The Rule of Won by Stefan Petrucha Read Free Book Online Page B

Believing in
The Rule
still felt like believing in Santa Claus, without the having-to-be-good part. Even so, when I went to bed that night, I thought of my spork and said those words to myself over and over, “Screech Neck High will get more funding.”
    Might as well, right?
    Next morning, when I saw Vicky in the hall, I didn’t call to her, I just snuck up and spun her around.
    She looked annoyed until I said, “Read it.”
    â€œReally?”
    â€œCover to cover. Even the index. Had no idea how many words start with ‘X.’ ”
    â€œThat’s great. I’m so proud of you, Caleb,” she said.
    She got so excited, she gave me a hug, wrapping her arms around me and clicking her painted fingernails together across my shoulders. I think they had little eyeballs on them that day, but they went by so fast, I couldn’t be sure. It felt nice, don’t get me wrong, but it wasn’t exactly a boyfriend/girlfriend hug, more a brother/sister thing.
    Sometimes, even when I know what’s up, I still go through the motions. It’s the downside of being a slacker, I guess, not being willing to change direction unless you absolutely have to, because it requires effort.
    â€œSo, can we go out again sometime?”
    She froze, face still smiling, only now she wasn’t smiling because she was happy, more like she was buying time.
    â€œSure,” she finally said.
    Then there was an even
bigger
pause.
    â€œMaybe we can get together with some of the kids from the Crave,” she said.
    â€œThat’s not exactly what I had in—”
    She kept going, like I hadn’t even opened my mouth. “Isn’t the book amazing? Isn’t Ethan amazing? I mean, he really understands, and he really believes. You can just see it in his eyes, and he talks like he’s on fire.”
    â€œYeah,” I said. “And did you check out his shoelaces?”
    Instead of responding, she kept talking. I nodded a whole lot until Vicky said she had to go do something or other and Isaid I had to do something or other, too, so I trudged off, all but convinced we had just broken up.
    I was heading toward trig when I spotted All-den struggling to stuff books into his overpacked locker. This guy was always stuffing things, grunting and shoving, just like a cartoon character.
    I scooped up a few and held them out to him.
    â€œCaleb,” he said.
    â€œAll-den,” I answered.
    We stood there a second, me holding out the books, him unable to grab them because he couldn’t move his hands. He nodded toward the pile he was holding up. I rolled my eyes and moved in.
    I shoved the books I was holding on top of the pile, then held the whole mess in place as he slammed the locker shut.
    â€œWhy do you have all this stuff anyway?”
    â€œI’m the editor of the paper,” he mumbled. “It’s . . . research.”
    â€œRight,” I said. “I heard about the editor thing. Congratulations. What are you researching?”
    His eyes shifted around. “Nothing.”
    â€œNo, what?”
    He looked at his locker door. “Actually, I’ve been checking over police and construction reports, trying to prove you were responsible for the vandalism that brought the gym down.”
    I shook my head. “Great. That’s just . . . terrific, really. Thank you
so
much.”
    Finally, All-den got himself enough together to look me in the eye. It was weird. His eyes, I mean. They were this brightgreen. Then he said the magic words: “Near as I can tell so far, you had nothing to do with it.”
    My eyes lit up. “Really?” I asked.
    All-den nodded slowly. “The construction company was using the original school blueprints, which, it turns out, have a design flaw that caused the gym to collapse during the storm in the first place and . . . probably caused the second collapse, too.”
    â€œGreat! That’s just . . . terrific! Really!