“See what?”
I looked back at Sticky. He wasn't smiling anymore. Now his head was going side to side. Like he was shaking it, telling me no!
“Uh, never mind,” I said to my dad. Then I eyed Sticky like, Was that what you wanted, boy?
His mouth curved back and then… he nodded.
I swear, he nodded!
My mom said, “Your dad was suggesting you catch him, Nolan. Before he runs away?”
I laughed. “He's not going anywhere.” I turned back to Sticky. “Are you, boy?”
Sticky climbed up my collar.
He stuck his nose in my ear.
It tickled like crazy!
“Hey, hombre. What's up?”
What? Had Sticky just whispered in my ear?
All of a sudden, Sticky whipped around and sat on my shoulder backward. I looked around, and there was my dad, leaning in right behind me, grinning.
“Don't show your teeth, Dad! He'll think you want to eat him!”
“What I want,” my mom said firmly, “is for you to catch him.”
Dad reached up to do it, but like lightning, Sticky jumped off my shoulder! He zoomed across the floor! Up my wall! Across the ceiling! And that's where he stopped. Upside down, eight feet up, right in the middle of my ceiling.
Dad closed the door.
Mom put her hands on her hips and leaned her head way back. “What makes them able to do that?” she asked. “Suction cups?”
“Geometry!” I answered, looking up at the world's raddest reptile.
“Geometry?”
“Yeah! Their feet are covered with millions of little hairs that split into hundreds of even tinier hairs. Each of their feet has, like, a billion tiny hairs!”
“So what's that got to do with geometry?” my dad asked. He was moving a chair underneath Sticky.
“Yeah,” my mom added. “Sounds like their feet need a hairstylist.”
“Mo-om! It's the angle that the toe hairs con-tact the surface. And they can adjust the angle by curling and uncurling their toes.” I pointed to the ceiling. “See him? He's getting a better grip right now.”
Dad was up on the chair now, reaching for Sticky. Slowly, slowly, slowly his hand went up. But just as he was about to grab him, Sticky scam-pered away. Across the ceiling! Down the wall! Under my desk! Up my leg! Across my chest! Around my neck! Then he perched right on my shoulder.
“Hiya, Sticky,” I said. “Having fun?”
“Nolan,” Mom whispered. “Catch him!”
“He's not going anywhere, are you, boy?”
Sticky grinned.
“Are you refusing to catch him, Nolan?” My mom was not sounding too friendly.
“He trusts me, Mom. If I try to catch him, he'll run off and never come back.”
Mom looked at Dad.
Dad looked at Mom.
They had one of their silent conversations, and then Dad said, “So let's get you in the car.”
I almost blurted, Why? but I knew why.
Sticky wasn't mine.
He was The Gecko's.
“What about dinner?” my mom asked.
“I think this is more important right now,” my dad said. “It won't take long.”
“Give me one minute, okay?” I wiggled my computer mouse to get rid of the screen saver and whispered to Sticky, “Check it out.” I played the fire sprinkler clip for him, then whispered, “I'm sending this to people at newspapers and tele-vision stations all over the country. We're gonna put the Mole out of business. Cool, huh?”
Sticky was checking out the screen, watching my every move.
“All I have to do is click Send.” I smiled at him. “Ready?”
Sticky's nose bobbed up and down.
“Okay, here goes!” I said, and with a click, whoosh, my message went zipping to computers all around the country!
Even across the world, to Timbuktu!
Dad nudged Mom with his elbow and cleared his throat. “You're not afraid Sticky there will tell people you're Shredderman?”
I blinked at him, then at Sticky.
Uh-oh.
Sticky was grinning at me.
“You won't, will you, boy?”
Sticky just kept on grinning.
What had I been thinking?
“It's top-secret!” I whispered to him. “Don't breathe a word of this to anyone, okay?”
Sticky's grin got bigger.
Uh-triple-oh!
People think I'm smart?
