“What kind of mark?” Toni asked.
“Well, that’s my other problem. I hardly saw it. It was a light-colored symbol, or something, on a black sole. But it wasn’t very clear.” I thought hard. “It was kind of like a … circle, maybe, but not colored in. A sort of wavy circle.”
“Did it look like the guy drew it on there, or was it part of the shoe?” Toni asked.
“I think it might have been drawn,” I said slowly. “Maybe.”
Toni chewed the inside of her left cheek, thinking.
“I still can’t believe you’re in here,” she said, shaking her head. “That’s just not right.”
Just then, the girl at Mrs. V’s desk (I think I heard Mrs. V call her Kate) called out to the other girl.
“Danika, tell Mrs. V your idea about the Secret Keeper Girl Club!” And she waved her hand to have Danika join her at Mrs. V’s desk. Kate seems uber-perky.
Danika is the “Lunch-Thrower.” I figured that out while I was writing my list. She has glossy, stick-straight black hair, and there wasn’t a thing out of place from the top of her pink headband to her sparkly pink toenails. She really doesn’t look like someone who would toss her lunch at a teacher.
Come to think of it, none of the girls in the room seemed like they should be there.
Toni and I kind of listened in as Danika told Mrs. V about her idea for a girls’ club. The club would be a place where girlfriends could talk about what they’re going through and know their problems wouldn’t be blabbed about. A club of true friends that you trust and who look out for you.
I most definitely could use a club like that right about … let me see … now! I thought. This whole friendless thing was getting really old really fast.
Kate and Danika talked to Mrs. V quietly for a few more minutes. I felt pretty left out. It was obvious that they didn’t want Toni and me to hear them.
What happened next seemed way too perfect. All three of them came over to Toni and me and just outright asked if we wanted to be part of the Secret Keeper Girl Club.
“Yes!” I blurted out, surprising myself. Then I added slowly, “Yes, I’ll do it!”
Toni agreed to be part of the club, too. I introduced myself for real to Kate and Danika. They said we would meet once a week, on Wednesdays after school, here in Mrs. V’s art room.
Was it possible that I’d just moved from friendless, spandex-wearing, fire-alarm-chick to an actual member of the social network of sixth grade at Rutherford B. Hayes Middle School? Of course, it was a little strange that I found the Secret Keeper Girl Club and three new friends in detention. Strange, but totally cool.
Now, I just needed to find the guy who actually pulled that fire alarm. I can’t wait to wrap my fingers around his creepy little neck.
If only I could remember that crazy shape drawn on his black-soled shoe …
CHAPTER 5
Hiccups and Minivans
I never knew you could get hiccups that could actually lift you off your seat.
A boy sitting next to me in science class had the hiccups of all hiccups. It sounded like an enormous toad had been set loose in the classroom. Of course, the class completely cracked up laughing.
“Trevor, is there a problem?” asked Mr. Picadilly.
“I have (CROAK!) the hiccups, Mr. Pic—(CROAK!),” Trevor tried to answer.
“Good gracious, Trevor! Those aren’t hiccups; they sound more like a cry of alarm from an alien life form!” Mr. Picadilly exclaimed.
Then the class really fell apart. Mr. Picadilly is a funny teacher. He makes the craziest faces when he’s explaining the food chain of the rain forest.
“Go get some water!” Mr. Picadilly said to Trevor.
Trevor’s face was as red as his hair, but he was grinning as he left the room.
There were only a few minutes left in class, and Mr. Picadilly said we could talk quietly. So when Trevor came back to his seat, I turned to him and said, “Those were insane! Have you always hiccupped like that?”
“Yeah,” Trevor said. “Forever and ever. It rocks!”
“You do know who that is, don’t you?” A familiar voice from behind cut into our conversation. We both turned. It was Brock—without food in his mouth, thank goodness.
“That’s Ding-Dong!” Brock continued excitedly.
Trevor didn’t even look confused. He knew what Brock was referring to, I guessed.
“Back off, Brock,” Trevor said, surprising me.
“I’m just sayin’!” Brock said, and scooched back in his seat.
