Read Online [Janitors 01] Janitors by Tyler Whitesides - Free Book Online

“Them’s the worst kind of folks.”
    Spencer cleared his throat to remind them that he was actually still in the vehicle.
    “And he drew on my face,” Daisy said. “But it washed off.”
    Another bout of silence hit the truck like a black hole.
    “Could someone please explain why I’m a chameleon?” Spencer finally muttered.
    “A chameleon,” Mr. Gates said as he turned into Hillside Estates, “is a type of lizard that changes color. Might be green one moment and black the next. It changes to fit the environment around it, sometimes to blend in, sometimes to stand out.”
    “But what does that have to do with me?” Spencer pointed out Aunt Avril’s house and the big Ford rolled into the driveway.
    “You don’t get it?” Daisy asked, a faint smirk on her face. “In our family, a chameleon is someone whose story changes. They might tell it one way, then totally twist it around and tell a different version. People do it when they’re insecure. Sometimes to blend in, sometimes to stand out.”
    Spencer wasn’t pleased about being called a color-changing lizard. He had a comeback worked up, but he let it die on his lips. Just wait. The soap was in Daisy’s drawer. Soon she’d see that he wasn’t a chameleon.
    “Thanks for the ride, Mr. Gates,” Spencer said, slipping off the edge of the seat. He checked his pocket for the flashlight and the latex glove. With both items secure, he walked to the back of the truck, but Mr. Gates had beaten him there. With a smile, Daisy’s dad lifted out the boy’s bike. Spencer jumped on and pedaled up the driveway. Ditching the bike on the steps, he opened the front door.
    The house was its usual mess. Spencer hadn’t seen the station wagon out front, which meant that his mother wasn’t home. She would most likely bring back dinner. His mom flaked out on a lot of things, but the kids could always depend on her for some kind of dinner. The house was quiet. Max was probably with Mom. The other kids could be anywhere.
    Spencer waded through a three-month-old box of clothes yet to be unpacked and found his way down the hall to the computer room. Photographs of Aunt Avril and Uncle Wyatt flashed across the screen until Spencer wiggled the mouse. Compared to the school computers, the internet seemed faster at Hillside Estates, and he had his e-mail open in no time.
    Spencer felt his heart race as he saw that there was one unread message from [email protected]. “Instructions” was the subject heading.
    With a nervous hand, Spencer opened the e-mail.

Chapter 13
    “I got more info.”
    Spencer and Daisy crouched behind the corkscrew slide on the playground. Daisy was breathing hard, as if she had just run a half marathon. In reality, she had barely run from the back door of the school to the playground before Spencer had intercepted her on his bike. Now the bike was ditched in the bark next to the tire swing and the two kids were using the slide for cover.
    “How can you go in there with those . . . those things crawling around the hallways?” Daisy asked again, shaking her head in disbelief. The second bell rang, making them both officially tardy for Mrs. Natcher’s class.
    Spencer was relieved and delighted that Daisy had tried the soap. Now that she had seen the creatures for herself, Daisy was the best listener. Spencer had told her all he’d learned from Garth Hadley about the BEM and how he’d been enlisted to stop the janitors at Welcher Elementary.
    “So they want you to do dirty work for the Bureau of Educational Maintenance?” Daisy asked. “I don’t know.” She sighed. “I met John Campbell when he came to Welcher at the end of last year. He doesn’t really seem like the magical-experiment type of guy.”
    “You don’t believe me again?” Spencer cried. “You think I’m still being a chameleon?”
    “I know you are telling the truth,” she said. “But what if the BEM is wrong about the janitors?”
    “Don’t be crazy,” Spencer said.