So you could see how Wyatt telling Principal Davis about my ninja clan wouldn’t be the most awesome thing ever… I would be the one who got busted for those crimes.
I stared at Wyatt. I had no doubt that he’d tell Principal Davis about my secret ninja clan. Even though I was framed, I wasn’t sure anyone would want to hear my side of the story.
Wyatt chomped on his spearmint gum like a dimwitted camel. The sloshing sound was unnerving. There he was – the worst bully I’d ever stood before, threatening to tell on me.
I shook my head. There was no way I was gonna go down like that. He had power and he was trying to hold it over my head like a balloon filled with water. If I upset him, he’d pop the balloon and soak me to my skin.
But then a crazy thing happened in my head. I blinked a couple of times, collecting my thoughts, and suddenly everything became clear to me.
All I had to do was take that power away from him.
I chuckled as the realisation hit me. He said he’d give me a moment to think about it, but all I needed was a millisecond.
I pulled the moose mask off and dropped it to the ground with a thud. Most of the gym class gasped when they realised it was me in the costume, but I didn’t really care. Spinning around, I began marching across the field, back to the school.
‘Wait,’ Wyatt muttered. ‘What’re you doing? Where are you going?’
‘I’m going to tell Principal Davis myself,’ I shouted.
I could hear Wyatt’s panic as he spoke to Jake and his crew. ‘Is he serious? He’s going to go to the principal? That’s madness! What’s wrong with him?’
My smile stretched wider across my face.
Wyatt’s footsteps beat against the grassy field as he caught up to me. Cutting me off, he held his hands up. ‘Fine, dude! You win! We don’t have Gavin! Just don’t go to Davis and tell him everything, okay?’
I stopped walking. ‘What do you mean you don’t have Gavin?’
Wyatt caught his breath, reluctant to tell me the truth. Finally, he squeezed his eyes shut and gave up. ‘My ninjas couldn’t find him after you two split up. He got away from us, alright? I was lying to you to get you to do what I wanted. You called my bluff. Happy? Gavin’s in class right now – fit as a fiddle, snug as a bug, cosy as a cat! However you wanna say it! He’s fine!’
I looked Wyatt in the eye. He looked more worried than angry. ‘How do you know he’s in class?’ I asked.
Wyatt put his hands on his hips and glared at me. ‘I’m the hall monitor captain, remember? I checked on him after the bell rang. He didn’t even look fazed.’
For about two seconds, I forgot that Wyatt was the bad guy. Then it all came back to me. I stepped forward, tapping my finger against his chest. ‘Principal Davis has no clue about you or your ninjas, does he?’
‘Of course he doesn’t!’ Wyatt said sternly. ‘Are you nuts?’
I stepped past the leader of the red ninja clan and continued towards the locker rooms. Gym wasn’t over, but I’d already had all the exercise I could handle for that day. Coach Cooper wouldn’t let me out of class until it was over, but I knew he wouldn’t mind if I took it easy right next to him. Maybe he had an extra glass of lemonade.
‘Chase!’ Wyatt shouted.
I spun around, waiting for him to speak.
‘We’re ninjas,’ he said. ‘And we live by a code, you and I. It’s like the bro code, but with ninjas.’
‘And what’s that?’ I asked. ‘I thought the bro code meant you couldn’t date your friend’s ex-girlfriend or something.’
‘Okay, it’s nothing like the bro code then,’ Wyatt admitted. ‘The point is that I’d never tell anyone about your secret identity, and I hope you’d do the same for me. I bluffed when I said I’d tell Principal Davis, but you should know it was an empty threat.’
I was confused. ‘Why are you telling me this?’
‘Because I feel like I owe it to you,’ Wyatt explained. ‘That’s at least one thing you can be sure about of me.’
Wyatt turned around and hiked back to the football field. I chewed my lip, confused. Since the beginning of the school year, Wyatt had been nothing but trouble for me. Was it possible that maybe he was starting to let up a little? From my experience with him, the answer should’ve been no, but everyone deserves a second chance …
Don’t they?