Ha! I'd just given away my secret identity to a hairy-toed klepto!
CHAPTER 14
The Boys Who Talk to Geckos
Mom stayed home to keep dinner warm while Dad and I headed back to Old Town. Dad called Henna Blockwell from the car to let her know we were coming, and Sticky stayed right on my shoulder the whole way. He loved looking out the window!
When we got to the Historian, Sticky ran off my shoulder and wiggled inside my sweatshirt. It tickled like crazy! Finally he turned around and peeked out over my zipper. I could feel his head going back and forth by my throat.
“Look!” my dad said as we walked through the front door. “There's Chase.”
Chase ran over when he saw us and said, “You got him?”
I pointed to where I could feel Sticky hanging on my zipper. “He's right there.”
“Yes!” Chase said. “Hey there, buddy. Steal anything while you were out?” He leveled his hand so it was right under my chin, then just held it there, waiting. “Come on. Let's go have some crickets!”
“Is that what they eat?” my dad asked.
“He loves 'em,” Chase answered.
I could feel Sticky moving. Climbing. Then all at once, he jumped from my zipper, whipping me in the chin with his tail. He landed in Chase's hand, ran up his arm and around his neck, then perched on his shoulder.
“Welcome home, buddy,” Chase said to him. Then, while Sticky was nosing around his neck and ear, he said to me, “Most people try to nab him.” He laughed. “Good luck! But you handled him right.” He was about to say something more, only he stopped. He looked at Sticky. His eyes opened wide. “Is that so?” he said, then looked at me!
Uh-quadruple-oh!
“Is… is what so?” I asked.
Chase rubbed his chin.
His eyes sharpened down on me.
My heart was racing!
My knees were shaking!
I looked at Sticky, grinning away on his shoulder.
He told! Sticky told!
Then Chase nodded and said, “Sticky here seems to think you might be up for a game of Tekken 3.”
My eyes and mouth felt frozen open. I couldn't blink! I couldn't quit gaping.
Tekken 3?
I checked Sticky. He was still grinning away.
Finally my dad rubbed my back and said, “I'm sorry, but my wife's keeping dinner warm for us. We really do have to go.”
“That's cool,” Chase said. Then he added, “You heard what happened tonight?”
“We were… on our way home,” my dad said, “but yes, we heard about it.”
Chase shook his head. “For a sleepy little town, there sure was a lot of action today. Between that buffoon kid and the sprinklers coming on, we are way behind schedule.”
“Uh, what caused the sprinklers to go off, any-way?” my dad asked.
“They're not sure. It was crazy in here! People running and screaming and tearing around in circles. The hotel management says someone must've set it off, but no one saw anything.”
I wanted to shout, How could you have missed him? It was the Mole! but I made myself stay quiet.
Chase gave Sticky a rub on his head. “Whatever, we're stuck here an extra day.” He looked at my dad and said, “Sorry, no offense.”
Dad laughed. “None taken.”
Chase grinned at me. “Thanks for bringing Sticky back. I was really worried about him.”
“Sure,” I said, then added, “I think he stowed away in my backpack.”
/> “Hey, that's Sticky for you.” He turned to Sticky and said, “Huh, you little stinker?”
Sticky flicked out his tongue.
“See?” Chase said.
I laughed and said, “Yeah,” and Dad seemed amused.
“Anyway,” Chase said, “if you've got time, come back tomorrow. Maybe we can battle on a break or something.”
“I'll try to come after school.”
“Cool,” he said, and turned to go, calling, “Thanks again!”
Sticky twisted around on Chase's shoulder so he was riding backward as they walked away. He was watching me!
And since he was still watching when they got to the elevator, I called, “Bye, Sticky!” and waved.
Then the coolest thing happened, and Dad saw it, too!
Sticky peeled up a hand…
And waved back.
