0062120085. (C) (14 page)

L
ATER THAT DAY, WHEN I WAS WALKING THROUGH THE HALLWAY
to my seventh-period algebra class, I felt a hand grab my shoulder. I turned around, expecting it to be one of my friends.

But it was Mr. Jensen. Or, I mean, Agent Nineteen.

“Hi, Carson, I’ve got that information you requested about the musical tryouts,” he said, holding out a folded piece of paper.

“Uh, thanks,” I said as I took it.

“Hope to see you there,” he said and then walked away.

I stopped walking and leaned against the wall right there in the hallway, unfolding the paper and looking at the handwritten words.

I folded the paper back up into a square. Was he serious? Seventh period started in like ninety seconds. How was I supposed to get Olek detention while I was in a whole different class?

I ran after Agent Nineteen.

“Mr. Jensen, wait!”

He stopped and turned around and I could tell by his expression that he was annoyed I’d chased after him.

“How am I supposed to carry this out? I have class now!” I said.

“Figure it out,” he said almost coldly. Then he whispered, “And don’t ever break your cover in the hallway. You shouldn’t need my help; getting detention is what
you’re supposed to be good at, right?”

Then he turned and walked away again. This time I knew better than to follow him. Besides, he was right; this was supposed to be my thing. It should be a piece of pie, right? I mean, getting detention was my specialty.

I looked back down at the note again, rereading the last line.

Ingest this note
.

Did they seriously want me to eat it? I shrugged and stuffed it into my mouth and chewed. It tasted dry and stale, like you’d expect. I mashed it up in my mouth until it was nothing but a slimy ball of goo and then swallowed it.

I basically spent the first few minutes of my seventh-period class practically banging my head on the desk trying to think of what to do. I had just fifty minutes of class left to figure out how to get to Olek and then get him in trouble.

Getting out of my class wouldn’t be that hard. My algebra teacher, Mr. Kittson, was pretty reasonable. If I told him I had a stomachache, he’d definitely let me leave to use the bathroom. The problem was getting into Olek’s classroom.

Olek had Mrs. Larimore for seventh-period English,
the same teacher I had for homeroom. The same lady who was already mean and strict as it was, but who I’d also peed my pants in front of last week. If I just showed up at her classroom unexpectedly during seventh hour she’d not only refuse to let me inside for a second, but she’d also probably give me three more weeks’ detention.

But the good news was that I could also use her to my advantage. It meant that Olek wouldn’t have to do much to get detention. It was just a matter of contacting him somehow. Like I said before, she once gave some kid two weeks’ detention just for bringing his pet gerbil to class, and that was . . . Wait.

The whole plan hit me so suddenly that I almost fell out of my desk.

“Having problems?” Danielle asked next to me.

“No, I’m actually perfectly fine, thanks,” I said back. “But, I gotta go. I have some shenanigans to pursue.”

She grinned. “What are you up to this time?”

“I’m sure you’ll hear about it,” I said as I grabbed my backpack and stood up.

I went up to the teacher’s desk and told him I had a terrible stomachache. He wrote me a hall pass and I left. I headed immediately toward Ms. Colby’s classroom. As I
walked, I was formulating what I would need to say to her in order to acquire what I needed for my plan. But it turned out that luck was on my side: Her classroom was dark and empty. Seventh period must have been one of her off-hours.

But that created another small problem: The classroom door was locked. It didn’t take long for me to realize that I had just what I needed to get around that in my backpack. I took out one of the three fruit roll-ups that Agent Chum Bucket had given to me.

After unwrapping it, I stuffed the soft cherry-flavored roll-up into the door, right next to the lock. Then I took a few steps back and pressed the small detonator like he’d shown me. There was a soft
boom
, followed by smoke drifting away from the door.

I grabbed the handle and pulled. The entire doorknob came off in my hand, and I heard the inside knob clatter to the floor on the other side. I gaped at the metal doorknob in my hand and then at the hole it had left behind in the door.

Oops.

I shrugged and then pushed the door open. It closed behind me, and I gently set the loose doorknob next to the other one inside the classroom. I felt sort of bad
but figured that doorknobs couldn’t be too expensive to replace. Right?

