position.
Our trolley crashed into the brick wall at the end of the hallway. I flew forward, smashing into the handlebar.
Spirit Week Shenanigans Page 4
