At our feet was an empty book bag with a skateboard next to it. About three metres away from us was another book bag and skateboard.
I wasn’t surprised to see two lines in the grass that led from the parking lot all the way down to another set of pins that had been knocked over. Wyatt’s team must’ve ridden the first skateboard.
‘Oh,’ I said.
Sophia’s team burst through the exit of the men’s locker room. They were a bunch of confused hipsters, staring at us like, ‘Why are you guys still up here?’
Immediately Sophia’s eyes darted to the skateboard that was next to us, and then at the bowling pins down on the track.
Like a boss, she shouted, ‘Human bowling!’
I looked at my team. ‘Who’s gonna do this?’
All eyes were on me, but nobody answered. It didn’t take a genius to know what they were thinking though.
Sophia took the empty bag and stuffed the three scavenger hunt tokens into it.
‘Fine,’ I said, not wanting to waste another second. I grabbed the bag off the skateboard and slammed our tokens inside the bag. ‘I’ll do it!’
Brayden and Faith stepped back to give me room. Sitting on the skateboard, I stuck my arms through the straps of the book bag and stared at the pins down the hill.
‘Ready?’ Gavin asked as he put his hands on my back.
‘Nope!’ I said, gripping the sides of the skateboard.
Sophia’s team pushed against her back as she rode the skateboard.
‘Too bad!’ Gavin shouted as he forced me forward. As we gained speed down the hill, he said, ‘In case you die, I just want you to know you’ve been an awesome bro!’
Feeling his hands release me, my skateboard flew forward. ‘Thaaaaaaaaank youuuuuuu!’ I shouted through my teeth.
The hill to the track was surprisingly bumpy. When you walk along the ground, you hardly even notice the uneven ground.
Sophia and I were neck and neck, racing towards our own set of pins at the bottom of the hill on the track. The line of students started about halfway down the path on both sides of us.
The further down the hill we rode, the faster we went. For a second, I was afraid I’d shoot back in time if my skateboard went too fast.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Sophia clutching her skateboard. She was close enough that I could hear her teeth chattering.
Down on the track, I saw Zoe with an excited smile on her face. Principal Davis was standing by her side with a grin of his own. Wyatt and his team looked bored, waiting on the bench for the hunt to be over.
Everything was looking pretty good as my skateboard pulled forward. That is, until I felt Sophia’s foot scrape my back. When I looked behind me, I saw that she was right on my tail, swinging one foot back and forth, trying to get me to fall off my skateboard.
‘Are you crazy?’ I shouted, feeling my board wobble underneath me.
She didn’t answer as she continued to swing her foot at me. Every time I looked back at her, I expected to see an angry girl staring daggers at me, but it was far more terrifying than that. She had no emotion on her face whatsoever. Blank and devoid of human expression – like a robot sent from the future to ‘take care of me’ because I would grow up to be the leader of the human resistance. (C’mon, you’ve seen The Terminator, right?)
My skateboard shook violently under my butt as the wheels rattled over the dirt. The cold air stung my cheeks and Sophia’s foot swung at me again.
‘Stop that!’ I shouted, but it was too late.
I felt the front of my board dig into the dirt, stopping me instantly. No wait, that’s not right – it stopped the skateboard instantly. I, on the other hand, shot forward like I was fired out of a cannon.
Sailing through the air, everything was peaceful and silent. I even had enough time to see that Sophia had also tripped herself up because her skateboard smashed into mine.
And just like me, she was flying over the grass … coming straight at me with eyes burning red. Shooting both hands forward, I watched in horror as her skin changed from a pale fleshy colour to a super shiny liquid metal.
I tried to land on the ground, but I was still flying too fast, unable to do anything but watch as the hipster gained on me.
Her fingers suddenly morphed into long metallic blades that she snipped towards me, the same way everyone does with scissors before using them. Somehow she was able to speed up, gaining on me quickly.
Dirt and grass flew everywhere as she used her machete fingers to tear into the earth, nearly at my feet as we both flew through the air.
‘It’s no use! The machines have already won!’ she shouted, pointing her sword finger at me. ‘Give up now, Chase!’
