Zero to Hero by Lin Oliver

Author:Lin Oliver [Winkler, Henry; Oliver, Lin]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 978-0-545-39252-5
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Published: 2012-03-04T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 8

Rod Brownstone was in a panic as he sprinted out of Billy’s room. He wasn’t the kind of guy who showed fear easily, but whatever had happened in that bedroom had rattled his ever-confident cover. As he reached the kitchen, he spotted Ruby, Sofia, and Breeze coming up from the basement, and screeched to a full stop just before crashing into them.

“Hey, ladies,” he said, trying to recover as best he could. He tried desperately to appear calm and self-assured, but he must not have been too convincing because Breeze took one look at him and asked, “Are you all right?”

“Sure.” He shrugged. “I mean, why wouldn’t I be? What could possibly be wrong? I can’t think of one thing. I was just hanging out with your brother.”

Ruby smiled. “Billy?” she said. “He’s cute, in his own trippy kind of way.”

“Yeah, you could say that if you think dorks are cute, that is,” Rod shot back.

He didn’t like it one bit that Ruby said something nice about Billy. He always thought every girl had a secret crush on him, and it offended him that Ruby Baker didn’t seem to be joining the club. Besides, what could she possibly see in Billy Broccoli that she didn’t see in him? He certainly did not want to hear anything positive about that little squirt. Somewhere in the back of his mind, a thought began to hatch — a thought that he was going to change Ruby’s opinion of Billy Broccoli.

He decided to start right then and there with a list of everything that was wrong with Billy, beginning with his short stature and moving on to his clumsy feet. But before he could get out a full sentence, Sofia interrupted him.

“Ruby, we have to go,” she said. “Mom said we have to be home by five o’clock, which was ten minutes ago. Sorry to play and run, Breeze.”

“That’s okay,” Breeze answered. “Now that you’re in the band, we’ll have lots of time to hang out when we rehearse.”

Sofia and Ruby said good-bye to Breeze, leaving Rod standing there feeling frustrated that he hadn’t gotten Ruby to fall madly in love with him.

“Who’s in the mood for flank steak?” Dr. Fielding asked as he came into the kitchen to get the meat out of the refrigerator.

“Me,” Breeze answered. “I’m starving.”

“I thought you were a vegetarian, sweetie.”

“That was yesterday, Dad.”

“Oh, I see. Well, the fire’s all ready. I just came in here to get the steaks.”

“I guess I should go, then,” Rod said. “I don’t want to interrupt your dinnertime.”

“Nonsense, young Rod.” Bennett put a hand on his shoulder and gave him the comforting squeeze he had perfected in his years of being a dentist. “You’re welcome to stay. There’s plenty of food. Billy isn’t much of a meat eater.”

“His favorite food is potato chip sandwiches,” Breeze said. “Oh, and he likes to eat olives off the tips of his fingers. He’s what you call majorly weird. And let’s not forget the tonsil.”

“He eats tonsils?” Rod asked.

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