Lexi Magill and the Teleportation Tournament

by Kim Long

  “I’m so sorry,” Mal repeated.

  Lexi removed her glasses and wiped her eyes. “Yeah,” she sputtered as she put her glasses back on. “I know.”

  “I should have helped you look in the toilets,” Mal panted through her sobs. “Maybe then we would have found it before they kicked us out.”

  Lexi started to nod, but caught herself. Right before the security guard had interrupted them, she had been thinking Mal’s Tel-Med couldn’t have flown into a toilet. Straightening her Brewers cap, she blinked toward Mal.

  “Wait. You said you checked the floors, before I got there, right?”

  Mal nodded.

  Lexi tapped a finger to her chin. “Right.” Her confidence grew as her fuzzy mind cleared. Work the problem. “And you said you were in front of the mirror when you slid out your gum?”

  “Yeah.” Mal took a few steps, and then angled her body toward Lexi. “I saw the gum sticking out here.” She pointed to her skirt’s smallest pocket in the world. “I took it out”—Mal repeated the motion, holding an imaginary stick of gum—“and then I heard the clink.”

  Exactly. Lexi’s heart raced. She was definitely on the right track. “Just one clink—not two or three, right?”

  “Right.”

  “Did you hear a rolling sound, like a penny across a surface?”

  “No.”

  “Did you hear a splash of water?”

  Mal tilted her head. “Actually, no, I didn’t. It was a single clink.”

  Lexi gazed skyward as she reimagined the layout of the restroom. “And you’re positive you took the gum out like you demonstrated—in one quick motion, right?”

  “Yes.”

  An idea zoomed to Lexi, and she twirled Mal around so she could look at her purse. “Your bag-purse thing was on the bench by the door, right?”

  “Right.”

  “Can you take it off for a sec?”

  Mal handed Lexi her backpack purse. Lexi wiggled it. Nothing. She set it on the pavement. One of the pack’s side pockets was half unzipped. With a silent prayer, Lexi closed her eyes and stuck her fingers inside. Seconds later, she pulled out Mal’s Tel-Med.

  “What!?” Ron screamed, reaching for Lexi’s arm.

  “Holy cow!” Mal yelled, vaulting toward Lexi.

  Lexi grasped her forehead with one hand and used her other hand to latch on to her teammates, hoping they’d keep her upright. Her knees nearly buckled as the tension oozed out of her body.

  Mal snatched the Tel-Med out of Lexi’s hand. “That was amazing! How did you think of it?”

  Lexi rocked back and smiled. “Physics! Based on where you said you were standing and the force you described in removing the gum, it’s unlikely the Tel-Med could have flown into a stall or a toilet. It’s also safe to say that the Tel-Med came to a rest at some point because otherwise you’d have seen it rolling around. Since you heard only the one clink, the object that brought the Tel-Med to a state of rest would have had to have muffled that sound.” Lexi shrugged a shoulder. “The only object in there capable of muffling a metal medallion was your backpack. The Tel-Med clanked against the counter or bench or wall—which was the clink you heard—and then hit the backpack, coming to rest inside the pocket.”

  Mal and Ron gaped at Lexi. “Wow,” Ron said. “That’s smart, Magill. Nice save!”

  Lexi tapped the Brewers logo on her shirt. “Like Dan Plesac!”

  “Who?” Ron and Mal asked.

  Lexi giggled. “The Brewers’ all-time record holder for most saves—he’s one of my dad’s favorite players.”

  Mal reached for Lexi and pulled her in for a hug. “Thank you,” she whispered. “I don’t know how I would have told my parents.”

  Lexi’s face fell. She’d been so stuck on the fact they’d have to quit that she never considered Mal could have gotten in big-time trouble. Her stomach reeled at what Mal must have been going through as Lexi had continued to scream at her.

  She squeezed Mal. “I… I’m so sorry I lost it back there.” Tears pricked her eyes. “I panicked, and—”

  “It’s okay,” Mal said. “I get it. I was mad, too.”

  The girls smiled at each other and both sighed heavily. As they laughed at their timing, Ron cleared his throat.

  “Hate to break up this love fest, but shouldn’t we get to the rest area and check-in?”

  After another sigh, Lexi and Mal turned to their teammate.

