legitimately tricked and simply being gullible. Your decisions, especially this one, are well on the side of being gullible. You have to be more careful.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I say.
Stranko may have a stroke right in front of me.
“However, it sounds like you and Mr. Adleta caused quite an unnecessary scene, and that can’t be dismissed as easily. What do you think, Mr. Stranko? Does a day of in-school suspension seem fair?”
Stranko shakes his head.
“I want him gone for a week at least.”
“That may be a bit much,” she says. “What about work crew instead? They wrecked part of the school; they’ll clean part of the school. We’ll make the punishment fit the crime.”
“Fine,” he spits. “But we add Dave Wheeler to that list too.”
“That’s fine. And I’ll have to call your parents about this, Max. They are in town this time, right?”
“Yeah, but here,” I say and pull out a pen. “Can I have one of those Post-its?”
On it, I write Mom’s and Dad’s work numbers. Another day of the school calling the unmanned phone in the church nursery is just asking for trouble.
“You can get them at those numbers. They’re usually not home until late.”
“Thank you, Max,” Mrs. B says. “You both can go. Thanks for your help, Ellie.”
“No problem, Mrs. Barber.”
We walk out of the office and into the hall, and it’s only when we’re around the corner that the both of us break into hysterics.
Step Four: the Getaway. Complete.
“The Ocean’s Eleven team couldn’t have done it any smoother,” Ellie says.
“You were quite the actress, Crybaby,” I tell her.
“No, Crybaby was a one-timer. Call me Puma.”
“What?”
“Puma. That’s my official code name. And you’re Mongoose.”
“I thought I was the Bleeder.”
“That’s for today only. You’re Mongoose from here on out.”
It’s a lot catchier than Not Max. And hell, Ellie can call me Bloody Diarrhea for all I care.
“So, Puma, huh?”
“And don’t you forget it,” Ellie says.
Before I can respond, she goes on her tiptoes and kisses me on the cheek.
“Gotta get to class,” she says and, catlike, is gone.
Chapter 7
“So what can we steal next?”
Ellie’s question, of course.
The five of us are debriefing—something that occurs in every heist film after a mission is complete and everyone is back at headquarters. In this case, headquarters is my basement seven hours following the Stranko Caper, and the debriefing is more of a celebration than a review of the heist.
“Dude, the way we pulled that off, could you imagine the epic pranks we could do if we really were in the Chaos Club? No one could stop us,” Wheeler says.
“Yeah, we’re the ones who should’ve been in the Chaos Club,” I say.
“And Stranko never saw any of it coming,” Malone says. “I watched all of it from the back of the cafeteria, and no one had any idea what was going on. It was amazing. Tim tackled you so hard I thought you were dead.”
“My ribs are still killing me,” I say.
“Sorry,” Adleta says.
“No, I just wish I could’ve seen what happened after you took me out.”
“Yeah, you missed Wheeler gank the phone,” Malone says. “I swear he could be a professional thief, the pickup was so smooth.”
“Because he threw me right into it,” Wheeler says.
“Again, sorry,” Adleta says.
Malone continues, “When Wheeler dropped the phone in my lap, I got so paranoid, I put it up my shirt so no one would see it.”
“That’s so hot,” Wheeler says.
Malone laughs and hands him a small black box the size of a deck of cards, the phone-cloning device he borrowed from a friend on H8box.
“And this thing is great. Dangerous but great. It downloaded everything in about a minute,” Malone says.
“So no problems?” I say.
“No problems.”
“And no problems getting the phone back to the stage?” I ask Wheeler.
“Nope.”
“Aww, I feel like I missed all the fun,” Ellie says.
“No, you
“Yes, ma’am,” I say.
Stranko may have a stroke right in front of me.
“However, it sounds like you and Mr. Adleta caused quite an unnecessary scene, and that can’t be dismissed as easily. What do you think, Mr. Stranko? Does a day of in-school suspension seem fair?”
Stranko shakes his head.
“I want him gone for a week at least.”
“That may be a bit much,” she says. “What about work crew instead? They wrecked part of the school; they’ll clean part of the school. We’ll make the punishment fit the crime.”
“Fine,” he spits. “But we add Dave Wheeler to that list too.”
“That’s fine. And I’ll have to call your parents about this, Max. They are in town this time, right?”
“Yeah, but here,” I say and pull out a pen. “Can I have one of those Post-its?”
On it, I write Mom’s and Dad’s work numbers. Another day of the school calling the unmanned phone in the church nursery is just asking for trouble.
“You can get them at those numbers. They’re usually not home until late.”
“Thank you, Max,” Mrs. B says. “You both can go. Thanks for your help, Ellie.”
“No problem, Mrs. Barber.”
We walk out of the office and into the hall, and it’s only when we’re around the corner that the both of us break into hysterics.
Step Four: the Getaway. Complete.
“The Ocean’s Eleven team couldn’t have done it any smoother,” Ellie says.
“You were quite the actress, Crybaby,” I tell her.
“No, Crybaby was a one-timer. Call me Puma.”
“What?”
“Puma. That’s my official code name. And you’re Mongoose.”
“I thought I was the Bleeder.”
“That’s for today only. You’re Mongoose from here on out.”
It’s a lot catchier than Not Max. And hell, Ellie can call me Bloody Diarrhea for all I care.
“So, Puma, huh?”
“And don’t you forget it,” Ellie says.
Before I can respond, she goes on her tiptoes and kisses me on the cheek.
“Gotta get to class,” she says and, catlike, is gone.
Chapter 7
“So what can we steal next?”
Ellie’s question, of course.
The five of us are debriefing—something that occurs in every heist film after a mission is complete and everyone is back at headquarters. In this case, headquarters is my basement seven hours following the Stranko Caper, and the debriefing is more of a celebration than a review of the heist.
“Dude, the way we pulled that off, could you imagine the epic pranks we could do if we really were in the Chaos Club? No one could stop us,” Wheeler says.
“Yeah, we’re the ones who should’ve been in the Chaos Club,” I say.
“And Stranko never saw any of it coming,” Malone says. “I watched all of it from the back of the cafeteria, and no one had any idea what was going on. It was amazing. Tim tackled you so hard I thought you were dead.”
“My ribs are still killing me,” I say.
“Sorry,” Adleta says.
“No, I just wish I could’ve seen what happened after you took me out.”
“Yeah, you missed Wheeler gank the phone,” Malone says. “I swear he could be a professional thief, the pickup was so smooth.”
“Because he threw me right into it,” Wheeler says.
“Again, sorry,” Adleta says.
Malone continues, “When Wheeler dropped the phone in my lap, I got so paranoid, I put it up my shirt so no one would see it.”
“That’s so hot,” Wheeler says.
Malone laughs and hands him a small black box the size of a deck of cards, the phone-cloning device he borrowed from a friend on H8box.
“And this thing is great. Dangerous but great. It downloaded everything in about a minute,” Malone says.
“So no problems?” I say.
“No problems.”
“And no problems getting the phone back to the stage?” I ask Wheeler.
“Nope.”
“Aww, I feel like I missed all the fun,” Ellie says.
“No, you
Similar Books
