Read The Shadow Club Rising for Free Online

when the call came for nominations I quickly raised my hand to nominate her. Turns out I didn't need to. Alec held his hand high right next to her. He drew the principal's attention as he always drew everyone's attention. He was called on first.
    "I nominate Cheryl Gannett," he said.
    "I second that," shouted someone else.
    "I accept," said Cheryl as if there would be any doubt.
    I observed as the nominations went around the auditorium. In all there were about a dozen, but when push came to shove, few of them were seconded, and so those kids names never made the list. In the end it was Cheryl, Tommy Nickols, who was expected to be the school's valedictorian, and Katrina Mendelson, who had been trying to get elected since fourth grade. As the principal called for final nominations, one more hand went up. The hand belonged to Calvin Horner—a snivelly kid with a bit of a speech impediment and teeth almost as yellow as his hair. I wondered what on earth would possess him to stand up and speak in front of a crowd when it was always such a chore for him to answer a simple question in class.
    "I would like to nominate Alec Smartz for class president," Calvin said.
    There were more seconds than I could count, followed by a low afterburn of grumbles from those who were not pleased. I turned to see Alec shrug innocently at a gaping Cheryl as he said loudly, "I guess I accept."
    That's when I saw Calvin Horner give a little nod to Alec, making it very clear that this was not a spontaneous act.
    On Monday I came to school with a shoe box under my arm and approached Cheryl at her locker. Holding it like a waiter with a tray, I pulled off the lid.
    "Canvas or leather," I said. "Your choice."
    Inside, of course, were one of my dress shoes and a sneaker so grungy it could be considered hazardous waste.
    "Oh, shut up."
    I had to admit I felt bad for her, and guilty for having rubbed her nose in it. I shoved the shoe box under my arm.
    "Sorry," I said. "I mean . . . I'm sorry Alec wasn't really behind you. It would have been great if you could have worked together."
    "Actually," said Cheryl, "things will still work out. Chances are that one of us will win, and the other will take second place, which means we'd be each other's vice president."
    "I don't think so," I said. "Two possibilities—assuming Katrina or Tommy don't pull it out—either (A) he'll win and you'll be his vice president; or (B) you'll win, and he will melt like the Wicked Witch of the West."
    "Well, now you're just being nasty."
    "No, I'm serious. Alec is not a vice presidential kind of guy. He might say so now, but that's just because he doesn't believe it will ever happen."
    She slammed her locker, incredibly angry about how sure I was, and maybe a bit bothered by the knowledge that I was right. "That's your opinion," she said, "and if I didn't want your vote, I would tell you exactly where you could put that opinion."
    There was a commotion farther down the hall. I didn't take much note of it until we both heard the name AlecSmartz mumbled more than once. We went over to find out what was going on.
    "Did you hear what happened to Alec?" said a kid who was anxious to tell anyone who would listen.
    "What?" asked Cheryl apprehensively.
    "He got skunked," the kid said. "Him and his whole family."
    Cheryl's first reaction was relief that it hadn't been anything really bad, but that relief was quickly overshadowed by suspicion. "Wait a second . . . skunks aren't out this time ofyear—"
    "Maybe he went poking in a hole where it was hibernating, or something," I suggested.
    "Nope," said the kid, "it happened in their van. They got in it this morning, the skunk popped out from under a seat, and the rest is history."
    Suddenly I got that same sense of looming doom I felt when I first heard about the hair ball in his soda. Unless skunks had acquired the ability to teleport, it was clear that it had been intentionally slipped into the Smartzes' family van.
    Alec didn't show up for