Free The Dangerous Days of Daniel X by James Patterson, Michael Ledwidge

now. This is perfect.”
    Was this guy kidding me? Like I needed a test now? Like I didn’t have enough on my mind already?
    I let out a deep breath as I glanced over his shoulder at the nearest exit. Should I just bolt? Phoebe obviously wasn’t here. Maybe she’d headed to Malibu on her own. Or maybe Seth had taken her to keep her sister company?
    “Mr. Marshman, with all due respect, I really can’t do this now,” I said.
    “I think you can, Mr. Hopper.” He handed me a booklet and pencil. “I
know
you can, Mr. Hopper.”
    “All right, fine.” I practically ripped the test out of his hands. I leaned it against the nearest wall, speed-read my way through it, marking off answer after answer with machine-gun rapidity.
    Maybe thirty seconds later, forty tops, I broke the pencil in half on the last of the one hundred multiple-choice fill-ins. I shoved the test into Marshman’s face.
    “Don’t bother to grade it. I aced it,” I said, taking a step for the exit. “Now, I have to go! Every once in a while something is actually more important than school! Hard to believe, I know!”
    Marshman suddenly made a grunting sound and shifted like a linebacker to his left, blocking my path.
    “I knew you were trouble the first time I laid eyes on you,” he said, red-faced. “My instincts are never wrong, Hopper.”
    That’s it. Enough of this nonsense,
I thought.
    Up and down the school hallway, I levitated all the student lockers. Then I levitated Mr. Marshman until his bullet head touched the ceiling and he yelped with surprise and disbelief.
    “How—how did you do that?”
    “You don’t want to know,” I said, gazing into his astounded eyes. “Now you stay right there—for thirty minutes. Let’s call it a time-out!”
    Then I left school—in a
blur.
    Chapter 45
    I BURST OUT the back exit into the parking lot.
    First I scanned all the cars.
    Then the athletic fields. Beyond the wrecked equipment shed, a team was starting early soccer practice.
    Maybe Phoebe had joined the soccer team, I thought. No, that didn’t make sense.
You’re losing it, Daniel. This isn’t like you.
    I picked up my pace when I saw that one of the girls near the far goal had long black hair. Phoebe? The soccer coach blew her whistle as I ran past.
    I was about midfield when the dark-haired girl finally turned around. My heart sank. Unless Phoebe had suddenly turned Asian American, I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
    “What do you think you’re doing?” the coach yelled, charging toward me.
    I wish I knew.
    Then I heard a girl scream, and I recognized the voice immediately.
    “Phoebe!” I yelled, my eyes burning as I half-ran, half-clawed my way up a steep slope beyond the athletic fields. “I’m coming . . . Hold on!”
    I finally broke the top of the rise a second later. Thank the heavens, Phoebe was there. She was in a clearing, down on her knees, crying. I wasn’t too late! I’d found her. I ran up and wrapped her in my arms, feeling the familiar warmth of her body.
    “Oh Daniel, something really horrible,” she whispered, trembling, “something unspeakable, is about to happen. I just know it. I’m sure of it.”
    Chapter 46
    “IT’S OKAY, PHOEBE,” I said as I rocked her gently back and forth. “I’m here now. Everything is okay. It’s my fault. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.”
    “You can say that again,” Phoebe said, suddenly stiffening in my arms.
    What the —?
    She squirmed away. Then Phoebe gave me a funny smile. Not funny ha-ha. Funny
weird.
Funny
contemptuous.
Funny
sickening.
    “What?” I said. “Phoebe? Are you okay? What’s going on here?”
    “You are so dumb, it’s amazing,” she said, shaking her head. “You still haven’t figured it out.”
    “Figured what out?” I said warily.
    Suddenly I fell back, blinded, as a silver-tinged explosion flashed before my eyes. Where Phoebe’s sneakers had been, there was now a huge pair of men’s black shoes. I slowly panned up—long