Either way, I needed to stay focused. I only had thirty minutes left. I had to hurry in order to make sure Olek got detention by the end of the period. I grabbed the two supplies I’d come here for and snuck back out into the hallway. Next stop: Mrs. Larimore’s class.

I walked by her room as casually as I could and saw that she was up front giving a lesson of some kind. The thought crossed my mind that I could just run in there and try to get Olek in trouble somehow, but Mrs. Larimore would send me down to Gomez’s office before I’d be able to implicate Olek. There was no choice but to carry out my plan.

I went to the end of the hallway and turned the corner, taking a deep breath. This was the part of the plan that I was most worried about. I had no idea if it would work. But I had to try.

The hallway was closed off at one end by a set of double doors that led to the gym. The other end was slightly longer and led to one of the school’s exits. There were a few classroom doors along the way, but they were all closed.

I dug inside my bag for the key ring grappling hook
and looked up at the metal vent cover on the wall, just below the ceiling. I honestly had no idea whether that vent would lead me to Mrs. Larimore’s classroom. It’s not like I had a blueprint of the school schematics memorized or something. But I figured it had to. Wasn’t that the whole point of air ducts? To connect all the rooms in one building to the same air conditioning and heating systems?

After looking both ways down the short hallway I was in, I aimed the keys at the ceiling right next to the air vent cover. I pressed the button like Chum Bucket had shown me, and the keys fired up and lodged into the ceiling.

After attaching the keys to my belt, I grabbed the stuff I’d gotten from Ms. Colby’s room and then pressed the retract button. I slowly started upward. I couldn’t believe that the thin cord and a motorized lift that small were able to hoist me to the ceiling with such ease. It was pretty awesome.

I dug a penny from my pocket and unscrewed the screws holding the vent cover in place. It fell open on its hinges. After hoisting the item I’d gotten from Ms. Colby’s room up into the vent and pushing it forward and out of the way, I did the same with my backpack. Then I reached up and grabbed the inside of the vent. I
released the grappling hook so I was now dangling from the vent by just my grip. I pulled myself up and into the air duct. It was a pretty tight squeeze but after enough wriggling and squirming, I was inside the small, metal rectangular tube. The object from Ms. Colby’s room and my backpack were in front of me.

I had no choice but to leave the vent hanging behind me. There was no way I’d be able to turn around and close it in this tight space. So, I just started crawling forward in the vent in the direction of Mrs. Larimore’s classroom.

It was surprisingly easy to find. After passing over one other classroom, I could see kids through a vent below me and I heard Mrs. Larimore’s voice talking about dangling participles or some nonsense.

From this particular vent opening, I could only see about ten kids, none of who were Olek. I looked up ahead in the duct and saw a second vent just ten feet ahead. I crawled forward, pushing my supplies ahead of me.

I lifted them both over the next vent opening and then peered down through the slits. It appeared that luck was finally on my side. I was almost directly above Olek. Not exactly, but definitely close enough to execute my plan.

There were only fifteen minutes left of class, so I had
to hurry. I found the backsides of the screws holding the vent cover in place. They were just loose enough for me to unscrew with my fingers. Once they were mostly unscrewed, I leaned down close enough to the vent to see the front of the classroom.

Mrs. Larimore was still up front talking. Every few seconds, she’d turn around and point to something she’d written on the whiteboard behind her. While I waited for the right moment, I began prepping the delivery.

I took out the roll of twine I’d taken from Ms. Colby’s classroom and then opened the lid of the hamster cage. The hamster cage I’d also taken from Ms. Colby’s classroom. I took out a hamster. It trembled and squeaked. I felt sort of bad for it, but it’s not like it would get hurt. In fact, if anything, it might end up enjoying the brief freedom.

The hamster thankfully stayed still while I tied one end of the twine around its midsection. I was careful to get it tight enough to hold it but not tight enough to suffocate it or something. I did the same thing to the other three hamsters. Then, all I could do was wait for the right moment.

I watched the class go on for what seemed like hours but was really only like six minutes. Then, just like that,
it was suddenly time to act. Mrs. Larimore had just finished her lecture and turned around to erase all the junk she’d scribbled on the whiteboard.

Right as she started erasing, I pushed the vent open. Then I grabbed the four hamsters in both of my hands and held them out over the opening. I let the four strands of twine slowly slide through my palms.

