Wyatt had won. He beat me. Not fairly or squarely, but he beat me.
My cheek was on fire as the world spun circles. I saw the frozen faces of the crowd gasping in horror at how hard Wyatt had chucked the ball at me. Even Coach Cooper flinched with his hand over his mouth.
Losing my balance, I tripped over, falling backwards to the floor. Wyatt’s ball seemed to hover over me as if someone had pushed the pause button.
Wyatt was dusting his hands off like he had just finished a job well done.
Faith shouted my name from the side of the gym.
Brayden and Gavin were slouching on the bench, already looking defeated.
Naomi was still at the side of the bleachers. She was emotionless. Cold.
James Buchanan was dancing a jig and swinging in circles with a penguin in a tuxedo.
Okay, maybe that last thing was just in my head.
I landed on my butt with a whimper as the world started playing at normal speed again. The kids in the bleachers were so quiet that you could hear a bird fart.
And then I saw Gidget and Slug at the doors of the gym. The twins who quit my ninja clan, and then decided to stick around because they liked how I never give up.
Oh …
I never give up.
I couldn’t give up.
Even now.
Even when the dodgeball game seemed lost … I could still win.
Glancing up, I watched as gravity pulled Wyatt’s ball back to the earth, but it wasn’t directly over my head. When it said, PONG! to my face, it bounced off at a slight angle, and it had now started its descent. If that ball hit the ground, then the game really would be over.
I flipped to my stomach and launched myself across the polished floor, sliding to the spot where Wyatt’s ball would land.
A gasp came from the crowd as I rolled to my back.
The ball landed perfectly in my hands.
‘Ouuuuuuut!’ Coach Cooper screamed in a high-pitched voice, pointing at Wyatt.
Everyone on the bleachers jumped to their feet again, screaming cheers, but I couldn’t hear any of it. My ears were still ringing from how high-pitched the coach’s voice had been.
Even Ms Chen-Jung was celebrating at the back of the gym, waving her mop back and forth like a flag.
As I got to my feet, I saw Wyatt from the corner of my eye, throwing a tantrum.
Faith smashed into me, giving me a massive hug. Brayden and Gavin joined her, nearly knocking me to the floor. Everyone was there – even Zoe and Melvin had made it safely back to the gym.
Gavin rubbed his hand back and forth on top of my head. ‘That’s how it’s done!’
‘Boom!’ Brayden said, slugging my shoulder.
I was speechless as I clutched the dodgeball close to my stomach, afraid to drop it because I didn’t want to take any chances.
‘Are you alright?’ Faith asked, looking at the death grip I had on the ball.
‘Yeah, dude,’ Brayden joked. ‘What’d that ball ever do to you?’
Rubbing the ball burn on my cheek, I smiled.
‘Oh, right,’ Brayden laughed. ‘It totally sucker-punched you in the face.’
We all laughed.
Wyatt’s voice sliced through the cheers and laughter. ‘That doesn’t count!’ he screamed.
I spun around and saw the leader of the red ninja clan stomping across the gymnasium floor, coming straight for me. There was no way he’d try to start a fight in front of this huge crowd, right? Was he that bold?
Good thing I didn’t have to find out.
Principal Davis cut Wyatt off, stepping in front of him.
And guess what? Dani was right next to the principal. She was out of her red ninja robes and back in her street clothes.
‘Guys, look,’ I said, pointing to the principal.
I couldn’t hear what they were saying since the cheers from the crowd were still so loud. All I knew was Wyatt’s eyes grew to the size of watermelons as his mouth moved quickly. He just kept shaking his head and making gestures at Dani.
Dani’s face was stone cold. She stood with her arms crossed, rolling her eyes every couple of seconds, and then saying something in response.
Brayden stopped behind me. ‘What’s the deal? What’s Dani doing out there?’
Brayden didn’t know that Dani was a red ninja.
Principal Davis gestured to the side of the gym. Wyatt tried arguing again, but stopped once the principal started tapping his foot.
Dani kept her head down as the principal turned to her. She nodded slowly, and then looked up at me … no, at Brayden.
Principal Davis looked back too, and his chest fell like he was sighing. He nodded at Dani, and she started jogging over to us.
‘Dani,’ Brayden said. ‘What’s going on? What just happened?’
Dani paused, her eyes soft and wet. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said with a quiver in her voice. ‘I haven’t been honest with you.’
‘What are you talking about?’
‘I was helping Wyatt this week,’ she said. ‘That’s how he was winning.’
Brayden’s jaw dropped as he stared at her.
‘But why?’ Zoe asked, not angry, just genuinely curious.
‘Wyatt offered me the lead position in the ninja club he was going to start when he won. I was going to run the entire thing if I helped him. I made the wrong choice, but …’ she looked at Brayden. ‘I’m sorry. It was so dumb of me. I got greedy.’
Brayden was silent.
‘I made the wrong choice this week,’ Dani said again, ‘but I hope that doing the right thing in the end can make up for it? Or at least start to?’ And then she looked at me. ‘Lead by example, right?’
