Game Over - By James Patterson Page 0,20

There should be a stepladder in the janitor’s closet down the hall over there.”

“How do you know that?”

“Let’s just say this isn’t the first time something like this has happened to me.”

“Those bullies have stuck you up there in a garbage can before?”

“Actually, last time they hung me by my underpants on a climbing peg halfway up the gymnasium wall. But the stepladder was helpful then too.”

“That’s terrible,” I said, grimacing at the thought. “Shouldn’t I go get a teacher?”

“And then have said teacher ask me what happened, and have to implicate Ichi or one of his thugs—or pin the blame on somebody innocent—and deal with all the repercussions of that? No, thank you.”

“But if you don’t, you’re just giving in to those bullies!” I blurted.

He looked at me with a mixture of pity and impatience.

“As I’m sure you know, Daniel, there’s a long history of bullying in high schools. And Japan’s no exception. In fact, some statistics say we’ve got the worst juvenile bullying culture on earth.”

I found that hard to believe. The population seemed so… mild mannered. “Really?”

“Really,” he said. “Now, seriously, I’m losing feeling in my feet.”

“I’ll go get that ladder,” I said, and went to retrieve it.

“So,” he said after I came back, as I climbed up and somehow managed to help him out of the can without killing us both. “What’s another gaijin doing in this place?”

“Umm, I just transferred. Parents moved here for work.”

“What do they do?”

“Um,” I said, suddenly realizing there was a danger in seeming too stupid. “They, um, handle personnel training for a nongovernmental organization.”

“Oh,” he said. “Well, I didn’t think I’d seen you before.”

“Yeah, well,” I said, “it’s not like I tend to make a big impression on people anyway.”

“Just the fact that you’re talking to me is all the impression I need,” Kildare said, fishing his book bag out of the bottom of the trash barrel. He put it on his back and made the weirdest noise—it was a like a cross between a sneeze and a cat’s purr.

“Odaiji ni,” I said.

“What?!”

“It means ‘bless you’—you know, what you say when somebody sneezes.”

“I didn’t sneeze,” he said, starting to turn red.

“Oh,” I said, not quite sure how to respond.

“Anyhow, thanks for the help.”

“You’re welcome,” I said, meaning it quite sincerely. Other than making weird sneezing noises and then denying them, he seemed like a nice, grounded kid. I mean, I wasn’t exactly going to let my guard down to a child of two top-ten List aliens, but…

“Say, what class do you have next?” I asked.

“Introductory zoology,” he said.

“Really?” I said, whipping out a class schedule and pretending to read the same course. “Me, too. Can you show me where it is?”

“Sure,” he said. “But I suggest you not walk in with me. Ichi’s in that class. In fact, that’s kind of why he and his friends stuck me in the garbage can. They wanted to borrow my homework.”

“ ‘Borrow,’ huh?” I said.

“Yeah, well, there are worse things,” he said.

“Like what?”

“Well, if you’re still intent on coming to class with me, I’m sure you’ll see them do something worse than that. They’re especially rough on new kids.”

Chapter 26

“CELASTRINA ARGIOLUS, GLAUCOPSYCHE alexis, Vanessa atalanta, Gonepteryx cleopatra, Hesperia comma, Inachis io, Lysandra bellargus, Quercusia quercus, and Danaus plexippus.”

“Very good, Mr. Gygax,” said Professor Kuniyoshi, beaming with pride at his star pupil’s recitation.

You know how some kids get geeky about computers or writing or drama or history or music? Well, for Kildare, science class seemed to be his thing. Big time.

When old Professor Kuniyoshi unstacked and displayed his enormous butterfly collection—after telling a long rambling story about how he’d been all over the world to obtain it—most of the students looked bored and on the verge of unconsciousness. But Kildare looked like a little kid on Christmas morning. And, when asked to identify the specimens, he recited their scientific names with something close to bliss.

Which was a pretty bold move, since we all know that if there’s one truth about bullies the world over, it’s that nothing sets them off like other people’s happiness. So, as Kildare boiled over with geeky enthusiasm, Ichi began to boil over with malignant intent.

Ichi was a compact, muscle-bound kid with a face that seemed to know only two expressions: snarling resentment (which he wore when adults were looking), and belligerent disdain (which he wore when kids were looking). Right then, safely in the back of the room and sitting behind a tall kid so that Professor Kuniyoshi couldn’t