The hamsters began their descent.

When they were about halfway down, dangling in a big furry bunch, someone must have seen them because I heard a soft gasp below me. Thankfully, Mrs. Larimore was also mostly deaf. So she just kept on erasing the board in big, slow arcs.

I continued lowering the hamsters. They were now right in between Olek’s desk and the kid next to him. The kid next to him saw the hamsters and looked up at me. We locked eyes and I put a finger over my lips. He grinned and then nodded at me.

Another perk to being the school prankster: Kids almost always went along without question. I started swinging the hamsters back and forth, to get them closer to Olek. By this point I could now hear a lot of suppressed giggles and murmurs below me. Most of the class had now seen the hamsters dangling from the ceiling. Mrs.
Larimore just kept on erasing, but she was nearly finished.

As the hamsters swung back and forth like a pendulum, I let out more string. Then, as they arched over Olek’s desk, I let go. They landed on his desk with a soft plop. One of them slid all the way across his desk and right over the edge. But the kid next to Olek, who had been watching the hamsters swing back and forth the entire time, reached out and caught it before it hit the ground.

Right after I let go of the strings, I grabbed the vent lid and quickly closed it. Then I leaned over and watched the fun develop below me.

For starters, as soon as the hamsters landed on Olek’s desk, he shouted out in surprise.

“Ah! It rain giant rat!”

The class erupted into a chorus of screams and laughter. Mrs. Larimore turned around instantly. She didn’t react for the first few seconds as she tried to piece together what exactly was happening.

Then she saw the hamsters on Olek’s desk. They scrambled around, looking for somewhere to go. The strings of twine attached to them were on Olek’s shoulders and one piece was in his hair.

“Olek!” she shrieked. “What is the meaning of this?!”

Olek grabbed the loose strings and stood up, holding the hamsters out in front of him. They dangled together and began squeaking in unison. Some kids laughed, some squealed in disgust or delight, or maybe a little of both.

“They rain from ceiling like dog and cat!” Olek said. “What is happening?”

He started walking toward Mrs. Larimore with the hamsters dangling in front of him. She gasped and took a step back.

“Get them away from me!” she shouted.

“They come from sky!” Olek said. “Is giant rat rain!”

“You’re in big trouble, young man,” Mrs. Larimore said. “Principal’s office, right now!”

I took that as my cue to get the heck out of there. I still needed to find my way to a safe spot to get out of the school’s ventilation system and then back to class before the bell rang. But I knew Mrs. Larimore would never believe Olek. He was as good as busted. I felt bad for him, as he must be incredibly confused, but I was sure that once I explained why I had to frame him, he’d understand.

“O
LEK, DID YOU GET DETENTION?” I ASKED, WHEN I CAUGHT
up with him after school.

“Yes!” he said. “You not believe what happen in my class! It rain fat rats from ceiling!”

I laughed. “I know. I was there.”

“What? How is this possible?”

I explained to him what had happened and why I’d done it.

“Ah, yes, is good work,” he said when I was done. “Is very smart plan.”

“Good, I’m glad you’re not mad at me.”

I spent most of detention looking out the window. Right after detention is when those enemy agents had been snooping around on Friday. I assumed that’s when they might try again. About halfway through the hour, I saw a black unmarked sedan roll slowly by the school.

I glanced at Olek. He had apparently been watching, too, because he looked at me with wide eyes. I wanted desperately to write him a note to discuss an exit strategy, but the detention supervisor, Mr. Walsh, was about as no-nonsense as teachers could get. He had a sixth sense for note passing. No matter how sly you were, he always knew somehow.

So we both just sat there and stared out the window for the rest of detention. We never saw the car again, but we did see something else suspicious. There was a handful of men in matching uniforms walking around the school grounds. They looked like phone company technicians, because the logo on their uniforms formed the letters MCMC, which I was pretty sure was our town’s phone company: Minnow Communications Management Company. But when I looked closer, I wasn’t so sure the uniforms were authentic. For one, they were spotless, as if they’d never been used for actual work. And two,
I never saw them once do anything that could be considered phone-related. They were basically just snooping around.

Olek and I exchanged another look.

