Read Online Billy Hooten by Tom Sniegoski - Free Book Online

all turned, almost as one.
    Randy stood at his locker at the end of the hall, late but not absent.
    “See you all in gym class,” he said with an insane cackle, pretending to throw an imaginary dodgeball in their direction.
    Billy swallowed with a gulp.
    And he'd been having such a good morning.
    Gym class was pretty much what he expected, only worse.
    Killer Kulkowski and his cronies were vicious, their aim especially good. One by one, Billy watched his buddies go down, some of them even going so far as to throw themselves in front of a shot just to get knocked out of the game. He knew that was probably the smartest thing to do, but for some reason, he just couldn't bring himself to do it. He thought it might have something to do with his visit to Monstros City and what he had done there.
    He had actually been a hero last night. Why should he be running from a game? Real heroes didn't run from anything.
    Especially a dodgeball!
    “Well, would ya look at this,” he heard Randy say as he paced back and forth, tossing the bloodred rubber ball from hand to hand. “All that's left is the Owlboy.”
    His teammates laughed.
    “Finish him off, Killer,” Mitchell Spivey cheered, and then laughed hysterically.
    There's something really wrong with that kid,
Billy thought.
    He had never been in this situation, always having been knocked out way before the end of the game, and he found that he didn't really care for it.
Is this what it's like to be a hero?
he wondered, watching as Randy …
Killer
prepared his next throw.
    Standing alone against the forces of evil.
    Billy tensed, watching intently as the ball left his enemy's hand.
It would be so easy,
he thought,
to just turn slightly and let the ball graze me.
    Out. End of story.
    Any other day and he was sure that would have been perfectly fine, but not today … not after Monstros.
    Billy planted both his feet as the ball rocketed toward him. Reaching out, he brought his hands together, catching the ball between them. He stumbled back from the force of the throw, the palms of his hands tingling, but he'd caught it. He'd actually caught a ball thrown by Killer Kulkowski.
    You could've heard a fish fart in the gym, it was so quiet, and Billy looked around to see everybody watching him.
    His friends, as well as other classmates who had once made up his team, stared at him in awe. Danny Ashwell's mouth was open so wide that he'd actually started to drool.
    Very attractive, Danny, thanks,
Billy thought.
    “So what now, Hooten?” asked the voice of evil.
    Randy just stood there, waiting. If he was as shocked about Billy's catching the ball as Billy was, he didn't show it.
    Mitchell Spivey cackled like a nutjob as Billy eyed them all. Randy stood out in front, the obvious target, silently daring him to throw the ball. Billy knew he didn't have a chance. His throw would be nothing more than a spitball to the troll disguised as a grade-schooler.
    “C'mon, Owlboy,” Randy taunted, motioning for him to throw the ball.
    The gym was quiet except for Mitchell's insane laughter, and Billy knew exactly what he was going to do.
    His eyes narrowed as he fixed his target in his sights. He wasn't sure if it was going to work, but he'd never know until he tried. Pulling back, Billy let the ball fly.
    Randy was ready, tensed and waiting as he watched the ball sail right past him to hit Mitchell Spivey.
    Billy wished he had a camera as the ball ricocheted off the laughing boy's forehead to hit a startled Randy in the back. It didn't hit him hard, but it hit him just the same.
    Billy's friends immediately started to clap. He looked over at them, a smile on his face. He knew that aiming for Randy would have been nothing but awaste, so he'd figured he might as well go for the most annoying of his archnemesis's crew and hope for the ricochet.
    After his success in Monstros, maybe things were starting to look up, he thought, waving to his cheering classmates.
    But Billy should have been paying