I rolled my eyes.
“I don’t get why so many kids think I’m cool because of the whole fire alarm thing,” I said. “It drives me crazy because I didn’t do it! And nobody believes me!”
“Yeah,” he mumbled and then changed the subject. “So … um … you’re from Africa, huh? Jambo! That’s all I know.”
“‘Hello’ is just fine, especially since ‘jambo’ is Swahili, and I am a Nigerian who was born in Texas,” I said.
“Oh,” Trevor said. “So what’s with your name, anyway?”
I explained—again. I am always explaining my name. I should totally come up with a card or something that I can hand to people when they ask. It could seriously save time.
“Whoa,” he said when I finished. “And I’m just Trevor. No story.”
Where have I heard that before? I thought. Then I remembered. Red hair! That lady from the Popcorn Festival! “What’s your last name?” I asked.
“Kenworth,” he said.
“No way!” I said. “You’re Sue Kenworth’s son! I should have known by your hair.”
“How do you know my mom?” he asked.
“Ummmm … I met her at the Popcorn Festival,” I said truthfully, but avoiding any exposure of my day in the corncob suit.
“Oh yeah,” Trevor said as he thought about it. “I kind of remember her saying something about some girl. Weren’t you dressed up, or something?”
“Never mind,” I said quickly.
The bell rang, and the whole class moved toward the door like a herd of cows.
“See you later,” I said to Trevor.
“Yeah,” he answered, and popped his chin in my general direction.
He seemed nice enough.
After detention that afternoon, Toni and I were waiting outside for my mom to pick me up. Toni was going to come home with me so we could figure out how to find the shoe guy.
“Hey, Trevor,” I said, as my new boy-bud walked by in a football uniform.
“Hey,” he said back. Then he locked eyes with Toni, who had frozen beside me.
They glared at each other silently for about two seconds. Then Trevor pushed past us.
“Whoa! What was that?” I asked. “I think I saw smoke coming out of your ears.”
“Long story,” Toni said. “The short version is that Trevor is a slimeball that’s too thick-headed to know when he’s been beat.”
One thing I’d learned really quickly is that Toni is crazy into sports and super competitive. She actually landed in detention for trying out for the boys’ football team, which is totally against school rules! Now, I was learning that she sure didn’t like Trevor.
“Wow,” I said. “I met him today in Social Studies. He’s just about the only person who didn’t ask me about the fire alarm.” I shrugged. “He seems nice.”
“You can’t be serious,” Toni said, making a face like she had smelled roadkill. “I can think of a whole bunch of words to describe Trevor Kenworth, and ‘nice’ isn’t one of them!”
“Whoa! Chill out, chica!” I said, kind of joking.
Mom pulled her tan minivan up to the curb beside us and I jumped in first, making room for Toni.
I gave a quick introduction to my sisters and brother. An Alayna Rayne song blared from the radio. She’s amazing and my brother and sisters like her, too. Peace and Ike started yelling and Patience was doing a crazy little wiggle dance in her car seat. Toni and I sang along, using the pen
cils in our hands as microphones.
When the song ended, we laughed and caught our breath in a moment of silence.
Peace suddenly asked, “Have you come up with a way to find the shoe guy?”
“What shoe guy?” Ike asked.
“The fire alarm person. The one who really pulled it,” Peace said to Ike.
“We haven’t come up with any good ideas yet,” I said, looking at Toni and shrugging.
“I’ve been thinking,” Peace continued. “How about making everyone crawl around on their hands and knees so you can see the bottoms of their shoes?”
“How would I get them to do that?” I asked.
“Tell them it’s Somersault Day!” Ike said.
“Pretend you’re all in caves!” Peace said.
“Stop, drop, and roll!” Ike shouted. “Like in a fire!”
“That doesn’t make any sense,” Peace said, crossing her arms.
“Your little sibs are creative creatures,” Toni said.
“Throw some candy,” said a quiet little voice.
“What?” we said together. Peace, Ike, and I all looked at Patience. I had no idea she’d been paying attention to what we were talking about.
