Mr. Terupt Falls Again (8 page)

There is wild cheering now. A chant begins
.

CUT TO: CU of MR. TERUPT smiling. Pull back as he opens the last envelope—JESSICAS’s—and reads her solution
.

MR. TERUPT looks up after finishing JESSICA’s solution
.

CUT TO: Everyone cheering. JESSICA stands and walks over to LUKE. They slap each other five. Then JESSICA walks up to MR. TERUPT
.

More cheering from the class
.

LUKE stands and walks to the front, joining JESSICA. MR. TERUPT hands him the gift card, then sweeps his arm in a gesture to present the winners. There is a standing ovation. LUKE and JESSICA shake hands
.

CUT TO: Class back in their seats and MR. TERUPT still standing at the stage area. LUKE raises his hand
.

FADE OUT
.

A
fter we wrapped up the Solution Opening Ceremony, Mr. T asked his book team (me and Anna) to return the books to the library. It was the perfect opportunity to try my stacking method again.

“Peter, just let me carry some,” Anna insisted.

“No,” I said. I was determined to show her I could do it. “I’ve got it this time. Just lead the way so I don’t run into anything.” That’s the only thing I was worried about.

I held a forty-book tower. That was more copies of
The Westing Game
than we needed, but we had extras so we could keep one at home, plus I had a few library books that needed returning. I pressed my hands on the ends of the stack, leaving myself wide open. I started to follow Anna. I had everything under control until Jeffrey decided it was time to get even. He shot me in the front of my pants with several water blasts from the lizards’ spray bottle.

“Hey!” I yelled.

Anna gasped.

“What’s wrong?” Mr. T wanted to know.

“Nothing,” I said. “We’re all set.” I didn’t want to turn around so everyone could see my wet private area.

“Told you to grow eyes in the back of your head,” Jeffrey whispered. “Now we’re even.”

He went back to spraying the bog and I followed Anna out of the classroom. Now I was even more determined to succeed with my book tower. My wet pants had to be worth something.

I repositioned the books so I had one hand by my chin and the other down below my belt. It was easier for me to see, and I felt in control. Plus, I had myself protected now.

“I knew I could do it,” I said.

“We’re not there yet,” Anna said. “Don’t jinx yourself.”

I was hurrying as fast as I could because I wanted to get to the library before anything bad happened.

“Walk!” Mrs. Williams’s voice scared me worse than Mr. T’s stunt during silent reading. My tower of books shot out all over the place and then this little twerp came flying by us down the hall.

“Oh, Peter. I’m sorry,” Mrs. Williams said. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I was trying to get that kindergartner to stop running.” She bent down to pick up some of the books. “Oh, heavens!” she said as she spotted my overly wet pants. “I’m really very sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you like
that
.”

Great, I thought. Mrs. Williams thinks I wet myself out of fright. Just what I wanted.

Anna started turning red from holding her breath. I
could tell she was about to lose it and sure enough she burst out laughing. It was ridiculous.

I picked up a pile of books and carried them into the library. I didn’t even bother trying another tower. I left the rest for Anna. I just needed to get out of there.

W
e had just finished our work with
The Westing Game
when Mr. Terupt introduced our next major task. October was a month for surprises.

“Research, gang. I think it’s time we tackle a research project,” he said, standing at the front of the room.

I liked it. But what would I research?

“What do you mean, project?” Tommy asked.

“Well, instead of simply writing papers, I thought we’d try developing PowerPoint presentations. We can share them with each other, and maybe some other people too.”

Awesome! Classic Mr. Terupt.

Everyone got excited and started talking about ideas, so I’m not sure if anyone else saw his spell. Mr. Terupt closed his eyes and leaned on the front table until he felt steady again. Then he continued—as if nothing had happened.

“You can choose to work alone or with a partner,” Mr. Terupt said. He went on to explain more, but my wheels were already spinning.

