The Scavengers Strike Back Page 7

  Being the careless kid I was, I decided to take a look.

  I leaned against the outside wall of the garage as I slid down the side, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious.

  And then I saw a small pack of red ninjas. They weren’t running towards me, they were after another kid … who was also wearing red ninja robes.

  ‘What in the heck?’ I said.

  ‘Cooper!’ the gym teacher called out from the front of the garage.

  I spun around. ‘Yup?’

  The coach gestured towards the school building. ‘If you’re done out here, get back inside.’

  I looked over my shoulder to see if the red ninjas were still there, but they had disappeared. ‘On my way, Coach,’ I said.

  I couldn’t make sense of what I had just seen. It looked like the red ninjas were chasing after one of their own, but that couldn’t be possible. They had to be training or something. But training out in the open where they risked being seen? That was a new level of bold, even for Wyatt.

  Inside the school, I met up with Gidget, and we went straight for breakfast in the cafeteria.

  At the front of the line, I handed my money to Jesse. He didn’t even try to make an excuse for the broken register when the food rang up for free again.

  The same thing happened to Gidget when she paid.

  Jesse’s sleeves were still stained black, which made my stomach turn just a little as I thought about how grimy money had to be to make someone’s sleeves so nasty.

  Gidget and I found a table near the stage. I split open the top of my milk carton, but saw a black smear on the bottom of the waxy cardboard.

  ‘Nasty,’ I said. ‘Jesse got my milk carton all filthy. I don’t know if I can drink this anymore.’

  Gidget inspected her drink. ‘It’s not on mine.’

  ‘Lucky,’ I said, setting my carton on the table.

  ‘Slug’s pretty upset about detention,’ she said.

  I sighed. ‘So’s Brayden,’ I said. ‘I mean, I think he is. I tried calling him last night, but he didn’t answer.’

  Gidget chucked a bit of hash brown into the air and caught it in her mouth. ‘They’re bummed about having to wait around while we try and figure out this whole thing, but I think they’re just mad about being so bored in detention.’

  ‘I’ve been there,’ I said. ‘Every minute feels like an hour.’

  Gidget slowly chewed. She looked like she wanted to say something, but had trouble finding the words. Finally, she said, ‘Slug said he’s thinking about trying out for the football team.’

  ‘That’s cool,’ I said.

  ‘That would mean he’d be done with the ninja clan,’ Gidget said.

  I paused. ‘I mean, if that’s what he wants to do then he should go for it.’

  Gidget took a moment, catching bit of hash brown in her mouth. ‘If he leaves, I’m not sure I’ll stick around either.’

  I was going to say something, but Gidget spoke over me.

  ‘It’s not that your ninja clan is lame or anything,’ Gidget said. ‘It’s just that there’s not much going on in it. It’s kind of …’ she stopped, carefully thinking of how to put it. ‘Boring?’

  ‘Boring?’ I repeated, but with hardly a sound coming from my lips.

  Gidget’s eyes softened. ‘You’re a great leader,’ she said. ‘Really, you are, but this whole thing just isn’t what we thought it’d be.’

  I was speechless. Was I losing my ninja clan again?

  ‘It’s not you,’ Gidget added. ‘It’s me … it’s us.’

  ‘Jeez, Gidget,’ I said. ‘It sounds like you’re breaking up with me.’

  ‘Not with you,’ she said. ‘Just with the ninja clan.’

  ‘At least I’ve still got Brayden,’ I sighed. ‘Just the two of us.’

  ‘Yeaaaaaaaah,’ Gidget said, stretching out the word. ‘About that … Slug mentioned that Brayden was gonna try out for the team too.’

  ‘Are you serious?’ I asked. ‘But … I mean, he never said anything to me about it!’

  Gidget stared at her drink.

  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. My ninja clan, including Brayden, the most faithful member, were all thinking of moving on.

  And it wasn’t like I could stop them. I didn’t want to beg them to stay if they really didn’t want to. If they wanted out, I had to respect that.

  But I couldn’t help but feel like this time was different. It was more of a bummer for them to leave because they were bored than because they were angry.

