The buzzers were silent for a second. I think Jake and I were confused by the question.
Everyone in the cafeteria stared at the stage, waiting for one of us to answer.
‘One of you might as well press the buzzer,’ Zoe said.
Faith pushed my hand down on the buzzer.
‘Chase’s team,’ Zoe said. ‘What’s your answer?’
I looked at Jake, whose eyes looked like they were shooting lasers at me.
‘Well?’ Gavin whispered. ‘Just answer. If ya get it wrong, Zoe’ll just ask another question.’
‘But I don’t want to get it wrong!’ I said.
‘Then what’s the hold up?’ Faith asked. ‘The answer is Proxima Centauri!’
‘First of all,’ I said, ‘it’s amazing that you know that much about stars.’
Faith blushed.
‘But second, I think this is a trick question,’ I said. ‘The sun is the closest star to the Earth.’
‘Oh, right,’ Faith said, knocking on her head. ‘I knew that.’
‘But what do you think Zoe is asking?’
Faith shrugged. ‘Go with your gut.’
Leaning forward, I tapped the microphone with my finger, and then answered. ‘The sun. The sun is the closest star to the Earth.’
‘Correct!’ Zoe shouted.
‘Gah!’ Jake screamed, flipping his table upside-down. Jumping over his flipped desk, he started running at me with eyes on fire.
Thankfully, Principal Davis stepped onto the stage before Jake could get to me.
The principal gave Jake a single look that made him back down instantly.
‘Congratulations to Chase’s team,’ Zoe smirked. ‘You’ve secured your place in the games set for tomorrow afternoon.’
I sat back, exhausted but smiling with my team.
Earlier in the day, I had told Melvin and Slug that we were going to skip the wrestling room since there wouldn’t be much time to train.
They were both waiting patiently on the top steps of the nook.
‘Sup, guys?’ I said, dropping my book bag on the carpet next to Melvin.
‘Nada,’ Slug said. ‘Are we going to train in front of all these kids? Are they going to be part of the training? Are we going to have to sneak between them and go unnoticed? First one caught loses? Oh, what if it’s you that loses?’
‘Easy there,’ I said. ‘We’re not training out here, or at all today. I just wanted to meet you guys so I could tell you that.’
Melvin sighed.
Slug looked upset. ‘Why aren’t we training? This is day three of being in your ninja clan, and we’ve punched zero things. Zero! Zero is the number of things we have punched!’
‘Spirit Week has kept me pretty busy,’ I explained and then looked at Melvin. ‘Speaking of which, you find out anything about Wyatt?’
‘Not yet, no,’ Melvin said. ‘And I can’t even promise that I will find something. It was just a hunch.’
‘But did you see him in the cafeteria just now?’ I asked. ‘He totally owned that quiz show!’
Melvin cocked one side of his mouth. ‘Yeah, but unless we find some solid evidence that he’s cheating, there ain’t much we can do about it.’
‘How about just going to the principal?’ Slug said.
‘I think it’s best if we have a bit of that evidence I was just talking about,’ Melvin said. ‘Otherwise we’re just pointing fingers.’
‘Do you have any leads at all?’ I asked. ‘That kid on student council – I think his name is Colin? He seems like a shady dude.’
‘Colin?’ Melvin repeated. ‘You think he’s got somethin’ to do with Wyatt winning the race?’
I nodded. ‘And maybe even winning the quiz so easily too.’
‘Alright,’ Melvin replied. ‘I’ll see what I can dig up about him, but again, I can’t promise anything.’
‘No, I know,’ I said. ‘But at least we’re trying.’
Slug groaned, rocking back and forth on the top step of the nook. ‘Duuuudes, this is so lame! When are we going to knock some heads around?’
My eyes skimmed over my shoulder, hoping nobody heard Slug. ‘C’mon, man. We’ll never knock heads around. Besides, there are other important things to deal with first.’
‘But why don’t we just go confront Wyatt?’ Slug whined.
I paused. ‘Because I’m pretty sure Wyatt would answer with a flying kick to my face!’
‘Isn’t that what we’re here for though?’ Slug said. ‘If we’re ninjas, then why don’t we go do ninja things?’
‘Ninjas didn’t just fight, y’know,’ Melvin said. I was surprised. ‘Real ninjas choose the peaceful path.’
