I turn to Spencer, my partner in English, and slide my notebook over to him. We're supposed to write a short story together.
"Should we go for a depressing ending or a happy one?" Spencer asks me.
"Obviously depressing! If we make Ms. Patter cry, we'll get an A!" I respond.
"Okay,"
"Pssst! What are you writing about?" Asks Chet's older brother Tyler from behind us.
He had to do his senior year over again for some reason. I don't know all the details. Ryan is closer to Chet than I am. Unlike his brother, he lacks an Indian accent.
"Why do you want to know?" I ask him.
"So I don't fail this class! My partner is boring! She completely ignores me and doesn't get the work done!"
"Sorry, but no," says Spencer, and he looks at me. "This story is amazing!"
***
"May I have everyone's attention?" I say into the microphone on the stage at Walrus Hut.
Everybody stops and stares at me.
"Mitch and I are bestselling authors!" Spencer waves our English notebook in the air.
"Yeah, sure you are!" Says Zach, and everyone laughs and continues whatever they were doing before. How dare they!
"Laugh all you want! When we become famous, don't expect us to mention any of you!" I say, and Spencer and I leave the area.
Journey runs outside after us. "I want to read your story!"
"Sure you do. You'll just laugh at it!" Says Spencer.
"I promise I won't!" We let her read it.
She looks up at us. "I want to be your editor. This story has no punctuation. Where did you learn to write? Kindergarten?"
"Well, yes," I answer.
"Please be our editor! We have to get an A on this!" Begs Spencer.
"Okay!"
We cheerfully skip back inside, where Lilla is about to make an announcement.
"LISTEN UP! We have a health inspector coming tomorrow! We have to clean this place! I'm dividing you all into groups. Group 1 cleans the kitchen, which includes the ovens, Ryan's drink area, and everything else in the kitchen! Group 2 cleans the store, including the shelves, mannequins, and the rest of the store area!
"Group 3 cleans the dining area, which includes the tables and the stage and everything in that particular area! Group 4 cleans the backroom and bathrooms! Group 5 washes the windows from the inside and the outside! When I assign you to a group, head over to your area! Group 1: Zach, Journey, Spencer, Barker, and Evening! Mitchell is your captain!"
Sweet! Too bad I have Barker on my cleaning team. My group follows me into the kitchen.
"Spencer and Evening! Clean the ovens!" I continue to give directions to everyone.
"Hey, uh, Mitchell?" Barker asks nervously.
"What's on your mind, son?" I ask, scrubbing Ryan's drink machine.
"There's a rat in the corner over there." He points to where the drive-thru window is.
"That's awesome," I wring out the sponge. Wait a minute. A rat?
"Do you have your gun on you?" I whisper to Zach.
"Dude, I'm not even old enough to have a gun!" He whispers back.
YOU ARE READING
Walrus Pizza (Walrus Hut Series Book 2)
HumorMitchell, Bridget, Lilla and Ryan have been very successful with their business over the summer. But how will they manage during the school year? Bridget's old friends from Indiana move to Athens, causing relationship problems for Mitchell and Bridg...