I raised my fist. ‘Never!’ I screamed.
The back of my head thumped against the grass, and all the chaos ended instantly.
When I opened my eyes, I was staring at the principal’s face. Gavin, Brayden and Faith were standing next to him. Humongous white bowling pins were spread out around me too.
‘Never what?’ Zoe asked, kneeling next to me.
My fist was still over my head. ‘Um …’ I said, lowering my arm and sitting up, shaking another daydream from my head. ‘Nothing.’
Sophia was still halfway down the hill, stuck in the dirt.
‘What happened?’ I asked.
‘You torpedoed off your board and rolled into the bowling pins,’ Gavin explained. ‘After Sophia kicked your skateboard, she lost balance and fell on the hill.’
‘Huh …’ I grunted. ‘So … did we beat her?’
Zoe nodded rapidly, giving me such a bright smile that made the air feel less chilly.
I breathed a sigh of relief as I stood up.
Everyone on my team was celebrating with cheers and high fives. Even Zoe, who wasn’t on the team, joined in. It felt good to make it through the second-to-last competition for Spirit Week, but I wasn’t going to be happy until the last game of the week was over.
Back in the lobby, I was standing near the entrance of the cafeteria, leaning against the wall and minding my own business. Melvin was supposed to meet me there after the competition to go over some more ninja stuff, but I couldn’t find him anywhere.
With my luck, he’d probably decided to quit too.
Kids were scattered pretty evenly between the lobby and the cafeteria. Those who didn’t feel like standing were sitting at lunch tables.
I stepped up to the tinted glass window and peered through. Maybe Melvin had already gone into the cafeteria before I got there.
‘Dreaming of what it’s like having friends?’ Wyatt asked from behind me.
I turned around. Wyatt was standing at the entrance of the cafeteria with the rest of his team. ‘What?’ I asked.
Wyatt pointed at the glass window. ‘I saw you,’ he said snidely. ‘Creepily watching other people and wishing you were part of their group.’
‘That’s not—’ I said.
But Wyatt cut me off, sounding a lot like a baby. ‘Are too! Are too, are too, are too!’
His team chuckled and bumped fists.
I nodded, rolling my eyes. ‘Okay.’
‘You should forfeit now,’ Wyatt suggested. ‘It’ll save you the humiliation of defeat. I mean, I know you’re used to it by now, but I seriously think you have a problem. Like, maybe you’re addicted to it?’ His face softened with a genuinely concerned look. ‘Chase, are you addicted to being the school loser? Because if so, I can help you with that.’
Wyatt was beginning to get on my nerves. Actually, Wyatt had never been off my nerves. ‘Oh yeah? How can you help?’ I asked.
‘My best advice is to have you quit the games cold turkey,’ he said super seriously as he stepped closer to me. And then he softly slugged my shoulder. With a sad smile, he said, ‘Just give up, kiddo.’
I stared back at the short boy before me, feeling my insides twist with anger.
Wyatt’s team managed to come first every time, which could’ve meant two things – either h
e was somehow scamming the system to win, or his team was actually good at the Spirit Week games.
Either way, I felt the crushing weight of defeat on my shoulders. There was a huge part of me that did want to back out now. The last game was less than a day away, and with Wyatt’s record, my odds for winning were pretty slim.
Gidget and Slug had suddenly appeared. They looked back and forth between Wyatt and me as we stared each other down, wondering what was going on.
If my team competed in the last game, we might lose in front of the entire school. Wyatt would win, and he’d get his public ninja clan. If that happened, then there’s no telling what kind of evil schemes he’d be able to get away with.
But if I quit, I could just disappear into the sea of other students and float my way through the rest of school until graduation. The more I thought about it, the better it sounded.
No more getting singled out. No more ninja clan to worry about. No more attention. No more humiliation or embarrassment. No more anything.
‘Dude,’ Wyatt said, snapping me away from my thoughts. ‘It’s been like a minute and half. Are you going to say something or just keep staring?’
I paused. ‘Nothing,’ I said. ‘I’m not going to say anything.’
