The Magnificent 12: Book 02 - The Trap by Michael Grant

Author:Michael Grant [Grant, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harpercollins
Published: 2012-01-06T01:00:31+00:00

Chapter Twenty

They told knock-knock jokes over Mongolia.

They sang “Ninety-nine Bottles of Beer on the Wall” over Kazakhstan.

They stared blearily ahead with glazed, fixed expressions over Russia.

They stopped for water at a lake in Ukraine and used a porta-potty at an oil pipeline construction site.

They talked about their hopes and dreams and aspirations over Poland.

“I either want to be an extreme fighting champion,” Stefan said, “or a race car driver.”

“I want to be a surfer and go on the tour, you know?” Jarrah said. “Maybe get a sponsorship, right? Have lots of money but ride the big ones all day.”

“Wouldn’t that be boring after a while?” Mack asked.

“What, surfing? Boring?” Jarrah laughed like it was idiotic even to suggest such a thing. “Besides, I’d do a bit of archaeology in my spare time. Like my mum.”

“What about you, Xiao?” Mack asked. He didn’t like the conversation because he didn’t want to answer the question for himself.

“I will be a dragon, of course,” Xiao said.

“Yeah, okay, but aren’t there different jobs for dragons? I mean, there must be, like . . . um . . . you know, dragon firefighters, dragon bus drivers. Maybe not bus drivers. But you know, different dragon jobs.”

“We are born with certain duties,” Xiao said. “We learn and we think and we write.”

“Oh, please,” Jarrah said with a derisive snort. “Don’t give me all that good-girl, do-what-I’m-told stuff. No one wants to grow up to do just what their parents tell them.”

I have made new friends in detention. The first day I met Matthew and Helder and Dwayne. They are bullies. I think I sat in the wrong chair, and Matthew asked me if I would like him to punch me in the head. I said, “Yes.” Because it’s important to be positive. Matthew punched me and I thanked him. So he punched me again and I said, “Thanks!” again. We played this game until Matthew was tired. Camaro, who is a girl bully, said, “I always knew you were cute, Mack. But I didn’t know you were so tough.” Then she sat next to me.

Xiao sighed. Mack was sure she was going to stick to her previous statement. But then she said, “The truth is, I love playing sports. At the school, we sometimes play football or basketball. I love basketball.”

“You play hoops?”

“I like being part of a team. It is a very human experience, you know. We—we dragons—are solitary. We don’t have teams. Handing the ball to someone else so that the team will prosper, it is a new challenge. The idea that the individual must sacrifice for the common good, that is very dragonlike. But doing this within a team, as a strategy for victory, that is new.”

“So you want to be either a dragon or a basketball star?” Jarrah didn’t sound skeptical. In fact, she obviously liked the idea.

Xiao laughed. “I can’t help but be a dragon. But when I daydream, in the hour before sleep, I sometimes picture myself as part of China’s Olympic team.

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