Free Meet the Gecko by Wendelin Van Draanen

said. “How'd you meet him?”
    “He has his ways,” Kevin said, like he was the smartest kid around. “Now back up! Quit crowding!”
    “Aw, it's a fake,” someone from the back yelled. “There's no way that's real!”
    “Shut up, stupid!” Bubba yelled back. “It's a hundred percent authentic!”
    “Oh, right,” the voice snickered.
    “Who's sayin' that?” Bubba asked. “I want to know who's sayin' that!”
    Max started pushing through the crowd, saying, “All right, who's the smart mouth?”
    “Hey!” I called. “Don't fight! Bubba really did meet The Gecko. I… I've got proof!”
    “Huh?” everyone said, then turned to look at me.
    Kevin sneered,
“You?”
    I called over to Bubba, “I've got a copy right here. Do you want it?”
    Bubba kind of bit his lip, then looked down and nodded.
    Everyone started whispering.
    So I peeled off my backpack and pulled out a big envelope.
    The whispering stopped.
    Everyone crowded in.
    “Back up!” Bubba growled. “Now!”
    Kids scurried back, and I said, “I, uh…I couldn't get online last night” I stepped closer and handed over the envelope. “So I made you this.”
    Bubba took the envelope.
    He opened it.
    Then he broke into a smile and held the picture of him and The Gecko up high. “See?” he said. “Proof!”
    Everyone ooooohed.

    They aaaaahed!
    Then Kevin piped up with, “Wait a minute. The
Nerd
took that? What was
he
doing there?”
    The ooooohing and aaaaahing stopped.
    Kids looked at Bubba.
    At me!
    At Bubba!
    At me!
    And finally Bubba cleared his throat and said, “Nolan's the one who got me in to see The Gecko.”
    “Who
did?” a lot of kids asked.
    Bubba nodded my way. “Nolan did. He got me inside. Introduced me. Even let me play The Gecko in Tekken 3. He was… he was really cool.”
    Mouths were gasping.
    Eyes were bugging!
    Nobody could believe their ears!
    Especially Kevin. He squinted at Bubba and said, “Wait a minute. You're saying the Nerd—”
    “I'm saying
Nolan”
Bubba said, giving him a deep, dark glare, “did me a big favor, okay?”
    “O… kaaaaay,” Kevin said, and backed off.
    For the rest of the day, people treated me…differently. They weren't trying to be my best friends or anything, but people wanted to know.
    About meeting The Gecko.
    About playing him in Tekken 3.
    About taking Bubba to meet him, too.
    After everything Bubba had done to me—all the names he'd called me and the punches he'd thrown at me and the stuff he'd stolen from me— they just didn't get why I'd done it.
    I didn't explain it. How could I explain that the search for truth and justice wasn't just about getting even? It was about being bigger than your-self. Stronger than your weaknesses.
    So I just shrugged and told them, “Because he really wanted to meet him, that's why.”
    Later that day, I thought about what Mr. Green had said about finding the key to Bubba's kindness. Maybe after everything I'd tried, this was finally it.
    Not that I expected Bubba to become Mr. NiceGuy. He'd probably always be more like True Ogre than Yoshimitsu.
    But this
was
a start. A good start.
    So after school I went home and did something I never thought I'd be able to do.
    I took
Bubba's Big Butt
off the World Wide Web.
    I'll be okay without it.
    Plus, it leaves more room to shred on the next guy who tries to mess around with truth and justice.
    Oh, yeah!

CHAPTER 21
E-mail #2,543
    Hey, Shredderman,
    Rumor is the Mole's out of business. Blacklisted. You rock, man.
    Your #1 fan, Chase Morton
    P.S. I told myself it couldn't be you, but Sticky says it's true. No wonder I couldn't beat you in T-3.I was battling a real, live superhero! Shred on, man!
    P.P.S. (Don't worry—no one suspects, and I won't tell.)



Published by Yearling, an imprint of Random House Children's Books
a division of Random House, Inc., New York
    Text copyright © 2005 by Wendelin Van Draanen Parsons
Illustrations copyright © 2005 by Brian Biggs
    All rights reserved. No part of