Rube Goldberg and His Amazing Machines by Brandon T. Snider

Author:Brandon T. Snider
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Abrams
Published: 2021-11-16T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 6

“Excuse me?!” Rube hollered. His hands were shaking. He wasn’t sure if he was going to cry or throw up. “Are you serious right now!?”

Delivering bad news wasn’t easy for Principal Kim. It broke his heart to remove Rube from the competition. But he had a job to do, regardless of the circumstances. “These are the rules,” he said calmly. “Rube, I wish there was something I could do—”

“You’re the dang principal! You can do anything you want!” Don’t, Rube. He began pacing around the room, trying to expel his nervous energy.

“Please understand, you’re not alone. Other underperforming students have been removed from the competition as well.”

“But I’m the only one that cares.” Rube stopped moving and gave all of his attention to the man in charge. “Con-Con isn’t just some fun after-school activity, Principal Kim. It’s what I’ve been waiting for. It’s everything to me. You can’t take it away. Please. I’m begging you.”

Principal Kim could see from the tears welling in Rube’s eyes that the boy was speaking his truth as best he could. “I think we should call your father.”

“Good luck with that,” Rube said. “He’s away on business. He’s always away on business. And even if he wasn’t, he wouldn’t waste his time coming in here to talk to the manager of Taco Cavern. Oh wait. I’m sorry. Assistant manager.”

Whoa. That was inappropriate. And uncalled-for.

“That was inappropriate and uncalled-for,” Principal Kim said. “You just earned yourself a detention.”

Rube kicked a chair in anger but got his shin entangled in the chair leg. As he tried to shake himself free, he tripped and fell right on his butt. “I’m fine.” Principal Kim tried to help Rube up but was pushed away.

BRRRRRRRRRING!

“Let’s get this over with.” Rube grabbed his backpack and stormed out of the office, huffing, puffing, and not paying attention. As he rounded a corner, he ran smack dab into Mr. Blank. “Excuse me,” Rube muttered in a low tone. “I’ve got to get to detention.”

“I’m heartbroken to hear that,” said Mr. Blank.

“I’m sure,” Rube replied. You can shove your fake apology. He didn’t want to hear it. Instead of doing what he was meant to be doing, Rube was stuck serving time in a student prison. Two hours’ worth of nothing? He walked into detention slowly, as if marching to his death. What a complete waste of time. He parked himself in the back corner next to the only other detainee, who was passed out cold with his head down on the desk.

Mr. Badalucco, the world history teacher, waddled in and flopped into his seat. His tight suit hugged his stout body, turning his sun-kissed face an even brighter bright red. He looked like a strangled tomato. That guy is gonna pop any second now. His dark, slicked-back hair revealed stark gray roots. Years ago, a student told him his beard was legendary, so he never shaved it again. Outside of being legendarily thick, it also smelled. Mr. Badalucco had a reputation for sneaking sips of energy drinks in class.

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