  “The museum’s closed, and we were the last ones to leave,” Lexi said. “We can’t change anything now.” She stared down the street as her stomach fluttered. “But yeah, let’s go see if we made the cut.”

  Stanislaw checked in Team RAM and directed them through the curtain. As she walked through, Lexi spotted Haley, along with the Phenoms, Mighty Sanbornes, and other top teams. Her shoulders eased a bit. That meant the tournament directors made everyone stop at the Poland rest area. The only question now was whether Team RAM had made it into the top thirty.

  “Well?” Ron asked. “What do you think?”

  “I don’t know,” Lexi replied, quickly counting teams.

  “Twenty-five!” Mal called from behind. Ron and Lexi spun. Mal stood with Stanislaw as he showed her a clipboard. She left his side and joined her teammates. “I figured I might as well ask, right?”

  Ron and Mal high-fived each other and reached out to Lexi. Lexi returned the congratulations, but she couldn’t ignore that they’d barely made it, and tomorrow morning there’d be twenty-four teams teleporting to France before them.

  France. Lexi slumped as she remembered the amount of work ahead of her plotting all those points. She checked the time. 10:24 p.m. She yawned in spite of herself. Even though it was only 3:24 p.m. back home, the day’s drama combined with eight hours of racing had wiped her out.

  “Let’s pick cots and then get something to eat,” Mal said, heading to the sleeping area.

  Lexi dropped to a cot.

  “Lexi?”

  Lexi raised her eyes. “Huh?”

  “Don’t you want to eat?” Mal gestured toward the buffet and laughed. “Ron’s already in line, backpack and all.”

  Lexi patted her rumbling stomach, wishing she could relax and eat, but those coordinates weren’t going to plot themselves. “In a minute. I want to take another look at the next clue.”

  Mal scooched beside her. “Oh! I didn’t even know you got it. Let’s see!”

  “Sorry. I forgot to tell you with all the commotion.” She handed the blue envelope to Mal. “We’re going to France, but—”

  “France? France!” Mal yanked the envelope out of Lexi’s hands and leaped off the cot. “Where? Oh my gosh—imagine the photos! People go gaga over France!”

  Yeah, tell me about it.

  Mal clutched the envelope against her chest. “I can see it now,” she said dreamily. She held out the envelope as if it were a trophy. “And the award for most outstanding exhibit goes to…” She paused and lowered her hand. “Wait. Where in France? I hope it’s not a place like the Eiffel Tower—anyone can find photos of that on the Internet.”

  Before Lexi could answer, Ron loped toward them carrying a plate of food.

  “Really?” Mal teased, eyeing the mound. “Think you took enough?” Smirking, Ron stuffed a kielbasa into his mouth and dropped onto the cot across from Lexi. Mal lightly kicked Ron’s foot. “Guess what? We’re going to France!”

  “Ohthttttawwwwsmmm,” Ron said with his mouth still full. Lexi and Mal shared a sympathetic eye roll as Ron licked his fingers. “Where? Some place with a bunch of American sports fans, I hope.”

  “Fine with me, as long as it’s not too touristy,” Mal replied. “It needs to be special.” She fanned herself with the clue’s envelope. “The French Riviera might be cool. It has tons of designer shops!”

  Lexi pushed herself up off the cot. If she stayed for this conversation any longer, she was going to lose it again. She’d be up half the night plotting, missing her chance to hang out with Haley, and all
Ron and Mal could talk about was swag and photos. She glanced toward the dining area.

  Several teams had slid their tables together. The Mighty Sanbornes, Haley’s Comets, Physics Phenoms, Tesla’s Techies, and a team wearing red shirts were smiling and joking between bites of food. Lexi stared longingly at the group. She took a step, and then glanced back at Mal, who was still waving the clue around and rambling about France.

  “I’m going to say hi to Haley,” Lexi said, hoping her friend had saved her a seat like she had asked. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

  “We’ll get started,” Mal said, plopping onto the cot.

  Lexi paused. “What?”

  “Go on and get something to eat,” Mal said, sliding the papers out of the envelope. She poked Ron and laughed. “Come on, Ron. I’ll read the clue this time, and you can use my tablet.”

  Ron let out a loud belch. “I don’t know. I think I’m ready for seconds.”