I was eager to get started right away with this new project, and I knew exactly what my topic would be. Mr. Terupt’s bouts of dizziness and light-headedness were bugging me. I didn’t like that he was having them. I wasn’t sure if there was anything to these observations or not, so that’s why I decided to research post–head trauma complications and side effects. I needed to make sure Mr. Terupt was okay.

L
ike, Jessica didn’t give me much time to think about that research thing. She asked me if I wanted to be her partner that very day. Like I’d ever say no to her when it came to working on a project.

“Lexie, I’ve got a great idea for the research project. Want to do it with me?”

We were sitting at a table in the caf eating our lunches. Danielle and Anna were sitting with us, but they were busy talking about something else. Maybe that was why Jessica asked me—’cause I was just chillin’.

“What’s your idea?” I asked her.

“I want to research making movies.”

Like, what was I supposed to say? I didn’t know anything about making movies, so I was quiet. I think Jessica thought my silence meant that, like, I wasn’t excited about her idea.

“It’ll be great! You can focus on costume and wardrobe design,” Jessica said. “You can even dress up as a fancy actress for our presentation.”

I raised my eyebrows. That was sounding better. Jessica could tell I was warming to the idea. She smiled.

Basically, I wanted to stick with Jessica for a partner. I knew she’d do all sorts of research, and I could just sort of tag along. I wasn’t exactly using her. It wasn’t like I wanted her to do
all
the work, but she wouldn’t care. And I had other things to worry about, like getting to the hangout after school. I thought about that all the time.

“Hey, Little Brat. Good to see ya, girl,” Reena said when I walked into the back room of the abandoned house that afternoon. She always greeted me like that.

“Have we got a surprise for you today!” Lisa said.

They must not have had a lot of homework. Usually I like surprises, but I was nervous about this one. I should have seen that as a warning sign.

“Enough of the cutesy animal stuff and pretty pink hearts, Little Brat. We’re gonna make a woman out of you,” Reena said.

Suddenly, I felt like
their
little project, but I went along with them—again. Lisa and Reena had all sorts of hand-me-down clothes and accessories for me. I love clothes, so I stopped feeling nervous. I thought of it as my wardrobe research. They helped me pick out an outfit and I hurried into one of the other rooms and tried it on.

“Now, that’s hot,” Lisa said, pointing to me when I came back in. I was wearing black yoga pants and a camouflage top. I used a matching camo scrunchie to hold back my hair.

“That’s fresh,” Reena said. “Camo’s hot.”

“You look older now,” Lisa said.

I smiled. I did feel older in the clothes, and hanging out with Lisa and Reena. How couldn’t I feel that way after going to school with Boy Scout Luke? He’d actually worn his Boy Scout shirt to school that day—the dork! If anyone needed wardrobe help, it was Luke. But I was the one who knew how to appreciate these clothes.

“I thought you meant she looked hot
for real
,” Brandon said as he walked in and plunked down on the sofa.

What was he doing here? Why wasn’t he at football practice?

“You know, after all that pedaling,” he said. “Here, have a drink, Lex.” He handed me his bottled water. That was when I noticed his other arm in a cast.

“What happened?” I said.

“Broke it during our last game. I’ve got a metal plate and eight screws in there now.” He paused. “That means no more football,” he said with his voice lowered, “and kiss wrestling season good-bye too.” Brandon shook his head. “It really sucks. But, hey, guess I can party it up now. So take a drink, little Lexie!”

I
was
hot for real. Plus, I felt bad for Brandon. I didn’t know what to say or do, so I took a big gulp from his bottle—and spit the firewater all over the room. If I thought my chest burned after my first cigarette, let me tell you, I was wrong. My mouth and throat were torched from that swallow. Brandon was practically rolling around on the floor he was laughing so hard. He reminded me of Peter after he hit me with that flying cardboard square the day we were
counting blades of grass with Teach. Like Peter, Brandon thought he was sooo funny.