CHAPTER 15
Scared Circuitless
The next morning, I almost pretended I was sick. I didn't want to go to school! Not because I wanted to fake it so I could go back to Old Town and play The Gecko in Tekken 3—I was planning to go there after school. No, I was afraid to go to school because I knew Bubba was going to pound me.
Or poison me!
Or at least corner me and fumigate me with Bubba-breath.
Pretending to be sick seemed a whole lot safer than being hospitalized!
But then my mom came in my room and said, “Good morning, honey! How's my superhero this morning?”
And that's when I knew I had to go to school.
Superheroes don't stay home sick! Even when they really are!
They go out there and take their licks.
And when they're down, they get right back up and try again!
What kind of superhero's afraid of Bubba-breath?
I tried to block out the thought of Bubba's fist. And his humongous size. And while I gobbled down my peanut-buttered Eggo, I let my mom kid me about Sticky. She hadn't believed a word of what I'd told her the night before, and since Dad was now calling Sticky's wave a “coincidence,” I quit arguing.
I know what I saw!
So I just brushed my teeth, strapped on my backpack, and headed across the street.
That doesn't mean I hung around the play-ground waiting to be pounded, though.
No way!
I did my power-walk straight for my classroom. Bubba wouldn't touch me in front of the substitute! I could hang out there all day.
All week!
So I zoomed up the ramp and tried the door, but it was locked! I looked in the window, hoping Miss Newby was there.
She wasn't.
So I power-walked over to the computer lab.
Same story—locked up tight.
So was the library!
I started sweating bullets again. Where could I go? The minute Bubba spotted me, I'd be fried like a microchip in a power surge.
“Hi, Nolan,” a voice behind me said.
My hair shot straight out!
My knees buckled underneath me!
I landed with a painful bump on the cement before I realized that it couldn't be Bubba. It was a girl's voice. And she'd said Nolan, not Nerd.
I looked up. Trinity Althoffer had her mouth covered with both hands. “I'm sorry!” she said. “I didn't mean to scare you!”
“That's okay,” I said, trying to get up. I keep my backpack so loaded with things that it gets pretty heavy. And right now I was like a turtle stuck on its back.
She put out a hand to help me, and I almost didn't take it.
Superheroes don't need help from girls!
But she grabbed my arm and yanked, then asked, “Did you really meet The Gecko?”
Uh-oh.
“Where'd you… where'd you hear that?” I asked.
“Kevin and Max are going around telling every-one. They're saying Bubba saw you on the set. With a special visitor's badge and everything.” She was still holding on to my arm, even though I was back on my feet. “Is it true?”
“Uh… well… um… maybe.”
“Maybe? How can it maybe be true?”
My circuits were overloaded. I couldn't think of what to say! What to do! I looked over both shoulders like crazy. “I… uh… I was just there with my dad.”
“Because he's a reporter, right?”
“Uh-huh.”
“That's great! Tell me all about it!”
I wished she would just leave me alone. “Have you seen Bubba?”
“We're supposed to call him Alvin, remember?”
“Yeah, if you like getting pounded!”
“Nolan!” she said with a scowl. “I call him Alvin all the time. Do I look pounded?”
She did? Why hadn't I ever heard her do that? “No…,” I said. “But you're a, you know, girl.”
She punched me in the arm. “So what?”
“Hey!” Boy, for a girl who spent her life drawing ponies, she sure punched hard!
“And yeah, I saw him,” she added. “Down by the swings. Now tell me about being on the set!”
The warning bell rang, and I let out a huge sigh of relief. The substitute would unlock the room in no time! Safety was a power-walk away!
Trinity followed me as I zoomed along the walkway. “Why don't you want to talk about it?” she asked. “Did something happen? Did you trip or fall or something? Did they kick you off the set?”
My head whipped around to face her. “No, I didn't trip! And stop making fun of me!”
“I'm not making fun of you,” she said. “I'm just, you know, wondering.”
“Well, I'm not the one who got kicked off the set,” I snapped.
