Extraordinary Losers 2 by Jessica Alejandro Read Free Book Online Page B

Remember? And after we, or rather YOU, heard the footsteps, it suddenly appeared.”
    â€œStrange.” Janice mulled. She needed her donuts to think and she secretly pinched a morsel of a donut hidden in her pocket and popped it into her mouth, thinking no one could see in the darkness. (Of course, I heard all the munching.)
    â€œGuys, it’s getting late. I need to be back home,” Mundi said. “Let’s discuss this another time. We cannot stay here any longer. Someone obviously knows we are here! No?”
    â€œI agree,” I said. Knowing Mom, she would be worried sick if I was home late.
    We climbed out the gate and started making our way home. Of course, Clandestino was the first to disappear.

    As I lay in bed tossing and turning, images of the fire and the blackened classroom flashed through my mind. It kept me so awake that I couldn’t sleep. The fingerprint on the vandalised wall and on the Coke can… Was it supposed to match the fingerprint on the IC? I realised I knew someone who could help.
    â€œPsst, Soph, can I borrow your eyes for a moment?”
    â€œNow?” she said, yawning. Sophia was already almost in dreamland.
    â€œYes, please?” I begged.
    â€œOkay, what do I get in return?” Sophia rubbed her eyes, still awake enough to bargain.
    â€œYou get, let me see… my Internet time for tomorrow?”
    We only had one laptop in the house. That was Mom’s way of teaching us to share and get along. What Mom didn’t know was that the laptop was the source of every contention because we were always fighting to use it. What’s worse, we resorted to lies and bribery (like this).
    â€œDeal!” She jumped up from her bed and dragged her feet to where I was.
    â€œWhat now?” she said, followed by a big yawn.
    â€œTHIS!” I pinched the piece of paper with the fingerprint from my poem book.
    â€œSo? What do I do with a fingerprint? By the way, this looks quite disturbing.”
    â€œCompare it with this.” I slid her the photocopied identity card with a fingerprint on it.
    â€œThat’s easy,” she said.
    â€œHang on. And… this.” I whipped out my handphone and tapped on “Albums”. Quickly, I located the photograph of the fingerprints on the vandalised wall I had taken. I zoomed in on the fingerprint.
    â€œAre you trying to be a detective, Darryl?” Sophia asked. “You had better not get involved.”
    â€œI know what I am doing. Just this once. Please, Soph?” I begged.
    â€œHai,” she sighed. “Okay. By the way, this is really a no-brainer task.”
    She looked at the three specimens before her. The photocopied IC, the sheet of paper with just a fingerprint and the zoomed-in photo on the phone. Then her head stiffened, her pupils expanded and she peered hard at each specimen for about two seconds each.
    Sophia looked up and announced nonchalantly, “It’s a match.” Her muscles relaxed again.

    â€œReally? Are you sure?”
    â€œOf course!”
    â€œSuper sure?” I tested.
    â€œYes, Darryl DUUUHHHHH… and what are you doing with Madam Siti’s photocopied IC?”
    â€œIt’s a long story… but thanks, Sis.” I hugged her.
    Sophia had very powerful eyes, just as I had very powerful ears. She could see as far as a kilometre away. And her powerful vision allowed her to spot details easily. It worked like a magnifying glass and a powerful telescope. But because it gave her terrible headaches, she chose not to use her powers most of the time, only when necessary.
    Sunday passed uneventfully and Monday finally came. Clandestino was feeling very gloomy. He was sure he was still doomed despite all the evidence we had. I, on the other hand, was feeling quite positive. We were determined to show Mr Grosse and Mrs Priya our findings. We had agreed to meet early that morning, at 6.55 am.
    I told my friends about how the fingerprints