The Renegade Reporters
Page 4
“Cool,” Ash said. She hoped she sounded convincing, even though having a pretend news show in your room wasn’t that cool. Not compared to having a real show that people could watch all over the world. “Now’s your chance to be on a real show, online,” she told her.
The mom fluffed her hair and smiled at the crew. “Is there food in my teeth?”
Lucy checked carefully before saying “You’re good.”
That interview took only three minutes to record, which was good because Olive said they had to leave in five. Sadie and Lucy spent the last two minutes on the swings while Maya got some slow pans of the park, in case they needed more background footage. When their time was up, they all walked Lucy to her house, which was in the opposite direction of Ash’s. Then they had to drop off Maya at hers, which was also out of the way, and along the route the dog poo bandit (or independent, home-owning dog) must have walked that day. By the time the Simon-Hockheimer crew got home, the sky was getting dark. Beckett was fussy, Sadie was snippy, and Olive was barely holding it together.
“There you all are,” said Dad, who was straining a pot of pasta. “Big news day?”
Ash’s feet ached and her stomach groaned, but she’d never felt more energized. “Live, local, and late-breaking,” she said. “Just wait till you see.”
THE UNDERGROUND NEWS, EPISODE 2
REPORTER: Ashley Simon-Hockheimer
VIDEOGRAPHER: Maya Joshi-Zachariah
EDITOR: Brielle Diamond
STORY SCOUT: Sadie Simon-Hockheimer
SLUG: Stolen bike
VIDEO
Anchor on Camera
AUDIO
ANC: Coming up, breaking news on crime in South Baltimore. I’m Ashley Simon-Hockheimer with the Renegade Reporters, and this is The Underground News.
VIDEO
Intro and Credits
AUDIO
ANC: This just in from John Dos Passos Elementary School. A second grader’s bike was stolen from Riverside Park. The Underground News went to the scene of the crime.
VIDEO
Panorama of Riverside Park
AUDIO
ANC voiceover: Dogs running, kids playing, people out for a stroll or relaxing in the pavilion. That’s what this seven-year-old was expecting when she rode her bike to the playground yesterday afternoon.
VIDEO
Lucy at Playground
AUDIO
LUCY: I came to the park with my aunt and my little cousins Tuesday afternoon at about four thirty. I rode my bike and parked it right here, inside the fence, by the playground. I went on the monkey bars, the swings, the climbing thing—you know, the usual stuff.
VIDEO
Lucy Hanging Upside Down on Monkey Bars
AUDIO
ANC voiceover: But it wasn’t a usual day. Not by a long shot.
VIDEO
Lucy at Playground
AUDIO
LUCY: When we went to leave, my bike wasn’t there. It was gone. My aunt and I looked everywhere. Someone must have taken it while I was playing.
VIDEO
Anchor with Neighborhood Mom at Playground
AUDIO
NEIGHBORHOOD MOM: I take my two-year-old to this park almost every afternoon. It’s crazy that someone’s bike was stolen from inside the fence, but I can’t say I’m too surprised.
ANC: Have you experienced crime at the playground yourself?
NEIGHBORHOOD MOM: About a year ago, my diaper bag disappeared, right out of my stroller. It had my phone in it too. Ever since then, I make sure to keep all my valuables on me while my son plays.
VIDEO
Anchor on Camera
AUDIO
ANC: Theft may be a common problem, but that doesn’t make it any easier for the victims.
VIDEO
Lucy at Park
AUDIO
LUCY: My bike didn’t just come down from the sky, you know. And it wasn’t like Santa gave it to me either. I did chores and saved my allowance to earn that bike, and some chump just took it when I wasn’t looking. It’s not fair.
VIDEO
Photo of Lucy on Her Bike
AUDIO
LUCY: My bike—I called it the Yellow Flash—is black with yellow flames on it. It had red, white, and blue ribbons through the spokes from the Fourth of July parade. And one of my handlebar grips was kind of ripped, but I could still hold it just fine.
