The Elephant of Surprise (The Russel Middlebrook Series Book 4) by Brent Hartinger Read Free Book Online

and thought."
    "No one writes in a diary anymore," I said. But even as I said this, I knew Gunnar was making sense.
     
    *   *   *
     
    The pizza took a long time, and I was getting tired of feeling like a fifth wheel, so I volunteered to go see if there was a problem. But on my way to the front counter, I saw Leah slip away to the bathroom. I hadn't really talked to Leah the whole night, not like Min had asked me to, so I stepped over to head her off, to talk to her one-on-one for a minute or two.
    But she wasn't going to the bathroom after all. Instead, she ducked into the video game room—currently empty—and pulled out her cell phone. I didn't really think anything about it. So what if she was making a call? She was probably checking in with her mom or maybe a friend from school.
    I didn't want to interrupt her phone call, so I started to turn away. 
    But at the same time, she looked over and saw me.
    Right away, she mouthed four words into the phone—I was pretty sure it was "I'll call you later"—and then immediately shut it off. Even now, I wouldn't have thought anything about this except for one thing:
    She looked guilty.
    Leah looked like she'd been caught doing something she wasn't supposed to be doing. Was Min right? Was there really something going on with her?
    Then she smiled at me—a big smile. "Hey!" she said.
    "Everything okay?" I said, stepping closer.
    "What?" she said. "Oh, yeah! Unquestionably!"
    I'm not stupid. I knew she was totally lying.
     
    *   *   *
     
    Later, we went for a walk down McKenzie Street. Em and Leah were now walking together ahead, and Gunnar was busy filming a fire hydrant (or something), which gave me a chance to pull Min aside.
    "Something's going on," I said.
    "What?"
    "With Leah."
    She stared at me. "Are you making fun of me?"
    I was a little offended by this: I didn't make fun of my friends! But then I remembered how I'd been totally making fun of Gunnar all dinner long at the pizza place.
    "No, I'm serious." I explained how Leah had looked suspicious in the video game room. "You need to talk to her."
    No one can look at you like you're a total idiot like Min can look at you like you're a total idiot. "Do you really think I haven't tried?" she said. "She's lying . That's the whole point . No, we need a plan. But we'll have to be discreet."
    "Are you serious?"
    Min wasn't even listening to me—she was already busy planning Project Expose Leah's Secrets. But I didn't care because it was at that exact moment that I noticed Venus staring at us from across the street. I immediately looked around for Wade too, but she was alone.
    I know this sounds like a huge coincidence, our running into her so soon, and maybe it was. On the other hand, Wade and Venus basically lived on the streets—and if there was any street in town where they'd be most welcome, it was here. I wondered how many times I'd walked by them before and just not noticed (or pretended not to notice because I didn't want to get involved).
    I waved to her. "Venus!" I called to Em and Leah up ahead of us. "Wait up, you guys!"
    Venus ran across the street to join us (almost getting hit by a car in the process).
    "Russel!" she said. She gave me a big hug, which surprised me even though it shouldn’t have. She was wearing the same thing as before—that grimy flight suit—but now she smelled like honey and turpentine. She felt even skinnier than she looked.
    "Hey, Gunnar! Hey, Min!" Venus said, and of course she hugged them too.
    "This is Venus," Min said to Leah and Em. "We met her at school earlier this week."
    I could tell that Leah and Em were a little surprised that we knew someone who looked like a street bum—or I guess was a street bum. Then again, both Leah and Em are really cool, nonjudgmental people. Smiles had already replaced the curiosity on their faces.
    "Where's Wade?" I asked Venus. (I couldn't resist.)
    "Oh, he's home," she said.
    I didn't dare ask her where home was, so instead I said, "So