Relax, I'm A Ninja (7 page)

“The
government
doesn’t need
help.
” Her fingers tightened around her pencil. If it weren’t plastic it would have snapped.

“I think the
government
needs to suck it up. It’s only fair that we’re aware of threats
.
Some
people are more capable than they think.”
I stared back, engrossed in our masked conversation.

“And some are a lot
stupider
than they think.”

“That’s enough, you two.” Mrs. Sanders clapped her hands like we were five.

She continued with her lecture, and Courtney went back to her notes like nothing had happened. I did the same, but inside I seethed. Even if it was her cover, she was such a brat. She could have chosen to be popular and sweet. But no. She was just mean.

That was why my pencil suddenly looked like a shuriken, which are typically straight like darts, not stars like in all the shows. I couldn’t help myself. I wanted to make her bleed…or at least throw it so directly that she’d have to ninja dodge and possibly blow her oh-so-precious cover.

I threw my pencil hard—tip first—right at Courtney’s head.

Only after I threw it did I realize everything that could go wrong. If it did hit Courtney, I’d go to the principal’s office. Word would spread around school that nerdy Tosh made her bleed, and I would stand out. Then there was the other option—the one that actually happened. The one that was worse.

She shifted in her seat and smirked. Then it was like slow motion. My dread multiplied each nanosecond as I realized that my pencil-shuriken would miss her. And not only miss her, but hit the person sitting next to her: Logan “my brain is my smallest muscle” Williams. It wouldn’t have been as bad if he could freaking sit up in his seat, but the guy was slouched down so far his head was at the exact same height as Courtney’s.

“Urgh!” The pencil hit him right in the forehead and stuck there for a second, mocking me, before it fell to the ground. Blood started to run as he grabbed the pencil. I faced forward and prayed to my ancestors that he wouldn’t figure out it was me.

“Did you see who threw this?” he growled to Courtney.

I forced myself not to swear out loud.

“I’m pretty sure it was Tosh.” Courtney could barely hold in her laughter. She wouldn’t have to fight me at all. Her meathead boyfriend would do it for her. I resisted the urge to ball my fists, trying not to act guilty though it didn’t matter now.

The bell rang. Logan stood up and pointed at me. “You are so dead!”

And because I
had
to, I did what any nerd would do. I ran.

9

After school ended, I weighed the chances of getting to my bike without a black eye. They were low. They wouldn’t be if I could kick the crap out of Logan, but I’d promised my dad a long time ago that I wouldn’t fight at school. And with all the recent evil ninja problems, I couldn’t risk holes in my cover.

I booked it out of class, hoping to make it to the front and knowing I wouldn’t. I took the less convenient staircase by the art rooms. Maybe I’d get lucky if I stayed away from the gym.

“There he is!” a group of Logan’s cronies yelled as I rounded the corner near the front entrance. I turned around and headed down the nearest hall. The hardwood floors boomed under my feet. Students cursed as I pushed them out of my way.

“Tosh! Wait!” Amy had found me. I didn’t want her involved, but she was following me. I grabbed her hand and pulled her along, since she wasn’t keeping up. “I heard what happened!”

“I bet you did.” When we got to a hall intersection, another group of Loganites found us, so I dashed the other direction. This wouldn’t last long. He’d obviously put a group at each exit, which meant Courtney must have planned it. I would be surrounded soon. Too bad I couldn’t hop through an air duct and call it good.

We rounded another corner and stopped. Logan, with all his muscle and a gang of jocks, stood there waiting.

“Look who we have here.” He took a few steps closer, and I backed up against all my impulses. I squeezed Amy’s hand so hard she winced, so I let her go.

“Get out of here, Amy.” I motioned her off, hoping they’d let her slip into the gathering crowd. “I’ll be fine.”

She shook her head and stayed close.

“Go.” I wished I could tell her she needed to leave for more reasons than my impending beating. So many people had seen us holding hands. If she stayed it would look like we were involved beyond friendship.

“Aw, how cute. The geek is trying to protect his girlfriend.” Logan folded his arms, smug as ever.

