After being booed off the cafeteria stage by her fellow students, Jenny Wakeman fled outside and flew the short distance to Tremorton Elementary. Her lunch hour lined up with Tucker Carbuckle’s recess, so she expected to find Tuck on the playground, surrounded by gleeful kids. Instead she found him with something more sinister.
Jenny should’ve known better that to turn to Tuck to relieve her anger and anxiety. On any given day, Tuck was more likely to add to her woes than to ease them. She strode up to him and yanked the rope out of his hand. “What the heck do you think you’re doing?”
“Making this merry-go-round into a ‘scary-go-round’,” said Tuck as he picked the rope up again and continued winding it around a rocket. “Just part of my life as a devil-may-care thrill-seeker.”
Jenny scoffed. “Didn’t you run to the emergency room yesterday because you had a splinter in your thumb?”
“I suppose you’d rather see me disfigured for life than seek proper medical attention.”
Jenny rolled her eyes, then examined Tuck’s handiwork. “Have you been picking through my mom’s lab trash again? You know she only throws out malfunctioning rockets, right?”
Tuck shrugged. “One mad scientist’s trash is another mad genius’s treasure.”
“You’re no genius, but my mom will certainly be mad if she finds out I let you use her rockets like this.” Before Tuck could intervene, Jenny quickly untethered the ropes and rockets from the merry-go-round and guzzled the fuel from the gas can. “87 octane. Tasty.”
“Aw, man!” Tuck stomped away and flung himself face down in the nearby sandbox. A moment later he raised his head, spitting out sand as he said, “Some of us weren’t lucky enough to be born with booster rockets, you know.”
“Sorry, Tuck. Hey, how about I pick you up after school and I’ll fly you around downtown — as fast as you like. Make you so dizzy you’ll puke your guts out.”
Tuck leapt up with excitement. “That sounds awesome!”
Jenny gave him a wink. “Then it’s a date.”
Tuck leaned away. “Ew. Don’t make it gross.”
“That’s right. You’re still in the ‘girls are yucky’ phase of life. That’s why I came to talk to you. If any boy I know is going to share my negative opinion of Epiphany Crust, it’s you.”
Tuck nodded his head. “Oh yeah. Piff. I met her. She came by at lunchtime two days ago with a goodwill basket for us kids filled with tropical fruits from her home country. I tried the dragon fruit. It was tasty enough, but there was no dragon inside. Hellllllo! False advertising.” Tuck crossed his arms. “I was not impressed.”
Jenny was ecstatic. “Yes! False advertising. That’s exactly what Epiphany is. She pretends to be all sweet and generous but she’s just a big fake.”
Tuck shrugged. “So expose her for the fraud she is.”
“Easier said than done. She’s so smooth and sly. She never slips up or drops the act,” said Jenny, her shoulders drooping. “And she’s talented to boot.”
“You’re the talented one, Jen! You got all your special superhero skills and transformations. Weren’t we just talking about your booster rockets? And you just swallowed all that fuel. Simply pull out your ‘fanny pack’ and gas her to death!” Tuck tried to keep a straight face but began to chuckle.
Jen chuckled along with him. “Never one to pass up a good fart joke, eh Tucker? But you’re right. I do have my own unique abilities. And I think I know just the right venue to show them off and show up Epiphany Crust – The Tremorton High Talent Show!”
To Be Continued . . .
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