‘Good,’ Wyatt said, turning around. He raised his hand, snapping his fingers at his teammates. They obediently followed their master through the cafeteria door. Wyatt reached into his back pocket and pulled out a crumpled bit of yellow paper, tossing it into the bin next to the entrance.
At the exact same time, I saw Melvin step out of the cafeteria doors. His arm was slung around a small pile of textbooks that also had his notepad on top. He was so busy scribbling some chicken scratch onto the paper that he didn’t even see Wyatt.
When they collided, Wyatt freaked.
‘Why don’t you watch where you’re going?’ Wyatt shouted like a maniac, throwing his arms into the air.
Melvin looked up from his notepad, confused. ‘What? I’m sorry, I was just—’
Immediately Wyatt snatched Melvin’s books from him and slammed them into the rubbish bin. Then he turned around and continued his tirade. ‘You almost made me fall! Is that what you wanted? Were you trying to do it on purpose?’
Melvin stuttered, unsure of what to say.
And me? I was already dashing to get between Wyatt and Melvin. I didn’t have a plan, but I knew I couldn’t waste time trying to think of one.
Stepping between the two boys, I smiled at Wyatt. ‘It was an accident, alright?’
Wyatt stepped forward, pushing at my shoulders. ‘C’mon, man. Gimme a reason!’
‘I’ll give you a reason to walk away,’ I said, realising everyone in the lunchroom was staring. ‘Because you and I have a showdown tomorrow, and if you throw any punches, you’ll be disqualified in a heartbeat. You might as well not even show up to the game if that happens.’
Wyatt took a breath, slowly leaning back. ‘C’mon, guys,’ he said, gesturing to his team. ‘These dandelions aren’t worth the trouble anyway.’
As Wyatt and his squad walked away, I reached into the bin and grabbed Melvin’s stuff, along with bits of rubbish that had stuck to his books.
‘Did he just call us dandelions?’ Melvin asked.
‘Yeah,’ I said, doing my best to wipe off the nasty mixture of mashed potatoes and spaghetti sauce from Melvin’s textbooks. ‘He says weird things like that all the time. Sometimes they make sense, but most of the time they don’t.’
‘Thanks,’ Melvin said, taking his books from me. His notepad was still in one piece, but it was soaked in corn juice. ‘Sick.’
Melvin and I sat at one of the empty tables near the stage.
‘So I’m still looking into the whole thing about Wyatt winning these games so easily,’ Melvin said, ‘but I’m not coming up with anything. It looks like he’s just really good at leading his team.’
Grunting, I leaned forward, burying my face in my hands. ‘I was afraid of that.’
‘Which makes what I have to say even harder for me,’ Melvin choked out.
I peeked between my fingers, already knowing what he was gonna say. ‘What?’
Melvin wasn’t the kind of kid who skirted around a subject. He was a straight-to-the-point kind of guy, which was why I respected him.
‘I quit,’ he said.
‘But I saved your butt back there,’ I sighed.
‘And I appreciate that,’ he replied politely. ‘But I don’t think this whole ninja thing is for me.’
‘So that’s it then? You’re done?’
‘Well, yeah,’ Melvin said. ‘That’s what quitting means.’
A knot formed in my throat. ‘Well, that does it. Worst. Ninja. Leader. Ever.’
Melvin stood up. ‘Thanks for helping me out with Wyatt back there. I’ll definitely be rooting for your team tomorrow. Good luck.’
He wasn’t sarcastic when he said it.
I rested my chin on the cold lunch table and watched the other students talking and laughing with each other. There was so much that happened behind the scenes at this school, and I was beginning to envy the kids who didn’t have a clue about any of it.
‘So he just up and quit? Just like that?’ Brayden asked, sitting on the opposite side of the bench I was on.
We were outside, killing time before going into the school. The sun was bright and the air was cold and dry. Perfect weather if you asked me, which you didn’t, so I’m just sayin’.
‘He did,’ I said to Brayden. ‘So it’s just down to you and me.’
Brayden nodded slowly, watching the other kids gather at the front doors.
‘Unless you’re quitting now too,’ I half-joked.