“She’s
not
my girlfriend.” I didn’t intend to sound so angry, but it came out that way since I was already pissed off about the fight I had to throw. Amy slinked back, and I wondered if I’d hurt her feelings. I couldn’t have, but her face was bright red and she stared at the floor.

“What was I thinking?” Logan laughed. “Who would date a loser like you? Even nerd girls have standards.” He looked Amy up and down, and I wanted to kill him. “Especially the hot ones.”

“Excuse me?” Courtney stood right next to him. Her pinched brow betrayed the smallest hint of insecurity. Did she not realize he did that all the time? Logan shrugged like it was innocent banter. Courtney folded her arms in an attempt to brush it off.

“Don’t you have some kind of beating to do?” I squared my shoulders, ready to take it if he was going to mess with Amy. It was my fault I’d lost my temper and threw the pencil anyway. Courtney had gotten the best of me, but I planned to make her life hell for this.

“That’s right.” He came forward and pushed me. “Where do you get off throwing stuff at me, man?”

“Oh, you know …” I glanced at the mark my pencil had left in his thick forehead. “Just trying to pop your big head.”

The crowd went “oooh,” and I ducked out of his first blow before I could think. I pretended to run, and he grabbed my arm. As I forced myself not to block, Logan punched me in the face. I hadn’t been punched dead-on for a while. It made my head spin badly. He took another swing, hitting me in the nose. Blood trickled down my chin as the pain spread like a wave of needles scratching my bones. Then he got me in the stomach. I fell to my knees and coughed. My face pulsed; my stomach burned.

“Next time, I’ll beat you twice as hard.”

I was surprised that was it. I’d pictured him ripping me to pieces. The crowd thinned as Logan walked away. Courtney lingered, watching with a satisfied glare. Did she really think she’d won? I had no intention of cowering because of a public beating.

Before I could stand, Amy knelt at my side. She pulled me down so my head rested on her shoulder.

“Here.” She held out a handkerchief. I put it to my nose as she rubbed my arm. I felt bad about having her so close, but I was still dizzy and needed the support. I repeated my “she’s just being nice” mantra. It was nothing. She would have done the same thing if Eddie got beat.

“You could have taken him.” Her voice was hard. “How could you let him do that?”

I looked over the hall to make sure it was clear. Everyone had disappeared quickly to avoid catching teacher attention. “I may be able to beat him to a pulp, but the nerd boy who goes to this school can’t. You lose your cover, you lose everything.”

“Ugh! So I can’t hurt him?” She leaned her head on mine, and goose bumps ran up my spine. That wasn’t normal. She was like one step away from cuddling with me.
Could she like me?
I shook off the thought. Amy and I talked a lot more since ninja orientation. It was nice having someone to share the secret with, but we were just friends.

“No, especially with that evil ninja in the news. Even messing with him could be risky.”

She pouted. “Why’d you really throw that pencil?”

My words caught in my throat. She’d see through a lie, but I couldn’t say I was aiming for Courtney.

“There you are!” Eddie’s voice came from behind. I shot away from Amy as fast as I could.

“You missed the show,” I said as he came toward us.

“I got stuck in last period, then I couldn’t find you. What happened?” Eddie squatted and inspected my face. “Did you get beat up?”

I rolled my eyes. “No, I walked into a wall.”

“Logan,” Amy said.

“Aw, man, that sucks. What a jerk. I bet Amy took really good care of you though.” Eddie smiled at Amy, who bit her lip.

“Yeah, something like that.” Amy came closer and put her hand on my shoulder, at which point Eddie’s mouth pulled down. “You need ice or anything?”

“I’m good.” I stood up to prove it. My eye felt swollen and my nose burned, but other than that I’d be fine.

Amy hooked her arm with mine, and Eddie’s eyes popped out of his head. “I’ll walk you home. You shouldn’t ride your bike after getting hit like that.”

“I’ll be okay.” I wiggled out of her hold.

“You could have a concussion.” She touched my arm. I backed up and bumped into Eddie. Could she not see what was going on? She couldn’t flirt with me like that. She was looking at me differently. I couldn’t help but feel like something had changed.

“I can drive him home, then.” Eddie stepped between Amy and me.

She frowned. “His bike won’t fit in your town car. It would be stupid for him to have to come back for it. You can walk with us if you want.”

