‘What?’ I asked. ‘Clearing out the wooded area?’
Mr Cooper returned his attention to his clipboard and started scribbling notes. ‘Yep. Seems Gavin and his crew found a hidden spot back there with some lockers and ninja costumes. He convinced the school president that it should be torn up.’
I felt sick, and I could see that Brayden did too. Our ninja hideout was probably being ripped to shreds at that exact moment. ‘And Principal Davis just allowed that to happen? How much power does the school president have?’
‘It’s not about how much power he has,’ Mr Cooper said shaking his head. ‘It’s about the fact that this school has wanted to extend the track and field for years, but those woods have always been in the way. Principal Davis finally has his reason to clear them out, what with the kid in the ninja outfit causing trouble and all.’
‘But that was one kid!’ I said, feeling short of breath.
Mr Cooper paused. ‘I saw the hidden area myself this morning. It looked like dozens of kids have been messing around back there for a long time. There was even an abandoned locker filled with black ninja costumes … you don’t know anything about that, do you?’
‘No,’ I answered immediately, looking away.
‘Good,’ Mr Cooper said as he pushed the door to the gymnasium open. ‘Because it seems like they’d be a bad group of kids to get involved with.’
Brayden and I followed the line of students out the door. As soon as we got outside, I could hear the sound of chainsaws and tractors working at a distance. When we finally reached the track, we saw what Mr Cooper was talking about.
The trees were already mostly chopped down. The hideout had been completely demolished. It was weird seeing the sunlight pour across the entire area because I had only seen it covered in shadows. The old rusty lockers had been pulled away from the woods and were sitting out in the open next to some unmanned portaloos. Stuffed in a metal rubbish bin next to the lockers were the black ninja robes of my clan.
I made eye contact with one of the students walking closest to me. It was another member of my ninja clan but dressed in his street clothes. The sadness I saw in his eyes was heavy.
‘This isn’t your fault,’ Brayden said as he walked next to me on the track.
Another student, a girl, caught up with us. ‘We’ll find who did this, sir. We’ll make them pay.’
But I was too emotionally exhausted to feel anything. ‘Just forget it,’ I said. ‘It’s over. This whole thing is done, and it’s not worth fighting about.’
‘But, sir,’ the girl said.
‘No,’ I said, upset. ‘Seriously, there’s just so much damage done, and I’m not just talking about this stupid hideout.’
‘What are you talking about?’ she asked.
I glanced over my shoulder. There were other students walking closely behind us. They didn’t have their robes on, but I knew they were part of my ninja clan. I made sure to speak loudly enough so they all could hear. ‘I’m talking about everything. From the first week of school, this has just been problem after problem! First Wyatt stealing from the food drive, and then Carlyle and that whole pirate thing, and now this? Someone stole my outfit and turned it into a disaster! They stole a note from my bag and smeared it all over the school! Why? I don’t know, but I’m sure it’s got something to do with being a ninja. Now I have to eat lunch alone, and Faith is crushed!’
Nobody responded, which made me happy.
When we arrived in front of where the hideout used to be, everyone stopped walking. It wasn’t weird because other students were already there watching tractors push trees around. The whole area was already mostly cleared out, which means they must’ve started work on it the night before. The two hall monitors were standing at the edge of the demolition, pointing at spots in the woods and talking.
With an orange construction vest on, Gavin approached us. He was holding a short stack of papers that looked like blueprints for bleachers they were clearing the woods for. ‘Morning, fellas,’ he said.
Some of the kids acknowledged him.
I stepped forward, curious as to how much he knew. ‘So what’d you find in there? I think I see some rusty lockers over there,’ I said, pointing to the spot by the portaloo.
Gavin nodded and pulled his aviator glasses down on his nose. ‘You sure do. After school yesterday, we were given a tip that a ninja was spotted around the trees here.’
‘Yeah?’ I asked.
‘Yep,’ Gavin replied. ‘Sure enough, when me and the boys investigated, we found that the problem was worse than the school thought.’ ‘How so?’
