Free The Gollywhopper Games by Jody Feldman

impaired, and it helped if we got her attention first. Should we do anything like that?”
    “No. Not necessary. This thing is state of the art. I can hear whispers at thirty feet.”
    “Really? Battery powered?” Gil craned his neck like he was trying to see it.
    Thorn turned his head to oblige. “Smallest battery you’ll ever see.”
    “Really?” Gil amped up the excitement in his voice. “Can you show me?”
    By now, Bianca and Rocky had gathered around. Lavinia was staring from the table.
    “I don’t know,” Thorn said. “It’s delicate.”
    “Please,” said Gil. “I won’t touch it. I only want to see.” Slowly, carefully, Gil pulled his lucky penny from his pocket. Too fast and his sweaty hands would drop it. He only had one chance to get this right. He moved the penny from his right hand to his left and plunged that hand into his pocket, the coin pinched between his fingers.
    “Yeah, please,” said Bianca.
    Thorn sighed, dug the piece from his ear, and displayed it in the palm of his hand.
    “How long have you been hearing impaired?” Gil asked.
    “Most of my life.”
    “Wow! How do you know what I’m saying right now?” Gil whispered.
    “I read lips.”
    Gil let the penny slip through the hole in his pocket and slide down his leg. It hit the wooden floor with a tiny clink .
    Thorn’s eyes shot to the sound.
    “Pennies don’t have lips.” Gil pointed to the earpiece. “If you stick it back in your ear, I’ll make sure the whole world knows. I refuse to be disqualified because they stuck me with cheaters.”
    Thorn shrugged like he was bored and slipped the earpiece into his shirt pocket.
    “And Rocky,” Gil said, “the cheating goes for you, too.”
    “Whoa. I don’t have any ear thing.”
    “I’m not blind, Rocky,” said Gil. Then he tuggedhis ear and touched his nose like Mr. Titus had. “Neither are the people who run this thing. Your choice: Stop the signals or go home.”
    “Okay, okay.”
    Lavinia took an audible breath as if she had been scared to inhale. She lowered her eyes to the table then peeked up at Gil. Thanks , she mouthed just before Bianca threw her arms around his neck.
    “My hero!” She laughed. “Ooh. Idea here. Every team needs a leader. I elect Gil.”
    Rocky shook his head. “That’d be a kill. Ask him about his family.”
    “This isn’t about my family, and it isn’t about anyone being a leader. We just have to work together if we want to win.”
    “I want to win,” said Bianca.
    Gil looked at the others. “Are we gonna win or what?”
    “Yeah, we’ll win,” said Rocky, putting on the game face Gil remembered.
    The door swung open. “Sounds like you’re ready,” said Carol. “Let’s play some games.”

CHAPTER 11
    T he five filed behind Carol like first graders following their teacher to recess. If they were a real team, they’d bunch together like every winning team Gil had ever been on. Those teams, though, had practiced for months before their biggest game of the year. Together they learned who was strong and who to avoid in a crunch, who divided the team and who provided the glue.
    Watching Rocky swagger in front, Gil was oddly glad he was here. Rocky was the kid you wanted on your team, any team. Kids still talked about that spelling bee in Rocky’s fourth-grade class. Fiveremained on one team; just Rocky and one girl remained on the other, and Rocky’s spelling wasn’t that impressive. According to the legend, not only did Rocky question his poor teammate over every letter, but his stare rattled the other team so much, every one of them—including Moe, the Human Dictionary—misspelled the same word: intimidate .
    Bianca could probably handle Rocky’s intensity, but Lavinia and Thorn? Lavinia may have been used to scholarship competitions, but Gil doubted she’d seen anyone like Rocky, especially when the fear of losing turned him into a wild man. And Thorn? Big question mark. He seemed so bored, but he must have had his