52 - How I Learned to Fly

The day I learned how to fly, I was worried about Wilson Schlamme.

I spend a lot of time worrying about Wilson. I’ve always had trouble with
that guy.

Do you know why?

He thinks he’s better than me—and I know he isn’t.

I’m Jack Johnson. And I’m not the kind of kid who likes to enter contests.
Really. I don’t like to compete.

I always let my dad win at chess. Just because it means so much to him to
win. And I even let my dog Morty win our wrestling matches on the living room
floor.

But Wilson never gives me a break. He always has to prove that he’s the best
at everything.

If I’m chewing bubble gum, he tries to blow bigger bubbles. When my bubble is
twice as big as Wilson’s, he says that his is rounder!

If my bubble is bigger—
and
rounder—he sticks his finger in mine and pops it all over my face.

He’s trouble, that guy. Real trouble.

Especially when Mia Montez is around.

Mia is the cutest girl at Malibu Middle School. Ask anybody. Everything about
Mia is cute.

She has big green eyes and a perfect, little nose. I think Mia’s nose is the
first thing I noticed about her. I really admired that nose. I guess that’s
because my nose is kind of big.

And Mia has the prettiest hair. Short, straight black hair. Really shiny. My
hair is dark—like Mia’s—but it’s curly. Way too curly.

Know what Mia is totally crazy about? Hearts. It sort of makes sense. She was
born on Valentine’s Day.

She wears a heart necklace every day to school. And a charm bracelet with
lots of silver and gold hearts dangling from it.

On her right hand, she wears a ruby red heart ring. And she has earrings that
match. She looks so
cute
in all those hearts.

Anyway, when Mia is around, that’s when Wilson is at his worst! He has to
show off in front of her. And he has to prove that he’s better than me.

Wilson likes to compete. Wilson likes to win.

So what choice do I have? I have to show Wilson that he’s wrong. I have to
prove that I’m as good as he is. I don’t want Mia to think I’m a loser.

* * *

“Jack, can I borrow your eraser?” My friend Ethan Polke tapped me on the
shoulder. Ethan sits behind me during free period in school. He never has
erasers. He’s always losing them.

“Sure.” I turned around and handed him the new one I bought yesterday.
Because he lost my old one the day before.

I hardly use my eraser anyway. At least not when I’m drawing superheroes.

I love to draw superheroes. And I’m really good at it. I never have to fix a
single line.

“Hey—that’s awesome!” Ethan pointed over my shoulder to my sketch of The
Incredible Laser Man.

The Incredible Laser Man is my newest superhero. I draw superheroes every
day. In the morning before I go to school. During free period. And at night
after I finish my homework. And then, when I go to bed, I dream about them.

One day I’m going to be a comic book artist. I have a folder at home packed
with my superhero drawings. The Fearless Falcon. Shadow Boy. The Masked Mantis.
They’re all going to be famous one day. I know it.

I studied my sketch of The Incredible Laser Man. He wore a really cool
jumpsuit. His huge muscles bulged against the tight material.

A powerful lightning bolt streaked across his massive chest. Two more lightning bolts zigzagged down his muscular legs.

I drew a pair of mysterious black goggles to hide his eyes—so no one would
know his true identity. I didn’t know it either, yet.

First I draw the character—then I make up the story.

The Incredible Laser Man held his mighty arms up to the sky. I started to
draw laser beams shooting from his fingertips. The bell rang just as I finished.

I jumped up from my seat. I couldn’t wait to show The Incredible Laser Man to
Mia. She was going to love it!

“Hey, Mia!” I held my drawing out to her. “Want to see my—”

“Out of my way,
Jackie
.” I turned and saw Wilson. He was carrying a
drawing too. He shoved me hard from behind.

I fell over Mia’s desk. My drawing flew from my hand and fluttered to the
floor.

“Thank you, Wilson!” Mia held Wilson’s drawing in her hand. She flashed him a
big smile. “Look at this, Jack. Look what Wilson drew.”

