Time-Out (14 page)

He smacked his forehead in apparent frustration. “You don't get it, Russ.”

I shrugged. “You're right. I don't.”

“These guys don't even
talk
to me.”

“On the court?” I asked, knowing how important communication was at game time.

“On it, off it, around it, and nowhere near it.”

Uh-oh. It was exactly what I'd feared. He'd alienated everyone.

“Maybe you just got off on the wrong foot,” I said, trying to be as kind as possible. “Give them a chance.”

“They're the ones not giving
me
a chance.”

I didn't know what to say. Owen was the social one of the two of us. He was the one who joked around and made friends like it was nothing. He was always surrounded by people and laughter.

“Maybe you could . . .,” I began, but didn't know where to go from there. “Maybe—”

“Never mind,” he said, getting up from the table. “It doesn't matter.”

Before I could say anything else, he cleared his tray into the garbage and stalked out of the cafeteria.

My second session of volleyball was exponentially better than the first. This is not to say that I was an expert, or even particularly adept. It simply means that I understood the game and had a lot of fun playing it.

Later in the day, Coach lined us up and stood by the net to set the ball so we could take turns spiking.

My hits weren't the hardest and I became tangled in the net twice, but I managed to complete the move every time.

“Nice progress,” Coach Vickers said, lifting his hand for a high five, which I missed.

“Thank you.”

“Good job,” Sam said, holding up a fist when I rejoined the line.

I made one of my own and bumped his, like I'd been doing it for years.

For the first time in weeks, I held my head high.

After a delicious chicken dinner and apple pie that evening, T. J. and Big Mike came to our room for the next prank brainstorming session.

“How about the plastic-wrap doorways?” Big Mike said. “Should we do that one tonight?”

“I think it's going to take more planning,” Danny said.

“What's that supposed to mean?” Big Mike asked, looking . . .
hurt
.

“We don't have enough wrap,” Danny explained, looking at the rather pitiful single roll T. J. had begged from one of the cafeteria ladies.

“What about gluing the toilet lids down?” T. J. asked.

“Where will
we
go to the bathroom?” I asked him, even though my primary concern was not damaging any of the camp's property.

“Good point,” he said, nodding.

For the first time that I'd seen, he didn't sniff or twitch. I smiled to myself.

He must be comfortable around me.

“We could pull a fire alarm,” Big Mike suggested.

“I'm pretty sure that's against the law,” Danny said.

Big Mike frowned and said, “You know, it would be cool if
someday
someone waited at least three seconds before shutting me down.”

“What?” Danny asked, obviously confused.

“Never mind,” he grunted. “Nobody takes me seriously.”

Danny looked at me, then at T. J.

“I take you seriously,” T. J. said, shrugging.

“Yeah, on the basketball court, maybe. But I'm nobody when the game's over.”

“What are you talking about?” Danny asked.

He shook his head with frustration. “I'm just . . .
Big Mike
. The guy everyone wants on their team. The giant who intimidates people. Nobody gives me any credit for anything else, like having a brain.”

The room was filled with stunned silence. When I realized that no one else was going to say anything, I cleared my throat.

“Well, I happen to think you were onto something with alarms.”

“Whatever,” Big Mike muttered.

“Not fire alarms,” I said, glancing at the Hoopsters-issued stopwatch on Danny's desk. “But another kind might be a brilliant idea.”

“What?” they all asked at once.

I reached for the gadget. “This is a clock, correct?”

Danny nodded. “And a stopwatch.”

“Can it be set to sound intermittently?”

“Inter-what-ent-ly?” Big Mike asked, sounding just like Owen.

Owen!

“I'll be right back,” I said, jumping off my bed and heading for my brother's room.

I rapped my knuckles against his door several times.

“What's going on?” he asked when he finally opened it.

“Come with me. I need your help.”

“What for?” His tone was suspicious.

“Just come with me,” I said, pulling his arm.

When we walked into my room together, the four boys stared at us.

“This is my brother, Owen,” I said.

“No way,” T. J. murmured.

“Owen, this is T. J. and Big Mike.”

“We've met,” Big Mike muttered, shooting Owen a dirty look.

When I glanced at the others, I saw that they were all doing the same. Even Danny.

“Listen,” I told them. “You think I'm a mastermind, but that title should really go to Owen.”

