Snitch (9 page)

“So, do you plan to buy clothing or jewelry? Books or games?” she asked, deliberately changing the subject so I didn’t have to.

My eyes snapped up to hers. How did I
know
what I was
planning
?
I
had
no plan except to let Kate lead me to the perfect present.

“You really are clueless, aren’t you?” Kate laughed. It was a pretty, clear laugh. “I bought her a scarf that she saw last week when we went shopping. You need to think of something like that. Only it should mean something to both of you.” She blushed. “It’s more romantic.”

I sighed with my whole body; this was hard.
Really, really hard.

“Okay,” Kate reasoned. “Think of something that the two of you did together.
Just the two of you.
Something that she will see and know it’s from you because it’s meaningful.”

I sipped on my coffee and thought. Something we did together. Something that was special between just the two of us…and then I had it!

“The
Rainforest
!”
I said.

Kate raised her eyebrows and cocked her head. “You’ll have to be more specific,” she said
,
looking at me like I was crazy.

I told her all about our science project and the movie Liz watched at my house. I guess I was on the right track because suddenly Kate smiled and said, “Let’s shop.”

Four stores later, I bought a pair of earrings fashioned with a colorful parrot sitting on a silver hoop. I was so
relieved
,
I bought Kate’s lunch for her.

“Why did it take so long for you to talk to me, but you talked to Johnny right away?” I asked between bites of
french-fries
.

Kate thought for a minute as she sipped her soda. “I guess I figured if he was a good friend of yours, he couldn’t be all that bad.”

“Kate
DuPrey
,” I said smiling, “I think you just paid me a compliment.”

Kate smiled back. “I think I just did.”

You know how sometimes things happen and after they do, you wonder if they really did
or if it was just a bad movie or weird nightmare that could never
really
happen
? Thursday was one of those days.

School was exciting because we had a game that night. We wore shirts and ties, and every time we passed one another in the hallway we high fived
or fist bumped
each other. Talk the whole day was about the game that night. Mrs. Mason gave up trying to teach the last ten minutes of class because it was impossible for any of us to concentrate on science.

We destroyed the Bears. Our
entire
team was hot, but Seth could do no wrong on the court
that night
.
Any ball he touched
,
he
put through the net
.
What I missed at the basket, Seth grabbed and stuffed through the rim.
What
I couldn’t reach
playing defense
, Charlie snagged and drove past the Bears. Even Sizzle earned his name all over again.

At halftime we had the Bears 114 to 40. Coach pulled
Ben
and
put
Sizzle
in
,
t
elling
him to work his magic. Sizzle waited until the end of the last quarter and came off looking like a movie star. Charlie passed him the ball and Sizzle drove it down the court. Just past the center line, he faded
back and lobbed the ball through the air in a perfect rainbow arc that was nothing but net. The pot of gold at the end of that rainbow was a roar from the crowd with every
fan
standing and screaming. We won,
134
to
46
.

We were brilliant. They were pathetic. That meant we were 8 and 1 in the district. Like I said, we were a team to be feared!

And the whole time we were playing,
I had a beautiful girlfriend
in the stands wearing my parrot earrings! After the game I found her waiting
for me and only me
outside the locker room. Even though I was sweaty and gross, I was happy to see her.

“You were great,” she said.

“You
look
great,” I answered, tapping one of her earrings with my finger. It swung back and forth nestled in her copper, silky hair.

She touched the earring with her fingers. “I love them. They’re perfect.”

“I don’t want to say this, but I
have to
go. The coach
—”

“I know. I can’t stay either.”
Liz paused and leaned into me. “
Project Kate,” she whispered.

I nodded my head. Liz had this crazy idea she called “Project Kate.” She had decided that since Kate felt so comfortable around us, we would
help Kate with her social life. Liz decided Kate needed to go to more games, school dances, and even talk to people. Liz figured that if Kate could do those things, she
might
even start to date.

Truthfully I didn’t want to get involved in any of that, but since I couldn’t say no to Liz I agreed to help. I even said I would double with Kate and this guy from our science class I never even talked to before. His name was Jason and he seemed
more than just
a little nerdy, but since we were going to see a movie I figured I wouldn’t have to talk
too
much. I was worried about going for pizza afterwards, but, like I said, Liz can get me to do things I normally wouldn’t do.

“We’re still on for the movies Friday, right?” Liz asked.

“Of course.”
I smiled, but my stomach did a little turn. I really didn’t want to
double date
with this Jason guy. I mean, what if he wanted to talk about science all night or something?

Liz’s green eyes made me forget all about Jason.
“You’re
fantastic
,” she said.

And then she did something she had only done a few times before. She kissed me.

She has the softest lips.

“Break it up, you two,” Johnny said from the doorway. “Coach is calling the meeting!”

And that’s how I left Liz’s lips for a sw
eaty locker room and Coach’s to-
do list for our next practice.