The captain of the hall monitors pointed to where the ninja hideout used to be. ‘Well, there’s plenty of evidence that suggests there was way more than just one. It was more like a whole team of crazy kids in ninja costumes.’
‘Ya don’t say,’ I said coldly, biting my lower lip.
Gavin nodded and took a deep breath. He exhaled loudly as he spoke. ‘Ain’t exactly sure what they were planning on doing, but it couldn’t have been good, right? A whole herd of ninjas running around in the woods? That can’t be normal.’
‘No,’ I said. ‘Can’t be.’
‘Principal Davis says they’ve been wanting to extend the track and field out here,’ Gavin said. ‘So he was real quick to give us the go ahead to clear it out.’
‘What if you’ve got the wrong guys?’ I asked, immediately regretting it.
Gavin paused and looked right at me. His eyes told me that his brain was running at full speed. Finally, he spoke. ‘What do ya mean – the wrong guys?’
‘Nothing,’ I said. ‘Never mind. I just think the decision to mow down the woods was made too quickly. That’s all.’
Gavin chewed his lip and looked at me. It was uncomfortable because I knew I said too much. Please just leave it at that! Don’t ask me anything else, or I might say something stupid!
Like he had read my mind, he spun on his heel and walked away. ‘Y’all have a good one now, y’hear?’
Brayden leaned closer to me and whispered. ‘Is Gavin the team leader for the construction crew too?’
I shrugged my shoulders and started walking the track again. ‘Whatever, I don’t care.’
‘Wait!’ Brayden cried. ‘Where are you going?’
I didn’t look back. ‘I just want to be alone.’
The others stayed to watch the crew slice up logs with their chainsaws. If it weren’t my entire life for the past two months they were destroying, I probably would’ve thought it was cool too.
Feeling a little sick, I decided to skip lunch. I didn’t feel like sitting alone anyway. I hung out in the lobby of the school again, waiting as time slowly ticked by, hoping that nobody else would join me.
I grabbed the straps of my book bag and took a seat on the floor, leaning back against the brick wall, but I only sat for about half a second. I saw another copy of my note taped to the locker down the hallway. Sighing, I stood up and started walking away from the lobby.
Carlyle suddenly stepped out of the boys’ bathroom next to cafeteria.
I stopped in place, shocked because I hadn’t seen him in about a month.
He looked at me and said, ‘What’re ye lookin’ at, matey?’
I sighed, remembering how much I hate hearing kids talk like pirates. ‘When I figure it out, I’ll let you know.’
The fake pirate boy chuckled as he glanced at the copy of my note on the locker down the hall. ‘Seems ye have yer hands full this week, eh? Fate be not in yer favour.’
I paused, confused. ‘What?’
‘You’ve run into some pretty bad luck,’ Carlyle said with a smirk.
And then I decided to bluff him. ‘I know it was you and your goons. You think I’m totally stupid? You and your little pirate buddies are behind all this, and I’m about to expose you for the bully you are!’
Carlyle folded his arms and glared at me. ‘What evidence have ye?’
I stared back at him, but said
nothing.
His eyebrows raised and he put his palms out as if he were pleading. ‘No really, what’s the evidence ye have against me and my… buddies?’
‘More than you know,’ I said, lying through my teeth. ‘And enough to make it so you end up at the same school as your cousin, Wyatt.’
Carlyle furrowed his brow, confused. Finally, he said, ‘Surely you’ve heard …’
I had no idea what he was talking about.
He laughed heartily. ‘Ye haven’t heard yet? Oy, matey, that’s just too good!’
‘What’re you talking about?’ I shouted. ‘What haven’t I heard yet?’
Walking away, Carlyle wiped the tears from his eyes as he chuckled. ‘Matey, yer fate be sealed, and ye won’t even see it coming.’
Clenching my fists, I watched Carlyle walk back into the lunchroom. What in the world was talking about, I wondered.
What haven’t I heard?
