Billy Sure Kid Entrepreneur and the Invisible Inventor

by Luke Sharpe

  “Hi, Clayton, what’s up?” I ask.

  “I heard about your trip to the Really Great Movies studio,” says Clayton, “and all about the hovercraft. That is very cool!”

  “Yeah, it was kinda wild,” I say. “But it all turned out okay.”

  I can see Clayton being first in line to buy the hovercraft toy when it comes out.

  “So, I don’t know if you’re planning on coming to the next inventor’s club meeting, but I wanted to show you what I invented,” Clayton explains.

  It makes me feel good that even though he’s now president of the club, Clayton still likes to show me his inventions. I did invent the inventor’s club, after all. Clayton opens his backpack . . . and pulls out another backpack.

  “I was inspired by your hovercraft,” he says. “I call this the HOVER BACKPACK. You know how kids are always complaining about how heavy their backpacks are? Watch this.”

  Clayton flips a switch on the pack and it floats into the air beside him. He takes a step down the hall and the backpack follows him.

  “Very cool,” I say, wishing for a moment that I had thought of it.

  “Now here’s the part I’m still working on,” Clayton says. He stops and turns toward the hovering backpack. “SCIENCE BOOK!” he says.

  A slot in the side of the pack opens and a book comes shooting out. Clayton snatches the book out of the air.

  Now that is cool!

  “Math book!” Clayton commands.

  Five books come shooting out of the backpack’s slot all at once. They hit Clayton in the stomach, arm, and head before tumbling to the floor.

  Clayton’s face turns bright red.

  “Like I said, Billy. This is the part that needs a little work.”

  “It’s a great start, Clayton,” I say, bending down to help him pick up the books. “Let me know if you need any help. Keep up the good work.”

  I race home as usual, even though there isn’t anything pressing waiting for me at the office. Then I feed Philo and we head out.

  When we arrive at the World Headquarters of Sure Things, Inc. (also known as Manny’s garage), I see Manny staring at his computer screen. Nothing unusual about that.

  “Hey! What’s going on?” I ask.

  Manny doesn’t say a word. He just points at the screen. He has the Right Next Door website open to the article on Sure Things, Inc. I start reading:

  SURE THINGS, INC.

  INVENTOR BILLY SURE

  VS.

  CFO MANNY REYES

  WHO IS REALLY IN CHARGE?

  by Kathy Jenkins

  You know Billy Sure—the thirteen-year-old kid inventor who shocked the world with his All Ball, and later the Stink Spectacular, Gross-to-Good Powder, and No-Trouble Bubble. Now his company is coming out with some merchandise for Alien Zombie Attack!, the new film starring award-winning actress Gemma Weston.

  But do you REALLY know Billy Sure?! Read and YOU decide!

  “My company would be nothing without my Chief Financial Officer, Danny Reyes,” Billy said in an EXCLUSIVE tell-all Right Next Door interview!

  “Danny does everything for Sure Things, Inc.,” he continued. “All I do is invent.”

  Danny Reyes—or, more accurately, as this reporter uncovered, Manny Reyes—is the CFO of Sure Things, Inc., meaning, according to Billy, “he handles the numbers, marketing, sales—really everything.” All this despite the fact that Billy doesn’t seem to even know his business partner’s name!

  Billy went on to say some more SHOCKING things about Sure Things, Inc.!!!

  “Danny is responsible for all our Alien Zombie Attack! merchandise too,” Billy said. “He took my hovercraft and made it accessible. But of course, the most important thing is that it has the Sure name on it.”

  When this reporter asked, “Don’t you mean Manny?” Billy shrugged. “I guess,” he said.

  So, there you have it, folks: Sure Things, Inc. isn’t just a sure thing—it’s a Reyes thing too.

  And if this reporter were Manny Reyes, she’d probably look for a less self-absorbed inventor to work with.

  I’m absolutely stunned. This . . . this is a CRAZY BUNCH OF LIES!

  “You have to know that this is all messed up,” I say to Manny. “These are not my words.”