“Throw some candy. You know, like a peen-yada. Everybody crawls for candy,” Patience said slowly, and shrugged. Her eyes never left the window.
“Huh,” I said thoughtfully. “A piñata … that’s not a bad idea, Pay-Pay. U mm … thanks, guys.”
“You’re welcome,” they all said at once.
I’d have to be really crazy to start flinging candy at people.
Then again, my Secret Keeper Girl sister, Toni, had a huge smile on her face.
CHAPTER 6
Cloudy with a Chance of Candy Showers
Toni and I waited till lunch on Monday, when there would be the most people all together in one place. We walked to a spot where there weren’t any tables. Kids were everywhere, and no one was paying any attention to us.
“Ya know,” said Toni, “there’s just one thing I have to say before we start this crazy stuff.”
“What?” I asked, annoyed at the delay.
“Well,” she went on, “as your Secret Keeper sister, I have to tell you the truth. Sometimes the bad guy gets away.”
She just let that hang out there in between us, like a UFO, and waited for me to freak. “Are you prepared to deal with it if you don’t ever find out who did this?” she asked.
I raised my left eyebrow and she just shrugged her shoulders.
I reached into the bag I’d brought with me. Toni reached into her backpack. We both grabbed as much candy as we could hold in our hands, keeping them concealed in the bags. I nodded and we threw the candy straight up, as high as humanly possible into the airspace that was the Rutherford B. Hayes Middle School cafeteria. I watched the next moments unfold in what seemed like slow motion. Red hot fireballs, a rainbow of jawbreakers, caramel squares, Blo-Pops, and individually wrapped Twizzlers sailed through the air. As they rained back down, I heard someone say, “Ow!! My eye! Something hit my eye!”
I was pretty sure it was a jawbreaker.
Then another kid yelled, “It’s raining candy-y-y!!!”
Originally, my goal was to get out of the way and check out as many shoe soles as possible while everyone was crawling around grabbing candy … but it never happened.
As I backed away, an eager candy diver accidentally tripped me. My feet flew out in front of me, and I was in the air for just a second before sitting hard on the floor.
If I’m learning anything in this new town, it’s how to wipe out!
Whatever candy was left in my bag dumped out, causing more chaos. I looked up just in time to see a girl get elbowed in the back. She was holding milk and fruit punch. Both her drinks tipped over and I was suddenly covered in a frothy mixture of pink liquid.
“My hair!” I wailed.
I was sitting there, sputtering and wiping my eyes, when someone else slipped and landed in a heap on top of me.
Oooff!
It was Toni.
Gasping for air, we dug ourselves out of the candy war zone before anything else could go wrong. My eyes were stinging, my clothes were stained, and fruit-punch flavored milk was still making its way through my tight curls and down my face.
This had been a bad idea.
Toni walked me to the girls’ room so I could clean up. I looked in the mirror to see pink drizzles still dripping from my hair. My hoodie was drenched, too. I pulled it off over my head.
“That was crazy back there!” she said, but I could tell she loved it.
I wanted to laugh, but the whole thing wasn’t very funny yet—maybe in a few minutes. Right now, all I could think of was how sore and sticky I was. My orange Chucks stuck to the floor.
Kate and Danika just happened to pop in to the same bathroom.
“Wow!” said Kate. “You’ve been slimed! What happened?”
We explained.
“It was cool!” said Toni.
“Yeah?” asked Danika. “It’s going to be real cool if our club gets shut down and we all end up in detention again for causing mass chaos with candy in the cafeteria!”
We all giggled at how that sounded.
“Seriously, Yuzi,” said Kate. “You might want to take this whole revenge thing a little less seriously.”
No one said anything, but everyone was fussing over me. Danika was fixing my hair. Toni was wiping my shoes with a wet brown paper towel. “I’ve got an extra hoodie in my backpack,” offered Kate. She pulled it out and handed it to me. Then the bell rang.
We dashed out of the bathroom to make it to class.
On the way, I balled up my soggy hoodie and put it in my locker. That’s going to smell wonderful later, I thought. At the bottom of my locker, next to some books, lay an innocent-looking caramel square candy.
