Diary of a 6th Grade Ninja (a hilarious adventure for children ages 9-12) by Marcus Emerson, Sal Hunter, Noah Child Page B

understand her question. “What do you mean?”
    “About this school. What do you want to know about this
school? I imagine most schools are the same, but there’s gotta be a couple differences here and there.
What’d you do at your old school?”
    I thought about it for a moment. “I didn’t do much. I was in
the art club, but that’s about it.”
    “That’s fun,” Zoe said as she started skipping along the
track.
    Zoe reminded me of my sister, Lucy, who was also somewhere
in the building, adjusting to life as a new student. To be fair, it was far
easier for her since she was in third grade. Most third graders barely even
know they exist. They haven’t become “self aware” yet – like artificial
intelligence that hasn’t realized it has an identity.
    Zoe spoke in an excited manner, which was surprisingly
contagious. “There’s a ton of stuff to do here. Not a lot of schools
have as much as us. Buchanan actually prides itself on how huge of a selection
we have. There’s all kinds of sports teams, different
groups, and a bunch of random clubs you can join. I’m sure there’s an art club
somewhere around here. I’ll help you find it.”
    I nodded my head, but was distracted by some movement out of
the corner of my eye. It was the edge of the track where the tree line was the
thickest. I stopped in place and stared for a second to see if anything moved
again, but nothing did.
    “What is it?” Zoe asked.
    I kept staring into the dense foliage. It was just a mess of
green leaves and heavy shadows - except for a pair of the whitest eyes I’d ever
seen. I froze in place and rubbed my eyes. Am I seeing things straight or was
it part of the “first day jitters” that Zoe and I spoke about? When I looked
again, they were gone.

    “I guess I just…” I stopped talking when I looked at Zoe’s
face.
    Zoe was standing behind me with her eyes peeled wide open,
staring into the same spot in the tree line that I was studying only seconds
ago. “Did you see that?” she asked.
    A chill ran down my spine. “I did. Do you know what it was?”
    She shook her head and started walking along the track again.
“Come on. Let’s get out of here. I think I’d rather not get eaten by a
creature in the woods today.”
    I knew it wasn’t a monster that we had seen. I’m not that
into scary stories and watch enough with my dad to know that monsters are fake…
at least I think they’re fake. At that moment, I didn’t feel the need to
test that theory so I caught up with Zoe and we spent the rest of class making
jokes to distract ourselves from whatever it was that had spied on us.
    Little did I know that it was the first time I’d ever seen a
ninja. I’d do anything to take that moment back and just keep walking. Of
course, that’s not how it turned out, and my curiosity got the better of me.

 
    Tuesday. 10:30 AM. Gym class.

 
    The next day, Mr. Cooper took attendance as he did before. I
was surprised that he remembered who I was. As he approached me, he said my
name and checked me off the list.
    Zoe hadn’t left the girl’s locker room yet so I was stuck in
the gymnasium standing by myself. I pushed my hands into my pockets and watched
the other kids laugh and make jokes with each other before the class officially
started. A couple of them even glanced in my direction. I didn’t hear what they
said, but I’m pretty sure it was about me.
    “Hey, new kid,” said a voice from behind me.
    I turned around and was met by a taller student. He was very
plain looking with slicked back brown hair. It’s possible that it was greasy,
but it’s also possible he just used way too much gel. “Me?” I asked.
    The brown haired boy outstretched his arms. “I don’t see any
other new kids around here, do you?”
    I glanced around. “Uh, I guess I wouldn’t know.”
    “Of course not,” he said as he held out his hand. “My name’s Brayden , and you just passed my test .”
    I shook his cold clammy hand. It was