‘C’mon,’ Slug said with a half smile. ‘A real ninja would’ve got in there and baked a cake of butt kicking already.’
I shook my head, confused. ‘That doesn’t make any sense!’
Slug took a breath as he stood on his feet. ‘I’m done with this,’ he said flatly. ‘My sister was right. This is the most boring thing ever. I thought you were going to teach me how to kung all the fu, but I guess I was wrong.’
I didn’t know what to say, but I knew I had to say something. ‘Thank you for your time,’ I said, feeling a lump in my throat.
Slug pushed passed me and disappeared into the crowd.
Melvin raised his eyebrows at me. It was a ‘what’re you gonna do?’ face – a question I didn’t have an answer to.
After only three days, I had lost two out of three of my new ninjas. In my head I saw a commercial for Wyatt’s red ninja clan, complete with voiceover, ‘Two out of three ninjas agree – Chase Cooper’s ninja clan sucks straws compared to Wyatt’s red ninja clan! The red ninja clan will also prevent gingivitis.’
Maybe I just wasn’t cut out for the ninja lifestyle? I’d had hiccups before, but it was never as bad as the last couple of weeks. The Scavengers had really kicked my butt last week, and I was still feeling the bruises.
And I was really feelin’ it deep in my gut. It was absolutely possible that after this week was over, I’d hang up my ninja robes for good.
The next morning, I took the same path as usual through the front doors with a half-sprint to my locker in hopes of making it to homeroom on time.
Things were eerily quiet in the hallway, but that was pretty normal when the bell was seconds away from ringing. Slamming my locker shut, I jumped back in surprise because Naomi had somehow materialised out of nowhere. Part of me wondered if she really did have the ability to transform into a puff of smoke like the vampire queen. Was it possible that the game was somehow based on my life? Nah …
‘Heeeey,’ she sang as her face held the saddest smile.
I tried to act cool, but my voice cracked. ‘What?’
‘I just wanted to say hi,’ she said. ‘And also give you one last, last chance to join The Scavengers.’
For a split second, I thought about saying yes. If I were such a terrible leader, maybe I’d be a good follower. But funnily enough, my honour got the best of me, which was probably a good thing.
‘No thanks,’ I said, zipping my book bag up.
‘The nail that stands up will be hammered down,’ Naomi sighed, shaking her head. ‘Ever hear that saying?’
‘No,’ I said.
‘You’re the nail,’ Naomi said. ‘The Scavengers are the hammer.’
Just then, I felt two powerful hands grip my shoulders and yank me backwards. I struggled, trying to break free, but other hands grabbed my arms and legs, lifting me into the air.
‘I’m sorry,’ Naomi said. ‘I gave you a chance. Two chances, even!’
‘Naomi, seriously!’ I begged, squirming. ‘This isn’t funny, dude!’
Naomi ignored my plea. ‘I’m sure you’ve wondered why we haven’t said anything to you this week. The truth is, we’ve been planning.’
The three kids holding me up were strong, definitely stronger than me. No matter how hard I tried twisting around, I just couldn’t break free. ‘Put
me down! Let go of me!’
‘Don’t struggle,’ Naomi said. ‘It’ll only make things worse.’
‘Naomi, please!’ I said. ‘What’s happening?’
One of the kids spoke from under me. ‘Victor says hello.’
I couldn’t see who it was that spoke, but I recognised his voice immediately. It was Jake. Great, right? He got booted from the red ninjas just to join the Scavengers.
But the fact that Jake was a Scavenger wasn’t the thing that bothered me most. It was the name he uttered. ‘Victor?’
I heard Naomi’s voice again. ‘He’s an eighth grader here – the leader of all the Scavengers. And he’s not happy with you.’
Then I heard the sound of duct tape getting torn from a roll. And the only reason you hear it in the hallway school was because something terrible was about to happen.
‘Oh no,’ I whispered.
The bell went off at exactly 9:15, clanging directly over my head. Classroom doors swung open as kids began flooding the hallway. I could hear gossip and giggles come from clusters of students.
The giggles stopped for a moment when they saw me, but instantly turned into loud, honking laughs when they realised what they were looking at.