She raced along beside me. “But… you're saying… you're saying someone did?”
All of a sudden, there was Bubba. Looming large and deadly across the blacktop. He was looking at me, too. And coming my way!
This was it, I could tell. In a few seconds, I'd be nothing but nerd nuggets.
But then the strangest thing happened.
Bubba turned.
No push.
No punch.
No threat.
No breath.
He just went into the classroom.
“Wow,” Trinity whispered. “He looks really different.”
He still looked plenty mean to me.
And totally deadly.
But she was right. Something was different. I tried to figure out what. It wasn't his clothes or his hair or his—
“He looks. .depressed” she said.
It was the weirdest thing since quantum dots, but yes, that was it exactly.
We waited a minute before going up the ramp into the classroom. Neither of us could quite believe it.
Bubba Bixby depressed?
Inside the classroom, the air felt totally dead. Like the room was in a vacuum. Eyes were shifting around uneasily, but no one was talking. Even Miss Newby seemed to understand that something strange was going on. She just stood behind the teacher desk, looking at all of us looking at each other.
“Good morning, class,” she finally said.
“Good morning,” a few of us mumbled.
Then she did something only a substitute would be crazy enough to do. She asked, “Is everything all right, Alvin?”
His face was leaning on one beefy hand. He shrugged. And scowled.
He looked like a monster with a toothache.
“Alvin?” she asked again.
“What!” he snapped at her.
She jerked back a little, then took a deep breath and said, “Would you like to—”
“What? Go to the office?” He was looking a lot like that grizzly bear at the Historian.
“No!” he growled. “Just leave me alone.”
“But if you—”
“I said no!”
Everyone held their breath, including Miss Newby. Then very slowly, Bubba looked over his shoulder, right at me. “Why don't you kick him out?” he grumbled.
All heads in class turned until everyone was staring at me.
I shrank lower in my seat. I wanted to hide! And Miss Newby was about to ask me something, but Trinity stood up like she was giving an oral report and said, “Alvin's upset because Nolan got to meet The Gecko.”
“The… Gecko?” Miss Newby asked.
“Shut up, Pony-girl!” Bubba snapped.
“Alvin!” Miss Newby scolded.
“Well, it's none of her stupid business!” Bubba shouted.
Miss Newby said, “Please, Alvin. Control your-self!”
Uh-triple-oh! If you know anything about Bubba Bixby, you know that that was the complete wrong thing to say to him. And sure enough, he stood up, threw his chair over, and stomped out of the room.
But not before giving me the deadliest glare I'd ever seen.
Miss Newby picked up the classroom phone and called the office. And after whispering like mad for a minute, she hung up, straightened Bubba's chair, and tried to smile. “Well, class. It seems we're off to a bumpy start this morning.” Then she just stood there with a twitchy smile, trying to figure out what she should do next.
Trinity whispered, “Wow. He looked like he was about to cry!”
“Cry?” I said. “He looked like he was about to kill me!”
“Yeah, but I'm talking about underneath all that.” She turned to Freddy, next to her. “Didn't you think he looked like he was going to cry?”
Freddy scowled at her. “Bubba? Cry? You're psycho, Pony-girl.”
She punched him in the arm. “Don't call me psycho or Pony-girl, Pee-boy!”
He turned beet red and shut up.
It felt like none of us would survive the day.
CHAPTER 16
Crazy Idea
Miss Newby finally gave us a reading assignment. “Take out your social studies book. Read pages one-forty-two through one-fifty-two. When you're done, answer questions one through eleven on page one-fifty-three.”
We all pulled our books out and started reading.
It had never been so quiet in Room 22.
Social studies is not my favorite subject to begin with. It usually feels like I'm feeding my brain saw-dust. So somewhere in the middle of reading about the people of Brazil, I started daydreaming. For once I wasn't daydreaming about an invention or playing on my computer. Or being Shred-derman. Or watching The Gecko and Sticky.