I glanced over Mia’s shoulder. Wilson had drawn a
team
of superheroes.
FIVE of them. Colored in.

In sparkly letters at the top he had written: MIA’S PROTECTORS.

Yuck.

“Look what
Jackie
drew!” Wilson cried. He snatched my drawing from the
floor.

“Wilson, don’t call me Jackie!” I declared. “I told you a million times, I
really hate being called that.”

“Sorry. I forgot.” Wilson smirked. “I won’t do it again—
Jackie
.”

I glared at Wilson. “Give me back my drawing!” I snapped. I reached out for
it. But Wilson was too fast for me. He shoved it in front of Mia’s face.

“It’s The Incredible Lazy Man!” he hooted.

Mia giggled at his dumb joke.

I wanted to disappear.

“It’s very cute, Jack,” Mia said, handing it back to me. Then she and Wilson
slipped on their backpacks and headed outside.

Okay—so Mia liked Wilson’s drawing better. No big deal, I told myself. I
stuffed my drawing into my backpack.

Just wait until we get outside.

Just wait until Mia sees my new twenty-one-speed Silver Streak racing bike.

She’s going to love it!

I ran outside—just in time to see Mia circling my new bike. “Cool!” she said,
trying to catch her reflection in the handlebars. “Maybe I’ll ask Mom and Dad
for a bike like this for my birthday.”

I knew Mia would be impressed.

“You don’t want
that
for your birthday,” Wilson snickered. “You want
this
!”

Wilson pointed to
his
new bike.

His new heavy-duty dirt bike.

“Oh, wow!” Mia exclaimed. “WOW!”

My stomach twisted into a knot.

“I don’t like those skinny racing bikes,” Wilson sneered, shaking his head at
my bike. “Too flimsy. I like a REAL bike.”

I was so steamed! I wanted to take his big dirt bike and ride it back and
forth over Wilson’s head.

My new bike was awesome. It wasn’t flimsy at all.

Why did everything have to be a contest? And why did Wilson always win?

Little did I know as the three of us rode home that the contest was only
beginning!

“I win!” Wilson shouted, jumping off his bike. He leaned it against the tree
in front of my house. He pumped his fists in the air. “The Silver Snail comes in
second!” he announced as I rode up, drenched in sweat.

“Great race, guys,” Mia said, pedaling up to us.

I wanted to ride home from school next to Mia. But Wilson wanted to race—and Mia thought it was a cool idea.

The hills of Malibu are awesome for racing. They wind around and around. I
love to climb those hills on my bike, then go speeding down. And I’m really
great at taking some of the sharp turns.

I gripped the handlebars of my bike.

I was confident.

I had twenty-one speeds.

We raced.

Wilson won.

I leaned my bike next to Wilson’s, trying to catch my breath. Morty, my
rust-colored cocker spaniel, trotted out from the backyard to greet us.

“Hey, Morty!” The hearts on Mia’s bracelet clinked softly as she scratched
Morty’s neck. Morty likes Mia as much as I do. His tail wagged like crazy. He
jumped up to lick her face. Then he started on me.

“Whoa. Here comes Wilson’s dog.” Mia pointed across the street to Wilson’s
house. Wilson’s enormous Labrador charged full speed toward us.

“Down, boy.” Wilson laughed as his dog leaped up on him. He nearly knocked
Wilson over.

“Terminator is TWICE as big as Morty,” Wilson bragged to Mia.

“But Morty is smarter,” I boasted. “We taught Morty to carry his food dish to
the sink when he’s finished eating.”

“That’s pretty smart,” Mia agreed.

“You call that smart?” Wilson sneered. “We taught Terminator to answer the
phone when we’re not home.”

“That’s definitely smarter,” Mia said. “That is really, really smart.”

“That’s not so smart,” I argued. “Morty can roll over and—”

“Oh, noooo!”

We all heard a cry.

Mrs. Green, my next-door neighbor, poked her head out of her front door and screamed. She stared in horror at the tree
across the street. The tree in front of Wilson’s house.

