Enemy Spy by Wendelin Van Draanen Page B

road. And another turn onto a gravel road. And another onto a
dirt
road!
    It was dark.
    Mom was holding on to the dash!
    I was bouncing around like crazy!
    Maybe my sidekick really
did
live in a cave.
    Finally Mom couldn't stand it any longer. “Are we lost, Steven?”
    “No, Eve…,”Dad said as the car pitched into another pothole. “He did warn me that it would be a bit rough.”
    “But there's nothing out here! This doesn't even seem like a road anymore! I think we should—”
    “There it is!”Dad said, pointing straight ahead.
    “Wow,”I said as we got closer. “It's a log cabin!”

    “That's painted
green,”
my mom said, like she'd smelled something stinky.
    “Cool!”I said, and it was. The whole place was made out of logs. The walls, the roof, the doors… logs, logs, everywhere!
    Mr. Green guided us into the living room, saying, “Not conventional, I know, but I dig it.”
    Mom and Dad were nodding, but they weren't checking things out like I was.
    There was a big stone fireplace!
    Giant leather furniture!
    Old Indian rugs!
    And guitars! Guitars everywhere!
    “Your house
shreds,
Mr. Green!”
    He laughed and said, “Thanks,”then asked, “How about some cocoa? I've got it all ready. Just needs to be poured.”
    “Great!”I said. “Got any marshmallows?”
    “I'll put you in charge of marshmallows,”he said, then winked at my mom and dad as he led me into the kitchen.
    So I put one marshmallow in everyone's mug. Everyone's except mine.
    I got three!
    Yum-my!
    When Mr. Green poured the hot chocolate into the mugs, he said, “So, Nolan. How do you like being in the middle of a media frenzy?”
    “Huh? You mean how Chatty Adams is trying to find out who Shredderman is?”
    He frowned. “It's not just Chatty Adams, you know.”
    “Um—well, I wish they'd just leave me alone. But Dad says they can't figure out it's me unless I do something illegal—which, believe me, I won't!”
    He nodded and handed me a mug to carry, but he didn't say anything until we were back in the room with Mom and Dad. Then, after everyone had their hot chocolate, he said, “I did not like that Chatty Adams.”
    “Me neither!”I said. “She was… she was…”
    “Meddling? Intrusive?”my dad asked. “Invasive?”
    “Yeah!”I said. “It was just like an invasion!”
    “Why in the world did the principal allow them on the school grounds?”my mom asked.
    Mr. Green said, “Because Ivana Voss would love to find out who Shredderman is.”
    “Because of how Shredderman trapped her son?”Mom asked.
    Mr. Green nodded. “She's still ticked off about that.”
    I wanted to say something about Dr. Voss's son getting what he deserved, but I didn't. I had the world's softest, tastiest hot-chocolate marshmal-low dissolving in my mouth.
    Mm-mmmm,
good!
    But then Mr. Green said, “So what are your plans for the Web site, Nolan?”
    “Hmmmm?”I asked through my marshmallow. “Oh. Well, number one: To not do anything illegal.”
    Mr. Green nodded, but he didn't smile.
    And that's when I realized that something was wrong.
    My mom noticed, too. She said to him, “Elmo?”
    That's right. My sidekick's name is
Elmo.
    Anyway, Mr. Green took a deep breath and said, “Back when Nolan was flying solo on his Web site, I thought he could really use someoneto confide in. But now that the two of you are on board…”
    I waited, but he didn't really have to finish his sentence. It's funny how missing words can be so much louder than real words. Finally I choked out, “You're saying you don't want to be the Bouncer anymore?”
    “It's not that I don't
want
to be, it's just that it's not
necessary
anymore.”
    “But, Mr. Green!”Suddenly I didn't want cocoa. Or marshmallows. What was he
doing
? Sidekicks don't quit!
    Sidekicks
can't
quit!
    “I understand, Elmo,”my dad was saying. “You're in a touchy position at the school. Especially since Dr. Voss is no fan of Shredderman.”
    Mr. Green nodded. “I wouldn't do this if