Read Online Bringing Down the Mouse by Ben Mezrich - Free Book Online Page A

second his mind went into reflexive overdrive, calculating angles and arcs, comparing the bulky white thing that was spinning through the air—on what he instantly calculated was a collision course with the back of Jeremy’s head—with a meteor charging toward the earth, but before he could say anything, the thing slammed into Jeremy and exploded in a rain of mushy brown globs.
    â€œWhat the heck?” Jeremy shouted, reaching back with his hand. He pulled the thing off his neck, held it in front of them, and groaned.
    It was a diaper, sprung open by the impact. Dripping down his wrist, and smeared all over his neck, shoulders, and hair, were mounds of rice and beans. Jeremy’s cheeks turned bright red as he dropped the diaper onto his tray.
    Laughter broke out from the tables closest to their own, and Charlie couldn’t help but glance past his embarrassed friend at the row of kids who were pointing and high-fiving one another as they enjoyed the moment. Of course Dylan was in the middle of thepack, half off his stool and pointing with a thick finger at the mess covering Jeremy’s shoulders.
    â€œDirect hit!” he shouted. “That’s gotta hurt!”
    Charlie glanced back at the teachers’ table, but none of the teachers had even looked up from the computer screen. They weren’t likely to do anything, anyway. Sure, bullying was wrong and even illegal in many states, but it was also a constant reality. Charlie was pretty sure smart kids had been getting picked on by athletic kids since the dawn of time. The caveman drawing pictures on the cave walls probably had to dodge rocks thrown at him by the bigger cavemen who went out hunting every morning. It was another curve on the circle of life.
    â€œHe’s such a jerk,” Charlie said as Jeremy picked rice out of his shirt collar.
    â€œYeah,” Kentaro added, helping sweep beans off the table. “Nobody thinks he’s funny.”
    Jeremy pushed his tray back, then shrugged.
    â€œYeah, well, the joke’s on him. I was going to go back for seconds, and he’s just saved me the trip. He turned in his stool and shouted back toward Dylan’s table. “Thanks, Dylan—”
    And then he paused midsentence. Charlie looked past his friend to see what had stopped him, and then his eyes went wide.
    To his utter shock, he saw Finn and Magic strolling right up behind where Dylan was still half standing. In Finn’s hand was a tray fully loaded with food. Mounds of the radioactive looking meat, moguls of beans and rice, and a pile of the orange bread. As Finn passed Dylan, he tipped the tray ninety degrees—spilling the food all over Dylan’s oblong head.
    â€œHey! What the hell!”
    Dylan sputtered, grabbing at the chunks of meat that were now running down his face. He whirled and found himself staring up at Finn, who opened his mouth in mock concern.
    â€œOh, man, I’m sorry, I can be so clumsy sometimes.”
    Dylan’s table went silent. The other nearby tables were all staring as well.
    â€œYou’re not supposed to be in here,” Dylan finally managed.
    â€œYou’re absolutely right,” Magic butted in. He dropped his own tray on the table in front of Dylan, sending more meat and rice spraying into Dylan’s lap. “Can you bus this for us? Thanks, we owe you one.”
    The two seventh graders kept on walking. Dylan stood there, his skin beet red, as he pawed the food from his cheeks. The other kids nearby were still staring. A few laughed, but most just seemed in shock.Seventh graders didn’t eat until the next period, and they never came in when the sixth graders were still in the lunchroom. And no one had ever shut Dylan down in the middle of his antics before.
    Charlie was just as shocked to see the two seventh graders as everyone else. They were completely out of place in the lunchroom, and yet neither of them seemed at all uncomfortable. Finn was