  I hated feeling like a bad leader. I thought I had moved beyond that, but there it was, staring me in the face. Maybe I just wasn’t cut out to have my own ninja clan. The universe had been trying to rip it away from me since the moment I got it! Maybe it was time for me to hang up my ninja robes for good …

  Victor’s face flashed in my mind, and then his words floated in my head like they were on a banner that was being pulled by an aeroplane he was piloting. ‘… I’m going to show your ninjas that there’s no point to your clan, that there’s no point to your leadership, and that you have no purpose.’

  It was a really long banner.

  Scooping up my tray, I headed for the bins at the side of the cafeteria. Gidget jumped up and followed me with her tray too. She was so distracted that she left her book bag on the floor.

  ‘Chase, wait!’ she said. ‘Where are you going? Would you get back here and talk to me?’

  I didn’t say anything as I marched towards the bins. I wasn’t sure where I was going, but I knew I needed to get out of that cafeteria.

  I heard Gidget groan. She stopped in the middle of the lunchroom, and headed back towards her book bag by the table.

  About a second later, I heard a giant CLUNK echo off the walls of the cafeteria.

  That was when I heard another gasp from all the students around me, along with a bunch of shocked grunts.

  I turned around to see what all the fuss was about.

  Gidget was back at the lunch table, standing perfectly still, with her open book bag in her hands. She was staring at the giant stone object that landed on the table in front of her.

  It was another piece of broken statue.

  My fingers squeezed my lunch tray. I wanted to run to her and help, but everyone in the cafeteria had already seen what happened. Gidget was the centre of attention.

  She looked around the room as students shouted at her. Some of the kids were already yelling for a teacher.

  Her eyes met mine, and I didn’t know what to do. What was I supposed to do? Help her get away? Stuff the broken statue back into her book bag? Create a distraction? It was too late.

  Two hall monitors wearing suits took her aside, asking her questions. She kept shrugging her shoulders and shaking her head, pointing at her book bag. I knew she wasn’t getting anywhere with them because she looked frustrated as she defended herself.

  Principal Davis showed up, taking the piece of statue and walking Gidget out of the cafeteria.

  I was still standing in the aisle, holding my lunch tray and staring like an idiot. Gidget looked to me for help, but all I could do was watch.

  Why didn’t you do something? my brain screamed at me.

  My knees shook as the hall monitors took Gidget through the lobby, towards the front offices. She wasn’t gone yet, which meant I still had time. I could get out there and say something. Anything!

  I jogged to the kitchen window with my tray in my hands. Without slowing down, I flipped my tray across the metal counter towards Jesse. Since I didn’t finish my chocolate milk, the carton bounced right in front of Jesse, splashing milk all over him.

  ‘Dude!’ he shrieked.

  ‘Sorry!’ I yelled as I turned my jog into an all-out sprint for the front doors of the cafeteria.

  Through the tinted glass walls of the lunchroom, I could see Gidget walking into the front office.

  ‘Wait!’ I barked as I burst through the cafeteria exit and into the lobby.

&nb
sp; But I was too late. The last thing I saw was Gidget’s face as she looked at me one more time before the door clicked shut.

  ‘Crumb,’ I said.

  The rest of the morning went on pretty much as you’d expect at that point. Brayden, Slug and Gidget were serving out sentences in detention. Zoe and Faith were so distracted with planning the Bash that we hardly spoke.

  I was going through the day on autopilot, racking my brain trying to figure out who was behind the broken statue. With everything that was happening, the only thing I could do was focus on the boy with fake tattoos. I hoped that everything would go back to normal once I found him.

  I sat on one of the benches near the nook. Since it was the beginning of lunch, everyone was still in the cafeteria, leaving me with the entire lobby to myself.

  The statue of James Buchanan still stood proudly, even though he was headless. ‘I could really use some help now, James,’ I said. ‘Mr Buchanan … er … Mr President.’

  I held my breath, listening carefully for him to respond.

  Then I heard the sound of someone breathing. Not close, but not too far away – like maybe it was somewhere in my head.

