And even though I’d just eaten, I knew I still had a little bit of room for half a waffle, and TJ probably had room for a whole. “OK, tell him I’ll be over in a minute.”
TJ grabbed an apple slice and ran down to the lab to give it to Spike, and I helped Professor Reese upstairs, with Baxter leading the way.
“It must be a relief knowing you won’t have to save any little old ladies tomorrow,” she said as I helped her into bed. “You can just go to school and have fun.”
“Yeah.” Then I remembered that tomorrow was Monday. “Well, I’ll have fun on Tuesday. Tomorrow I have to go hide in the stupid bathroom.”
“Oh my. Why is that?”
So I told her the rest of what had happened in Study Buddies and how I thought Mrs. A. chose me first because of my excellent people skills, but really she just thought I was unfocused. “And the whole time I thought I was helping Katie and Maya.”
“You know,” Professor Reese said, patting my hand, “scientists usually review all the data they’ve gathered before drawing any conclusions.” She lay back on her pillows. “And now, I really must take a nap.”
I tiptoed out of the room, past Baxter—who was snoring on his smooshy dog bed—and down the stairs. TJ had left, so I washed the dishes and then closed the front door behind me.
But I didn’t want to go over to Dad’s—not yet. I knew that he was probably mixing the waffle batter, and TJ had probably turned on Dad’s TV to watch some dumb movie about giant mutant frogs or a colony of crazed nuclear ants that march across whole towns eating every living thing and leaving skeletons behind with their skull jaws open, screaming because ants are crawling out their eye sockets.
Before I sat down to watch with him, I wanted five minutes of peace and quiet.
I wandered over to the middle of the park and sat down beneath a tree. To my left was the dog playground, where Baxter was King of the Bounce. To my right were the basketball courts, where Tyler was already out shooting hoops.
I wanted to think about what Professor Reese had just said: that a scientist reviews all the data before drawing any conclusions.
Before I’d done Study Buddies, I’d assumed Tyler was the worst kid in the whole class. But now I knew him a lot better.
He got in trouble in class all the time. And he told way too many butt jokes. But he was also funny and nice to dogs and nice to other kids. And he’d turned into an outstanding Study Buddy in the end.
Tyler said Mrs. A. thought we were both losers. But, I realized, she’d never said that. When I looked at all the data I’d gathered about Tyler, he didn’t seem like a loser. And if Tyler wasn’t a loser, did that mean maybe I wasn’t one, either?
As I watched him make a shot, I wondered, What if neither one of us is a loser?
Maybe I was a tiny bit unfocused—or at least, not focused on what Mrs. A. wanted me to focus on—because I did sort of whisper a lot when she was starting her lessons. But if I’d been too focused—as focused as Detective John Jacobs—I never would have looked at things from a different angle and figured out how the teleporter worked or how Baxter followed the bounce or anything.
And in Study Buddies, I’d helped Maya be a little less shy and Katie be a little less sticky—and that was pretty good for only two weeks.
So when I looked at all the data I’d gathered about myself, it didn’t seem very loser-y at all.
I didn’t realize I’d been holding my breath until it came out in a big sigh, like the kind of sigh Baxter made when he flopped down next to me, cozy and warm—a sigh like he knew he’d found a really good home.
I could hear Tyler’s basketball thumping as he dribbled it across the court. He faked left, went right, and nailed it.
“Nice shot,” I called out.
He looked over, surprised. “Uh, thanks.” He charged the net and nailed a layup, too.
Then I stood up to head to Dad’s—because if TJ was facing giant mutant frogs and flesh-eating nuclear ants, he could probably use some company.
28A Pink Box the Size of Something Delicious
When the phone rang at five thirty, I let Mom get it. I heard her say, “Oh! I’m so glad you’re all right!” and then, a minute later, “Why, yes, that would be lovely. Are you sure there’s nothing we can bring?”
Professor Reese had invited us to dinner to explain why she’d been missing, Mom told me and TJ after she hung up the phone. So I ran to get Dad, who had just gotten home from the music store, and we all trooped over to Professor Reese’s house.
Her daughter, Lydia, was there, and she was very nice and looked just like Professor Reese, only with brown hair, not gray, and without the wrinkles.
I smiled at Baxter, and he grinned back.
As soon as we sat down in the living room, the doorbell rang and it was the pizza delivery boy, so we all moved into the dining room. And just as we were getting our pizza and salad, the doorbell rang again. Lydia went to answer it and came back with a pink cardboard bakery box the size of something delicious. TJ’s eyes got big, and I could tell he was excited.
While we ate, Professor Reese explained all about T-waves and promised to demonstrate teleportation to prove it. And when Lydia said, “Mom!” Professor Reese added, “I’ll prove it with the hat, not myself!”
Mom and Dad and Lydia promised not to tell anyone else about the teleportation experiments because it was Professor Reese’s announcement to make when she was ready.
“But I’ll be ready soon,” Professor Reese said, “and that’s
