Red Shirt Kids by Bryce Clark Read Free Book Online Page B

this seventh-grade service project for school. What if I told my mom that visiting your grandma was the service project?”
    “That could work,” said Mike.
    “I don’t know,” Sam mumbled. The tennis ball from the game of suicide bounced over and hit him in the leg. Sam bent down and picked up the ball.
    Ben stormed over to Sam, and Sam tossed the ball lightly to him.
    “It touched you. The ball hit your leg,” said Ben.
    Sam just stared back, not wanting to provoke Ben.
    “You gotta line up,” Ben jeered at Sam.
    “No.”
    “What? What did you say, fatty? You know the rules. Line up.”
    “He wasn’t even playing,” said Mike.
    “Yeah? Who says?” Ben glared at Mike. “This isn’t some Boston wussy hopscotch game. This is suicide. Line up, tub-o-lard. Now!”
    Sam shook his head slowly.
    Ben turned to the other boys playing. “You saw it. Line him up.”
    The other boys crowded around Sam, Mike, and Amy. Two boys grabbed Sam. When Mike tried to help, two others held him back.
    “Leave him alone!” Amy pleaded.
    “Shut up,” said one of the boys.
    The boys dragged Sam over to the brick wall and shoved him against it. By this time, all of the kids at recess had gathered around, creating a makeshift theater. Sam cowered against the wall. He slowly turned sideways.
    “Hey, fatty, I don’t think turning sideways is going to help.” Ben mimicked having a large gut, and more than a few kids laughed.
    Sam closed his eyes.
    Ben gripped the tennis ball tight. “Two shots.” He reared back and let the ball fly. It sailed through the air and nailed Sam in the fleshy part of his upper arm. The ball made a dense thwacking sound, and Sam fought back tears.
    Ben grabbed the tennis ball as it bounced back toward him, laughing at Sam’s pain.
    Amy looked around and saw that Shauna was nearby. She walked over to her. “Who is that boy?” Amy asked.
    “Oh, the bully? Ben Daniels. He stayed back like three times,” said Shauna.
    Sam gritted his teeth in anger as he watched Ben laughing at him. In that moment, he hated Ben. Gathering newfound courage, Sam turned to face Ben head-on.
    Ben laughed at Sam’s defiance, wound up, and threw the ball as hard as he could. The ball rifled toward Sam. But Sam had other plans. He lifted his right hand up and flicked the ball as it blazed toward him. Suddenly, it reversed course, as if struck by a tennis racket, and picked up speed.
    The ball ricocheted back toward Ben so fast that most kids didn’t see it. It slammed into Ben’s forehead with such force that it knocked him off of his feet—and left a bright red welt.
    The crowd stared, dumbfounded. For as long as anyone could remember, no one had ever stood up to Ben Daniels—and what they had just seen didn’t seem physically possible. How did
that
happen?
    The boys holding Mike let go and looked from Ben to Sam. “What did you do?” one of them asked Sam.
    Sam didn’t respond—he just glared down at Ben as Mike and Amy ran over. “Sam! What are you doing?” Amy was nearly hysterical.
    “Didn’t you see what was happening?” Mike glared at Amy. Didn’t she understand that Sam was being attacked?
    “Yes, of course I saw it. But we can’t use our powers like this out in the open. Look,” said Amy.
    Sam and Mike looked out across the group of kids. They were all staring at Sam, dumbfounded.
    “Sorry. I didn’t mean it. I just wanted to block it,” said Sam.
    “That kid deserved it. What a jerk,” said Mike.
    The other boys looked at Ben moaning on the ground. They hesitantly knelt down to help him up.

    Kids were heading home for the day. Parents lined up in their vehicles to pick up their children. Sam stood by the bike rack scratching his head. He looked over the rack, then all around, searching for a bike that obviously was not there. Frustrated, he kicked the bike rack as Mike and Amy made their way over from the school’s front door.
    “Hey! Sam, what’s wrong?” Mike asked.
    Sam looked over