When I got to the cafeteria, I still couldn’t find Gavin. Several kids from my ninja clan were already in the cafeteria wearing their normal street clothes. I nodded to them as I walked through the doors, feeling a bit sheepish at having lost our base for a second time since becoming their leader. I wish I could tell them I had a plan to fix everything, but the truth was that I didn’t. I felt exhausted and stretched thin after everything that had happened this week, like a drop of syrup trying to cover a stack of pancakes.
After a minute of walking aimlessly, I saw Gavin sitting with Zoe and Faith. I was happy to see he wasn’t a prisoner somewhere in the dungeon of the school. I dragged my feet across the ground towards them.
‘You look tired,’ Faith said when she noticed me.
‘I am,’ I replied, taking a seat next to her.
‘Well, you can take it easy,’ Zoe said. ‘We haven’t been able to find Calvin anywhere in here.’
I looked around the cafeteria. I wasn’t surprised to see that a lot of the other sixth graders were missing. It wasn’t like it was totally empty, but it was at least empty enough that even a few of the teachers standing against the wall had started to notice.
‘You know where he probably is?’ I asked, feeling a pit in my stomach at the thought of the red ninjas secret greenhouse training room.
Gavin nodded, but didn’t say anything. I didn’t either because I didn’t want to freak out Zoe or Faith.
‘Where?’ Zoe asked. ‘In fact, it seems like a bunch of kids have been absent this week, hasn’t it?’
Faith shrugged a shoulder. ‘Just during lunch,’ she said. ‘All my classes have been full, which is weird because the cafeteria seems so empty.’
I kept quiet, fully knowing that the missing kids were training as red ninjas.
Zoe turned around, trying to peer through the tinted glass walls of the cafeteria so she could see the library, which was directly on the other side of the hall. ‘They better not be in the library! I’d hate if that room got flooded with a bunch of students. I’d never find a seat.’
‘Doubt it,’ Faith joked. ‘Maybe the cafeteria is just getting bigger?’
I stood up. ‘I’m gonna take a look around,’ I said sombrely as I started to walk away from the table.
Gavin started to get up, but I raised my hand. ‘It’s cool,’ I said. ‘I just want to be alone for now.’
Dropping back into his chair, Gavin faced Zoe and Faith again. I could hear their jokes as I walked farther down the aisle. I hoped their feelings weren’t hurt. I just needed to be in my own head.
All of the talent show gear was set up, waiting for Friday, which was less than twenty-four hours away. I had an awful feeling that Calvin was going to pull some prank during the show, wrecking it for everyone. It was so weird trying to picture it all happening because in my mind, Calvin’s face was blank since I didn’t know who he was or what he even looked like.
I knew that if I wanted to find Calvin, I could start with the greenhouse. The only thing about that was that it’d be filled with members of the red ninja clan, and I probably wouldn’t make it out without at least one black eye as a souvenir.
‘Mr Chase Cooper!’ said a boy’s voice from behind me.
I spun around, looking at the kid who said my name. I was a bit taken back when I recognised him. ‘President Sebastian?’
Sebastian held his open hand out to me. He was dressed in a fancy light grey suit with a red striped necktie. Standing behind him were two other boys in suits, both wearing aviator sunglasses and occasionally tossing a glance over their shoulders. ‘Pleased to finally meet you,’ the president said.
I took his hand, gripped it tightly, and shook it like I was in a business meeting. ‘Likewise,’ I said.
Grasping my hand firmly, the president yanked me close enough so he could whisper, ‘I know you were in the greenhouse yesterday. I know it was you.’
I pulled my hand away. ‘So what?’ I said, frustrated and angry that Sebastian wasn’t there to make peace. ‘I’m sure Wyatt filled you in on all the details, didn’t he?’
Sebastian tugged at his coat sleeve. ‘No,’ he said. ‘Wyatt never said a word about you. It was his cousin, Carlyle.’
‘What’s Carlyle got to do with it?’ I asked, and then I realised I actually had no clue what was happening at all. ‘No, wait. Start way back from the beginning. What’s your deal with Wyatt? Why’d you give him the position of hall monitor captain?’
