‘Chase?’ a voice asked from the corner of the dark room.
I picked my head up to see how this school was going to kick me while I was down. On the far side of the room, sitting at a dressing table, was Miko. He was in the middle of putting on his make-up.
I was started to say something but stopped when the shadows around Miko moved. Some were short and fat, while others were long and spindly, stretching nearly five metres off the ground. I wasn’t sure what it was, but it was easily one of the scariest things I’ve ever seen in my life. And trust me, I’ve seen my share of scary things. Mostly in the dark pit of my locker.
‘What’s going on here?’ Miko asked flatly.
Jake rolled to his back. His eyes opened wide as he scrambled to his feet.
‘Mind your own business, clown!’ he said, his voice shaking with fear. It was obvious that he was trying to sound like he wasn’t scared. ‘This idiot crossed the wrong kid, and he’s gotta pay for it!’
Miko’s eyes narrowed as he nodded, fully understanding the trouble I was in. He stood up and folded his arms.
The shadows behind him moved again, and slowly walked forwards into the light. They were Miko’s friends, dressed in their clown gear. The tall spindly shadows turned out to be other clowns on stilts, hovering above everyone with their painted red smiles, but nobody was laughing.
Jake held out his shaking fist and squealed, ‘I said stay out of it!’ It’s good to know that it’s impossible for a bully to be a bully to everyone. It didn’t matter how cool or how tough Jake was to the kids at school, Miko wasn’t going to have any of it.
‘This kid bothering you?’ Miko asked me, staring into Jake’s soul.
‘He’s trying to keep me from exposing the school president, who’s been stealing from students!’ I said.
Looming over everyone, a clown on stilts honked his horn, but only once and slowly, making a hurrrrrrrrrr sound that eventually died out.
I felt like I was having a fever dream.
Jake spun around and started moving toward the door, but a few of Miko’s friends had already blocked off both exits in the room, one to the lobby and the other to the cafeteria. With stern looks upon their faces, they shook their heads at him.
Taking quick gasps of air, Jake stumbled backward. ‘No,’ he whispered. ‘I can’t be here. Not with clowns!’
‘Then it looks like someone’s in the wrong schoolyard,’ Miko said. I think he was curling his lip, but his huge red lipstick smile made it hard to be sure. Miko looked at me. ‘Get outta here, kiddo,’ he said. ‘We’ll take care of your friend.’
The clowns blocking the entrance to the cafeteria stepped aside and opened the door, allowing me through. I took one last look at Jake, who was glaring at me so hard his eyes looked like they were glowing.
‘This ain’t over, Chase,’ he hissed. ‘Not by a long shot.’
I smirked, stepping into the cafeteria.
The careers fair had just started, and I could see Principal Davis standing with a huddle of other teachers all the way across the room. I was only about fifteen metres away from finally being free from this disaster! All I had to do was reach the principal without getting into any more trouble.
That’s when I saw Sebastian in the aisle next to me. We made eye contact, and then he snapped his attention at Principal Davis across the room and then back at me. He did this a few more times – rapidly looking back and forth between the principal and me.
The president took off running as fast as he could down the aisle. I flinched, unsure about what to do, but then bolted like I was competing in a shuttle run.
Sebastian was taller than me, with long legs that made his sprint look easy. The gap between us widened. It was everything I could do to just keep up.
Students dove out of the way when they realised I was shredding down the aisle at full speed, but I still shouted to warn them. ‘Move, move, move!’
I kept my eyes forward, but could see that I was passing Sebastian. His heavy panting was falling behind me.
Principal Davis was getting closer and closer as I struggled through the cramp in my side.
This was it. I was going to tell Principal Davis the whole story, and nobody was going to stop me.
Slowing myself in front of the Principal, I tried talking, but my throat was so dry that I could only choke out a cough.
The principal turned towards me. ‘Are you okay?’ he asked.
Suddenly someone gripped my arm and pulled me aside. I tripped over my feet, stumbling away from the principal. I looked up into Wyatt’s face.
‘What are you—’ I started.