***

“Don’t call your parents to pick you up yet,” Johnny told me
in a hushed voice
. “We’ve got something to do after the game. Are you in?”

“Depends.
What is it?”

“I’m not sure, but Wes’s brother asked us to meet him at the back of the gym door.”

My eyebrows shot up. Johnny was smiling, but then again he always smiled.

“Let’s go,” Seth said rubbing his hands together, his eyes dancing.

“It’s a prank. It’s okay,” Johnny said
playfully
. “Would I lead you wrong?”

Wes motioned us to the door.
“Let’s go,”
he said.

Ben, Charlie, Seth, and I looked at each other for about one second
,
deciding whether
or not
to
blindly
follow Wes
before he
sealed the deal by asking
us the perfect question:
“How often do seniors ask to hang out with you? “

It
was a no-brainer,
because
b
esides being a senior
,
Wes’ brother was star quarterback on the varsity team.
We were going.

Wes stopped
at the door
and turned to us. “Nick said to wear your

hoodies
.”

             
We all snagged our jackets and threw them over our heads.

And that’s how
I “jumped
off another bridge
,
”
as my mother would say.

It was dark
,
and since we ended up in the back parking lot
with only one car parked nearby
,
things felt pretty much deserted. Drew Banes, a
nother
senior football player, stood by the back door of the gym
looking up while
holding a broomstick
over his head
. About six or seven of his teammates hovered nearby pointing
at it
and
snickering
. They were trying to stifle their laughs but not doing a very good job of it. Whatever they were looking at must have been hilarious, because half of them were bent over holding their stomachs.

“It’s stuck,” Drew
hoarsely
whispered between snickers. “Look at it! It’s stuck!”

In the dark I could see a large, white soda cup pushed over the camera
which was
mounted outside the back gym doors.

“How did you
do
that?”
someone asked.

Drew tried to talk, but he was laughing too hard. “I had it…taped…to the stick.” He held up the end of the broomstick. Pieces of something, which I figured was tape, flapped in the breeze. “The tape…fell off. The cup stayed stuck…all by itself!” Everyone snickered again.

“
Shhhh
!” someone whispered loudly. “They’ll hear us!”

“It’s perfect!” Nick laughed. “They’ll never know. Let’s get to it.”

“What are we doing?” Ben asked me, putting his hood up,
his
voice low and hesitant.

I had no idea, but whatever it was
,
we were part of it now. I put my hood up too.

“C’mon, Wes,” Nick instructed, trying to keep his voice low. “Bring your ladies with you. You,” he pointed to Ben, “are on door duty. Get ‘
em
open and lock the center bar in the up position. When we’re done, bring the bar down and close the doors. Men,” he said, pointing to the lone vehicle in the lot, “
we’ve
got a car to move.”

Ben eyes filled with wonder as a slow smile spread across his face. “I’m on it!” He and Nick bumped fists.

“The rest of you, follow me.” Nick couldn’t help himself from looking up again.
“Great job on the camera, Drew!”
He shook his head and this time we all laughed, quickly covering our mouths so we wouldn’t be heard. I followed the football team, a senior glacier of giggles, across to the parking lot towards the lone car and realized with deli
ghtful horror it was Mr. Perkin
s
’
old, yellow Beetle.

“Mr. Perkin
s
’
baby,” Seth whispered. “This is perfect.”

“How heavy do you think it is?” someone asked.

“There’s about ten of us,” Charlie pointed out. “We should be able to handle it.”

“Drew, you and Charlie take the front,” Nick ordered. “Chris and Justin, get on one side, Tom and Mike get on the other. Everybody else fill in. Andy,” Nick waved me over. “Come back here with me. Grab it. Now, on the count of three, lift!”

Drew began laughing again
,
which was so contagious we all had to start over.

“We have to be quick and quiet. No laughing. This is serious,” Nick ordered
,
still snickering.

“At least for the next fifty feet,” Charlie hoarsely whispered.

We all smiled at each other and steeled ourselves. There was a job to be done.

Suddenly Mr. Perkins’ car floated across the pavement, powered not by gas but by the grunts and groans of Jameson’s finest athlet
e
s. It was hard. My back, legs
,
and hands were screaming, but with all of
the
lifting we had done in the past, I told myself this car was just another barbell or bale of hay. By the time we had the car to the school, Ben had the double
doors opened and the metal center bar out of the way. The car floated through.

“Turn it. Turn the back,” Nick ordered between huffs and puffs. We grunted some more and rotated
the car. “Good. Wedge it tight…
set it down
…now
!”

And that’s how Mr. Perkins’ Beetle happened to park itself
sideways,
inside the gym’s rear hallway, between the back bleachers.

We stepped back from the car, kneading our sore hands where the metal edges had pressed, trying not to laugh so we could survey our masterpiece.