Free Time Benders by Gary Paulsen

C HAPTER 1
DENVER
    Twelve-year-old Zack Griffin leaned back at his desk with his hands folded behind his head. His science teacher was explaining the directions for a government-sponsored intelligence test she wanted them to take.
    Zack yawned. This class was boring. He couldn’t believe the government wanted in on it. His teacher had told the class the government wanted to start a program for future scientistsand was testing to see who might qualify.
    Zack let his feet drop to the floor and glanced at the first page of the test. It was the usual mumbo jumbo designed to see if his IQ was as high as the school claimed.
    In the top corner of the test, where he was not supposed to write, Zack drew a picture of Mrs. Johnson, his teacher. It was a perfect caricature. Two large, square teeth stuck out over her pudgy bottom lip. She looked like a chipmunk with glasses.
    “I suppose I should be flattered that you choose to recognize my existence, Mr. Griffin, since everything else in here seems to weary you.” Mrs. Johnson stood in front of his desk with her arms folded. “But we do have a test to take, so let’s get on with it. Did I mention that if your scores are high enough you will receive an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C., to visit with some of America’s leading scientists?”
    Zack looked up through half-closed eyelids. “Sounds like a real blast, Mrs. J.”
    Mrs. Johnson pushed her glasses up and studied the half-asleep boy. She knew he had an IQ in the top ten percent of the entire nation and that he was unhappy “wasting” his time in her class. He would rather be at home working on one of his many inventions. She sighed. “Give it a try, Zack. This one could be different.”
    LOS ANGELES
    “Jeff, would you bring me that stack of government tests from the principal’s desk? I need to get those mailed today.”
    “Sure thing, Mrs. Olsen.” The tall twelve-year-old office aide used the secretary’s key and let himself into the principal’s office. “I don’t see them,” he called.
    “They’re in the manila envelope.”
    “Oh yeah, here they are.” Jeff Brown carried the envelope outside and put it on Mrs. Olsen’s desk. “What’s the deal with these tests anyway?”
    The secretary smiled at the boy. “I just do what I’m told. All I know is, students acrossthe country who score high enough get to go to Washington and meet some very important people.”
    “Really?” Jeff frowned. “It figures. The nerds get all the breaks. How come us regular guys never get trips and stuff?”
    Mrs. Olsen raised an eyebrow. “Anyone can take the test, Jeff. If you’re interested, there’s a blank one in the filing cabinet.”
    Jeff chewed on the inside of his lip. “Why not? I don’t have anything to lose.” He went to the cabinet and looked through the files. When he found the test, he sat on the floor next to the secretary’s desk and quickly began filling in the circles on the answer sheet.
    “I don’t want to inhibit your creativity, Jeff. But don’t you think you should take the time to read the questions before you fill in the answers?”
    Jeff grinned. “No time. Basketball practice is right after school and Coach doesn’t like us to be late.”

C HAPTER 2
    “Excuse me, sir. You need to put on your seat belt. We’re about to land.”
    Zack glanced at the flight attendant and nodded. He fastened his belt and checked his watch. They were fifteen minutes late. It didn’t bother him. In fact nothing about this trip bothered him. It was getting him out of class for a whole week.
    The plane made a fairly smooth landing and taxied to the terminal. When it stopped, Zack carefully pulled a brown canvas duffel bag out of the overhead storage compartment and unzipped it. The electronic equipment insidelooked all right. He’d brought along his latest experiment just in case he needed something interesting to do while he was in Washington.
    He backed into the aisle and bumped into one of the