“Whatever,” T. J. said with a
triple-twitch
of the nose.

“Whatever, yourself,” Owen snapped. “I'm out of here.” He started to turn toward the door.

“Wait,” I said, holding his arm. “I have a plan for a prank, and I need your help.”

“A prank?” Owen asked, looking interested despite himself.

And while I had everyone's attention, I laid it out for them.

When I was finished, the room was silent for a few seconds before Danny said, “I like it!”

“Okay,” T. J. said, “so, we get our hands on a bunch of stopwatches and set them to go off every twenty minutes.”

“Or thirty, or an hour,” I said. “Whatever we decide.”

“And they drive people crazy by beeping?”

“Three beeps every time it goes off,” Danny said, nodding. “That would make anyone crazy.”

“Wait,” Big Mike interrupted. “It'll only go off once before they find it and turn it off.”

“Good point,” I said, causing Big Mike to smile.

“So?” Danny asked.

I glanced at Owen. “That's where he comes in.”

I didn't even have to tell my brother what I needed. He was already walking around the room, inspecting every corner and piece of furniture.

“We could clip it high on the curtains,” he said thoughtfully, “but that would be way too easy to find.” The rest of the guys watched him peruse the bed with interest. “In between the mattress and the box spring would take a little more time.”

“That's a good one,” Danny murmured.

Owen looked up at the ceiling. “Hmm. Anybody got a screwdriver?”

I looked at the upturned faces and noticed something wonderful.

They were all smiling.

When we were ready to pull off the alarm prank (which was
awesome
), Russ's roommate, Danny, thought the six of us should split into pairs to get the job done quickly.

“Oh, I'm not going,” Russ said.

“But it was your idea,” Danny reminded him.

“I realize that, but—”

“Me, Danny, and T. J. will go together,” Big Mike said, “and the
twins
can be a team.” He said the word twins like he didn't believe it was true.

“No, I was—” Russ started to say, but I cut him off.

“Live a little,” I told him, then looked at the rest of the group. “Let's do this!”

Russ and I headed for the lower floor, where we started knocking on doors to see which rooms were empty. If
someone answered, we asked if “Chris” was there, then “realized” we were at the wrong room. If no one answered, in we went.

I couldn't believe our luck after the first three rooms. Almost all of the guys had left their stopwatches right on their desks, to be used as an alarm clock.

It was perfect.

As I hid the stopwatches in totally sneaky places, I had to admit I was impressed that Russ had come up with such a cool prank.

And I was even more impressed that he'd invited me to be in on it.

It wasn't just because I had certain skills when it came to that kind of thing. Russ knew I was lonely and he'd done something about it. Even though I was a little embarrassed to be depending on him to get me in with the cool kids, I was grateful, too.

For the next half hour or so, we kept setting timers for twenty-minute
intervals
(Russ's word) and hid them in different spots in every room. The other guys wanted to pick one spot, but I knew that once one kid figured out where the beeping was coming from, he'd tell everyone else and the prank would be over.

So, I stashed them in the toes of sneakers, the backs of closets, on top of curtain rods, and, my personal favorite, inside light fixtures.

I had a total blast!

On the way back to Russ's room, where we were all supposed to meet at seven o'clock, I was still thinking about the fact that none of the guys had given me the time of day before Russ invited me to join in. And now? We were hanging out.

I watched my brother walk ahead of me and my heart felt kind of full and swollen.

“Hey, Russ,” I whispered.

“Yes?” he asked, over his shoulder.

I cleared my throat. “Thank you.”

“What for?” he asked, stopping in his tracks and giving me a confused look.

I looked him straight in the eye for a few seconds, so he'd know I was serious. “Thank you.”

My twin's face turned red. “No problem.”

Once we were back in the room, all five of us laughed and high-fived, happy to have pulled it off.

“How many did you get?” T. J. asked.

“Eleven,” I told him, hoping we'd done the most.

“No way! That's awesome.”

“What was your best spot?” Big Mike asked, smiling at me for the first time
ever
.

I had to think about it for a second. “I taped one to the ductwork in a heat register. Far enough down so you can't see it in the darkness.”

“Dude, you're the man!” he said, raising his hand for a fist bump.

I totally agreed.

I
was
the man.