Read Online Kid Owner by Tim Green - Free Book Online Page A

have left the Dallas Cowboys to a kid who was a real football player. That was me now.
    I fell asleep to visions of me playing on the Cowboys’ field with Jackson and Izzy watching me from the sideline.
    The next day, I was walking even more proud than the day before. I went to my classes in the morning, then strutted into the lunchroom and marched right past the popular table, pretending to ignore them completely.
    The problem was that I didn’t ignore them. I heard when Bryan Markham belched and told the rest of the table, “Minna Zinna thinks he’s tough now. He’s so tough he’s got a girl at his table.”
    The rest of them chuckled and when I glanced over my shoulder, they were waiting. Markham pointed right at me. Jason Simpkin howled with delight, and the rest of them burst into an uproar of laughter. My ears burned as I approached my table. Izzy and Jackson were both already there.
    â€œWhat’s so funny over there?” Jackson was as innocent as he was ignorant in his question.
    I was so mad, I didn’t even think about my answer. “They’re just a bunch of little giggling girls.”
    â€œHey.” Izzy set down her sandwich. “I’m a girl.”
    I looked at her and saw she was only kidding, but the laughter from the other table was hot in my ears and what Markham said did make sense to me. I mean, the popular boys didn’t let the girls sit with them. They were too cool for that. But here I was, desperate for any kind of friend. This all hit me in a millisecond, and it also hit me that everything was getting ready to change for me and I didn’t feel as grateful as I should have that Izzy was my friend.
    So, my mouth ran away from my brain and spit out some words on its own. “Yeah, I know you’re a girl, Izzy. Maybe you should find a girls’ table to sit at. This table is for football players.”
    Jackson’s mouth dropped open in shock. Izzy’s mouth became a thin flat line.
    â€œYou, Ryan Zinna, are a jerk.” With a curt nod, she packed her lunch back into her bag, got up, and left.
    â€œHey, little buddy.” Jackson frowned. “What’d you do that for? She’s really nice.”
    â€œWe’re football players , Jackson.” I glared at him, strong and confident. “Don’t you think we should act like some?”
    Jackson’s face grew dark and he stared right back, unafraid of me. “I think we should act like football players on the football field, Ryan. Otherwise I think we shouldn’t act like total jerks.”
    Jackson and I stared each other down. I felt like I had to show him that I wasn’t afraid, and I had no idea which one of us would blink first. But as we gave each other the evil eye, my bigger concern became losing the only real friend I had left.

18
    I cast my eyes down at my hands and folded them on the table. “Sorry, Jackson. I’m going goofy. With everything that’s happened, it’s like I don’t even know who I am. Does that make sense?”
    I looked up and Jackson was back to himself in a heartbeat. He shrugged and sipped at his milk. “That’s okay, but maybe you should say something to Izzy?”
    I looked over at where Izzy had sat down next to Mya at the table of brainiacs, deeply regretting my words to her. “Yeah, I’ll try. Let her cool off first, though.”
    As impressive as Jackson was on the football field, he was an even better friend. He didn’t hold a grudge and he didn’t miss a beat. We were soon goofing around, eating and talking about how funny it would be if we walked over to the popular table, stuck our fingers down our throats, and threw up.
    â€œWe could, like, shower them with puke!” Jackson’s eyes became nothing but slits, and his teeth were bare and white as he howled with laughter.
    I couldn’t help but think I’d really like to do that to Markham.
    On the football