Humiliated, I continued to struggle, but it was impossible to move. Why? Because Naomi’s friends had duct taped me to the wall. My feet were literally hanging off the floor.
A small crowd of students gathered around, pointing and laughing. I did my best to ignore the jokes and insults that were hurled in my direction.
A few of them even had their phones out, taking selfies with me in the background. Great, just what I needed – internet exposure. I was pretty sure this meant I’d have to move to the mountains and live off the land. Y’know, lumberjackin’ and stuff.
A girl smiled at me after snapping a selfie. ‘Thanks for the laughs,’ she said.
Her name was Regina. Everyone knew her as the selfie queen.
‘You’re welcome,’ I said sarcastically as she walked away.
And where the heck were the teachers? How come they were always around when you didn’t need them, but when you were actually in trouble, they were nowhere to be seen?
‘Chase?’ I heard Zoe’s voice from the group of students hassling me. She pushed through the crowd, shocked at what she saw.
‘Yo,’ I said, humiliated but trying to be cool. ‘Wanna hang out?’
Zoe choked out a laugh. ‘Now I know why you weren’t in homeroom,’ she said, grabbing at a small section of duct tape around my hand. She yanked up, tearing it away from the wall.
Funny how duct tape works. I had been struggling to free myself for thirty minutes with no luck at all. Yet one tug from Zoe, and the whole thing falls apart. That’s not physics – that’s magic.
I dropped to the floor. I felt like little needles were poking at my skin in the places where the tape had been the tightest.
‘Thanks,’ I said. I knew I shouldn’t have felt stupid, but I couldn’t help it.
‘Who did this?’ I asked. ‘Wyatt?’
I paused. Telling her that it was Naomi would lead to too many questions about why she did it. Zoe knew Naomi had been a good friend of mine, and for all I knew, Zoe still thought that.
‘No,’ I said. ‘I actually don’t know who it was. Some eighth graders I think.’
At least that part was the truth.
‘Seriously?’ Zoe said. ‘Eighth graders are messing with you now?’
‘Didn’t you get the memo?’ I asked. ‘Everyone hates me now.’
‘Aw,’ Zoe said like she was talking to a five-year old. ‘You’re giving yourself too much credit. No one cares.’
‘You think so?’
‘I know so,’ she said. ‘That whole stunt last week with the newsletter? Everybody’s over it. Sure, there might be one or two kids that still hold a grudge, but as for ninety-nine per cent of them? Already forgot about it.’
‘Somehow I doubt that,’ I said.
‘It’s that one per cent you’re worrying about,’ Zoe continued. ‘You’ve probably made some new enemies, but only time will tell, right?’
‘Then I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time,’ I said, and then asked, ‘Do you know anyone at the school named ‘Victor?’’
Zoe stopped, staring into space while thinking. ‘Victor? Victor … Victor …’ she repeated while tapping her chin. ‘Y’know, I’m pretty sure there’s an eighth grader named Victor. Yeah, now that I think of it, he’s the dude who wears a name tag every day.’
‘A name tag? Why?’
‘Beats me,’ Zoe said. ‘I guess he wants people to remember his name. Is he the one that duct taped you to the lockers?’
‘No,’ I said honestly.
Zoe sighed, the kind of sigh that meant she knew I was keeping things from her, but she didn’t press the issue.
Zoe walked briskly down the hall. ‘You’re lucky I was on my way to the student council room, otherwise you’d still be on display like a piece of art.’
‘And I thank you for that,’ I said, following behind. I was still finding bits of small duct tape on my clothing that I kept having to pick off.
‘There are some papers I need to grab for the Buchanan Bash next week,’ Zoe explained. ‘Plus the student council room was out of cereal so I need to put an order in for a couple more boxes of it.’
‘You guys get cereal?’ I asked.
‘Sure do,’ Zoe said. ‘Since we meet super early, I thought it’d be nice to provide a light breakfast – y’know, kind of like a reward for coming to school before sunrise. It’s that new cereal, Cookie Dough Delight.’
‘Ew,’ I said. ‘I hate that stuff.’
‘Really?’ Zoe said. ‘But you’re such a sugar junkie! You add milk to your chocolate syrup!’
‘I don’t know how anyone likes that stuff,’ I said. ‘It’s little balls of dried up cookie dough. It’s like space station food.’