VIDEO
Lucy at Park
AUDIO
LUCY: If you’re watching this and you see the Yellow Flash somewhere, contact The Underground News. I’m offering a reward of ten pieces of my saved Easter candy, even the Snickers.
And if you’re watching this—yes, YOU, the THIEF who STOLE the Yellow Flash—now’s the time for you to do the right thing and return what doesn’t belong to you. What goes around comes around, and if you do bad things, bad things WILL happen to you. Believe it.
VIDEO
Anchor on Camera
AUDIO
ANC: I’m Ashley Simon-Hockheimer, and this has been The Underground News.
CHAPTER 7
Subscriber 27 Deemed Suspicious
The whole team recorded Ash’s anchor spots on Friday afternoon. Maya drew them a logo on Saturday, and Brielle spent most of the weekend putting it all together in Van Ness Movie Maker. She posted the bike theft episode to YouTube on Sunday night at eight p.m., immediately after their grown-ups granted their contractually obligated approval.
Ash wrote up an email for her dads to send to all of her extended family. Maya and Brielle did the same. They shared the YouTube link with Lucy and her family, who were so pleased with her performance that they shared it with everyone they knew. Ash refreshed the screen on repeat until her dads dragged her from the computer and took away her phone. They allowed her one quick look before she went to bed at 9:35. The video was up to fifty-seven views, about twenty of which were probably by Ash herself. But in the morning before school, the count was up to eighty-five, and none of the extra twenty-eight could have been by Ash, because she’d been asleep! Even better, their channel had twelve subscribers, which meant twelve of the people who’d watched this episode wanted to see more, and the video had an ad at the bottom for “Local Baltimore news on WBAL,” which Ash took as a high compliment.
On Monday after school, Ash showed the episode to Olive, who shared it with her many friends and followers, which meant by the time Ash brushed her teeth that night, the count had climbed to 140 views and twenty-six subscribers. And just as she said good night to her dads, her phone vibrated with an alert of their twenty-seventh subscriber: Someone with the account name thebestharry11.
Ash gasped. She clicked to view thebestharry11’s profile, but Abba took the phone out of her hands. “Bedtime, Ashley,” he said. “You know the rule.”
“But—”
“Whatever it is, it will still be there tomorrow.”
It was. And it was worse. Not only had Harry E. Levin watched Ash’s show and subscribed to her channel, he was planning on stealing her story.
“Lucy’s going to come on The News at Nine tomorrow,” Brielle reported at lunch, “to talk about her stolen bike.”
“What?” Maya said, nearly spilling her milk. “But how—”
“Harry. He brought it up this morning, right when we finished recording.”
Ash stared at Harry’s table, seething. So he had been spying on her last week in the hallway. How else would he have found The Underground News or Lucy?
“Can you kill it?” Ash asked Brielle. “Like, as director of The News at Nine, say you don’t think you should cover the story?”
Brielle chomped a baby carrot skeptically. “You know I don’t really have that much power. And Ms. Sullivan w
as, like, really into the idea. She said it was a great lead.”
“Of course it is,” Ash said, squeezing her napkin into a ball. “Because it was our lead.” It wasn’t enough for Harry to steal her anchor role at The News at Nine, now he had to steal her story and her guest too? And there was nothing Ash could do about it. Confronting Harry wouldn’t make one bit of difference; it would probably just egg him on. She could try to make Lucy change her mind about going on The News at Nine. But Ash had a feeling that Lucy wasn’t the type to turn down any chance to be on TV, or the opportunity to make more people aware of her stolen bike.
“Our reporting will be better,” Maya reasoned, “because we were able to shoot at the park. All Harry can do is ask Lucy questions in the studio.”
“And he can’t say he broke the story,” Brielle added. “Because we reported it first.”
“But it’s not like he asked our permission,” Ash grumbled, “or is going to give us credit for our hard work.”
“I can try to make him do that, at least,” Brielle said.
“Yeah,” Maya said hopefully. “Ms. Sullivan was always serious about us citing our sources. It’s the responsible thing to do.”