Shaking my head, I continued walking towards the copy of my note. It was only yesterday that I saw the kid in red hanging one of these up. And they were actually doing it around lunchtime. I was so tired of this whole thing that I just wanted it to be over, but there was a small fire inside me that told me to keep investigating. I might not have my ninja robes, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t a ninja at heart.
First, I tore down the copy of my note. Crumpling it in my hands, I then dropped it into one of the rubbish bins built into the wall.
‘Where are you?’ I asked softly as I walked down the hallway.
Taking the same path as the day before, I found myself in the science wing of the school again. The thief dropped his smoke bomb off here, and then disappeared into Mr Lien’s classroom. Just like before, when I peeked through the windows, the lights were off and the room was dark. I set my hand on the door handle and jiggled it, expecting it to be locked.
But it wasn’t.
I pushed down slowly and heard it click open. And then I started pushing the door open, but something else caught my eye. There was a red piece of fabric peeking out from under the door. Disappointed, I realised it wasn’t the same material as a sweatshirt. Instead, it looked like shiny silk.
Why would shiny silk stick out from under a classroom door?
I took a defensive stance in case it was a trap and slowly pushed the door open.
‘Hello?’ I asked, feeling stupid. If this wasn’t a trap then I just gave myself away.
Luckily there was no answer. The door was open just enough for me to squeeze through and shut it quietly behind me.
The inside of Mr Lien’s classroom was dark. There were no windows since it wasn’t a room on the edge of the school. I waited a moment, allowing my eyes adjust. My foot slipped on the red silk on the ground. I knelt down and picked it up, holding it up to the glass panel on the door. The light from the hallway was shining through so that helped me see exactly what it was.
I let the fabric slip through my fingers and fully unfold in front of me. There were four pieces to the cloth – pants, a long sleeved shirt, a black belt, and a mask. My jaw dropped as I realised what I was holding. It was a ninja uniform – a red ninja uniform.
Suddenly I heard another click from behind me and a door open. I balled up the ninja outfit and slid across the floor behind Mr Lien’s desk.
‘Can you believe this whole thing is working?’ said a boy’s voice.
‘Crazy, isn’t it?’ replied a girl. ‘I’d have thought Chase would’ve been smarter, but it turns out he’s just as dumb as everyone else.’
‘They’re out there destroying the old hideout. Won’t be long now until he’s completely powerless and without a ninja clan of his own.’
The girl laughed. ‘Then the red ninja clan will rise and take control of this school.’
The red ninja clan? The kid who took my bag was wearing a red hoodie. Could he have something to do with them?
‘We better get out of here quick, or we won’t have time to eat lunch,’ said the boy.
‘Mmhmm. Training can take a lot out of a kid, right?’
I heard the door click open and then shut again. Peeking my head over Mr Lien’s desk, I scanned the dark. There was nobody else.
As silently as possible, I started walking along the edge of the room. The two kids had come from somewhere, right? People don’t just appear out of nowhere. Besides, I heard the first door they walked out of.
The further into the room I walked, the darker it got. I ran my fingers along the wall, feeling for a door and then … I found it. It was a door at the back of the room, but I had no idea where it led.
And then I heard a familiar sound, like people were jumping around on the other side of the door. I pressed my ear against the wood. There were people in the next room. Lots of people.
I pulled the door open just a crack, enough so that I could see through the slit. In the secret room next to the one I was in, I saw several kids wearing ninja robes. Red ninja robes. They were different from the robes my clan wore – the red ninjas had armour plating on their shoulders and chest. I have to admit it looked cool.
I couldn’t be sure how many ninjas there were because the crowd was so large that I lost count. From where I was standing, I wasn’t able to tell who the leader was either. He was probably somewhere near the front of the ninja clan, overseeing their training.
I let the door shut slowly and headed to the exit of the classroom. I was lucky enough to not be seen by any of the red ninjas, but if I’d watched any longer, someone would have seen me.
