the boys’ room.
“Wow, bathrooms now,” Anna said. “These guys mean business.”
“Same thought occurred to me.” Because we are so boyfriend and girlfriend.
“We are so … what did you say?”
“Nothing, nothing at all.”
Oh man, did I say that out loud? I have to be careful about voicing thoughts, especially stuff about feelings.
“I also saw another flyer in there. This one is a lot more interesting.”
Anna reached into her purse again and pulled out another piece of folded paper. This was yellow. She unfolded it, smoothed it out, and handed it to me.
“ SCIENCE FAIR ” the title screamed.
“What the heck? We don’t have a science fair,” I said.
“We do now. Keep reading.”
I did.
“Prepare for Pine Hollow’s first annual Science Fair May 23. Show off the BIG BRAIN on YOU ! Top 5 projects win hall passes (thank you, PRINCIPAL BUCKLEY ). Best of Show wins $50 gift card!!!! (thank you, BURGER BUCKET ). No project too small or too smart. Sign up before May 6. Brought to you by the Tech Club, voted Pine Hollow’s coolest and most exclusive club.*”
I looked for the small type at the bottom, to explain the asterisk. There it was.
“*As voted by members of Tech Club.”
The fine quality of the paper struck me as I crumpled it.
“Wait a minute, we need to enter that,” Anna said.
“You have got to be kidding,” I said. “It’s a science fair. By the Tech Club. It’s as if the smokers held a wheeze-a-thon. You know who’s going to win.”
Anna took the crumpled paper from my hand and smoothed it out again.
“It’s not whether we win or lose,” she said. “It’s how we play the science game. And this could be the answer to all the lies being spread by that NZN whatever.”
“How so?”
“We do a zombie project. And by the time everyone sees it, they’ll know the NZN for the jerks they are.”
The last time I worked with Anna on a project, it led to Robbie believing he had been turned into a zombie. I liked our track record.
“OK, just one question,” I said.
“What’s the project?”
“Yup, that’s the question. Do you have the answer, too?”
“Not sure yet. I have a few ideas. You think on it too.”
The bell rang and everyone stood as one. Except, that is, for the overachievers, who were normally done with lunch before everyone else so they could arrive early to class.
They were still at the table as I ducked into the hallway. Luke with them.
What the heck?
Chapter Thirteen
I texted Luke.
Jed: Lunch later?
It was Saturday morning, and seeing Luke with the overachievers still bothered me. The only thing he had in common with them was that he did possess a brain. He just didn’t use it nearly as much.
The overachievers tended to bunch together, and for good reason. It’s the nature of prey when survival instincts kick in.
Imagine a nice afternoon on the African savannah and the zebras are enjoying themselves by the waterhole. Suddenly a few lions saunter by, checking out what’s on the all-you-can-chase-down menu. Why look, the special of the day is striped.
As soon as the zebras notice the picnic has turned into a buffet, they cluster into one giant black-and-white amoeba. The lions don’t even know where to start, until inevitably one zebra makes a break for it. That’s why it’s survival of the fittest, and not the guy who thinks he’s the fastest.
The same can be seen among nerd packs during dodgeball. They collapse in on one another like, say, a neutron star (brainiacs understand this). They believe themselves safe in this impenetrable grouping. But they do not understand the science. They have created a black hole of nerds, sucking in every dodgeball in the gym. They are so dense that not even common sense can escape.
That thinking extends to their behavior in the wild (specifically, the cafetorium). They line up as one, sit as one, eat as one. They do not allow outsiders, especially predators.
Well, Luke isn’t much of a
“Wow, bathrooms now,” Anna said. “These guys mean business.”
“Same thought occurred to me.” Because we are so boyfriend and girlfriend.
“We are so … what did you say?”
“Nothing, nothing at all.”
Oh man, did I say that out loud? I have to be careful about voicing thoughts, especially stuff about feelings.
“I also saw another flyer in there. This one is a lot more interesting.”
Anna reached into her purse again and pulled out another piece of folded paper. This was yellow. She unfolded it, smoothed it out, and handed it to me.
“ SCIENCE FAIR ” the title screamed.
“What the heck? We don’t have a science fair,” I said.
“We do now. Keep reading.”
I did.
“Prepare for Pine Hollow’s first annual Science Fair May 23. Show off the BIG BRAIN on YOU ! Top 5 projects win hall passes (thank you, PRINCIPAL BUCKLEY ). Best of Show wins $50 gift card!!!! (thank you, BURGER BUCKET ). No project too small or too smart. Sign up before May 6. Brought to you by the Tech Club, voted Pine Hollow’s coolest and most exclusive club.*”
I looked for the small type at the bottom, to explain the asterisk. There it was.
“*As voted by members of Tech Club.”
The fine quality of the paper struck me as I crumpled it.
“Wait a minute, we need to enter that,” Anna said.
“You have got to be kidding,” I said. “It’s a science fair. By the Tech Club. It’s as if the smokers held a wheeze-a-thon. You know who’s going to win.”
Anna took the crumpled paper from my hand and smoothed it out again.
“It’s not whether we win or lose,” she said. “It’s how we play the science game. And this could be the answer to all the lies being spread by that NZN whatever.”
“How so?”
“We do a zombie project. And by the time everyone sees it, they’ll know the NZN for the jerks they are.”
The last time I worked with Anna on a project, it led to Robbie believing he had been turned into a zombie. I liked our track record.
“OK, just one question,” I said.
“What’s the project?”
“Yup, that’s the question. Do you have the answer, too?”
“Not sure yet. I have a few ideas. You think on it too.”
The bell rang and everyone stood as one. Except, that is, for the overachievers, who were normally done with lunch before everyone else so they could arrive early to class.
They were still at the table as I ducked into the hallway. Luke with them.
What the heck?
Chapter Thirteen
I texted Luke.
Jed: Lunch later?
It was Saturday morning, and seeing Luke with the overachievers still bothered me. The only thing he had in common with them was that he did possess a brain. He just didn’t use it nearly as much.
The overachievers tended to bunch together, and for good reason. It’s the nature of prey when survival instincts kick in.
Imagine a nice afternoon on the African savannah and the zebras are enjoying themselves by the waterhole. Suddenly a few lions saunter by, checking out what’s on the all-you-can-chase-down menu. Why look, the special of the day is striped.
As soon as the zebras notice the picnic has turned into a buffet, they cluster into one giant black-and-white amoeba. The lions don’t even know where to start, until inevitably one zebra makes a break for it. That’s why it’s survival of the fittest, and not the guy who thinks he’s the fastest.
The same can be seen among nerd packs during dodgeball. They collapse in on one another like, say, a neutron star (brainiacs understand this). They believe themselves safe in this impenetrable grouping. But they do not understand the science. They have created a black hole of nerds, sucking in every dodgeball in the gym. They are so dense that not even common sense can escape.
That thinking extends to their behavior in the wild (specifically, the cafetorium). They line up as one, sit as one, eat as one. They do not allow outsiders, especially predators.
Well, Luke isn’t much of a
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