I looked at it and said, “Nooooo, thank you!” And I firmly shut and locked the long metal door, imprisoning the evil little confection.
No matter what my Secret Keeper friends said, I wanted to find “the bad guy,” as Toni had called him, and lock him up.
There’s got to be a better way to find that shoe! I thought.
CHAPTER 7
Discovering Secret Shark Teeth
“Yum! Banana berry!” I said, sniffing the yummy gloss I was putting on my lips.
It was the end of our first SKG club meeting. Toni had come late, but when she had finally arrived, Danika called the meeting to order. She went over the club rules we had so far, including the one about only wearing banana berry lipgloss. Kate presented us all with our first tube.
Even though the jury was still out on whether I liked Marion, Ohio, I knew I was going to like this club. I smacked my lips.
About then Danika slipped out of the classroom with something from Mrs. V Probably delivering something to the office, I thought. Mrs. V walked toward the rest of us.
“I have an idea,” she said. “Why don’t each of you grab a piece of paper and draw a picture that shows how you feel about life right now?” She was just way too deep of a thinker for me sometimes. All I wanted to do was talk to my Secret Keeper Girl sisters about how to find the guy who’d gotten me into detention.
We all just stared at her until Kate said, “I don’t get it, Mrs. V. What do you mean?”
Mrs. V smiled. “Well, I know that if something’s really bothering me, sometimes it helps me to use art to express my feelings about it. For example, after my cat got sick and died, I was really sad and I missed her a lot. So I painted a picture of her sleeping in her favorite spot and it actually made me feel better.”
“I think I get it,” said Toni. “But I’m not sure I’m that great at drawing stuff.”
“You don’t have to be,” Mrs. V said. “It’s not about winning a contest or anything. It’s just for you.”
“I think it’s a great idea, Mrs. V!” I said. “I’ve totally run out of ideas for finding the guy who pulled the fire alarm. Maybe
this will help me think of the perfect way to find him!”
We all grabbed some paper and things to draw with. Staring at the blank paper in front of me, I concentrated really hard on what I should draw to describe what I’m feeling.
A shoe? No. I’m tired of shoes.
A cob of corn? Definitely not.
Aha! I know!
I laid all the colored pencils out and started sketching. A few minutes later, Mrs. V said, “Does anyone want to show the rest of us what you sketched?”
I shot my hand up and said, “Me! I’ll go first!”
“Okay, Yuzi. Go right ahead,” Mrs. V said as she sat on her desk.
I took a deep breath, held up my picture, and said, “I drew a picture of a judge, who kind of looks like Principal Butter. He’s pointing down at me and saying, ‘Yuzi! Mrs. Chickory thinks you pulled the fire alarm, so here’s a pink slip!’ That’s me down there and I’m saying, ‘I didn’t do it! Why doesn’t anyone believe me?!’ And that’s Danika, Kate, and Toni dressed as super-hero detectives and you’re all saying, ‘Don’t worry, Yuzi! The Secret Keeper Girls will save you!’ I’m sorry, Mrs. V, but I didn’t have time to put you in the picture yet.”
“Very good, Yuzi, and you really are a talented artist!” Mrs. V said. She clapped for me, and Toni and Kate joined in.
“But, Yuzi,” Mrs. V said. “Let me ask you something.” “’kay,” I said.
“Didn’t you say you nailed some kid in the cafeteria in the eye with a jawbreaker a couple days ago?” she said.
“Well, yeah,” I said. “I sure did.”
We laughed.
“Did you find that kid and tell them it was you who did it?” she asked.
“Well, no,” I said. “I didn’t mean to … it just got out of control … it was totally crazy.”
We were all quiet.
“Sometimes, things ‘get out of control,’” said Mrs. V. I got kind of a heavy feeling in my stomach like I get when I eat too many of my mom’s famous meat pies. Only, my stomach felt empty, too. It wasn’t a good feeling. For the first time, I considered the fact that maybe, just maybe, the guy who pulled the fire alarm didn’t mean to pin it on me.
Secret Keeper Girl Fiction Series Page 11