‘Course not,’ Brayden said. ‘There’s no way I can go back to normal life after being in your ninja clan. You know how boring it would be? Normal school? Barf!’
‘Hey, guys,’ a boy’s voice said as his shadow crept toward our feet.
When I looked up, I saw Brody Valentine standing over me. I sort of considered him a friend, but I didn’t really know anything about him. We had zero classes together and only occasionally saw each other in the hallways.
Faith and Zoe were friends with one of his friends, Maddie, so he’s really just a friend-of-a-friend.
‘What’s up, dude?’ I asked Brody.
‘Typical things, y’know. Same stuff, different day,’ he said, breathing out small puffs of fog in the frigid air.
Unsure of how to carry on the conversation, I nodded. ‘Cool,’ and then repeated it slower. ‘Coooooooooool.’
Brody laughed, looking like he shared the exact awkward feeling I had. ‘So Maddie told me—’ he stopped. ‘You guys know Maddie?’
Brayden and I nodded.
‘Well, she told me you were having a rough couple of weeks,’ Brody said nervously. ‘I know this might be weird, but if you ever need anything, just let me know. Seriously, anything.’
I wasn’t sure why, but that simple act of reaching out to me was enough to brighten my morning, even if just a tiny bit.
It was such a small gesture from Brody, but it meant so much to me, like others actually cared about how I was feeling. I made sure to take a mental note about what I was thinking – be cool to everyone, all the time, because everyone needs it even if it doesn’t seem like they do.
I should put that on a t-shirt.
Finally, I said, ‘Thanks, man. I’m good.’
‘Alright,’ he said, puffing out his chest. ‘Well, the offer still stands, 'kay? For both of you.’
Brayden smiled. ‘Cool.’
I nodded.
We both watched Brody go through the school doors.
That afternoon, I was outside the gymnasium doors with Zoe and Faith. Gavin and Brayden were already inside the gym waiting for the games to begin.
‘Any chance you’ll tell me what the final game for today is?’ I asked my cousin, hoping that she’d actually give in this time.
‘You only have to wait, l
ike, ten more minutes, and you’ll find out along with everyone else!’ Faith said.
‘I know, right?’ Zoe huffed, folding her arms. ‘You’ve been trying all week to get special treatment just ’cause you’re my cousin. Not a chance in heck, son!’
‘The school year isn’t over,’ I said. ‘There’s still plenty of time.’
Zoe and Faith laughed.
Sixth graders pushed past us, clearing out the halls and entering the gym. No sign of Wyatt’s team yet, but that didn’t mean much. They were around. I heard Principal Davis giving announcements about sitting space and how everyone needed to be clear of the centre of the gym.
And then I saw it. A flash of red from the corner of my eye. It was so quick that I wouldn’t even have noticed it if I were a regular student.
But I wasn’t a regular student. I was a ninja.
The red blur was all the way down the hall. If the blur had been any other colour, I would’ve ignored it, but it was red. I had an inkling that it might be someone from the red ninja clan.
I folded my arms and stared at the end of the hallway as Faith and Zoe blah blah blahed back and forth to each other.
The flash of blur happened again, but this time I saw exactly what was going on. It was one of Wyatt’s red ninjas chasing after another student. I think I even heard the faint sound of someone shouting for help.
I turned back to Zoe. ‘Hey,’ I said quickly. ‘You guys head in there. I have to, um, y’know, bathroom break.’ I tend to say too much when bending the truth, which was why I added, ‘Hope there’s a plunger in there! Am I right?’
My brain screamed in my skull. Why would you say that?
Zoe and Faith both looked horrified.
‘Okaaaaay,’ Zoe said. ‘TMI, but good luck with that.’
‘Thanks,’ I said as I lowered my head like an embarrassed dog. ‘I’ll catch up.’
‘Well, hurry up!’ Faith said. ‘The last game’s gonna start soon.’
‘And you don’t want Wyatt to win by default if you don’t show up,’ Zoe said. ‘If the entire team isn’t there, then it’s an automatic forfeit.’
Spirit Week Shenanigans Page 9
