Slugfest by Gordon Korman

Author:Gordon Korman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2023-11-15T00:00:00+00:00

14

Arabella Hopp

It isn’t easy when everybody hates you.

I guess it’s a burden we investigative journalists have to bear. Ms. Landkammer understands. I’ll bet those car wash owners were pretty mad when she exposed them on the hot-wax thing.

It hurts, but it’s worth it. For example, if more reporters talked about climate change, maybe that poor little island wouldn’t be sinking into the Indian Ocean. And if Mom had made a bigger deal about it, my father might have been too embarrassed to dump his existing family and run off to start a new one. Not that I’m blaming Mom. She’s one of the toughest people I know. It can’t be easy every Christmas, when she puts the holiday card of Dad with his new wife and kids right there on the mantel with the others. I’m just saying that the minute you see something wrong, you have to speak up. Because after that, it could be too late.

I have nothing against Mrs. Finnerty. She’s always been nice to me—to everybody, I guess. If it wasn’t for her, open house night might have been a disaster. Without her, there might have been a stampede for the auditorium door. But because people had to line up for her cookies, they were already in perfect position for an orderly exit. Dr. Carmichael, the superintendent, and the school board were all there—totally helpless. And our teacher effortlessly managed the whole thing with a rolling cart of baked goods.

That still doesn’t change the fact that she’s teaching without being qualified. And if you look the other way at one example of unfairness, pretty soon you’re up to your knees in water. Pretty soon you’re looking at a holiday card of your father with the wrong family. Pretty soon you’re in a world you don’t recognize anymore.

I guess I’ll just have to get used to the dirty looks from the others. Ms. Landkammer warned us about that too. You make a lot of enemies in the investigative journalism business.

Meanwhile, I’m training with Yash, which takes some of the heat off. The whole class is, except Cleo. It’s gotten better since we watched the JV team that day. Just knowing what practice is supposed to look like helps. And even though most of us aren’t athletes, there are random football things we’re not so bad at. Stuart can catch. Sarah can run. Jesse has good footwork and natural balance. Kaden can always predict where a pass or a kick is going to come down. Fiona is super agile, so you never know where she’ll turn up next. Yash says that’s a great skill because, in a real game, a pass rusher can come from anywhere. I’m not entirely sure what a pass rusher is, but it sounds important.

Even I have a talent, believe it or not. I’m the snapper. That may not sound like such a big deal, but Yash insists that top centers are worth their weight in gold.

Not that I care, but it’s nice to be good at something.

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