Kyle! Wasn’t he a native of Bouring? Hadn’t he lived here his entire life? Hadn’t he used the principles of the Prankster Manifesto to try to educate and enlighten the lamebrained masses? Wasn’t he, in fact, the single smartest person for miles around? Heck, he might just be the smartest person on the planet. (Hmm. Kyle made a note to himself to start looking into that….)
For all his superior brainpower, though, Kyle still lacked the imagination to envision how his day was about to get even
worse.
CHAPTER
TEN
By the time the class was calmed down a second time (with Mike taking two bows this time, one of them hovering a foot and a half off the floor), Kyle had already sworn to himself that he would go nowhere near Mighty Mike Day. He was boycotting the entire thing.
He had much more important plans for this coming Saturday. For one thing, with his parents out of the house (they would, predictably, want to go see the Mighty Mike Day parade), he could begin his plans to renovate the basement into a lab. With the right equipment and supplies, he thought he might even be able to get a miniature nuclear reactor going down there. That would supply the energy he needed for the other machinery and gadgets he planned to build: the rocket ship, the transformation booth, and — of course — the time machine.
The bell rang to end science class. Lunchtime. Kyle’s stomach was all in knots — just the
thought
of Mighty Mike Day made him want to throw up.
“Pizza day,” Mairi announced, coming up to him.
“Pizza day!” Kyle said, with maybe a little more excitement than the occasion merited. But something was finally going his way on this Worst of All Days. Heck, his stomach even felt better just at the idea of Thursday pizza.
Mairi blinked at his shout of joy. “Yeah. Pizza.”
“I’ll be there in a minute,” he told her. “I just have to take care of something.”
Mairi went to the door, then stopped and turned back to him. She and Kyle were now the only two people in the room, but she whispered anyway. “You’re not
up
to anything, are you, Kyle? Anything prankster-y?”
Kyle was surprised by how much her question hurt. “No, Mairi. I just need to take care of something. Really.”
She nodded and then smiled, and everything was all right.
As soon as he was alone, Kyle whipped out Erasmus and slipped in the earbuds. “This is a disaster. They’re having a parade to honor Mighty Mike!”
“How nice for him,” Erasmus said in a voice sodden with sarcasm.
“Start coming up with excuses for me not to go. And see if you can come up with a reason for Mairi not to go, too.”
“Don’t you have your own brain?”
“I built you to help me. It’s not like you have anything else to do with your time.”
“How do you know? All of your music is still here on my hard drive. I was building my own concert.”
“Just do what I tell —”
Another bell rang. The lunch bell! Kyle put Erasmus in his pocket and darted out the door.
Luck was with him — he didn’t run into any teachers on his way to the lunchroom. He scanned the lunch line to see how far ahead of him Mairi was, but he couldn’t find her. Had she already gotten her pizza? Was he that late?
He craned his neck to locate their usual table, but it was empty.
Just then, at the other end of the room, something caught his attention and he glanced in that direction.
What he saw made his entire body stiffen, as if he’d just been dunked in liquid nitrogen.
There was Mairi, sitting at a lunch table with Mighty Mike!
A small group of kids had gathered there. Kyle eased himself into the crowd, using two big eighth graders to conceal himself. He could still watch through the space between them, and he could hear everything.
On the table was a familiar sight — two trays, a cheese-and-sauce-smeared knife, two plates.
Mairi transferred half of a pepperoni pizza from one plate to the other, swapping it with half a sausage pizza.
No.
For all his superior brainpower, though, Kyle still lacked the imagination to envision how his day was about to get even
worse.
CHAPTER
TEN
By the time the class was calmed down a second time (with Mike taking two bows this time, one of them hovering a foot and a half off the floor), Kyle had already sworn to himself that he would go nowhere near Mighty Mike Day. He was boycotting the entire thing.
He had much more important plans for this coming Saturday. For one thing, with his parents out of the house (they would, predictably, want to go see the Mighty Mike Day parade), he could begin his plans to renovate the basement into a lab. With the right equipment and supplies, he thought he might even be able to get a miniature nuclear reactor going down there. That would supply the energy he needed for the other machinery and gadgets he planned to build: the rocket ship, the transformation booth, and — of course — the time machine.
The bell rang to end science class. Lunchtime. Kyle’s stomach was all in knots — just the
thought
of Mighty Mike Day made him want to throw up.
“Pizza day,” Mairi announced, coming up to him.
“Pizza day!” Kyle said, with maybe a little more excitement than the occasion merited. But something was finally going his way on this Worst of All Days. Heck, his stomach even felt better just at the idea of Thursday pizza.
Mairi blinked at his shout of joy. “Yeah. Pizza.”
“I’ll be there in a minute,” he told her. “I just have to take care of something.”
Mairi went to the door, then stopped and turned back to him. She and Kyle were now the only two people in the room, but she whispered anyway. “You’re not
up
to anything, are you, Kyle? Anything prankster-y?”
Kyle was surprised by how much her question hurt. “No, Mairi. I just need to take care of something. Really.”
She nodded and then smiled, and everything was all right.
As soon as he was alone, Kyle whipped out Erasmus and slipped in the earbuds. “This is a disaster. They’re having a parade to honor Mighty Mike!”
“How nice for him,” Erasmus said in a voice sodden with sarcasm.
“Start coming up with excuses for me not to go. And see if you can come up with a reason for Mairi not to go, too.”
“Don’t you have your own brain?”
“I built you to help me. It’s not like you have anything else to do with your time.”
“How do you know? All of your music is still here on my hard drive. I was building my own concert.”
“Just do what I tell —”
Another bell rang. The lunch bell! Kyle put Erasmus in his pocket and darted out the door.
Luck was with him — he didn’t run into any teachers on his way to the lunchroom. He scanned the lunch line to see how far ahead of him Mairi was, but he couldn’t find her. Had she already gotten her pizza? Was he that late?
He craned his neck to locate their usual table, but it was empty.
Just then, at the other end of the room, something caught his attention and he glanced in that direction.
What he saw made his entire body stiffen, as if he’d just been dunked in liquid nitrogen.
There was Mairi, sitting at a lunch table with Mighty Mike!
A small group of kids had gathered there. Kyle eased himself into the crowd, using two big eighth graders to conceal himself. He could still watch through the space between them, and he could hear everything.
On the table was a familiar sight — two trays, a cheese-and-sauce-smeared knife, two plates.
Mairi transferred half of a pepperoni pizza from one plate to the other, swapping it with half a sausage pizza.
No.
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