‘Just watch,’ Wyatt interrupted. He pointed at the principal.
Principal Davis was still looking at me when Sebastian slammed into him at full speed. Both of them fell through the huddle of teachers until they smashed against the brick wall with a sickening thud.
The principal shook his head, and looked at Sebastian.
‘Are you okay?’ he asked, genuinely concerned. ‘What happened? What’s going on?’
Sebastian stood up immediately, speaking at light speed. ‘Chase is lying! The gum I sell in the Pit is good for the school!’
The principal stared at Sebastian, clearly shocked.
Sebastian was panicking and kept running his mouth.
‘It’s good for business,’ he continued. ‘Even you said the added money in the budget was a good thing! Sure, I might’ve got a couple of kids to do the dirty work of stealing gum, but that was totally necessary! And yes, my erasers are blocks of bubblegum, which really isn’t such a bad thing when you remember how much money I’ve made – I mean, the school’s made.’
The cafeteria fell silent as Sebastian spoke like his volume was stuck all the way up.
‘Gum isn’t allowed at this school, alright?’ Sebastian said, waving his arms at the students in the cafeteria. ‘And I will not stand by and watch students sneak gum into class! If they want it, they’ll have to buy it from me, through the Pit!’ Sebastian paused to catch his breath. He turned to Principal Davis. ‘So whatever Chase said doesn’t even matter! The gum is an investment in our school’s future.’
‘Chase didn’t say anything to me,’ Principal Davis said flatly.
‘Um,’ Sebastian said, staring into space with wide eyes. He must’ve been replaying his confession. ‘Uh-oh.’
With a cold stare, Principal Davis put his hand on Sebastian’s shoulder and escorted him to the end of the cafeteria. It was over.
I took a breath, savouring the victory, and then started to walk toward the principal. Wyatt grabbed my arm again.
‘Let go, will ya?’ I said, annoyed.
‘What do you think you’re doing?’ Wyatt asked.
‘I’m gonna tell Principal Davis everything I know,’ I replied, yanking my arm away from Wyatt. ‘Sebastian just confessed, so it’s probably best if I’m there with my side of the story too.’
Wyatt paused, his evil grin stretching across his pale face once again. ‘You think Principal Davis is going to listen to you? After all, you were part of Sebastian’s scheme.’
My face grew hot. ‘What are you talking about?’
Wyatt snickered. ‘Don’t forget the box of Sebastian’s ‘erasers’ you delivered to the front office on Tuesday.’
My stomach dropped. Wyatt had given me that box to deliver to the staff as a sign of faith. ‘You set me up!’
‘Of course I did!’ the leader of the red ninjas said. ‘I need some extra dirt on you to make sure you keep your place at the bottom of the food chain. So if you say anything, I’ll remind Principal Davis of your special delivery.’
My fists were so tight that my palms started to burn. ‘This was all part of your plan,’ I said.
Olive stepped up and took Wyatt’s hand. She stuck a piece of gum in her mouth, and then snickered. ‘Hey, babe.’
Wyatt grinned.
Olive glared at me. ‘Wyatt’s gonna be the new president,’ she said.
Wyatt stepped onto one of the lunch tables and cleared his throat. ‘Ladies and gentlemen,’ he said. ‘As your new president, I’d like to be the first to tell you that—’
‘Not so fast!’ Principal Davis said from the side of the cafeteria. Sebastian was in the hallway, waiting with a hall monitor as the principal walked towards Wyatt. ‘This isn’t like the actual presidency.’
Wyatt jumped off the table.
‘There’s clearly something fishy going on,’ the principal continued, and then he gestured to the careers mentors scattered around the room. ‘But since there are guests in the school today, it’ll have to be sorted out first thing on Monday morning.’
Wyatt walked past me, bumping my shoulder. Olive was attached to his other hand as they marched back to their table. Wyatt was fuming. Good thing Principal Davis put him in his place, or else everyone would have to take orders from President Wyatt. Gross.
I took a deep breath. Even though things were still shaky, everything seemed under control again. My friends joined me at one of the tables.