When detention ended, we met by the door outside where the late buses picked up. My bus wasn’t there yet, as evidenced by the group of kids waiting. But between us and the bus stop were a few of those suspicious, fake telephone company guys talking to one another.

“We should be safe out there with that pack of kids waiting for the bus,” I said.

Olek nodded. I dug the tranquilizer pen that Agent Chum Bucket had given me out of my bag. Just in case.

“Okay, let’s go together. Don’t look at any of those guys standing around on the lawn. Remember, they won’t suspect two kids who look like longtime friends with nothing to hide,” I said.

“Right,” he said. “Is very cape and knife.”

I almost laughed in spite of the fact that I felt like I was going to have a heart attack or something. I was pretty sure he’d meant cloak and dagger.

“Okay, so as we pass, laugh like I just told you some joke,” I said.

He nodded.

We opened the door and started walking out. We got no more than eight steps when two of the fake phone service technicians came out of nowhere and walked right by us. As they passed, Olek laughed and then I did, too, my grip on the pen tightening.

“And then he actually did it!” I said, pretending I was telling some hilarious story. “He actually puked on his parents, in their bed, while they were sleeping! On purpose!”

Olek laughed again, but this time it sounded even more genuine. The two guys walked by without even looking at us. We joined the group of kids waiting for the late buses.

“It works?” Olek whispered.

“Yeah, I think so,” I whispered back. “But don’t turn around to check. It might look suspicious.”

All in all, I felt like it had been a pretty good first day. I guess there was always the possibility that those guys really had been phone-company employees and not enemy operatives at all, but I was going to consider it a victory regardless.

Once we got home, I plopped down onto my bed, and Olek sat on the floor. We played video games for several hours, until my mom called for us to come up and help
her with dinner. After we’d eaten, Olek and I went back to my room again to hang out. I opened my computer to check my email, and as soon as I did, I got a Skype call from Dillon.

“Want to come over?” he asked.

“No, I’m pretty tired,” I said. “I evaded capture from two secret enemy agents today.”

“Yeah, whatever,” he said.

Olek, who was across the room and out of view from my computer’s camera, smirked at me.

“Really, though, I just have a lot of homework,” I said.

“I’m telling you, doing your homework is only helping them.”

“Helping who?” I humored him.

“The secret league of animal rights activists who are planning a takeover of our school,” he said. “You know, since there’s a top secret animal testing facility built miles underneath the school building and all. Anyway, they’re wearing us down with the assignments, so we’ll be weak when they finally make their move! I already told you this.”

“Yeah, but Dillon, I have to do enough of my homework to at least get Cs or my parents will ground me.”

“Fine, suit yourself. Being grounded is better than
becoming a slave to a bunch of animal rights radicals. But whatever.”

I laughed, and so did Olek.

“Who’s that? Is someone over there?” Dillon asked.

“Yeah, Olek is staying with me for a little bit, remember?” I said. I had told him and Danielle about Olek’s “infestation problem.”

“Oh, yeah, well you guys can both come over?” he suggested hopefully.

Then Danielle’s face popped into the screen.

“Come on, Carson, we want to go check out that new milk bar over by the circus. I heard they have bubblegum-flavored milk!”

I thought that sort of sounded gross, but perhaps I was going about this the wrong way. I think I was saying no because being out in public and trying to hide a protected witness was exhausting. Just telling one little lie is easy, but lying constantly to your friends with no room to make even one mistake was a lot harder than it had seemed.

But the thing was, my primary directive was to make Olek fit in. To act like a couple of normal kids as much as possible. And hiding out in my house all the time like a couple of bearded hermits who are building a castle
out of dry skin flakes or something was
not
helping Olek appear like a normal kid. The right thing to do, whether or not it was the easy thing to do, was to go.

It was my mission directive after all.

“What do you think, Olek? Want to get some milk?”

“Yes, please, thank you,” he said.

“Yeah, okay, we’ll be over in a little bit,” I said to Dillon and Danielle.

They smiled.

“All right, see you soon!” Danielle said.

I closed the computer. Olek was grinning ear to ear.

“What?” I asked.

“I never have American milk-bar beverage before,” Olek said. “I cannot wait for this to begin.”

“Well, then, let’s get going.”