  “Eww,” Mal waved her hand in front of her nose. “For real?”

  Lexi stifled a laugh. “Mal, you sure you want to? The puzzle’s long. We have to plot all these points and then—”

  “Well, there’s no reason you should be stuck with it,” Mal said. “Besides, you’re the whole reason I’m here and we even get to go to France. Go on. We’ll start.”

  Lexi’s chest tingled as she watched her teammates together on the cot. Part of her wanted to slide right beside them and get cracking on that problem, but the other part longed to visit with her old friends. It was like she was an electron that had two atoms competing for her.

  Laughter erupted from behind, and Lexi whirled. No one sitting at any of Haley’s tables was working on the clue, that was for sure. She wondered when they had arrived at the rest area.

  “Okay,” Lexi said to Mal and Ron. “You guys can start looking up the coordinates. I’ll be back.”

  Lexi strode to the makeshift banquet table. The closer she got, the more it brought her back to her old life at the academy. The teams were debating which teleport scientist they liked the best.

  “Dr. Bressler—no question!” Comet Andre said.

  “Nah, for me it’s Dr. Kent. He’s been all over the world,” a Sanborne added.

  “They’ve all been all over the world,” Haley chimed. “They’ve teleported everywhere. They have telepods in their labs! Imagine—every day we went to work we’d have the chance to travel some-where new!”

  Anxious to join in, Lexi advanced to the edge of the table. “Dr. Vogt is my fave,” she said. “If it wasn’t for her invention of the Tel-Med, none of the other stuff would matter.”

  Everyone at the tables turned, and a chorus of “Hey, Lexi!” followed. Lexi’s heart warmed. She looked for an empty seat near Haley, but Haley hadn’t saved her one. No matter. It was kind of cool to stand at the head of the table and have everyone’s attention. She glanced at Haley. “Dr. Vogt’s your favorite, too, isn’t she, Hale?”

  “Of course! I actually met her in February at a conference in London. She loved my question—said it showed real insight. I’m thinking she has to remember me.”

  Before Lexi could respond, a roar sounded from the sleeping area, and everyone turned to look. Ron stood with a football tucked under one arm and his other arm extended as if blocking a defender. Stanislaw was next to him, seemingly enthralled with the demonstration. Mal snapped photos, egging Ron on for more poses.

  “Your teammates are hilarious,” Proton Jacob said.

  “Yeah, they seem fun,” Tesla’s Techie Jeannette added.

  Lexi held her tongue. Hilarious and fun were not going to win the tournament.

  “You guys must have fallen way behind,” Haley said. “I didn’t see you anywhere.”

  “Yeah,” Lexi said with a sigh. “We had a few issues, but we survived the cut. We’ll be racing tomorrow.”

  Haley winced. “But barely.”

  Lexi clenched her teeth. She didn’t come over to talk about her team or how badly they’d done. She wanted to talk about teleport science or physics or math or anything that she hadn’t had a chance to discuss in the last five months.

  She nodded at Tomoka. “I bet you’d get a kick out of working with Dr. Kent, given his current research on rockets. How is yours coming along?”

  The table tittered, and Lexi flinched. “What?”

  “It’s busted,” Tomoka said. “We sort of had a… meltdown.”

  The tittering morphed into full-blown laughs. Lexi stood still, not getting the joke, and, even worse, feeling incredibly awkward at being the only one not getting it. Somehow, even though she was with her old friends, she felt like the same outcast she was at her new school.

  “It’s a long story, Lex,” Tomoka said. “I’ll have to—”

  “How’s everyone doing?” Dr. Harrison asked, striding to the table.

  Haley vaulted out of her seat. “Dr. Harrison, have you talked to Dr. Vogt recently? Does she remember me?” Haley clenched her hands together in front of her chest. “Don’t forget to mention I got an A-plus on my paper on her and was featured in the junior scientist journal.”

  Dr. Harrison waved off Haley. “I remember, I remember.” He tipped his head toward Lexi. “I also remember Ms. Magill over here is a pretty big Dr. Vogt fan herself.”

  Lexi grinned.

  “That’s not all,” Haley started, but the rest was drowned out as everyone else started blurting out their achievements, too.

