I had almost resigned myself to being the villain in this new reality show, when a knock at the door interrupted my train of thought and Mr. Davenport entered the room.
Perfect timing.
Joey leaped up from his seat. “Ron! You’re just in time. I was telling young Tom here about some great footage we have of you.”
“Actually, Mr. Davenport—” I began.
“It’s rude to interrupt, Mr. Swift,” the principal said with a sharp look. He softened when he turned back to Joey. “I’m sure it’s nothing, but I heard some concerns from a few of the students on how they’ve been portrayed in your program.”
Joey shot me a look. “Is that so?”
Mr. Davenport waved him away. “We’ll get to that later. Let’s see that footage you were talking about.”
Joey smiled and plopped down at the workstation. “Coming right up, Ron,” he said as his fingers flew across the keyboard.
Mr. Davenport turned to me and smiled. “I’m sure it’s a real captain at the helm sort of thing. Perfect for the Ronald Davenport Show.”
Joey froze mid-keystroke. “I don’t know what you heard…,” he began as he slowly turned toward the principal.
“I heard and saw plenty,” Mr. Davenport said.
I suddenly had the feeling I was being watched, and not by a camera crew. Glancing at the door, I saw my three friends peeking in at us. When Joey followed my gaze, Noah held up the tablet and wiggled it a little. The screen showed us in the editing suite from the robot’s point of view. When Joey turned from the tablet to the robot, Amy gave a friendly wave and the robot mirrored her movements.
Mr. Davenport crossed his arms. “Now, let’s see some real footage from the show.”
“Come on, Ron,” Joey pleaded. “It’ll be out of context.”
Our principal shook his head. “I don’t care. Let’s see it.”
Amy leaned in and pointed to the workstation. “There’s one already cued up.” Behind us, the robot pointed along with her.
Joey shot her a Thanks a lot look as he pressed the space bar.
The main video monitor played the sequence we had already seen—the one where everyone was hounding me. Mr. Davenport shook his head as he watched the clip run.
“You see, every good story needs a vil—an antagonist to…,” Joey began.
“Yes, I heard,” Davenport said. “Play another one.”
Joey opened another folder and selected a file. A new clip appeared on the screen.
“Did you hear what Terry said about you?” Ashley Robbins asked Deena Bittick as they walked down the hallway.
The scene cut to Terry Stephenson in the confessional. “Deena can be super stuck-up sometimes.”
“Were you ever going to actually show our inventions?” Sam asked Joey. “I know your camera crews recorded them.”
Mr. Davenport raised a hand. “I’ll handle this, Miss Watson.” He removed his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I’ve seen enough.”
Joey stopped the video. “You see, you need a little drama to move the story along,” he explained.
Our principal checked his watch. “You and your people have exactly fifteen minutes to get off my campus before I have security escort you out.”
“Yes!” Amy shouted, before catching herself and covering her mouth. The nearby robot mimicked her.
“You can’t do that,” Joey said as he leapt to his feet. “We had a deal!”
“For a show that makes my students look like spoiled brats?” Davenport asked. “I don’t think so.”
Joey shook his head as he began gathering his jacket and notebooks. “You’re going to regret this. My lawyers are going to have a field day.”
Mr. Davenport pointed to Noah’s tablet. “Even after they see your detailed description of reality television?”
Joey shook his head and moved toward the door.
Then it hit me.
“Wait,” I said. “Where’s the hard drive with everyone’s invention plans?”
Joey glanced back into the room before shrugging. “I don’t know, kid,” he replied. “That was Holly Jensen’s big idea. I think she swung by and picked it up.” Then he chuckled. “And if I know Holly, you have bigger problems than my little show.”
I looked at my friends’ stunned faces. I clearly wasn’t the only one who didn’t like the sound of that.
“Well, that’s just great,” Noah said.
14
The Augmented Exhibition
“AS YOU CAN IMAGINE, IT was a dirty job at times,” Sam said, pointing over to Amy, who was once again dressed in her full-body hazmat suit. Amy held a bucket in one hand and a paint scraper in the other. The audience laughed as Amy gave the scraper a brief wave. “But thanks to Amy Hsu, Swift Academy is now gum free.”
The spectators filling the bleachers applauded Amy’s presentation. She and Sam stood on a small stage in front of the track. One of Amy’s chewing gum receptacles shared the stage and a large banner fluttered in the wind above them. It read SWIFT ACADEMY INVENTORS’ OLYMPICS.
Amy grabbed the receptacle and left the stage as Sam continued her presentation. “As for my invention, I took Amy’s processed gum and recycled it into these custom sandals.” She pointed down to her bright green footwear. “As you saw in the video, Mia Trevino helped me make casts of my feet so I could mold the melted material perfectly.” She raised one foot off the ground. “And they’re the most comfortable shoes I’ve ever worn.”
The audience applauded again as Sam made her way off the stage. Noah, Amy, and I were waiting for her.
“So, let me get this straight,” Noah said, rubbing his chin. “You’re not supposed to step in gum… but now you’re stepping in gum all the time?”
Sam jutted a thumb at Noah and raised an eyebrow at me. “See? This is what I was talking about.”
I couldn’t help laughing.
Noah raised his hands defensively. “No, no, I think they’re cool. Still kinda nasty… but cool.”
So far, the Inventors’ Olympics had been a huge success. Jamal Watts and Maggie Ortiz had pitted two battlebots against each other, demonstrating how the academy hosted robot battles a few months back. Collin Webb did some stunt flying with his drone—the one everyone called the