‘Um,’ Faith said with a cocked eyebrow, ‘so that was the craziest thing I’ve ever seen.’
Brayden leaned forward. ‘At least Wyatt’s not president,’ he said. ‘Can you imagine? Wow. Just… wow.’
‘There was a second where I thought he was going to be president,’ I said. ‘What do you think’s gonna happen to Sebastian?’
Gavin answered. ‘Stripped of the presidency for sure, but nothing much after that. Slap on the wrist, maybe.’ He looked at Zoe. ‘This might call for another election, y’know.’
Zoe laughed. ‘Fun! Election weeeeeeeeek!’ she sang.
‘So is Wyatt really that much of an evil genius?’ Naomi asked, bringing the room down again.
‘What do you mean?’ I asked.
‘I mean, Wyatt had a master plan this entire time,’ Naomi said. ‘A master plan that was behind Sebastian’s master plan. Like, we know Wyatt and the red ninjas were working with Sebastian for the past month.’
‘Longer than that,’ Brayden said.
‘But the entire time that Wyatt was taking orders from Sebastian,’ Naomi continued, ‘he was actually figuring out his own plan to become the president. He figured out how to weasel his way to the top! And he’d been playing you – both of us – all week!’
Everyone nodded.
‘He had his sights set on Jake the whole time,’ Naomi said, chuckling in disbelief. ‘Wyatt needed Jake to take the fall so he wouldn’t have to. If the vice president of the school got caught stealing gum, he would get fired.’
‘That’s why he was so pushy about making sure we knew Jake was responsible for the stolen gum,’ I said.
Faith sunk into her chair. ‘He really is a genius.’
Zoe folded her arms. ‘The good news is that he’s not the president,’ she said. ‘So we can all sleep soundly tonight.’
‘Jake was just a pawn this whole time,’ I said, and then suddenly remembered he was with Miko. ‘Wait a second … what happened to Jake?’
At that moment, all the kids in the cafeteria burst out with laughter. They were pointing at something near the front of the cafeteria, but I couldn’t see what it was through the crowd of students.
The sound of a clown’s honking horn bounced off the walls as my friends and I made our way to the front.
There, sitting on the edge of the stage, was Jake, leader of the wolf pack, member of the red ninja clan, quarterback of the Buchanan Moose football team … and he was painted up like a circus clown.
‘We didn’t make him do it,’ Miko said, suddenly standing behind me as if he’d materialised out of nowhere. ‘He offered to do it.’
‘He wanted you to paint his face?’ I asked.
‘Yep,’ Miko said. ‘He said he would walk out of the room in a clown outfit if we left him alone.’
‘What were you going to do to him?’ Naomi asked.
Miko laughed. ‘Absolutely nothing! We were just going to let Chase get a head start so he could make it to the principal without getting hassled!’ Miko spun around and scanned the room. ‘Looks like you took care of business too, kiddo.’
‘Thanks,’ I said. ‘Hey look … I’m sorry for being hard on you this week.’
Miko raised his hand. ‘No big deal. I get it from everyone.’
‘You’re a super cool dude,’ I said. ‘You do what you do because you love doing it, even when dorks like me give you a hard time for doing it.’
‘It’s all about shutting the dorks out, right?’ Miko joked. ‘I’m sure you have to do that all the time when you’re parading around as a ninja.’
My jaw dropped and my friends gasped.
‘How did you know?’ I asked.
Miko just smiled like he was hiding a secret, and then winked at me before walking away.
‘That dude is good,’ Naomi said.
My friends hung around after Miko left. We joked about the tough week it had been and made fun of each other for a bit. I was the one they were picking on the most, but I didn’t mind. The way they were goofing on me made things feel normal again, like we were just a group of kids with normal sixth-grader problems.
The cafeteria began buzzing with activity as everyone went on with their normal careers fair routine. Funny how quickly things settle down, even after a weird confession is screamed across the entire room by the school’s president.
