Free 0062120085. (C) by Chris Rylander Page A

“You know of any other way I can deliver something to someone in school other than to play quarterback?”
    Again there was a pause before he responded. It probably was taking his brain extra long to digest the weirdthings I was saying. Pretty soon I was going to get a different reputation than a prankster. I might start to be known as the crazy kid that people say likes to catch beetles and eat them with mayonnaise or something.
    “You’re really a weird kid. I know as a teacher I’m not supposed to say that, but . . .” Mr. Jensen finally said, finishing with a shrug.
    All right. So it wasn’t this Jensen either. I guess I wasn’t sure exactly what I’d expected him to say or do, but I had been so convinced that this was the right Jensen that I hadn’t thought much about what I’d do if he showed no reaction to my clues. His players were finally getting back from their laps, breathing hard.
    Tall Jensen blew his whistle and started screaming at the few lagging behind to hustle. And with that, our conversation was over. And so were my chances of unloading Betsy today. I sighed and headed toward the sledding hill.
    Danielle was sitting against a tree with my bag in her lap. Dillon was standing near the swallow nest holes, gazing up at them vacantly.
    “What’s his deal?” I asked as Danielle stood up and handed me my bag.
    “He thinks he sees tiny cameras or something inside the swallow nests.” She shook her head and rolled her eyes.
    Dillon must have heard us talking because he turned around suddenly, looking pretty spooked.
    “I heard a lens motor, I swear. They’re watching us.”
    “Who are they this time?” I asked.
    He shrugged.
    “Could be anybody, really. But I’m convinced it’s likely the government in some form. I mean, who else would waste money putting tiny cameras in swallow nests that overlook nothing but the water treatment plant across the street and that shed in the grove of trees over there? Unless there’s something secret happening here? Like weird experiments on kids’ brains. You guys ever see that old movie Disturbing Behavior ?”
    Dillon watched a ton of movies. His favorites were horror, science fiction, and of course psychological thrillers with ridiculous plot twists and corrupt senators and all that stuff. Pretty much any movies with secrets, double-crosses, and inane plot twists were right up his alley. They’re probably part of what fueled his own conspiracy theories.
    “Yeah, you made us watch it with you, remember?” Danielle said.
    “Oh, yeah.” Dillon finally peeled himself away from the swallow nests. He stole a few last distrustful glances back as he walked toward us.
    “Any problems with the device?” I asked.
    Danielle shook her head. “No, but I almost took it out and smashed it to pieces several times because it got so annoying listening to Dolores talk about fail-safe measures every fifteen minutes.”
    “Oh, well it’s good you didn’t. Ha-ha,” I said. My heart raced. What if she had? Would it have self-destructed right then and there? Had I been that close to inadvertently causing harm to my two best friends, not to mention the whole country?
    “Why did you say that? I thought it wasn’t real?” Danielle asked.
    “No, it’s not. I just need to return some of the parts where I bought them. Can’t do that if they’re smashed, right?”
    She nodded.
    “You named it Dolores?” I asked.
    She grinned.
    “I’ve been calling her Betsy,” I said.
    “Like after Betsy Hummel, that passive-aggressive brat in our math class?” Danielle said.
    “That’s the one,” I said.
    Dillon scoffed. “You’re both terrible at naming stuff. Those are, like, cows’ names or something. I’d have called her Isis.”
    “Want to come over?” Danielle asked.
    “No, I have to take care of this thing first. See if I can get it to shut up. Maybe tomorrow?”
    “How about a ride then? You’ve missed the late bus by now,” Danielle said. “My mom is on