I held in my laugh—Eddie would never brave the hills between my house and school. Not even for Amy.

They stared at each other for a second while Eddie shifted his blazer. Finally, his shoulders slumped. “All right. I’ll call you guys tonight. Stu wanted to do another dungeon crawl soon.”

“Sure, sounds good.” I waved as he walked away.

Amy stared at me with this smile I couldn’t quite place. My heart pounded. Why was I so nervous? It was just Amy. I saw her every night at practice. Then I realized it was the first time I’d been completely alone with her since that walk to her house. And now she was acting weird.

She looked away. “So, are we going?”

“Yeah.” I glanced at her handkerchief. That much blood would never come out. “Is it okay if I throw this out?”

“Sure.”

We walked to my house, joking and talking like everything was normal. I watched her closely, trying to figure out how I felt. I liked her, of course, I just couldn’t figure out how much. There were too many things in the way even if I did want her. No good could come of it.

It was a cold day. The clouds hung low like they were about to burst open and soak us through. We quickened our pace down the steep hill.

“What if I put super glue on Logan’s chair? Please?” Amy said.

“No. Still too risky. Whatever you do, he’ll blame it on me. Then I’ll have to get creamed again.” We stopped at an intersection and waited for the light.

“I’ll come up with something, I swear.” She put her hands on her hips, glaring like Logan was right in front of us.

“You don’t have to, but I appreciate the thought.” The longer we walked, the less nervous I got about being alone with her. It was easier than I’d expected. The conversation didn’t fizzle out for one second.

“I guess I’ll see you at practice,” I said once we reached the dojo. She bit her lip and looked to the side. “What?”

“Well, there’s no sense in going all the way home only to come back. I have my gi and stuff. I thought we could, like, study for our chem exam…if you want. You can totally tell me to go home and I won’t cry.” She laughed, and it sounded a little nervous. I tried to tell myself I was imagining it, but I didn’t think I was.

“Actually, that sounds great.” I smiled. It was a friendly study session, no harm in that. It wouldn’t make me a traitor. Besides, Eddie didn’t have to know. And it wasn’t like they were dating. He didn’t technically have a claim on her.

“Sweet.” Her shoulders relaxed. Had she been worried I’d reject her? Weird.

We bowed when we entered the dojo, and my dad nodded to us. He didn’t seem particularly happy about Amy being with me, but not as mad as the other night.

“He’s not gonna ask about your eye?” Amy asked when we got to the back room.

“Nah, he knows.” We went up the stairs to my apartment. We really did study for chemistry and snack on a stash of Japanese candy, but it was the best time I’d ever had reading a text book.

10

Ninjas don’t take breaks. Even though the dojo shut down for December holidays, we still had training every day. Sometimes twice a day. I didn’t mind, though. Practice was much better than facing school.

Rumor had it that me and Amy were dating, so I had to promise Eddie daily that we weren’t. But I kind of
wanted
to date Amy. She was quickly becoming my best friend. We had all these inside jokes the guys would never understand. She was smart, pretty, and so funny my stomach was constantly sore from laughing.

Also, I was now on Logan’s radar. He pushed me in the halls, made a point to call me racist names, and even sealed my locker with clear caulk so he could fill it with water. Courtney probably came up with that idea.

I really needed a break from school.

After sleeping most of the day and then playing online games with the guys, I put on my gi and headed down to the dojo. Marty was there doing his usual stretching regimen, but he looked worn. He only gave a wave.

“What’s up, man?” I slipped my shoes off and stepped onto the mat.

He stopped stretching. “A kid at my school died last night. He was only a freshman, but I know his older sister pretty well. Whole family is freaking out.”

I tried to keep cool, but the other attacks flashed through my head. “What happened?”

Marty sighed. “Cops don’t know. They found him dead—stabbed. Whoever did it didn’t take his stuff. He wasn’t in a gang, and he wasn’t bullied at school. Just a random act of violence.”

“That’s terrible.”

“Yeah, they don’t even know who they’re looking for. They think it has something to do with the other attacks, though. Possibly a serial killer.” Marty rubbed his head. “Guy’s still out there.”