I blinked. Dani was working with the bad guys this week. Some would even say that she was a bad guy, but what happens when a bad guy stops being bad?
Dani was suddenly the answer to that question. She took a stand and did what was right, even in front of her peers, and let’s face it – there were tons of red ninjas watching from the bleachers. She didn’t just stand up to Wyatt – she just stood up to all of them.
Which was probably why Brayden had a funny grin on his face.
‘You just did the coolest thing I’ve ever seen anybody do,’ Brayden said at last.
Zoe nodded, and then said, ‘You can’t be on the student council anymore.’
‘What?’ Brayden cried. ‘Come on! She did the right thing!’
Dani grabbed Brayden’s hand. ‘No,’ she said. ‘Zoe’s right. I still have to pay for what I did, and I’ll happily do it. I’ll probably get detention or even suspended because of cheating, but I’m okay with it because I know I’ll never do it again.’
Man. Dani was awesome.
‘You and your friends showed me that it’s way cooler to be cool to everyone,’ she said, looking at all of us – Brayden, Zoe, Faith, Gavin and me. ‘So I hope you guys don’t hate me because I’d really like to be part of your group.’
Brayden smiled at me. I knew exactly what he was thinking.
‘Y’know,’ I said. ‘Word in the school is there’s another ninja clan that’s looking for new members. You might be exactly the kind of kid they’re after.’
Dani smiled with a twinkle in her eye. ‘But do you think I’m good enough for the white ninja clan?’
I stuttered. ‘I … no, I mean, not them … mine.’
Dani laughed. ‘I’m just kidding.’
‘I bet if you volunteer to help with the Buchanan Bash next week,’ Zoe said, ‘I could get Principal Davis to go easy on your punishment.’
‘Cool,’ Dani said.
The ex-red ninja turned around and joined Principal Davis. Together, they walked out of the gym.
Wyatt was at the door, waiting for the principal to come get him, but he wasn’t alone. He was leaning against the wall talking to Naomi.
I knew they were talking about me because every couple of seconds, Wyatt would look across the room at me.
What do you get when you mix Wyatt�
�s red ninja clan with the Scavengers?
Trouble.
I turned back to my friends, but something else caught my eye. At the far end of the gym, opposite Wyatt and Naomi, I saw a figure in the shadows near the exit. I only noticed him because the reflection in his glasses glinted at me.
Squinting, I tried to focus on the boy’s face, but it was too dark to make out anything except for his glasses and a small white square on his shirt.
The longer I stared, the clearer the square became …
The square on his shirt …I think it read …
Victor.
Great.
I looked away immediately. I couldn’t tell if Victor was looking at me or not, but whatever. It was something I didn’t need to deal with that day, or hopefully ever.
Once the crowd calmed down, Zoe took the microphone and officially announced that my team had won the Spirit Week games. She went on to explain a little bit about the club I wanted to start – the one with the candy bar.
I took a seat on one of the bleachers at the side of the gym. Faith joined me.
‘What’s up?’ she asked. ‘What’re you thinking?’
I took a deep breath. ‘Nothing,’ I said, smiling. To my surprise, my smile wasn’t fake.
I wasn’t sure what was in store for my future. The Scavengers weren’t finished with me, that much was clear. Wyatt and his red ninjas were still growing. Jake had a chip on his shoulder about me and was also a member of the Scavengers now. And some eighth-grade Scavenger named Victor had just joined the Chase-Haters Club.
But I was still smiling.
‘Nothing’s up,’ I said, looking at Faith.
‘You’re not alone in this,’ Faith said, reading my mind.
I nodded. ‘I know. It’s good to know I have a friend … and a white ninja that has my back.’
Faith smiled, blushing.
‘You’re gonna have to tell me all about it,’ I said with a smirk.
‘I will,’ she said. ‘But it can wait. Right now, you have a victory to celebrate and a new club to start.’
Instead of getting up and joining the crowd of students hanging out on the gym floor, I decided to sit and watch everyone carry on as if nothing was wrong – as if this school didn’t hold terrifying secrets that would rock them to their core if they had any idea.
Faith pulled out her phone and brought up the camera. She leaned closer, holding her phone out in front of both of us.
I made a dorky face.
Faith paused, lowering her phone. ‘Can you just take a normal picture for once?’
‘Uh, yeah,’ I said. ‘Sorry. Go ahead.’
Lifting the camera up again, Faith snapped a selfie. ‘Did you make a dumb face?’
‘No!’ I said right away.
‘If you did, I’m posting it online,’ she said.
Faith stayed with me. She didn’t say anything else, but she didn’t need to.
After all, best friends are the ones who can just hang out and be real without having to say a word.
Marcus Emerson is the author of several highly imaginative children’s books, including the 6th Grade Ninja series, the Secret Agent 6th Grader series, Lunchroom Wars and the Adventure Club series. His goal is to create children’s books that are engaging, funny, and inspirational for kids of all ages – even the adults who secretly never grew up.
Marcus Emerson is currently having the time of his life with his beautiful wife and their amazing children. He still dreams of becoming an astronaut someday and walking on Mars.
Spirit Week Shenanigans Page 12