Back in the hallway, I shut Mr Lien’s classroom door and walked back to the school lobby. The other kids were still eating lunch, and I had a few minutes until fifth period science class. That was enough time to try to wrap my head around I had witnessed.
A group of students had formed another ninja clan at Buchanan, that part was obvious. They had to be the ones behind all the garbage that happened this week. I bet they were the ones who stole my note to Faith and my ninja outfit. They were the ones who got that photo taken in my black ninja robes! They were the ones that tipped Gavin off to the ninja hideout, and they led to its destruction!
‘Chase?’ a girl’s voice suddenly asked, catching me off guard.
‘Huh?’ I grunted, turning around.
Faith was standing outside the cafeteria with Zoe by her side. I didn’t know what to say, so I smiled at her.
‘Hi,’ Faith said, folding her arms.
‘Hey,’ I replied. Not wanting to miss the opportunity, I quickly spoke again. ‘Look, I’m sorry about yesterday. Really, I am. I’m sorry about this whole thing. If I could take it back, I would.’
‘I know,’ Faith said softly.
‘I told her everything,’ Zoe added.
When I made eye contact with Zoe, I knew what she meant. She told Faith I was a ninja.
I stepped forward. ‘But that wasn’t me in the school paper!’
Faith nodded. ‘I know that too. Zoe told me you were framed. And then she told me about Wyatt and the food drive at the beginning of the year, and Carlyle and the pirate invasion last month.’
I scratched the back of my head, embarrassed. ‘Yeah, that was all me too.’
She grinned. ‘That was pretty cool of you.’
‘Yeah?’
She paused. ‘Yeah.’
‘Bell’s about to ring,’ Zoe said as she started walking down the hallway.
Faith jogged to catch up with her as students from the cafeteria started filling the lobby.
Before they got too far, I spoke again. ‘So does this mean you don’t hate me?’
Faith spun around with a smile on her face, but didn’t answer. She didn’t have to. I knew what she meant.
So to recap my Wednesday – my own ninja hideout had been permanently destroyed, I found out there’s a red ninja clan training in a secret room of the school, I saw Carlyle for the first time in a month and he hinted at something terrible in my future, Gavin was clearly on a mission to expose the ninja clan that
he doesn’t know is my ninja clan, copies of my note were still lingering around Buchanan …
But Faith didn’t hate me.
All in all, this wasn’t the worst day ever.
Though it seemed like Faith was cool with me, it was still embarrassing for us to sit together in science since the teasing hadn’t completely stopped.
It was enough for me though. The rest of the day went smoother than the whole week had. Even Zoe noticed it in homeroom the next day.
‘You seem chipper today,’ she said, taking her usual spot at the desk in front of me.
‘Meh,’ I replied, shrugging my shoulders.
‘Any reason why?’ she asked.
‘I just feel like it’s going to be a good day,’ I said.
‘Me too,’ Brayden said, taking his seat. ‘I think your luck is about to completely turn around today.’
That was odd of Brayden to suggest such a thing, but I went with it. ‘You think so?’ I asked.
‘Yeah,’ he said, nodding. ‘In fact, I know it.’
Zoe turned towards him. ‘How can you know something like that?’
‘I don’t know,’ he answered. ‘I can just feel it … in the air. Know what I mean?’
Zoe and I laughed. Mrs Robinson started with the morning announcements.
‘Again, if you plan on eating pizza tomorrow night at the skate party, bring two dollars extra. The school is fronting the money for admission so if anyone needs a ride, there will be a couple of busses leaving here at 4:45. Obviously don’t miss those. Be here around 4:30 or so.’
Zoe turned in her chair. ‘My dad will pick you up tomorrow. Don’t forget.’
‘What if I don’t want to go?’ I asked, feeling nervous that the teasing probably wasn’t over. If kids were this mean at school, just imagine what they’d say outside of school!
‘You don’t have a choice,’ my cousin said. ‘If you’re worried about people making fun of you, then the best thing you can do is to stand tall and let them know you don’t care about what anyone says about you.’
Rise of the Red Ninjas Page 4