‘Doesn’t Wyatt deserve it?’ Sebastian asked softly.
I was so shocked that I had to lift my jaw off the floor. ‘No,’ I said firmly. ‘He doesn’t deserve it! You’re planning something, and I know it.’
‘Oh, do you?’ Sebastian asked, folding his arms.
‘Well, no,’ I said, ‘but I assume that you are … since everything you’ve done so far has been shady.’
‘Welcome to the real world,’ Sebastian laughed. His face suddenly tightened. He glared at me and said, ‘Not that you can do anything to stop us now, but you best mind your business, son. Or else you’re done. ’Cause we’ve already won.’
I just about cracked up because he sounded like a kids’ rhyming book. ‘Yeah? Was it fun? When you won under the sun tanning yo’ buns?’
Sebastian’s face flushed with anger. He pointed at me. ‘Just stay out of our way, or you’ll be sorry!’
The two hall monitors stepped aside, allowing President Sebastian to walk through them. I watched as they used the kitchen doors to exit the cafeteria instead of the doors at the front of the room.
I knew that kid was up to something before, but now I really knew it. Unfortunately, I didn’t know what he was scheming. I doubted that it had anything to do with the talent show since Sebastian’s shady actions had started long before Zoe had even talked about putting it on.
Staring at the back of the stage, I thought about the white ninja that had saved me from getting my butt handed to me in a doggy bag. Was he a good guy or a bad guy? Since he helped me get away, I could only hope he was on my side.
Finally, the day of the talent show had arrived and everyone was in high spirits. Zoe was running around like a superhero, supervising every little detail.
Students were lined up on the stage, reading sheets of paper that probably had the schedule for the morning. The stage that Gavin had fixed looked awesome and solid as a rock. In fact, if I didn’t know the corner was busted earlier in the week, I’d never have been able to tell.
Overnight, a crew had set up fold-out chairs in rows for the audience. The cafeteria lights had been switched off and the talent show stage lights were being tested, making the room look like some sort of dance club.
The only students in the cafeteria were those who had acts in the show. Everyone was standing around, laughing and having a good time. I was relieved see others enjoying themselves. The missing penguin had been in everyone’s thoughts all week, but nobody knew that Hotcakes might’ve been just the tip of the iceberg.
The rest of the sixth graders would arrive in about twenty minutes when homeroom was dismissed. The first half of the school day was dedicated to Zoe’s talent show, which was killer because it meant all those classes would be put on hold, but it also meant the last half of the day’s classes would be put on hold too, replaced with a three-hour outdoor lunch. The entire day was basically a free day.
Gavin was sitting on the edge of the stage so I had to weave between students to get to him. Just beyond the stage curtain were props for different acts.
Some bright blue frisbees caught my eye right away. They were extra cool because they had a four-pointed star printed on them that reminded me of ninja stars.
I heard Zoe’s voice nearby. ‘I don’t understand why that scaffolding is here still,’ she growled. ‘It’s such an eyesore!’
Looking to my left, I saw her venting some frustration to Gavin and Faith.
‘When people look back on this day, all they’re gonna think of is that ugly scaffolding!’ Zoe said, pointing at it. ‘Look! Someone even left paint cans on top of it!’
Gavin patted the air. I think it’s becoming his signature move. ‘Relax,’ he said calmly. ‘I’ll find Adam and figure it all out. You just worry about the talent show.’
Zoe held up her clipboard. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘There’s just so much to do before the show starts, which is in about twenty minutes.’ She looked over at me. ‘Oh, good! You’re here! Could you do me a favour?’
‘Of course,’ I said.
Zoe pointed to a couple of fold-out chairs leaning against the front of the stage. ‘Could you take those backstage? We’ve got enough chairs out here.’
I wrapped my hands around the two chairs, surprised by how heavy they were. I played it off like it was no big deal. Smiling a little too wide, I struggled to say, ‘No problemo!’
Zoe returned to her clipboard and walked to the back of the cafeteria. Gavin and Faith followed, waiting for instructions.
