Rita Morse and the Sinister Shadow

  * * * * *

  A sense of dull panic descended on me by the end of lunch. Okay, maybe it wasn’t so dull. It was more like a my life’s over type of panic. A million things spun through my mind. The experience in the cafeteria. Josh and Kristina. Gabe Cruz. Detention. The fact that I couldn’t see the video entry. And I still didn’t know what this stupid A meant on my arm.

  “Do you really think the losers tipped off the Shadow Regime that we’ve got detention tomorrow?” Ryan asked me in Algebra class. “Mr. Gorfel made sure the entire class knew we got detention. He waved those pink slips in the air.”

  “I just hope they haven’t yet,” I told him. “They got those new phones, though. Hopefully they haven’t got a minute to use them.”

  “Good point,” Ryan said. “We can only pray school never gave them the chance to make a call, or that cell phone signals can’t go to other dimensions.”

  My throat felt a little less dry. Maybe Josh and Kristina hadn’t called their friends. Phone signals probably didn’t make it to other universes. But still, we had to try something.

  “They will, though, if they haven’t already,” I said. “They’ll probably get some CD’s for it or something.”

  “Or a few movies,” Ryan added.

  Another brilliant idea popped into my mind. Okay, maybe it wasn’t so brilliant, but it was our only shot. “Unless,” I said, “we make sure they don’t.”

  “How? They’re both bigger than us. I remember the time Josh tried to shove me in a locker in middle school. He didn’t succeed only because I couldn’t fit!”

  It was really because I’d distracted him, but I didn’t remind him of that. He’d just get ticked off. “We could follow them after school and distract them,” I suggested. “If they know they’re being followed, they might not meet with the Shadow Ones.”

  “Yeah right. If they know they’re being followed they’ll just lead us to those freaks and tell them to come after us.”

  “Good point. Maybe we could let the air out of their bike tires before they leave school.”

  “Or steal them and throw them somewhere where they can’t get to them,” Ryan said. He smiled for the first time that day. “It would be a great twist if we threw them inside the Kool Spot.”

  I snickered. “Yeah, that would be funny. The thing is, A. Gist could just go in there and get them out for them.” Then the snicker died in my throat. I really didn’t like the thought of stealing anything. Toilet papering the Kool Spot was one thing, but committing a crime was another. It just wasn’t me. The last thing I’d stolen was a carton of milk in kindergarten, and that was only because some kid had told me they were free. But my life depended on this, and I didn’t see much of a choice. If Josh and Kristina met with the Shadow Regime, they’d tell them about the detention, and those freaks would have the perfect opportunity to come after us. A big empty school with just us in it was probably what they wanted.

  Ryan frowned. I could tell he didn’t like the idea, either. “Yeah. The bikes are probably the best way to go. We have to try something.”

  I told Penny our plan in Acting. “I think I have a way to keep Josh and Kristina from telling their friends we have detention.” I studied all the desks around us to make sure nobody heard us. “We need to steal their bikes as soon as the bell rings. They’ll be distracted and hopefully they’ll be searching for whoever did it instead of meeting with their friends.”

  Penny fell silent for several tense seconds. She screwed up her face in thought. “Do you know what?” she asked. “Sometimes I get really tired of following the rules all the time. It’s not like it ever earns me any freedom. And besides, this is to help my friends.”

  I barely stopped myself from jumping out of my chair. Penny? Rebel against her dad and agree to steal something? That was like a holiday break where a teacher didn’t give us a project to do, or a weekend where it didn’t rain. In other words: it didn’t happen. Had I rubbed off on her over the years?

  “I know. I can’t believe I’m agreeing to this,” she said, letting her forehead fall into her hand. “I guess this whole situation is doing something to me.”

  “You don’t have detention, though,” Ryan reminded her.

  Penny lowered her hand from her face. “I know, but I am not walking home by myself tomorrow. They’ve seen me, too. I can’t call my mom to pick me up because she’ll be at work. I’m going to wait for you guys to get out of detention. You need all the people around you that you can get.”

  “Thanks,” I said. I’d have to thank her a lot more later. Her dad would have her head for being late home tomorrow.

  “I can’t believe we have this much to worry about already,” Ryan added, hugging himself. “This has been the worst week ever, and it’s only Thursday.”

  Chapter Eleven