A loud laugh came from where the boys were sitting. Khalil was squirting water out of his drink bottle across the table and into Damion’s mouth. Damion held up his lunch tray as a shield. The water ricocheted off the tray and onto Harry, who pretended to be taking a shower.
The Renegade Reporters looked at one another and sighed. “Right,” Ash said. “We just have to count on those boys to do the responsible thing.”
CHAPTER 8
YELLOW FLASH OWNER:
“Believe It!”
“Good morning, John Dos Passos Elementary,” Harry said. “Today is Wednesday, September eighteenth. The cold lunch is tuna salad and crackers. The hot lunch is black bean burrito bowl. I’m Harry E. Levin.”
“I’m Damion Skinner,” said Damion. “And you’re watching . . .”
“The News at Nine,” they said in unison. Well, sort of. Damion said “The News at Nine,” at the same time Harry said “News at Nine,” which meant they were off by a word, so Harry repeated “Nine” at the end to try and match Damion, only his timing was off, so Damion tried to match him, so it sounded something like “The News News at at Nine-Ni-Ni-Nine?”
At her desk in her classroom, Ash winced just a little bit. She usually tried to ignore her old show, but today she was dialed in completely. She knew Harry was going to steal her story—last night at dinner, Sadie had confirmed that Lucy was planning to be on The News at Nine, along with a framed photo of the Yellow Flash. Dad and Abba spent most of the evening reminding an angry Ash that news wasn’t limited to any one anchor or network, that television stations were always competing for viewers, that viewers tuned in not just for what was reported but also how it was reported. Ash thought all that was easy for her dads to say. They’d never had their ideas stolen from right under their noses.
The News at Nine proceeded as usual, with the Pledge of Allegiance, the birthday report, and, it being Wednesday, the knock-knock joke of the week. And then the anchors were back on screen, both grinning with anticipation, like they were about to jump from behind the desk for a surprise birthday party.
“And now,” Harry said, “a special report about a second grader at our school.”
Ash and Maya caught each other’s eyes. Ash shrugged half-heartedly, and Maya frowned.
“Last week, Lucy Wilson’s bicycle was stolen from the playground at Riverside Park,” Harry said.
“Terrible,” said Damion, shaking his head.
“Lucy rode the bike, which she called the Yellow Flash, to Riverside Park. She parked it inside the fence, near the playground. When she was done playing and ready to ride home, the bike was gone. Here’s Lucy Wilson herself, with breaking news on this developing story.”
Breaking news? Ash plopped her head into her hands, exasperated. She hadn’t expected Harry to credit her reporting, even if Brielle had tried to make him. But calling his report “breaking news” was a flat-out lie. He couldn’t call it that, not when Lucy was about to walk into the studio and repeat the facts from her interview with Ash.
But then Ash’s head dropped out of her hands and almost onto her desk. Because Lucy didn’t walk into the studio holding a photo of her stolen bike—she rode into the studio on her stolen bike.
“The Yellow Flash!” Lucy shouted. “It’s back!”
The kids in Ash’s classroom cheered and started talking excitedly. Ash and Maya exchanged confused looks. What was going on?
“How did you get the bike back?” Harry asked.
“Get this,” Lucy said, parking the Yellow Flash next to the anchor desk but not getting off. “I went to Riverside Park last night, and my bike was there. Right in the exact spot it had been taken from.”
“Did you see who brought it back?” Damion asked.
“Nope,” Lucy said. “There were some people at the park, but they said the bike was there when they got there.”
“And it’s definitely yours?” Harry asked.
“Believe it!” Lucy pumped her fist in the air. “It’s kind of beat-up, though. Both handlebar grips are ripped now, see? And I had ribbons in the spokes, which are gone. But it’s definitely the Yellow Flash.” She climbed down and gave the bike a big hug. She rested her head on the seat and said, “I missed you, Flashy. Don’t ever leave me again.” Then she leaned forward and started kissing the handlebars repeatedly, which made everyone in Ash’s class crack up. Khalil must have been laughing too, because the camera started shaking.