Another week at Buchanan and another bully busted. A ninja might not take breaks, but this ninja does. It’s not easy getting through a week like that without anyone getting hurt, but I managed to do it. And that’s a pretty impressive ninja skill, if I do say so myself.
Zoe, Brayden, Gavin and Faith returned to their seats. Naomi stood by my side. This week was the most time I’ve spent with her, and even though she was a good ninja, I learned that she was an even better friend. She never left my side, not even when things got tough. Actually, especially when things got tough.
‘Thanks,’ I said.
Naomi looked at me. ‘For what?’
‘For sticking by me,’ I said. ‘It means a lot to me.’
Naomi slugged me on the shoulder in the exact same stinkin’ spot that Zoe had a couple of days ago. I did my best to keep from flinching, but the only way I could do that was to force a smile and squeeze my eyes shut.
Naomi laughed. ‘Sorry about that,’ she said. ‘I’m just … I’m bad at responding to compliments. What I meant was … don’t mention it. You don’t need to thank me for being your friend.’
Just then, I felt a tug on my elbow. I turned, expecting to see Wyatt again, but it was a short boy who I only recognised from the hallways.
‘Hi?’ I said, making it sound like a question.
The boy didn’t say a word. He handed me a folded note and briskly walked away, as if he were afraid.
‘That can’t be good,’ Naomi sighed. ‘What is it with kids at this school and notes? Why doesn’t anyone communicate with their mouths, like normal human beings?’
‘Right?’ I asked, opening the sheet of paper. The writing on the note was typed, which somehow made it feel creepier.
You’ve crossed the line this time and have awoken a sleeping giant. You have been warned. The storm is not coming… it’s already here.
—The Scavengers
‘Wonderful,’ I whispered. ‘I guess the Scavengers are real.’
Naomi spun around so fast that she almost tipped over. Frantically, she scoured the room. ‘The Scavengers? Did you seriously just get a note from the Scavengers?’
I scanned the cafeteria for the boy who delivered the note, but he was nowhere to be seen. Crumpling the sheet of paper in my hand, I glanced at my friends who wer
e only a few tables away. ‘It sounds like more of a warning.’
Zoe looked up from the group and waved at me to come over. I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.
The Scavengers might’ve been the real deal, but there was no way they were going to take this victory away from me. I tossed the note into one of the rubbish bins along the wall as I started walking toward my cousin.
‘You’re just going to throw that away?’ Naomi asked, jogging to catch up, still keeping an eye out over her shoulder.
‘Why not?’ I replied.
‘I … because …’ Naomi paused. ‘Huh. You’re right. Why not?’
‘Their message was delivered,’ I said. ‘But I don’t care.’
‘You don’t?’
I shook my head. ‘Not today at least. We just won a huge victory over Sebastian and Wyatt, and I’d like to savour that for the rest of the day. I think I deserve that. I mean, I think we deserve that, don’t you?’
A smile appeared on Naomi’s face. ‘You know, I think you’re right.’ She wagged her finger at me and spoke again. ‘I knew there was a good reason you were the leader of the ninja clan. Too bad it’s taken me this long to figure it out though. Maybe next time you can be wise a little quaster.’
‘Mwah hahaaaa, very funny,’ I said.
Once we got to our table, I took a seat between Faith and Zoe. Naomi sat on the end of the bench next to Brayden. Everyone was smiling except for Naomi and me.
Part of me wanted to tell my friends about the note from the Scavengers, but a bigger part of me was glad they didn’t know. They could at least enjoy the rest of the day without the stress of new threat looming over their heads. That bad news could wait until later.
I took one more look behind me, just to make sure there wasn’t anyone there. Y’know, like maybe another kid with a note, or a member of the red ninja clan, or one of the Scavengers, or the fifteen president of the United States, or even the white ninja.
Man, Buchanan School was a stressful place. I shook the strange feeling from my shoulders and forced myself to smile – you’d be surprised at how making yourself smile has the power to brighten your day, even if it’s just a little bit. And I had plenty of reasons to smile. No matter how crazy my life was, there wasn’t anywhere else I’d rather be than in the cafeteria with my best friends.
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