  “Of course,” Manny says, waving off my concern. “It’s completely ridiculous. Just a gimmick to gain readers. And you know what I always say . . . there’s no such thing as bad press. Forget what she wrote. I’m just waiting for the bump in sales of the hovercraft toy from this nonsense.”

  Manny may be able to remain calm about this, but I’m really upset.

  “She took everything I said out of context and twisted it. Or she just made stuff up. And you know I never tried to keep you and your contributions a secret. Just the opposite! I tried to bring you into every interview she ever did with me, but she didn’t seem to want to know about you . . . until now. What could have changed? And why does she have to lie about me in the process?”

  Manny stares at the article again and notices something. “What’s this?” he asks, pointing to the bottom of the piece. There, in tiny type, it reads:

  THIS FEATURE ARTICLE WAS SPONSORED BY DEFINITE DEVICES.

  “Manny, what is DEFINITE DEVICES?” I ask.

  “I don’t know, but I’m going to find out,” replies Manny. “I’m going to call Kathy Jenkins and get to the bottom of this!”

  Operation Sure Fix

  THAT NIGHT AT home I do my best to focus on my homework.

  Except I can’t concentrate. I can’t believe how annoyed I am by all this. I mean, Kathy Jenkins has never accurately reported on Sure Things, Inc. She always builds me up and leaves Manny out of everything we’re ever done. But this! This is a new low. This is just . . . well, a bunch of lies.

  I turn back to my history book when I hear a soft knock at my door. It’s probably Mom coming to make me feel better.

  “Come in,” I say.

  But when the door swings open I see Emily standing there, holding a STEAMING MUG OF HOT CHOCOLATE and a plate full of DOUBLE-CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES.

  “I thought a nice little snack might cheer you up,” she says, putting the cup and plate down on my desk. And that’s when I notice the printed-out version of Kathy’s article sticking out of her back pocket. She must know I am feeling down.

  “Oh,” I say, unable to hide my surprise. “Thanks, Em.”

  I know this is all part of Emily’s “doing something nice for everyone in the family” routine, but I really appreciate it. Normally, Emily is completely oblivious to my moods. She seems to not care if I’m really happy about something or upset about something, unless, of course, that something has to do with her.

  I bite into a cookie as she starts to leave the room.

  “It’ll be okay, Billy,” she says, turning back toward me. “Everything works out for the best.”

  Okay, now I know she’s not just being Super Nice Emily. She’s ULTRA SUPER NICE EMILY. “Everything works out for the best” is one of Mom’s favorite sayings, not Emily’s. If I had to pick a typical Emily expression it might be something more like “Go away, genius!”

  “Thanks for the snack,” I say again. Then she leaves the room.

  After staring at my history book for a few more minutes, I give up and go to bed. Emily’s hot chocolate really hit the spot. I fall into a dreamy sleep.

  • • •

  I’m at the office.

  “What’s the latest on the marketing plan for the hovercraft toy, Danny?” I ask.

  “What did you call me?” Manny shoots back.

  “DANNY,” I say, startled by the tone in his voice. “That’s your name, isn’t it?” I can’t ever remember Danny getting angry. Certainly not at me. He always takes everything with an even temper. What’s he getting so mad about?

  “So Kathy Jenkins was right,” Manny says. “You think you’re so great that you can’t even remember your partner’s name? Well, that’s it. I’m not
your partner anymore. I quit!”

  “What? Danny, wait,” I plead.

  “No, my mind is made up, Willy,” he says. “I quit. This is the end of Sure Things, Inc. I’m giving you one hour to get all your stuff out of my garage. This partnership, this friendship is over!”

  “Danny, no! No! NO!”

  • • •

  “Billy, wake up! Billy, honey, wake up. . . .”

  I hear Mom’s voice floating through the air. Suddenly Manny and the garage vanish. I open my eyes. I’m still in bed. Mom sits beside me. It was a dream. A terrible dream.

  “Oh, honey, you must have had a nightmare,” Mom says. “You were groaning and thrashing your arms. I just came in to wake you up for school.”

  “I’m so glad it was just a dream, Mom,” I say, my heart still pounding. “It’s all because of that stupid article.”

