Close Out by Todd Strasser Page A

amazing how much junk you can learn when you don’t have any friends,” Spazzy said.
    They got down to the beach and sat in the sand looking out at the horizon.
    â€œKnow what, Spazzy?” Kai said. “It’s actually pretty cool that you and your sister know all this stuff. Maybe it wasn’t much fun learning, but at least you know it. I mean, face it, in the long run, what’s more important? Knowing where shooting stars come from or knowing how to party?”
    â€œKnowing how to party,” Spazzy and Shauna answered at the same time, and then laughed.
    â€œYeah, yeah.” Kai grinned. Then he heard a sound that had grown scarce over the past week—the splash of a wave. Spazzy and Shauna stopped laughing. Kai knew they’d heard it too. All three of them turned their gazes to the water’s edge where a small set of ankle-slappers were tumbling onto the sand.
    â€œCould be the beginning of something,” Spazzy said.
    â€œKeep your fingers crossed,” said Shauna.
    Kai glanced at his watch. It was later than he thought. Time for Bean and him to go.
    â€œI gotta book, folks.” He started to get up.
    Spazzy frowned. “Where?”
    â€œJust something Bean and I have to take care of,” Kai said. “No biggie.”
    â€œYeah, okay.” Spazzy and Shauna got upwith him, and they went back to the house and into the game room. The loud clatter of air hockey and the pock of a Ping-Pong ball met their ears before they reached the bottom of the stairs. The room felt warm and smelled faintly of sweat. Over by the air hockey table both Booger and Everett were bare chested, their foreheads speckled with perspiration.
    â€œHey, Kai,” Booger said. “Want to play the winner?”
    â€œThanks, dude, I would,” Kai said, “but Bean and I have somewhere to go.”
    Bean checked his watch, registering surprise that the time had already come. Jillian frowned.
    â€œGo somewhere now?” she asked, more of Bean than Kai.
    â€œIt’s okay,” Bean said.
    â€œJust you two?” asked Booger.
    Kai nodded. He’d hoped he and Bean could just slip away. He hadn’t meant to make it seem like such a big deal.
    â€œIs something wrong?” Jillian asked, and Kai knew at once that she was more than just book smart.
    â€œIt’s okay,” Bean assured her. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”
    They went outside and got into the hearse.
    â€œWhy can’t we just tell the police that Goldilocks has the boards and we think they belong to Curtis and they’re stolen?” Bean asked as he turned the key in the ignition.
    â€œBean, if someone stole your surfboard and you found it, could you prove it was yours?” Kai asked.
    â€œYeah, because I wrote down the serial number,” Bean said, steering the hearse out onto the dark street.
    â€œRight. But suppose you didn’t write down that number.
Then
could you prove it? Do you have any paperwork? A receipt?”
    â€œNo. Who keeps a receipt for a surfboard?”
    â€œExactly. Now the problem with Curtis is he never wrote down the serial numbers. Everyone knows they’re his boards, but no one can prove it.”
    â€œWhy do we have to be the ones to get them back?” Bean asked.
    â€œBecause it’s the right thing to do,” said Kai.
    â€œWhy can’t we let someone else do the right thing?”
    â€œYou’re joking?” Kai asked.
    â€œYeah, yeah, I know,” Bean said with a sigh. “We’re the ones who have to do the right thing because there is no one else.”
    They drove quietly for a while, then Bean said, “You see how Jillian knew right away that something was up?”
    â€œSorry about that,” Kai said.
    â€œIt’s cool,” Bean said. “I just don’t want her to start thinking you’re a bad influence on me, you know?”
    They both grinned. It was kind of funny to think