  Dr. Harrison put an end to it quickly. “Okay! Stop it, please! Don’t worry. The scientists will know all about you when it comes to the internship.” He passed the table and strode to the curtain. “Now get some rest.”

  As soon as Dr. Harrison exited, chatter erupted at the table. Lexi stepped away to grab a chair so she could slide in and join, but as she returned, most of the kids had scattered and only Haley, the Phenoms, and a couple others remained.

  At last. A little one-on-one time with Haley was exactly what she needed. They could do some major catching up, and with a little luck everything would be—

  “Comets, Phenoms, and Techies—the movie’s set up. We’re ready!” Haley’s teammate Emma called from the sleeping area.

  “We’re on our way,” Haley said, rising.

  “Be right there,” Tomoka added as he and his teammates stacked their garbage.

  Lexi tightened her grip on the back of the chair.

  “I’m sure it’ll be one of the Guardians movies,” Haley said. She glanced at Lexi. “She loves them as much as you do.”

  Haley left, and Lexi’s heart sank.

  Tomoka frowned. “Sorry, Lex. I’ll tell you about the rocket some other time.”

  Lexi released the chair. Trying to disguise her disappointment at not being invited, she shrugged. “Oh, that’s okay. I have to get back and plot those coordinates, anyway.”

  Tomoka halted his trash pickup and exchanged glances with his teammates. Turning toward Lexi, he slid his team’s blue envelope out from under his tray.

  In an instant, Haley reappeared and clapped her hand on top of it. “Yeah, you should get going,” Haley said, meeting Lexi’s eyes. “That takes a while.”

  Tomoka picked up the envelope with his tray and left, Haley following a step behind.

  “Good night,” Lexi called, a tad confused by their reactions.

  She watched Haley grab a seat next to Emma and wondered if Emma was Haley’s new lab partner. Jealousy rumbled through her again, but Lexi quickly snuffed it out. Someone had to be Haley’s partner now that Lexi wasn’t around. It didn’t mean it would stay that way once she returned. Once they fell into their old routine, she and Haley would be inseparable again.

  Nodding to herself, Lexi made her way to the buffet and scooped a gwampshi and pierogi onto her plate. Haley was right—she didn’t have time for a movie, anyway. She needed to plot those points so Team RAM could teleport first thing in the morning with the other teams. It was time to get to work.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Neither of
her teammates was around when Lexi returned to her cot. She set her plate on a small folding table and scanned the area for the envelope. Not seeing it, she lifted up her flimsy pillow. Nope. She crouched and checked under each of the cot’s four corners. Nothing. Irritated, she crossed the narrow aisle to the cot where Ron and Mal had been sitting. Ron had probably used it as a plate for one of his umpteen trips for food.

  “Lookin’ for this?”

  Lexi turned. Ron waved the blue envelope in front of her face.

  She rolled her eyes. “No. Actually, I’m looking for the map. I thought you guys were going to start plotting?”

  “We were,” Ron said, bending over to whisper. “But then we found something interesting.” He paused and made his eyebrows dance. “Quite interesting. So we stopped and waited for you.”

  Lexi’s insides fluttered with joy. Her teammates’ decision to wait and include her in what they found was the complete opposite from how Haley had so easily blown her off moments earlier. Excited, she lowered her voice and replied to Ron, “Really? What?”

  Ron showed her the clue, and Lexi reread it.

  Did you choose the correct answer? MAYBE YES, MAYBE NO. If not, you’ll be told at your next destination and given another chance to get it right. If your answer was correct, you’ll proceed directly to the next stop.

  To continue:

  Travel to the country where Madame Curie became a citizen. If you need help determining exactly where to go, turn to the next page. Plot the fifty landmarks on the enclosed map via their longitude and latitude coordinates. Then, connect the dots as instructed on page three. Five of these lines will intersect at the location that serves as your next destination!

  “Yeah?” Lexi said. “So?”

  “So,” Ron said. “Notice anything interesting about this piece of paper?”

  Lexi arched an eyebrow. “Such as…”

  He referred her to the top of the page. “It’s missing an important word, don’t you think?”

  Lexi tried cocking the other eyebrow to make her eyebrows dance like Ron’s, but she failed. “What are you talking about?”

  Ron signaled to the cot, and they sat. “Okay, so we saw all these points you have to plot and everything, right?”