Read Online Sammy Keyes and the Wedding Crasher by Wendelin Van Draanen - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Wendelin Van Draanen
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switches back to Billyspeak. “Hey, if you’re making the leap to dead
rats
, like everybody else seems to be, I didn’t do it.” He frowns, and it’s like
poof
, a heavy, dark cloud forms over his head. “I swear,” he says, “I had nothing to do with that rat.”
In all the times I’d seen Billy scolded for clowning around in class, and in all the times I’d seen him sent to the office, I’d never seen him look this serious. So I soften up a bit and say, “Billy, I know something’s going on. So if it’s not the rat, what is it?” Then I shrug and say, “
Or
if you’ve decided to align yourself with that evil witch, just say so and quit pretending to be my friend.”
He looks at me.
Looks away.
Looks at me.
Looks away.
“Billy, it’s
me
. Just tell me.”
He looks all around, then breaks down. “Maaaan, I am in so much trouble.”
I let out a big, puffy-faced breath. “Okay. Thank you. Now let me help you.”
“I’m going to be in boiling hot water if people find out!” He shakes his head. “They’ll probably expel me, and then my life will be over.”
“Billy,” I say, gripping him by the shoulders, “just tell me.”
He pinches his eyes closed for a second, then blurts out, “I did that Die Dude on the board, okay? It was actually Heather’s idea. I was dressed like a soldier and just goofing around, going, ‘Die, dude! Die, dude!’ She said it would be a crack-up if I wrote it on the board and pulled down the screen so when Vince rolled it up,
bam
, there it’d be. But while I was writing it, she took a picture of me with her phone!”
“Wait. Without you knowing?”
He nods. “And after she showed it to me, she started making me do stuff like get her lunch and tie her shoe.… She was acting like it was a joke, so I just played along, but now that that
rat
showed up, she’s like, Do my homework and Give me twenty bucks.”
“Or she’ll tell?”
“Yeah! And she’s serious! She says Foxmore’ll never believe I did one and not the other!”
“That evil snake.” I think about it a minute, then say, “Just tell Foxmore the truth.”
“I can’t! Heather’s right—he’ll never believe me!” Billy wipes sweat away from under his mop of hair. “Man, I should never have told you! If you—”
“Don’t worry! I’m not going to tell anyone. I promise.”
He heaves a sigh of relief.
I grab his arm. “Look, we’ll figure something out, okay?”
He nods, and when the tardy bell rings, he puts on hisclass clown smile and hurries away, calling, “See ya, Sammy-keyesta!” like he doesn’t have a care in the world.
So there I am, watching him go, trying to figure out what I can do to help him, when a voice next to me asks, “Hey, wassup?”
I jump a little, and there’s Lars Teppler standing right beside me. I blink at him a bunch because I may have him in homeroom and in Mr. Vince’s class, but I only
sort
of know him, and he’s never said “Hey, wassup?” to me before. “Sorry,” he says with a laugh. “Didn’t mean to spook you.”
I laugh, too. “And I didn’t mean to spaz.”
He flips his head around to the left, whooshing his hair out of his eyes as we start toward homeroom. “Freaky class yesterday, huh?”
“No kidding.”
“I don’t know why
we
were automatically the criminals. That rat could have been planted way before any of us got there.” He whooshes his hair again. “You think that cop got anything out of anyone?”
I snort. “No.”
“He sure let
you
off easy,” he says, smiling at me.
It’s a strange smile. Like only half his mouth is trying. And it makes a little tingle creep up my neck because I remember how I’d noticed him pushing buttons on his watch.
He’d been
timing
us?
All of a sudden it hits me that maybe I should have hung out and chatted with the Borschman a little insteadof jetting out of there. All of a sudden I’m thinking that maybe getting off easy was going to turn around and make
rats
, like everybody else seems to be, I didn’t do it.” He frowns, and it’s like
poof
, a heavy, dark cloud forms over his head. “I swear,” he says, “I had nothing to do with that rat.”
In all the times I’d seen Billy scolded for clowning around in class, and in all the times I’d seen him sent to the office, I’d never seen him look this serious. So I soften up a bit and say, “Billy, I know something’s going on. So if it’s not the rat, what is it?” Then I shrug and say, “
Or
if you’ve decided to align yourself with that evil witch, just say so and quit pretending to be my friend.”
He looks at me.
Looks away.
Looks at me.
Looks away.
“Billy, it’s
me
. Just tell me.”
He looks all around, then breaks down. “Maaaan, I am in so much trouble.”
I let out a big, puffy-faced breath. “Okay. Thank you. Now let me help you.”
“I’m going to be in boiling hot water if people find out!” He shakes his head. “They’ll probably expel me, and then my life will be over.”
“Billy,” I say, gripping him by the shoulders, “just tell me.”
He pinches his eyes closed for a second, then blurts out, “I did that Die Dude on the board, okay? It was actually Heather’s idea. I was dressed like a soldier and just goofing around, going, ‘Die, dude! Die, dude!’ She said it would be a crack-up if I wrote it on the board and pulled down the screen so when Vince rolled it up,
bam
, there it’d be. But while I was writing it, she took a picture of me with her phone!”
“Wait. Without you knowing?”
He nods. “And after she showed it to me, she started making me do stuff like get her lunch and tie her shoe.… She was acting like it was a joke, so I just played along, but now that that
rat
showed up, she’s like, Do my homework and Give me twenty bucks.”
“Or she’ll tell?”
“Yeah! And she’s serious! She says Foxmore’ll never believe I did one and not the other!”
“That evil snake.” I think about it a minute, then say, “Just tell Foxmore the truth.”
“I can’t! Heather’s right—he’ll never believe me!” Billy wipes sweat away from under his mop of hair. “Man, I should never have told you! If you—”
“Don’t worry! I’m not going to tell anyone. I promise.”
He heaves a sigh of relief.
I grab his arm. “Look, we’ll figure something out, okay?”
He nods, and when the tardy bell rings, he puts on hisclass clown smile and hurries away, calling, “See ya, Sammy-keyesta!” like he doesn’t have a care in the world.
So there I am, watching him go, trying to figure out what I can do to help him, when a voice next to me asks, “Hey, wassup?”
I jump a little, and there’s Lars Teppler standing right beside me. I blink at him a bunch because I may have him in homeroom and in Mr. Vince’s class, but I only
sort
of know him, and he’s never said “Hey, wassup?” to me before. “Sorry,” he says with a laugh. “Didn’t mean to spook you.”
I laugh, too. “And I didn’t mean to spaz.”
He flips his head around to the left, whooshing his hair out of his eyes as we start toward homeroom. “Freaky class yesterday, huh?”
“No kidding.”
“I don’t know why
we
were automatically the criminals. That rat could have been planted way before any of us got there.” He whooshes his hair again. “You think that cop got anything out of anyone?”
I snort. “No.”
“He sure let
you
off easy,” he says, smiling at me.
It’s a strange smile. Like only half his mouth is trying. And it makes a little tingle creep up my neck because I remember how I’d noticed him pushing buttons on his watch.
He’d been
timing
us?
All of a sudden it hits me that maybe I should have hung out and chatted with the Borschman a little insteadof jetting out of there. All of a sudden I’m thinking that maybe getting off easy was going to turn around and make
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