Free Operation Tenley by Jennifer Gooch Hummer Page B

you? How do you expect Fair Force to find you when the time’s up?” Laraby asked.
    Pennie’s knees went weak.
    “Give me a jingle. I’ll come get you,” Gavron said. He waved to his boys. “We’re on again.”
    “I’m sorry, Laraby,” Pennie mumbled.
    “See you, L-train.” Gavron yanked Pennie into their huddle. She gagged and coughed under their foul smell.
    “Pennie! Don’t leave!” Laraby shouted.
    Their huddle began to shake.
    Dirt started to fly.
    And Pennie started to lift.
    She could hear Laraby’s voice wafting up to her.
    The sipLips let out a sickening laugh. Everything swirled faster. Pennie felt her stomach jump into her mouth. Any moment now, her head would explode. Below her, she could just make out Laraby watching.
    “Relax,” Gavron shouted. “It’s all downhill from here. After a little up, that is.”
    Pennie shuddered against a loud boom. Her tiny feet felt like they were being ripped from her body.
    And then Gavron’s laugh started to echo and everything went black.

17
     
    45:37:17
    Hadley Beach
     
     
    Mrs. Tylwyth stopped the car.
    “Thanks, Mom,” Tenley said, opening her door and blowing a quick breath at the sky before jumping out. The rain directly above her stopped, but across the rest of the school parking lot the rain was falling hard.
    “Okay, honey. Good luck.”
    Tenley clapped her paper pom-poms and shut the door. She looked up at the sky, blew out another quick breath above the path leading into school, and walked inside.
    The auditorium stage was set with two podiums on either side of a larger podium. Dan Ringer was talking to a teacher below it.
    “Hey, Danny,” Tenley said with a big smile. “Like my pom-poms?” She shook them at him.
    Dan glanced at her. “Are you here for the auditions?”
    “Y-E-S!” she cheered.
    “Great. We’re not quite finished setting up.” He turned back to the teacher.
    “Looks good, Dan,” the teacher, whom Tenley vaguely recognized from her second period English class, told him. “I think we can get started.”
    “Very good, sir.” Dan tried to spin away, but spun into Tenley instead. “Sorry.”
    “So where do you want me?” She flipped her hair.
    “Everyone is back there, through that door.” Dan waved to the right.
    “Super!” Tenley skipped away.
    Backstage, girls and boys were pacing and mumbling to themselves.
    “Excuse me.” Tenley tapped a small brunette with earbuds sprouting out both ears.
    The brunette ignored her.
    “Hey!” Tenley said, this time forcing her way into the brunette’s line of vision and snapping.
    The brunette popped one earbud out.
    “Hi. Thanks. I couldn’t help noticing your awesome nail beds.”
    “What?”
    Pennie pointed to the girl’s fingers.
    “I just wanted to ask if you’d been watching my nail art tutorials on YouTube?”
    The girl crinkled her nose and looked at her fingers. “No.”
    “I post them daily. Tenley Tylwyth’s Nail Art Tutorials. I’m running for America’s Next Most Inspirational Teen. Building confidence one nail at a time.” Tenley smiled. “Sure would appreciate your vote.”
    The brunette popped her earbud back in and looked over Tenley’s shoulder.
    Through the curtain wings, they could see Dan Ringer stepping onto the stage. The contestants started lining up in pairs.
    “Excuse me,” Tenley asked them. “Would anyone mind if I went first?”
    The confused boy at the front of the line was the only one to respond. “What?”
    “Thanks. Auditions are kind of my thing,” Tenley straightened her sash and slipped into his spot.
    “Ladies and gentleman, thank you for coming today and cheering these middle-school students on,” Dan greeted the crowd. “There are pamphlets at the back explaining how to get more involved. Remember, there are hundreds of kids who struggle with literacy every day. Reading shouldn’t be a privilege. And spelling should be fun!”
    “He’s even hotter and more inspirational behind a microphone,”