thedoor open from the inside. Amos had all his weight on his elbow. He lost his balance and fell sideways into the rest room.
Dunc couldn’t see him anymore. But it didn’t matter. Amos could be located by all the screaming and yelling from the rest room.
The lady started beating him with her cane. “You pervert! This will teach you to mess with a defenseless woman.”
Amos tried crawling away from the woman, but she hit him harder and kicked him in the ribs for good measure. It started a chain reaction. Another woman joined in with her umbrella. One lady got in a couple of licks with her purse. Then she pulled out a can of Mace.
When Amos finally got away, he was beaten to a pulp. He walked like a mass of quivering Jell-O.
Melissa and her friends had disappeared.
Dunc helped him walk back out to the bicycle rack. “Are you okay?”
Amos looked up at him with his one good eye. The other one was swollen shut. “Never felt better.”
“I don’t think Mr. Smooth impressed Melissa.”
“Why don’t you rub a little salt on my cut lip while you’re at it?”
Dunc shrugged. “I was just telling you so you wouldn’t try this particular move next time.”
Amos tried to throw his leg up over his bike. “There won’t be a next time. She probably thinks I’m a complete geek and will never call me or even speak to me again.”
“She doesn’t speak to you now.” Dunc sighed. “Besides, there’s a chance she didn’t know it was you.”
Amos’s face brightened a little. “You think maybe?”
“I think you fell in the door before she could be sure who it was.”
Amos smiled. “I can live with that. If we hurry, we might be able to catch up with her.”
He pedaled off toward Melissa’s house.
Dunc sighed. “Maybe I should have told him the truth.”
The first day of school. It had an exciting yet deadly ring to it.
Dunc was up two hours early arranging the contents of his notebook and backpack in alphabetical order. Even his pens and pencils were in perfect alignment. All pens were placed lettering-side-up, and every pencil was exactly the same length.
Amos was tending to business also.
He was in his dad’s bathroom splashing the “green stuff” on his face. He slapped it on until his cheeks were sore. Then he poured it on his hair and rubbed it in.
When they met in front of Amos’s house,Dunc wished he had brought a gas mask. Amos had a smell that traveled thirty feet in front of him.
Dunc held his nose. “That stuff should be illegal. You should be arrested for polluting the environment.”
Amos sniffed in the air. “I don’t smell anything. Besides, the label says a little of this stuff will drive a girl wild.”
“I can certainly understand that. The fumes are toxic.”
Dunc made him ride on the opposite side of the road all the way to school.
The schoolyard was alive with music and conversation. Dunc and Amos locked their bikes in the rack just as the first bell rang.
Their first class was homeroom with Miss Monroe.
Miss Monroe was new this year. She was blond, pretty, and very inexperienced. She said they could sit anywhere they wanted.
Freddie—the Zit—Pittman took her up on it. He sat in her chair.
The class was pretty much in chaos. Paper planes were flying everywhere, and acouple of the kids in the back were using a work table for break dancing.
Dunc was reading a copy of
Computer Weekly.
Amos had managed to get the chair behind Melissa’s. He was hanging on every word she said to her second-best friend Steffie Thompson—until Melissa took a deep breath, held her nose, and moved to another desk.
Everything came to a complete standstill when the door opened and the principal walked in. Not because of the principal but because of the student with her.
He was no run-of-the-mill, ordinary kid. He had outrageous red spiky hair and an earring in one ear. He was older and outweighed everybody in class by fifty pounds. His clothes were black. All black. Including a
Dunc couldn’t see him anymore. But it didn’t matter. Amos could be located by all the screaming and yelling from the rest room.
The lady started beating him with her cane. “You pervert! This will teach you to mess with a defenseless woman.”
Amos tried crawling away from the woman, but she hit him harder and kicked him in the ribs for good measure. It started a chain reaction. Another woman joined in with her umbrella. One lady got in a couple of licks with her purse. Then she pulled out a can of Mace.
When Amos finally got away, he was beaten to a pulp. He walked like a mass of quivering Jell-O.
Melissa and her friends had disappeared.
Dunc helped him walk back out to the bicycle rack. “Are you okay?”
Amos looked up at him with his one good eye. The other one was swollen shut. “Never felt better.”
“I don’t think Mr. Smooth impressed Melissa.”
“Why don’t you rub a little salt on my cut lip while you’re at it?”
Dunc shrugged. “I was just telling you so you wouldn’t try this particular move next time.”
Amos tried to throw his leg up over his bike. “There won’t be a next time. She probably thinks I’m a complete geek and will never call me or even speak to me again.”
“She doesn’t speak to you now.” Dunc sighed. “Besides, there’s a chance she didn’t know it was you.”
Amos’s face brightened a little. “You think maybe?”
“I think you fell in the door before she could be sure who it was.”
Amos smiled. “I can live with that. If we hurry, we might be able to catch up with her.”
He pedaled off toward Melissa’s house.
Dunc sighed. “Maybe I should have told him the truth.”
The first day of school. It had an exciting yet deadly ring to it.
Dunc was up two hours early arranging the contents of his notebook and backpack in alphabetical order. Even his pens and pencils were in perfect alignment. All pens were placed lettering-side-up, and every pencil was exactly the same length.
Amos was tending to business also.
He was in his dad’s bathroom splashing the “green stuff” on his face. He slapped it on until his cheeks were sore. Then he poured it on his hair and rubbed it in.
When they met in front of Amos’s house,Dunc wished he had brought a gas mask. Amos had a smell that traveled thirty feet in front of him.
Dunc held his nose. “That stuff should be illegal. You should be arrested for polluting the environment.”
Amos sniffed in the air. “I don’t smell anything. Besides, the label says a little of this stuff will drive a girl wild.”
“I can certainly understand that. The fumes are toxic.”
Dunc made him ride on the opposite side of the road all the way to school.
The schoolyard was alive with music and conversation. Dunc and Amos locked their bikes in the rack just as the first bell rang.
Their first class was homeroom with Miss Monroe.
Miss Monroe was new this year. She was blond, pretty, and very inexperienced. She said they could sit anywhere they wanted.
Freddie—the Zit—Pittman took her up on it. He sat in her chair.
The class was pretty much in chaos. Paper planes were flying everywhere, and acouple of the kids in the back were using a work table for break dancing.
Dunc was reading a copy of
Computer Weekly.
Amos had managed to get the chair behind Melissa’s. He was hanging on every word she said to her second-best friend Steffie Thompson—until Melissa took a deep breath, held her nose, and moved to another desk.
Everything came to a complete standstill when the door opened and the principal walked in. Not because of the principal but because of the student with her.
He was no run-of-the-mill, ordinary kid. He had outrageous red spiky hair and an earring in one ear. He was older and outweighed everybody in class by fifty pounds. His clothes were black. All black. Including a
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