  “I know, honey, I read it,” Mom says. “It was terribly unfair of Kathy, and it’s some pretty despicable journalism. But I do think that Manny is right. This press, even if it isn’t true, will lead to more sales for your new hovercraft toy.”

  “Yeah, but I feel so bad for Manny,” I point out.

  “Manny is too good a friend to think that you had anything to do with the stuff Kathy wrote. He knows you. He knows how much you appreciate everything he does at Sure Things, Inc. And he’s your best friend.”

  I nod. “Thanks, Mom.”

  “Now get ready for school,” she says, heading out of my room.

  I’m feeling a little better after talking to Mom. I always do. It’s been really nice having her home. Video chats just aren’t the same.

  When I arrive at school, I hurry down the hall, trying not to be late for my first class. A few kids walk right past me. Some kids whisper when I walk by. Is there something wrong? Do I have some BREAKFAST BURRITO dangling from my chin?

  I tap my chin but nope, no breakfast burrito. Then I pass Peter MacHale. I have to admit that Peter is not my favorite kid at school. He’s very into the latest gossip and is always giving me a hard time about my inventions and TV appearances. I think Peter thinks I’m a self-obsessed celebrity or something.

  As I approach Peter, I see him hunched over with a group of kids. He’s got that usual goofy smile on his face and his voice is way too loud for what Principal Gilamon likes to call “HALLWAY CHATTER.” He’s obviously telling a story.

  But as soon as Peter spots me, he stops talking and turns away from me. Instead of looking at Peter’s face, I’m staring at his back! Normally, he’d try to drag me into the conversation by saying something goofy or just plain dumb. But today—nothing. Silence. And no one in his crowd even looks at me.

  I continue down the hall, wondering if this is because of Kathy Jenkins’s article. Did everyone read it? Does everyone now think I’m a bad guy? Nah, couldn’t be, right ?

  That’s when I spot Samantha Jenkins, Kathy’s daughter.

  Not so long ago, she used to follow me down the halls as I went from class to class.

  She spots me coming toward her and instantly turns and hurries away. I know which room she’s supposed to be going to right now. It’s in the opposite direction from the one she’s walking in. She’s running away from me. There’s no other explanation for it.

  I arrive in my history class feeling frazzled. As I slip into my seat, I see Petula Brown. She has sat next to me all year in history. She’s one of the most popular girls in school. We’re not really friends, but she did come to my surprise birthday party, so I figure she might be a good TEST SUBJECT to find out if I’m making this all up or not.

  “Hi, Petula,” I say.

  Her eyes narrow and she shoots me a look that makes me feel like a criminal. Then she quickly turns away.

  Ms. Sullivan, my history teacher, starts her lesson. I do my best to focus, but it’s not easy. I’m worrying about everyone at school hating me.

  Finally Ms. Sullivan asks a question I know the answer to. My hand shoots straight up. But Ms. Sullivan keeps looking around the room. It’s almost like she’s avoiding me. She’s looking everywhere but at me! Then I look around and see that no one else has a hand raised. Oh no. Does Ms. Sullivan think I’m a bad guy too?

  The bell rings and I hurry along to my next class. I spot Manny in the hallway. Normally he’s kind of a loner at school—he and I both prefer it that way.

  But today a crowd of kids walks alongside him. Some give him sympathetic looks, others pat him on the back.

  What is going on?!

  Manny rounds the corner and runs into Principal Gilamon. I stop short, far enough away to not be seen, but close enough to hear their conversation.

  “Manny, I was hoping to see you,” says Principal Gilamon.

  “Is that so?” Manny asks, sounding as if he’s worried that he might be in some kind of trouble.

  After all, nobody ever likes to hear the principal say “I WAS HOPING TO SEE YOU.”

  “I was wondering if you needed some more time to complete your homework assignments,” Principal Gilamon says. “We sometimes grant homework extensions when a student has an outside situation that would prevent his or her completion of homework on time.”

  “I’m doing fine getting my homework done, Principal Gilamon,” Manny says, sounding as confused as I am feeling hearing the question. Manny always gets his homework done on time. Usually, ahead of time.