I took the chairs backstage and leaned them against the wall. Opening and closing my fists, I tried to squeeze the pain out of them, hissing through my teeth.
And that’s when I saw him. Hotcakes. He was poking his head out from the small opening in the wall.
‘Seriously?’ I said. As I slowly approached, I spoke softly. ‘There’s no way I’m gonna scream your name while I’m back here so please just let me grab your tiny little bird body…’
Hotcakes stared at my outstretched hands. He jerked his body, shivering, but didn’t move.
‘Goooooood birdie,’ I sang. ‘Goooooooood biiiiiiiirdie.’
Hotcakes hopped forward and hissed at me.
I flinched, reeling my hands back in, and scolded the penguin through my clenched teeth. ‘You’re being a bad penguin! You know that? Bad penguin!’
Instead of running back into the opening in the wall, Hotcakes darted further backstage, zooming like a tiny missile.
I considered calling out for help, but decided against it. It was still early in the morning so the red ninjas were sure to be training in the greenhouse. I couldn’t risk them hearing me.
I followed Hotcakes backstage. ‘Heeeeeeere, Hotcaaaaaaakes,’ I whispered. ‘Heeeeeeere, frustrating little bird that has wings but can’t fly.’
The cardboard boxes along the walls shook slightly, one after the other. Reminding myself that Sophia said Hotcakes was perfectly safe and wouldn’t bite, I continued to follow him through the cramped path backstage.
I kept my distance as Hotcakes bumped into different boxes and hanging costumes. Every few seconds, the penguin would dash across the narrow corridor, disturbing all the junk on the other side. If I didn’t know it was a penguin, I would’ve been freaked out that I had just found a ghost.
Soon the hallway narrowed so much that it was impossible to keep going. The short stack of cardboards boxes against the end of the corridor jostled and then suddenly stopped.
‘What?’ I said, confused. Slowly moving my foot forward, I slid the short stack of cardboard boxes out of the way.
On the other side of the boxes, where I thought the backstage ended, was a thin metal door that was pushed open about fifteen centimetres. The penguin must’ve gone into the next room.
I opened the door all the way and found a set of stairs. It was only half a flight, and I wasn’t surprised to see Hotcakes at the top, peeking out at me almost mockingly.
Steadily, I walked up the stairs without taking my eyes off the penguin. But as the rest of the room came into view, I almost forgot he was even there.
You know that point in a movie when the hero suddenly makes a life-changing discov
ery? Like, the camera shows them walking over a small, rocky hill as a massive background reveals itself, and the orchestra music starts slowly swelling until the camera swings around and shows you the shocked look on the hero’s face. That’s when the drums start pounding in the background, and it’s almost like the hero has been transformed…
Yeah, that’s how it felt as I walked up those dirty steps.
At the top of the staircase, the room completely opened up. It was so large that I felt tiny standing in the middle of it. My sneakers squished on the ground with each step I took. When I looked down, I saw that I was walking on wrestling mats that covered the entire floor.
The walls were concrete blocks with flags hanging from them. Each flag represented a year that Buchanan had won a wrestling tournament. The last flag at the far end of the room had ‘1999’ on it.
If the red ninjas weren’t training here, they didn’t know it even existed. Ideas started racing through my mind of how awesome it would be if my ninja clan had a place like this to train in.
I heard a chirp at my feet. When I looked down, Hotcakes was nestled against my calf. A small part of me couldn’t shake the idea that maybe Hotcakes had brought me here on purpose. Carefully, I reached down and wrapped my hands around him. He didn’t try to wriggle free.
A door across the room creaked open. Coach Cooper stepped through and walked over to the light switch on the wall. He stopped when he noticed me. ‘Chase?’ he asked. ‘What’re you doing—’ he paused, pointing at the bird in my hands. ‘You found the penguin!’
‘I did!’ I laughed.
‘Did you follow it in here?’ Coach Cooper asked.
‘Yeah,’ I said. ‘It came in through the door down the steps.’
Terror at the Talent Show Page 9