Read The Detention Club for Free Online Page A

wasn’t moving, and the only thing I could think to do was squeeze the mica in my hand and growl. The piece shattered immediately. I watched the tiny splinters fall to the wooden floor. “Please don’t do this!” Drew screamed.
    We rode our bikes over to the pawnshop in town. Drew tried the entire way to convince me to turn back, but I just pretended I couldn’t hear him because of the wind. We went inside the store, I opened up the canvas bag for the creepy-looking owner, and he peered inside. The fluorescent light reflected off the precious metal inside and it made his cheeks light up.
    â€œWhat’s in there?” he asked.
    â€œIt’s mica. Two hundred forty pieces,” I said. “Well, I went over a speed bump pretty hard, so maybe it’s closer to five hundred at this point. How much will you give us for it?”
    The guy just stared at me for a little while.
    â€œKid, do you know why they call mica and pyrite fool’s gold?” he finally said.
    â€œIs that supposed to be funny?” I replied.
    I tried to convince the guy to buy our mica stash, but he refused to believe that there was a market for it in the future. Drew was relieved. Eventually we pedaled back to the tree house. Drew took the bag from me because he could tell I was just going to let it drop onto the floor. He unzipped it and started gingerly taking out some pieces. He whimpered as he held up a jagged shard.
    â€œI don’t even recognize this piece,” he cried. “You broke it!”
    â€œYou broke it!” I mimicked him, making my voice sound all weepy like Drew sounded when he said it, the big baby. “Now just give me the bag, Drew.”
    â€œNo, leave me alone. This is my mica as much as it’s yours, and I’m keeping it.”
    â€œDidn’t you hear what that creepy guy at the store said?” I asked him. “He was right, it is fool’s gold.”
    â€œYou’re both wrong,” he said. He took out the clipboard. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some mica to recount.”
    For dinner my mom made lamb chops with applesauce, the only meal I kinda look forward to, only because it’s like having dinner and dessert at the same time. But then afterward you get dessert, too, which is why I secretly call it double-dessert night.
    â€œThat’s enough,” she said as I scooped more applesauce onto my plate. “You’ve only had two bites of your lamb chops and six scoops of applesauce.”
    â€œLady, you’re the one who made the meal,” I said, forcing myself to eat a piece of lamb chop. It caught in my throat and I made a fake hacking sound. “See? I need the applesauce because it helps the meat go down.”
    â€œJust drink some water,” Dad said.
    I made a big show of it, cutting up my lamb chops into really tiny cubes, and then chewing on them ninety times apiece. Sunny stared at me with her mouth open.
    â€œSo why don’t each of you tell us one interesting thing you learned in school today,” Mom suggested.
    â€œI’ll go first. In science class we learned about eutrophication,” Sunny said. “It’s when a lake builds up nutrients and so there’s excess plant growth, which is why year after year Frost Lake is getting smaller!”
    â€œThat has to be the boringest thing I’ve ever heard in my life,” I said, winking at my dad, but he didn’t wink back.
    â€œDon’t be rude, Peter. Honey, that’s very interesting,” Mom said, before turning to me. “How about you?”
    I thought about every class I’d had that day, but I hadn’t paid any attention during any of them because I was so busy collecting stuff. It wasn’t fair—Sunny was already queen of the school and could actually focus on her classes and stuff happening all around her, while I had to do extra work just to remind people that I even existed. I racked my brain but