  “Well, I just thought that since you are obviously doing the bulk of the work at Sure Things, Inc., you might need some extra help,” Principal Gilamon explains. “And all this time I thought Billy was a role model here at Fillmore Middle. Obviously I was wrong.”

  “Principal Gilamon, if you’re referring to that article, it was completely—”

  Manny’s attempt to explain away Kathy’s article gets cut short when Principal Gilamon spots me. He immediately turns and walks away from Manny. But not before shooting me a NASTY GLARE!

  Manny catches my eye and shakes his head. Then we both hurry off to class, where I prepare for a whole new group of kids to give me dirty looks.

  After school I rush to the office. At least nobody there is going to give me a dirty look—not unless I refuse to give Philo a treat, anyway. I plop down into the chair next to Manny’s desk.

  “Don’t worry, I have an idea to fix everything,” Manny says, seeing how down I look.

  Of course he does. Manny always has an idea to fix everything—reason #333 why I’m glad he’s my best friend and business partner.

  “Okay, what’s the plan?” I ask.

  “We invent something new,” Manny says calmly.

  “It’s all part of OPERATION SURE FIX,” Manny continues. “Of course, I’ll keep trying to contact Kathy Jenkins, who hasn’t returned any of my phone calls or e-mails. I need to do a contrasting interview to clear up the wrong information. Then I need to find out what Definite Devices is.”

  I nod.

  “But I also think that the best publicity move we can make right now is to take attention away from this whole mess. And the best way to do that is show everyone we’re still a team, with a new invention. That way people will stop focusing on all this drama.”

  Manny pauses and looks at me. I guess he’s trying to see if I find this idea upsetting. And I’m not sure what I do feel. Sad? Mad? Confused? A little bit of all three, I guess.

  “I hate to put this new pressure on you, Billy, but I really think a new product would be just the thing to make people forget about that article,” Manny says.

  He’s right. I know it.

  “Operation Sure Fix for the win! Let’s do it,” I say. Now the idea actually makes me feel more optimistic than I have since the article came out. “I’d rather worry about inventing than about how to get people to like me again.”

  Then it hits me.

  “Of course, now the only question is . . . what do I invent?”

  Now You See Me . . .

  MANNY AND I throw some ideas around, like revisiting the Candy Toothbrush, our fi
rst invention idea, or a Truthboard, a keyboard that will only let you type the truth (I guess you don’t have to wonder where that inspiration came from). I was really into the idea of the Truthboard, but Manny doesn’t think it will be good for authors who write about things like monsters and dragons.

  At school the next day, I arrive in a pretty good mood. Even though it can be difficult, I always love coming up with a new invention.

  And then I walk down the hallway.

  Herman Torosian, the star of our Fillmore Falcons football team, stares at me like he’s ready to tackle me against the wall. Brian Josephs, who used to be my lab partner in science class, sees me and takes off, walking quickly in the opposite direction.

  Even Mike Stevenson, whose claim to fame was having the biggest booger collection in the whole school, walks past me without saying hello. Let me repeat. The BOOGER COLLECTOR doesn’t want to have anything to do with me! How sad is that?

  Don’t get me wrong. I’m glad everyone is so protective of Manny that they are mad when they think I did something to hurt him. But no one is more protective of Manny than me.

  Just as I’m thinking this—oh no, here comes Allison Arnolds . . . who I maybe, sort of have a crush on.

  She walks past, looking right through me as if I were invisible. Great.

  Allison Arnolds thinks I’m invisible.

  She trots off, leaving me to my thoughts.

  That’s when I think.

  Invisible?

  INVISIBLE!

  That’s it! That’s my idea.

  When we left the set of Alien Zombie Attack!, Emily made a comment about being invisible. I kind of forgot about it until now. But this is it—this is the RIGHT TIME to give my full attention to inventing something that turns people invisible. It’s also just the thing to take my mind off the whole Right Next Door mess.

  And I have Allison to thank for it. Now I like her even more!

  • • •

  That afternoon I arrive at the office in a great mood.

  “I got it, Manny!” I say, bursting into the office. Philo trots in behind me.