Tournament Trouble by Sylv Chiang

Author:Sylv Chiang
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Annick Press
Published: 2017-11-06T16:44:58+00:00

“Mr. E called my house,” Hugh says the next morning in the schoolyard. It’s already warm out, and the curls on his forehead are damp. “My dad was waiting for me at the door. Funny thing was, he just wanted to know if I was alright.”

“That’s weird. You didn’t get punished?” I ask.

“No. I couldn’t believe it either. He was all, ‘Buddy, you should’ve told me you were having trouble with kids at school.’ Not sure what he thinks he would have done to help.”

“Lucky you.” Devesh shakes his head. “I am grounded. No T3. Man, I’ve never been grounded before. What the heck am I gonna do all weekend?”

“If your parents don’t take away your computer, you can watch the live-stream,” Hugh says.

“I guess. But I totally want to be there. What about you, Jaden? What happened?”

“I got lucky and Roy ‘lost’ Mr. E’s message.” I make little finger quotes next to my head.

“That’s cool.” Devesh punches me in the shoulder.

“What do you think happened when he called Ty and Flash’s places?” Hugh asks.

“Good question.”

We spend the morning looking over our shoulders for them. By the time we get to math, it’s clear we can stop looking.

“You think they’re skipping?” Devesh asks.

“Maybe they got suspended.”

“We could ask Mr. E . . .,” I start. “Actually, I’m gonna stay off his radar today.”

By the afternoon the heat makes the second floor of Layton unbearable. Most teachers have the classroom windows open wide, but in Mr. Efram’s class, that’s not an option. The room only has two high windows. One is boarded up where a foul ball broke the glass earlier in the year, and the other window’s handle is rusted shut. Mr. Efram is melted into his desk chair, the class’s only fan directed straight at him. Instead of concentrating on the problem of the day, we spend the period doing our own math—calculating ways to spend two thousand bucks.

“You could buy, like, every game out there,” Devesh says.

“Who cares about games, dude, you could get a whole new system and probably your own computer too.” Hugh’s arms wave wildly around his head.

“Oh, and make sure you get a phone.” Devesh puts his hand on my shoulder. “It’s about time.”

Hugh nods.

“Maybe I’ll buy an air conditioner for this room.”

“Or . . .” Hugh’s eyes go wide. “You could get a monkey. That would be awesome.”

I laugh. “What am I supposed to do with a monkey? Anyway, I might not even get there, let alone win.” Besides, I’ve already decided what I’ll buy if I win the tournament.

At the end of class Mr. Efram stops me at the door. “Your mom never returned my call yesterday.”

“Oh, you called?” is all I can think to say.

“Yes, I told you I would. I left a message with someone at your mom’s work. I guess I’ll try your dad at lunch.”

“Okay,” I mumble and slink out the door.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.