Ash was too stunned to laugh. How did Lucy’s bike get returned to the park? Did the thief see The Underground News and feel guilty about stealing it? Did a detective see their episode and quickly solve the case? Did Harry steal it himself, just so he could break the news of its return? She knew that last theory didn’t make much sense, since Harry only heard about Lucy’s bike after it had disappeared, but it felt good to blame Harry for stealing more than just her news report. It was easier than admitting that he’d managed—with pure luck—to turn Ash’s lead into breaking news of his own.
“Tell us, Lucy,” Harry said stiffly, clearly reading from pre-written notes, “do you have any tips for our viewers, based on your experience?”
“Always lock up your bike,” Lucy said, “even at the playground. Thieves are real and they are sneaky. I think it’s also good to tell lots of people, so they can be on the lookout. Maybe my thief returned the Yellow Flash because they heard me talking about it on a show called—”
“Thank you,” Harry said, cutting her off. “Those are good tips.”
Lucy smiled and resumed kissing her bike.
Ash felt her whole body tense up. She could sense Maya looking at her, but she kept staring straight ahead, forcing herself to take deep breaths.
“Thanks for coming on the show, Lucy,” Damion said. “I’m Damion Skinner.”
“And I’m Harry E. Levin. We hope you enjoyed this special report from The News at Nine, brought to you by Baltimore-based Van Ness Media.” He looked right into the camera, and it felt like he was looking through it, aiming directly for Ash, as he smirked and signed off with “Have a great day.”
CHAPTER 9
Showdown at Sharpener
When Harry and Damion arrived in Mr. Brooks’s room and the class applauded, Ash did not join in. And when Harry went to use the pencil sharpener before math, Ash went there too, even though her pencil was mechanical.
“You’re no better than that bike thief,” Ash said coldly, “stealing ideas.”
Harry didn’t even look at her. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You mean you weren’t spying on me in the hallway?” Ash asked. “And you didn’t subscribe to The Underground News, thebestharry11?”
Ha
rry smiled sweetly. “Aww, thanks for saying I’m the best.”
Ash could have kicked herself. She’d set herself up for that one.
“Van Ness Media thinks I’m the best too,” he added. “They’re going to feature me on their website.”
Ash froze. Maybe she hadn’t heard properly over the noise of the pencil sharpener. “What?”
“Ms. Sullivan told me today, after the show. Van Ness Media is doing a story called ‘Young Creatives to Watch,’ and I’m their number one news anchor. Cool, right?”
Harry held up his pencil and examined the point, which was sharp enough to stab someone in the heart. Then he smiled and went back to his seat, leaving Ash staring after him, her dull mechanical pencil loose in her hand.
CHAPTER 10
Software Company Highlights Young Creatives to Watch
“I can’t believe he was telling the truth,” Ash moaned.
It was Sunday, and the Renegade Reporters had gathered at Brielle’s house. They were supposed to be planning their next episode, but the feature Harry had bragged about was now live online, and it was hard to focus on The Underground News when The News at Nine anchor’s smug face was filling the screen of Brielle’s laptop.
“He wasn’t telling the whole truth,” Maya pointed out from the beanbag chair. “It’s not like the whole story’s about news anchors and Harry’s number one. It’s about all the different ways kids use Van Ness Media software. He’s the only news anchor on there.”
“Which sort of means they think he’s the best,” Brielle pointed out.
Ash scoffed, and Maya shot Brielle a don’t-make-this-worse look, but Brielle shrugged one shoulder and said, “Just saying.”
She was right. The Van Ness Media home page had a giant banner that read YOUNG CREATIVES TO WATCH accompanied by a video created using Van Ness Media software. Clicking on the banner brought up a page with detailed profiles of ten “young creatives” from around the country. A four-year-old girl who recorded original songs in Van Ness Music Studio. A fourteen-year-old boy who made his own comic books in Van Ness Art Studio. And, of course, there was “rising star” Harry E. Levin, who reported “far more than morning announcements” every school day at nine a.m.