Meet Morty

"Hey! There’s a new arrival!” Lee shouted, jogging over to Rick and Tom’s room. He looked in at the rust-haired Rick Deacon while ignoring Tom Brown altogether. Rick lifted his head from his homework as Tom peered his orange eyes over the cover of the comic book he was reading.

“Yeah? Does he look weird? What are you coming in here for?” Rick grimaced at the freckle-faced redhead then turned his eyes back to his work.

Tom rolled off his bed. “Mafi or ghoulie?”

Lee stepped back from the tall, pale senior. Tom those days looked like an orange eyed ghost with his white hair sticking up as usual. “No one knows. He keeps his eyes on the ground, and he doesn’t smile. He could be anything.”

“What’s his name?” Rick asked, tapping his pencil on the desk.

Grinning, Lee said, “Something Mexican. I don’t know. Maybe José.”

Lifting his eyes up again, Rick frowned at him. “You know, it’s rude to just assume stuff. Did you bother talking to him?”

Lee took another step back and rolled his eyes. “Fine, high and mighty wolf boy. I’ll go ask. I’ll even ask him if he’s our Thanksgiving turkey.”

He stomped off, his feet echoing down the hall.

“Wow,” Tom murmured to the ceiling. “We haven’t really had a newbie since Chen arrived.”

“What do you mean?” Rick peered over his book at him. “You’re not counting all those mafis that came? What about Keenan?”

Tom rolled his eyes and hopped back onto his bed. “No. I don’t really count the mafis.  Some of them are here only until foster families in witness protection are set up for them. And most passed on to West End Prep anyway. We haven’t even had a werewolf come since your arrival.”

“That’s because they’ve been doing house-call cures since the whole witch-at-the-school incident.” Rick then went back to writing.

Tilting his head and rolling over so he was on his back with his feet up along the wall, Tom asked, “Do you mean that cutie or Chen’s grandma?”

Rick cast him a glare. “That girl from Middleton Village was not a cutie. She was planning on ripping out your eyes for some gross potion making, remember?”

Tom cringed, slapping his book over his eyes to protect them. “Never mind.

“It’s just that I miss having cuties around. The world is a less colorful place now that Selena is off at college. And she isn’t coming back to New York for Thanksgiving so it doubly sucks.” Tom then let out a loud and long sigh.

Rick didn’t react at all.

Tom looked back just to make sure Rick was still in the room. Then Tom sighed louder, waiting for a reaction. Rick did nothing but write, looking to his textbook and thinking hard. Tom gave off one more heaving sigh.

“If you are in pain,” Rick said, hardly lifting his eyes from his homework. “You should go to the nurse.”

“When did you get so boring?” Tom rolled over, righting himself with disgust.

Lifting his eyes just then, Rick smirked. “Since day one. Haven’t you noticed that I actually do my homework?”

Tom blinked blankly at him. “Hmm…. Doing homework? I wonder if that’s why my grades are so low?”

Rick snorted knowing Tom’s lack of interest in schoolwork was the only thing that held him back. A boy with a one-eighty IQ could go anywhere on scholarship—if he actually did his work. Yet even with the looming college tests coming up that weekend, Tom acted as usual, not studying at all, though the others were all in the library cramming.

“Well, if you are not going to be any fun, I’m gonna go check out the new kid.” Tom hopped off the bed then sunk through the floor.

He landed in the middle the boys’ room below theirs where they were also studying hard.

“Hey! Get out, Trouble!” “Tom!”

With a snort, Tom stood up and strolled to the door as if no one were shouting at him. Going into the hall, he looked left, then right as he listened to the air for the shout of imps. If the new boy was a ghoulie, his imps would be shouting strange things. So far he just heard more of the usual.

“Steal that boy’s candy bar! You know where he hides it!”

“Sneak off to the Maceys Parade like those ghoulies did last year.”

“Go sneak into her office and take the test notes. You can sell them for good money!”

“Short-sheet his bed!”

“Take his pen, he won’t miss it!”

“Come on. Everybody’s doing it! One puff. You won’t get caught!”

“He’s not here. He won’t see you trying on his underpants.”

Tom blinked at that one and tilted his head, wondering which boy that last imp belonged to.

But he continued on, listening while he sauntered over to the stairs, since it was clear he was not hearing the voices

Impressum

Verlag: BookRix GmbH & Co. KG

Tag der Veröffentlichung: 20.09.2014
ISBN: 978-3-7368-5212-9

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