Read Online The Secret Talent by Jo Whittemore - Free Book Online

Theo’s here to take us to practice.” She leaned against the doorframe. “Are you okay?”
    â€œSure,” I said with a shrug. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
    Gabby stepped into my room and closed the door behind her. “Because of what happened at school yesterday.”
    â€œOh, that,” I scoffed. “You can’t even tell it’s me.”
    â€œYeah,” she said, “but someone was at the studio watching us. Someone from our school! Don’t you want to know who it is?”
    I shook my head. “If I did, I’d probably punch them.”
    â€œSo it does bother you.” She sat on the floor beside me.
    â€œOf course it does,” I said. “But it’s already happened, and there’s nothing I can do about it. And there’s nothing you can do about it.” I pointed my pencil at her.
    She leaned back and put her hands up defensively. “Wasn’t going to. But I did want to know how you planned to stop it from happening again.”
    My body went rigid. “You don’t think . . .”
    Gabby shrugged. “Whoever it is could make a whole series of videos about you.”
    There was another knock on my door, and Uncle Theo poked his head in. “You kids ready to go?”
    All I could do was make a grunting noise.
    â€œTim’s not feeling so great,” said Gabby. “Would it be okay if we practiced without him?”
    Uncle Theo’s forehead wrinkled with concern. “Of course. Is there anything I can do?”
    â€œI’ll be okay,” I told him. “I just need some rest.”
    He nodded and beckoned to Gabby. “Let’s get going.”
    Gabby moved to follow him but paused at the door to tell me, “You need to figure out who sent the video.”
    â€œThere’s nothing to figure out. It’s over and done with,” I said.
    But it wasn’t.
    Not only did I spend the rest of my weekend doing Ryan’s homework, but on Monday someone had distributed the latest issue of the Lincoln Log in the student lounge. I walked into a sea of blurry-faced me, smack in the middle of the front page. I picked up a copy that had been tossed onto a chair.
    â€œWhat Makes a Video Viral?” was the headline.
    â€œGreat,” I muttered.
    Berkeley was coming in behind me when he saw the paper.
    â€œDude, did you see that video?” He pointed to the page, grinning.
    â€œYeah,” I said with a forced laugh. “Crazy, right?”
    â€œNo joke! I didn’t think guys could kick that high.”
    â€œIt’s all about flexibility,” I said. Berkeley gave me a curious look, and I stammered, “I—I mean . . . one would think.”
    He blinked at me. “Well, listen, I want to make sure you’re still planning on . . . having Ryan presentable at my party.” He cleared his throat. “I saw him in the bus line rolling a sheet of paper into a cone and burping in it.”
    â€œOf course,” I promised. “When you see himhe’ll be a completely different person.”
    â€œCool,” Berkeley said with a grin. “Hey, me and some of the other guys are heading outside to cover Mitchell with snow so he can pretend to be a snowman and scare people. Wanna come?”
    Before I could answer, someone tapped me on the shoulder. “Excuse me. I saw you—”
    â€œThat’s not me! I’m a terrible dancer!” I cried, spinning around.
    A girl with messy hair and glasses jumped back, startled. “O-okay. I saw your ad in Locker 411 about gifts for your family?”
    â€œOh! Sorry!” I laughed nervously and glanced from her to Berkeley, who had raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, just put your request in the locker and—”
    The girl shook her head. “You’re standing in front of me. Can’t I just talk to you?”
    â€œWell . . .” I looked around for Brooke, Heather, or Vanessa, hoping to pawn her off