Diary of a 6th Grade Ninja (a hilarious adventure for children ages 9-12) (8 page)

I decided to let him win.

Standing again, I looked at him. He was bouncing around like
some kind of karate master with his hands in the air, waving them back and
forth in front of his body. I smiled because it looked like he was playing with
one of those puppets attached to strings… what are they called? Oh yeah,
marionettes
.

Another punch from Wyatt met with my cheek this time. I saw
it coming, but didn’t even try to block it. Why bother? Everything was my fault
anyhow, so maybe I deserved a proper beating.

And then the crowd started to calm down a little. Wyatt kept
dancing and breathing heavily, occasionally letting out a “
whaaaaaaaa
,”
the way Bruce Lee did in those old movies. He was so engulfed in the moment
that he didn’t even realize everyone had stopped cheering.

Suddenly, I realized what was happening. Somehow in this
moment, I had become the bigger man. By refusing to fight back, I was taking a
stand of my own. I was standing up to a filthy rotten bully. And it gave me
strength.

I watched as he threw a kick into the air. Punches are one
thing, but getting kicked is a whole other level of “ouch.” His foot landed on
my arm, scorching pain down my spine. I wasn’t sure how much more I could take of
this, but I returned to my position in front of him.

“Fight back!” Wyatt yelled. The frustration in his voice was
clear.

He swung a right hook at me, but this time I dodged it by
leaning backward. “I won’t. You’re not worth it. If I fight, then
you
win.
If I turn this bag into the office, then
you
win. If I get caught with
it, then
you
win. The only way for me to stop this is if I refuse to
play along with your manipulative games. All I should’ve done was walk away
from the beginning, but I can’t do that now, can I? I’m stuck here so the best
thing to do is to refuse to fight back.”

From the corner of my eye, I could see Zoe smile at me. It
was a proud smile.

“Hit me!” Wyatt screamed again as he threw another hook.

I dodged it as I did before.

One of his ninja minions put their hand on his shoulders.
“Come on, man. This is getting weird. Let’s just get outta here.”

Several of the other ninjas agreed.

Wyatt swung around and slapped the kid in the face. “Don’t
tell me what to do! And don’t you
ever
touch me!”

The ninja leader flung back around with his arm swinging
wide. It moved too quickly for me to back away from. All I could do was flinch.

But the punch never landed. I pried my eyes open and saw a
furious Mr. Cooper dragging Wyatt away from me. The circle of students filled
the entire hallway.

“
He
started it!” Wyatt shouted as he kicked his feet.
“I caught him with the stolen money! Look at it! It all came pouring out of
that red backpack!”

Mr. Cooper released Wyatt’s arm and stepped forward, staring
at the floor covered in cash.

Everyone in the hallway was silent, which made it easy for
Wyatt to keep shouting. “That’s Zoe’s bag! They were in on it together! They
both
stole the money, and I caught them! When I confronted him, he started fighting
me! I
had
to defend myself!”

Mr. Cooper pushed the change around with his foot until he
saw the yellow sheet of paper that labeled it the food drive money. He glanced
around the hallway of students. By this time, several of the other teachers had
joined, trying to push the kids away from the dropped cash.

“Who’s responsible for this?” Mr. Cooper asked.

“I already said
they
were!” Wyatt screamed, pointing
at my cousin and me.

Mr. Cooper raised his hand to Wyatt, instructing him to be
silent. “I didn’t ask
you
, I asked
them
,” he said gesturing to
everyone in the hallway.

There was no way that any of Wyatt’s ninja clan would fess
up to it, and if they did, who would believe them? Everyone else in the hallway
knew nothing of Wyatt’s plan so all they were good for was a shoulder to shrug.
The backpack was Zoe’s, there was no doubt about that, and when they would get
around to asking why it was in
her
bag, she would claim it was stolen. I
doubt she would say anything about the ninjas, but even if she did, who in the
world would believe her?

I looked at my cousin. She had a worried look on her face as
she glanced back. It looked like there were tears forming in her eyes. She was
family, but more
importantly
, she was a
friend
.