Zoe stopped. ‘Again, another reason for you to love it so much you’d marry it.’
‘The day I marry dried up balls of cookie dough is the day that I …’ I paused, trying to come up with something clever. ‘Die …’ I said finally.
‘Wow,’ Zoe said frowning. ‘I thought you were gonna take the funny road, but instead you took the dark road. The really, really dark road.’
Zoe turned the corner and waved goodbye.
‘Any chance you’ll tell me what game we’re playing today?’ I hollered.
‘Not even a little!’ Zoe shouted without looking back.
Faith, Gavin and Brayden huddled with me on the track as we waited for Zoe to announce the next game.
It was down to three teams – Wyatt’s, Sophia’s, and mine.
Wyatt and his team were seated at a bench on the side of the field, pointing and laughing at different kids that walked by them. Pinned to Wyatt’s shirt were two first-place ribbons.
Sophia and her team were sitting nearby in the field, slowly plucking out single blades of grass and letting them fly away in the chilly breeze.
‘It’s freezing out here,’ Faith said with folded arms.
‘Ain’t so bad,’ Gavin commented, stuffing his hands in his pockets.
Brayden was distracted, looking over his shoulder every few seconds.
‘Are you expecting someone?’ I asked.
‘No,’ Brayden said, shaking his head. ‘I was just seeing if Dani was out here yet.’
Faith put her balled up hands against her mouth, blowing hot air into them. ‘Oooooh!’ she crooned. ‘Someone’s got a crush …’
Brayden pouted. ‘Do not!’ he said. ‘Dani’s just super cool, that’s all. She’s into really old horror movies too.’
‘You gonna ask her out?’ Faith asked, her eyes sparkling.
Brayden continued scanning the field for Dani. I think he was blushing, but it might’ve just been the cold air. ‘Hey, subject change,’ Brayden said looking at me. ‘A little birdie told me you missed homeroom this mornin
g ’cause you got taped to a wall!’
Gritting my teeth, I looked at the ground. ‘Maybe,’ I said. ‘Maybe not.’
‘Maybe yeah,’ Faith joined in. ‘Everyone’s talking about it. I wish I would’ve been there to see it.’
‘I’m sure the pictures will circle around the school,’ I groaned. ‘There were so many camera flashes that I almost went blind.’
Everyone was quiet for a moment.
I wanted so badly to tell them it was Naomi and the Scavengers, but I couldn’t. Instead, I said. ‘That tape pulled out almost all of my arm hair, so I guess something good came from it.’
‘Having no arm hair is good?’ Brayden asked.
‘Now Gavin won’t feel so left out,’ I said, jokingly.
Gavin glared at me. ‘Really? We’re still joking about that?’
Suddenly, Brayden’s eyes lit up and he waved his hand. Dani was waving back from the side of the field. The two other dudes from student council were with her, puffing hot air into their hands.
Colin, the student council treasurer, watched the field carefully. I wondered if Melvin dug anything up on the kid. I’d have to remember to ask after the game.
Zoe’s voice came from the front of the field. She was standing on one of the benches, holding a megaphone.
‘Hello, everybody!’ Zoe shouted. ‘Today’s event will be a scavenger hunt!’
A chill ran down my spine when she said ‘scavenger’.
Mrs Robinson, my homeroom teacher, approached my team and presented a small white envelope that was sealed with a gold sticker.
‘The three remaining teams will receive an envelope from a teacher,’ Zoe continued. ‘Keep them sealed until I know all of you have it. After that, I’ll fire off the air horn, and the scavenger hunt will begin!’
Faith took the envelope from Mrs Robinson. Raising the envelope over her head, she blocked out the sun to try and see through it.
‘Any luck?’ I asked.
‘Nope,’ Faith replied.
‘Inside each envelope will be a riddle that your team will have to solve,’ Zoe said. ‘The solution is the clue to where you’ll find the next envelope. To prove that you made it to each checkpoint, there will be a token to collect. Once you’ve solved the last riddle and got the last token, return to the track. Last team back is eliminated, so act fast! Oh, and there will be a surprise challenge at the end of the hunt. I’ll spare you the details, but don’t let that strike fear into you. Be ready for anything!’
Spirit Week Shenanigans Page 7
