The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel by Sheela Chari

Author:Sheela Chari [Chari, Sheela]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781536216233
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Published: 2020-11-14T16:00:00+00:00

Inside the school, JP took out a ham sandwich and chewed it quickly on the way to homeroom. JP could still feel their heart pounding, remembering the drone. It was one thing to say you would do something; it was another thing to well . . . do something. Was Oliver Pruitt actually after them with his saber-toothed drone?

Homeroom didn’t help JP’s nerves.

“Out of my way, They-Them,” Clyde Boofsky said, smirking.

“Or can we just call her It?” wondered his evil minion pal, Scott Bane.

“Even my dog knows she’s a she,” Clyde said. “I guess she’s smarter than you, JP.”

JP gave them both a one-two shove. Then all was cool. But man, JP was getting tired of this stuff. JP sat down, eating the last of their ham sandwich gloomily. Why couldn’t life be more like a sandwich?

JP loved making their own lunches, and the way they got to choose how to make a sandwich, with layers of meat and cheese and lettuce dabbed in ranch dressing. Sometimes JP made a killer chili with red beans that they brought in their thermos, and it was spiced up so it gave a nice burn down your throat. Their food was like a perfect universe of flavors and textures and happiness.

Toothpick liked JP’s sandwiches, too. In fourth grade, JP had noticed how the others would pick on Toothpick all the time. He never did anything to stop them, even when they stole his backpack or tied his shoes together under the desk. So JP started following him around. At first, Toothpick didn’t like it. “But you’re not street smart,” JP told him. “That’s why I’m here.”

“I know the direction of home,” he said. “And I have a good sense of due north.”

JP smacked their forehead. “That’s just it. You don’t know the real rules of the game, like what people say and do right before they’re about to pound into you.”

He thought for a moment. “You mean the bullying?”

“You need someone to show you the ropes,” JP said.

“That would be you?”

JP grinned. “I don’t even charge. All I ask is that you and I eat lunch together every day. I keep the creeps away from you, and you . . .” They paused. “You try my sandwiches and tell me how they are. And you talk to me. You’re more interesting than these turkeys here.”

Soon JP began bringing Toothpick lunches, too. They were tasty, full of carbs and proteins and unusual flavors (his favorite was the chili). In return, Toothpick talked about quantum physics and JP would say, “That’s cool,” even without understanding what he was saying all the time. That’s how their friendship grew. Like, Toothpick could tell when JP was in a bad mood because of something that happened in homeroom, and then he’d talk about soccer. He’d share league stats he’d looked up on his phone, which he probably didn’t have a clue about, but it always made JP feel better. Not because they were talking soccer, but because Toothpick cared.

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