There was Olive—Mrs. Green’s new kitten—sitting on the edge of a high
tree limb. Her fur stood on end. Her little body shook. She let out a soft
whimper.

“Oh, poor Olive!” Mia cried. “She’s going to fall! Someone has to save her!”

“I will!” Wilson and I shouted together.

Oh, no, you won’t, Wilson! I thought. You’re not going to win this time.

With a burst of speed, I raced across the street. My sneakers pounded the
sidewalk. I reached the tree first!

“Give me a boost,” I ordered Wilson. Before he could argue, I wrapped my arms
around the tree trunk and raised my foot. Wilson gave me a boost.

I inched my way up the trunk. I gazed out—over the hilltops. My eyes
followed their winding path down, down, down. Right down to the beach. The beach
stretched along the coast for miles.

I glanced down and smiled at Mia.

“Hurry, Jack!” she cried nervously.

“Don’t worry, Mia,” I declared. “I’m on my way!”

Yes! I am on my way to save Olive. And you’re
not,
Wilson.

I climbed higher and higher—until I reached the limb where Olive sat. Her
whole body shivered with fright. She let out a terrified squeak when she spotted
me.

I studied the tree limb. It was very slender.

I didn’t know if it would hold my weight.

“What are you waiting for, Jackie?” Wilson shook the tree trunk. “I’ll come
up and get her if you’re afraid.”

Ha! No way, Wilson!

I crawled out on the limb. Very slowly.

Olive whimpered.

I stopped.

I crawled out some more.

Olive inched away from me.

I stopped again.

Olive stared into my eyes. Then she lifted her front paws—to jump!

Down below, I could hear Mrs. Green and Mia gasp.

“No, Olive,” I begged softly. “Stay.”

I moved a little closer—close enough to grab her now.

I slowly reached out to her.

My fingertips brushed against her soft fur.

Then my knee slipped off the branch. I lost my balance. I lurched to the
left.

“Noooo!”

I let out a shrill cry as I dropped from the tree.

I shot my arms up. I groped frantically for the tree limb.

And missed.

My stomach flopped as I plunged down. Down.

I closed my eyes tight, ready to smack down on the hard ground.

“Huh?”

Something soft broke my fall.

“Gotcha, Jackie.”

Wilson caught me in his arms.

He held me like a baby. Great. Just great…

I heard clapping. Mia clapping.

Then Wilson dropped me on the pavement.

“Owwww!” My head hit the cement with a thud.

“Are you okay?” Mia’s voice sounded far away.

“Yes, I’m—” I started to answer, struggling to sit up. That’s when I saw
that Mia wasn’t paying any attention to me.

She was bent over Wilson, studying a swollen finger he held out to her.

“I’m okay,” Wilson assured her. “Jack doesn’t weigh much.”

“Nooooo!” Mrs. Green shrieked. “Olive—nooooo!”

Olive dangled from the tree limb by one little paw!

Wilson scrambled up the tree and crawled across the limb. The tree groaned
and creaked under his stocky legs. But Wilson didn’t care.

He looked so sure of himself as he crossed the sagging branch. He scooped up
Olive in one hand. Then he shimmied down the tree trunk.

“Thank you! Thank you!” Mrs. Green threw her arms around Wilson’s wide
shoulders and hugged him.

My narrow shoulders drooped. I felt miserable.

With Olive cradled safely in her arms, Mrs. Green returned to her house.

I watched her walk across her lawn. My gaze shifted to my yard—where Morty
and Terminator wrestled in the grass. Terminator batted Morty with his huge paw.
He sent Morty into orbit over the hedges.

Terminator charged across the lawn, jumped over the shrubs, and reached Morty
before my poor dog landed. Terminator knocked him out of the air and pounced on
him.

Morty yelped helplessly as Terminator pinned him to the ground.

“Terminator, stop!” I shouted, heading over to them.

“Leave them alone. They’re just playing!” Wilson called.