  Was James Buchanan trying to speak to me?

  I sharpened my focus, listening as the quick breaths turned into footsteps scraping against the carpet.

  Oh, good, it wasn’t actually the president trying to contact me from the afterlife.

  The footsteps grew louder until they sounded like they were right down the hallway next to the lobby.

  I glanced over and saw Wyatt running at full speed, grunting loudly as he turned the corner, disappearing again.

  After that, two red ninjas appeared and disappeared the same way Wyatt had. What the heck were they running from?

  And then it hit me … Wyatt wasn’t running with his ninja clan – he was running away from them. They were chasing him …

  ‘That does it,’ I said. The case of the broken statue had wound me up like a ball of string, and following the red ninjas sounded like the perfect distraction.

  I snuck down the side of the lobby so I was out of sight of anyone in the cafeteria. I pulled my ninja mask out of my hood and slipped it down the front of my face.

  I leaned over, checking the area for Wyatt and his red ninjas. Why were they chasing after him? Were they playing some kind of weird ninja tag or something?

  At the very end of the hallway, I saw the red ninjas leaning against the lockers, catching their breath and talking to each other. They kept pointing back and forth between the two different directions that Wyatt could’ve fled.

  Suddenly one of the empty classroom doors next to the ninjas burst open and Wyatt jumped out, sprinting away from the two ninjas and back towards me.

  ‘Uh-oh,’ I said, pressing my body against the wall, hoping that Wyatt would run past me.

  ‘Sup, man?’ came a gruff voice from my right.

  I jumped back, frightened by the kid who magically appeared. And then I jumped back again when I saw that it was another red ninja who had talked to me. And he was big.

  The red ninja reached for the top of my mask, the same way the other red ninjas tried before.

  I arched backwards, barely dodging the boy’s hand, but I bumped into Wyatt as he ran past.

  Wyatt grabbed the back of my hoodie and pulled me away from the big red ninja. Spinning around, I righted myself and bounced into a sprint right next to him.

  ‘What are you doing?’ Wyatt squawked angrily as we ran.

  ‘What are you doing?’ I asked, my voice muffled through my ninja mask.

  ‘None of your business!’ Wyatt said. ‘Why are you even out here?’

  ‘That’s none of your business!’ I said.

  It was a pretty childish argument to have while running away from some ninjas.

  At the end of the hallway, Wyatt took a hard left turn. I was going so fast that I had to throw my foot against one of the lockers to keep myself from crashing into it. For about half a second, it was like I was one of those ninjas that could run on the sides of buildings. It was pretty sweet.

  The red ninjas turned the corner right behind us and continued their chase.

  ‘What is this? What’s happening?’ I shouted.

  Wyatt turned down another hall. He grabbed my hoodie again just as I was about to run past him and pulled me into another classroom.

  We pressed our backs against the wall, staying out of sight as the ninjas in the hallway bolted past the door.

  The red ninjas couldn’t have been that smart. How could they lose the kids they were chasing and not check inside the empty classrooms in the hall?

  Oh, probably because the classroom was full of students.

  My stomach dropped.

  ‘Whoops,’ I mumbled.

  Wyatt chuckled.

  ‘Can I help you two?’ the teacher asked, confused.

  In front of the wide-eyed students, I moved in slow motion back to the door. Like, maybe if I moved slowly enough, they wouldn’t see me. But it just made things worse. It was the most awkward thirty seconds of my life, and trust me, I’ve been in thousands of awkward situations. This was just plain embarrassing.

  Once we were back in the hallway, Wyatt shut the classroom door behind us.

  He glared at me and started walking towards the lobby.

  ‘Wait!’ I said, pulling my mask off. ‘What the junk was that all about?’

  Wyatt stopped, putting his hands on his hips. ‘Like I said, it’s none of your business.’

  ‘Did you just save me back there?’ I asked. ‘Did you just pull me aside so your red ninjas wouldn’t get me?’

  Wyatt huffed but didn’t answer. He was hiding something.

