Chapter 2: Strange happenings
Ekl's eyes went wide when she saw the belt.
"Hell," she breathed. I agreed. This was extremely weird.
"Where'd you find this?" I asked.
"EBay," Frog said with a shrug. "Some guy was selling them from Japan, and postage cost a fortune." Of course, I thought, rolling my eyes. Frog buys all of his present off the internet.
"So, is there a story behind them?" I asked, picking one of the red and white balls off. They were smallish, about the same size as a jaw breaker. It was metal, not plastic like I half expected, and cool to the touch, kind of like aluminium. It came off the belt easily, and when I pressed the button, it expanded to the size of a large orange. A second press of the button shrank it down again. When I held it back to the black belt, it snapped back on. It seemed to be magnetized, or something.
"Like I said," Frog said, "some guy in Japan was selling them, and he had a whole heap. I spent most of my pay on three of them." Frog was always rubbing it in that he had a job on the weekends in town. Ekl and I were poor most of the time, having to beg money from our parents if we wanted anything.
"You bought three of them?" I asked. "You realise it's a Pokemon thing, right?"
"Yeah, well," Frog said, shrugging again. "I thought maybe there was a trick behind them, and I could replicate it. There's a belt for you, one for Ekl, and one for me to take apart."
"You bought me one?" Ekl asked. She yelled excitedly, dancing around the room.
"Cut it out," I snapped at her. I wanted to find out more about the belt. "So, what does it do? Are there figurines in them? Or do they come with collectable cards or stickers or something?"
"They're empty," Frog admitted. "I don't know what they're for. There's none left for sale, and I can't get through to the person I bought them from."
"Weird," I said. Ekl nodded in agreement. The bell sounded, and we all looked up from the belt.
"It's not time for assembly, yet," Ekl said. "We've got twenty minutes!"
"That's not the assembly bell," Frog said as the bell continued ringing. "That's the evacuation bell."
"Smokers in the girls toilets again," I suggested, rolling my eyes, walking for the door with my presents in one arm. "Those year nines think it makes them more mature, just because they smoke."
"Well, it'll be their problem in twenty years time," Frog said. Frog wants to become an Olympic swimmer in a few years, and won't let anyone light up next to him, in case they ruin his chances of making it to the Games.
"I thought the school took out the smoke alarm system in the toilets because of the year nines?" Ekl asked. I shrugged. I didn't have another explanation, except maybe for a fire drill, or a real fire. However, the teachers knew that not everyone was at school by twenty to nine. Not even all of the teacher's would have arrived yet. What was the point in having a fire drill so early in the day? With this thought in my mind, I quickened my step. Frog and Ekl followed suit, but I could tell Ekl wasn't happy with the idea.
"Slow down," she complained. "It's only a drill."
"At this time of morning?" I asked. We started running then. I don't know, but I was feeling spooked about it all.
Whenever there is a fire drill at school, we all go to the oval to make sure everyone's there and safe. I don't know how the teachers were meant to do that; not everyone was here, and they had yet to mark the roll. We went to the oval anyway. There were a few teachers there, and about three quarters of the students, all looking slightly bewildered. Not even the principal had arrived at school yet.
"This is weird," I said to Frog and Ekl.
"Considering this place is usually boring-town," Frog added.
"Hey," Ekl yelled to someone two years below us. "Do you know what's going on?"
"Animal control has been called in from the next town over," the boy replied.
"Animal control?" I asked.
"Yeah, some year nine went into the toilets for a smoke, and says she got attacked by something," the boy replied. "Looked like a giant rat."
"They evacuated us for a rat?" Frog asked.
"She said it was about as long as her arm," the boy said.
"Hell," Ekl said.
We were on the oval for three and a half hours. Three and a half long, miserable hours in the dreary winter weather of sitting on wet grass as the animal control people looked for this giant rat. Now, I know I mentioned that where I live is dry, but during the winter, it is also cold and horrible. Cold winds, grey clouds that only drizzle ever so lightly, enough to be annoying, but not enough for the crops. I can't say I liked the winter weather much, but I found it better than drowning in sweat during the summer.
"Come on, how hard can it be to catch a rat?" Frog asked.
"Especially since it's the size of a cat," I added. We were huddled under the trees, and I was half grateful for two friends who didn't like each other. This meant they wouldn't sit next to each other, and I was in the middle. It was warmer between Frog and Ekl, and I could pretend I was drier, too.
"Hey," someone said, and all three of us turned to see my younger brother, Tom. Tom is three years younger than me, and a good deal shorter. My guess is that it was because when he was younger, he wouldn't eat anything but peanut butter sandwiches. There was a guitar swung over one shoulder, and although I really hate to admit it, he could play a few songs really well. He couldn't sing, however, no matter how much he practiced. Tom has shaved brown hair and blue eyes. People say we look alike, but neither of us could see the resemblance.
"Where the hell have you been?" I demanded, not moving from my spot. "The whole school was evacuated."
"Hey, I couldn't smell smoke. I figured it was just a drill," Tom said with a shrug. I glared at him. I would have hit him if I could be bothered getting up, but I wasn't. I was warm where I was, and protected from the wind. "Anyway," Tom continued, "the animal control guys have left, and everyone's allowed back in."
"You sure?" Frog asked, standing up. Ekl stood up as well, leaving me to face the wind without them protecting me. I yelped, getting up quickly. I huddled near my friends, wondering if this would be the worst birthday I would ever have.
"Come on," Frog said, heading back towards the school. Tom, Ekl and I followed, shying away from the wind.
"Stupid rat," I muttered loudly.
"Get us kicked outta school," Ekl added.
"We're going inside," Tom said. "Shut up!" I hit Tom and he pushed me back. Frog gave us a look. He didn't have any brothers or sisters, so he didn't understand that this rough housing was a way of showing that we really loved each other. Way, way, way, way, way, way, WAY down, where you couldn't see it.
Tom followed us into the computer room, much to my annoyance.
"What do you want?" I snapped at him.
"Well, you know, classes won't be on till next bell, I thought I could sit in here with you guys and talk," Tom said enthusiastically.
"Get lost," I told him, pointing at the door. Tom poked his tongue out at me and sat on a desk.
"No," he said.
"Let him stay," Ekl said, but she sounded annoyed as well. Tom grinned, and swung his guitar around.
"You can play, but you can't sing," Frog said quickly. Tom pouted at us, strumming his guitar gently.
"I wonder where the rat came from," I said, thinking about the wet three and a half hours we had spent on the oval.
"Mutant," Tom said, without stopping his playing. I frowned at him.
"A mutant?" I asked. "Tom, that is the most stupidest, lame-ass--"
Suddenly, a very large, yellow rodent leapt onto the tables from behind one of the computers.