When Zoe was questioned about Emily’s stolen purse, she
immediately admitted her fowl up. I took that as a lesson in integrity.

I nodded at Zoe, and then I spoke. “
I
took the
money.”

Strangely, it was the ninja clan that gasped loudest.

“I
told
you!” Wyatt said, slapping his hands
together.

“No,
I
took the money,”
Brayden
suddenly shouted as he stepped forward.

Wait, what? Why did
Brayden
just
say that?

“No!
I
took it!” Zoe shouted.

And then another weird thing happened – other students
started stepping forward, confessing that they stole the food drive money.

“
I
did it,” said a short girl with red hair. She was
cute, but that’s beside the point.

“It was
me
,” said one of the taller students.

“
I
took the money,” said yet another.

I watched as several of the ninjas stepped forward and did
the same. I can’t imagine Wyatt was too happy that they were doing it.

Wyatt’s face grew bright red as he clenched his fists again.
“
They
took the money!” he screamed as he jumped at me.

Mr. Cooper caught him by his collar and pulled him back
instantly. The coach pushed the ninja leader into the doorway of the front
office, and then turned around. “I don’t know
who
did this, but at this
point it’s clear that Wyatt had
something
to do with it. At the moment,
the money is returned, which is more important than
who
took it. I think
most of us are just thankful that it’s back. Everyone clear out of the hallway
so we can gather up the cash and put it back where it belongs. But mark my
words that this
isn’t
over. We’ll find out who did it eventually, so it
would be best if the guilty party stepped forward at a later time, in
private
,”
the coach said as he slammed the office door shut.

“Wow,” said Zoe as she looked at my face. “You got your butt
kicked
!”

“Yeah,” I said. “Seems like I might be good at that, huh?
Maybe I can start a club or something.”

Emily pulled a tissue from one of her other purses. Maybe it
was her “lunchtime” purse or something. “I think it’s manly,” she said as she
started dabbing my bloody lip with the tissue. Her eyes were cute.

“Sick,” said
Brayden
. “Get a
room.”

I laughed, but had to hold my side from the pain.

“Chase,” said a student from behind. It was one of the
members of the ninja clan. “That was the most awesome thing any of us had ever seen
in our entire lives. It takes a boy to start a fight, but it takes a man to end
one. You ended it with so much honor that my face wants to
melt
off!”

“Cute picture you paint,” said Zoe.

The boy continued. “We are without a leader now.”

“What about Wyatt?” I asked.

“He’s a coward that just wants to control people and show
how strong he is,” said the boy. “We need a clan leader like you. Brave.
Honorable. Able to stand up to bullies. Not beat them down.”

I nodded. Ninjas were cool, but this whole thing turned out
to be more of a pain than it might’ve been worth. I smiled with blood on my
teeth. “I’ll think about it. How’s that sound?”

“We’ll need to know soon. There are rumors of a pirate
invasion in the near future,” The boy
bowed
as did the
rest of the clan before turning and walking away.

A
pirate
invasion?
What kind of insane school
was
this?

“Looks like you might have some friends after all?” Zoe
laughed.

“Maybe,” I said. “That’s if I don’t get expelled.”

“Nobody knows who took the money, and I doubt the teachers
here will make any fuss about it,” said
Brayden
. “As
long as it’s back, they’re happy.”

Mr. Cooper opened the door to the office and leaned his head
out. He pointed at me and said, “Chase, come in here for a moment please.”

“Am I in trouble?” I asked as I wiped my lip clean with
Emily’s tissue.

Mr. Cooper shook his head. “No, it’s just that you’re a
bloody mess. The nurse should have a look at you to make sure you’re alright.”

I paused as I glanced at Zoe and my friends. I didn’t want
to be lured into the office just to be told I wasn’t welcome at the school
anymore, but understood that it might be happening.

“Look, Wyatt already admitted to the whole thing being his
fault. He broke down the second I shut this door,” Mr. Cooper laughed. “It really
is
because you’re bleeding all over the carpet. What if a parent walked
in at this second and saw your battered face?”