Chapter One Pop Pop Pop My dad’s beat-up van sounded like exploding fireworks I ducked down hoping none of the teens in the schoolyard had heard us I peeked out the window Bad idea Noah Benson had stopped in the middle of taking a free throw and was now staring right at us I stared straight ahead and pretended I didn’t notice or care But I did 1
The van farted another pop then shook as the engine rattled With my luck the engine would die in the middle of the school parking lot Please don’t look Please don’t look I had to I turned my head and eyed the scene on the school basketball court Noah waved the rest of the kids over to the chain-link fence to watch us pulling up to the front of the school With his perfect hair and teeth Noah was the guy everyone looked up to and not just because he was taller than most kids He was the captain of the basketball team head of the debate club the guy who decided if you were cool or a fool I knew where Noah would put me on his list If I could have turned invisible right then I would have The next best thing was to slide down into my seat and try to shrink myself out of the van Instead I pulled my silver dollar out of my jeans pocket Mom had given me this coin for luck before she died She’d told me it was the first thing she 2
had ever won Rubbing the old coin helped calm my nerves I peeked through the window again Everyone in the schoolyard now watched the slowest and noisiest parade in the world Three cars ahead of us inched to the drop-off point I can get out here I said Dad shook his head School rules I can’t let you off until we get to the drop-off We’re almost there Jennifer Pop Pop Rattle I could hear the laughter even through the crack of the window I rolled it up to shut out the sound Oh great I thought Noah and his pals were never going to let me hear the end of this I imagined the whispers behind my back There goes Jennifer Mah the kid who came to school in the van that yesterday forgot Hey your dad’s car is as old as my grandpa I’ve seen beaters in junkyards 3
