Thunder on the Plains by Gary Robinson Page B

school. I know you can do it, sport.” He winked at me as the car pulled away. I hated being called “sport.”
    And they didn’t know about Willy.

Chapter 2
Moments of Brilliance
    By noon I was feeling better about the day. My math test had been easier than I expected. I only had to fake it on a few of the questions. There was a substitute teacher in language arts who showed us a film about William Shakespeare. And in social studies, the teacher told me my Civil War report looked “interesting.”
    That afternoon I had science and computer lab, my two favorite subjects. So all I had to do was dodge Willy Phillips during lunch. Then I’d be home free.
    I found Jesse in the lunchroom and sat down beside him. Jesse is my best friend. He’s a Latino boy who likes a lot of the same things I do. We ate lunch together most days. After lunch we would go to science and computer lab together.
    â€œHey, Jesse, what’s for lunch?” He had gotten a tray of cafeteria food. I could tell he was trying to figure out exactly which food group each item was from.
    â€œToday is Monday, so I guess this must be last Wednesday’s meatloaf disguised as lasagna,” he said, cutting into the food like a surgeon operating on a patient.
    I opened my brown paper bag to see what my mother had packed for lunch.
    â€œBoy, have I got a surprise for you,” Jesse said in a whisper. He looked around to see if anyone was watching.
    â€œI think the coast is clear,” I told him, also whispering. “What are we whispering for?”
    Jesse opened a notebook. He took out a piece of paper and slipped it to me.
    â€œWith my devilish mind and your computer wizardry, what sort of chaos can we create with this?” he asked.
    I looked at the paper. It was a sheet of stationery from the principal’s office. It had the school’s name, address, and officialschool seal at the top. The principal’s name was printed at the bottom.
    â€œWhere did you get this?” I asked.
    â€œI just lifted it from Mr. Rippleton’s desk this morning when he wasn’t looking.”
    â€œWhat were you doing in the principal’s office?” My eyes widened.
    â€œJust clearing up a little dispute about who glued Mrs. Wright’s locker shut last week,” Jesse said.
    â€œWell, this really isn’t much use without Mr. Rippleton’s signature.”
    â€œWhich you have on the note he wrote when you almost got suspended last month.”
    â€œWhich I happen to have right here!”
    I dug around in my backpack. I knew it was in there somewhere. By the time I found it, an idea had hatched in my mind. It was an idea that was perfect for computer lab. Where do these moments of brilliance come from? For some reason, I failed to see the trouble it could cause me.
    That afternoon in computer lab I waited for just the right moment. It came while theteacher was busy helping someone with a question. I placed the stationery on the lab’s scanner and scanned it into the lab’s computer. Then, when the teacher was busy putting a new cartridge in another printer, I scanned the principal’s signature into the computer. The final step was to put both files on my flash drive. When this was done, I gave Jesse the thumbs-up sign. We were good to go.
    â€œWhat’s with the thumbs up, Daniel?” the teacher asked. He took me by surprise.
    â€œAre you pretending to be the emperor of Rome? And now you’re going to allow the gladiator to live?”
    â€œNo, Mr. Saunders.” I had to think fast. “Jesse and I had a little bet about who could finish this software problem first. I won.” I laughed nervously and glanced at Jesse.
    â€œOh, I see.” I don’t think he really believed me. But another student asked a question just then and saved me. I sighed with great relief and held up the flash drive to show Jesse.
    When school was out for the day, I had Jesse