Upbeats

  *Sigh*

  High school.

  "Maybe we should discuss this later and somewhere a little more . . . private," Brooke suggested as a helping of macaroni flew past.

  "Where?" I said. "Someone’s house?"

  "My brother comes home same time as I do," Brooke said.

  "My brother Simon will be home soon, too," Ned said. "And my dad’s got Fridays off."

  "My mom’s home," I said.

  "My mother’s got nightshift," Robyn piped up, fiddling with the locket she always wears around her neck. "We can go to my place . . ."

  "What about you, System?" Brooke looked over at Kevin, who was wiping something off the table leg and licking it. "Where have you been staying?"

  Kevin blinked at her.

  "Oh . . . around. . . . Do any of you know where Earth skunks usually reside?"

  "Caves, burrows," Robyn listed. ". . . Caves," she repeated, thoughtfully. "Hmm . . . anyone thinking what I’m thinking?"

  "That Parker kid didn’t get the trajectory right with that casserole," Ned said, gazing out at the loud, mushy melee.

  We all looked at him.

  "No," Robyn said. "I was thinking about the caves . . . there’s one not so far from where I live. It’s empty; no one lives there except for a couple of spiders and creepy crawlies. And this isn’t bear country . . . as far as I know."

  "Caves it is," I said. "We’ll meet there after school."

  "What about Smithy?" Robyn asked, concerned.

  "If you see him, tell him," I said, simply.

  I peeked over the table again. The fight was still raging, kids laughing with pure delight. "Come on, gang. Let’s make them eat gloop!" I proposed as I left our hiding spot, jumped onto the table and threw some "nourishing" substance in the direction of Jefferson, the tormenting bully.

  Boy, the rush you get from pelting a bully with unidentifiable gloop.

  Ned was right.