  ‘Awwww,’ I sang. ‘Even though you hate me, you still care enough to protect me. How sweet.’

  ‘Knock it off,’ Wyatt sneered.

  ‘Then tell me what’s up!’ I demanded.

  Wyatt paused. His jaw muscles created small waves in his cheeks as he ground his teeth. Finally, he said, ‘I’m having some … trouble with my ninja clan, alright?’

  ‘Oh?’ I said, feeling delight deep in my body, around my stomach I think.

  Wyatt snarled, clearly upset. ‘I might have made a mistake by trying to make a ninja clan the size of a small army. And now my ninjas might be a little bit out of control. Jeez, and after I got everyone cool new ninja masks! The high-tech ones too, with the fabric that keeps your skin cool when you sweat! It’s like astronaut fabric!’

  ‘Out of control?’ I asked. ‘What’s that mean?’

  ‘Just don’t be surprised if you see another clan pop up soon,’ Wyatt muttered. His anger disappeared, melting into a worried expression.

  ‘Another clan?’ I repeated. ‘Are you kidding me right now?’

  ‘I wish! I can honestly say I never saw this coming,’ Wyatt blurted out.

  ‘Why were your red ninjas chasing after you?’ I questioned.

  ‘The new ninja clan might be looking for a new leader,’ Wyatt said reluctantly. ‘And the way to become the leader would be to steal my ninja mask … or yours.’

  I gasped. ‘That’s why those guys kept trying to pull my mask off! Why in the heck would you give that order? Why would you tell them to steal your mask?’

  ‘Maybe ’cause I didn’t give the order, Chase!’ Wyatt growled.

  ‘But if you didn’t give the order, then …’ I trailed off, confused. ‘Wait, are you still the leader of your red ninjas?’

  Wyatt’s face scrunched up so hard that I thought a black hole had formed in the middle of his brain and was pulling him in. He didn’t answer. Instead, he threw his arms in the air, made a ‘bah!’ sound, and stormed off.

  I didn’t follow him. I was floored. Wyatt had been working for months on his red ninja clan, building it and recruiting half the school for it. And now he was telling me he’d lost control of it? Man, I wasn’t looking forward to meeting the kid who took it from Wyatt.

  Buchanan was a rough school s
ometimes, but from what Wyatt had said, it sounded like things were about to get much worse.

  When I got to school the next morning, I went straight for the storage garage down by the track. I wanted to check on my project for the Bash.

  The entryway I had built was finished and stored in the garage, but I had a nagging thought that either the Scavengers or the red ninjas would try to mess with it. I was happy to see it was still safe and sound.

  I shut the garage door behind me and jiggled the handle, making sure it was completely closed.

  ‘Everything cool in there?’ a voice behind me said.

  It was Victor.

  I tried to hide the fact that he startled me when I turned to face him.

  ‘Everything’s fine,’ I said.

  ‘Good,’ Victor said, not actually caring. ‘Sooooo …’ he sang as if we were old buddies. ‘What’s new with you?’

  I stared at the leader of the Scavengers. ‘You know exactly what’s new with me,’ I said. ‘You’re going around framing my friends for breaking the statue!’

  Victor looked offended. ‘Whaaaaaat?’ he said. ‘I would never!’

  ‘Whatever. I know it’s you.’

  ‘I don’t know, man,’ he said, shrugging. ‘That’s a pretty bold accusation. Do you have any proof?’

  Victor knew I had nothing on him. ‘No,’ I said. ‘Not yet, but I will … somehow.’

  ‘Won’t happen,’ Victor sighed.

  ‘What do you want?’ I asked impatiently.

  ‘I just wanted to see how you were doing this week,’ Victor answered with a sly smile. ‘I know you’re going through a lot, and I just thought that, y’know, maybe you needed a friend or something.’

  I didn’t say anything. I didn’t even want to.

  Victor burst out laughing. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said with a hand over his chest. ‘I can’t keep a straight face anymore. No, hey, honestly, I just wanted to see what a mess you were in person, that’s all.’

  What the heck? Who does that? Who goes to the person they’re picking on just to see the look on their face?