Katfish Read online

  CHAPTER 19

  BLACKED OUT

  I played my wood block and Trevor played the guiro pretty well. It was actually fun, but I was still uneasy about what Kat had said to Mark. When our third song ended, the crowd cheered like we had done something good. We all took a bow.

  Before we could set down our instruments and the funstival officially ended, Mark stepped up to the microphone to make a surprise announcement. Everyone leaned forward as if what was about to be announced was going to change the world. Even I was excited until Mark said,

  Mark didn’t need to remind the school. They all knew I had lied to them and ruined our dance. But not only had Mark reminded them, he was now talking about me singing. I couldn’t believe it. I could hear the words he was saying, but they were so shocking my ears were having a fit.

  I couldn’t sing. I could barely whistle. I knew that somehow Kat was involved in this. She and Mark had been talking, and this was the result. Well, there was no way I was going to sing. I didn’t even know any songs. I looked at Principal Smelt, hoping he would clear things up. Apparently, that wasn’t the plan.

  Principal Smelt and Mr. Pickel pushed me into the light of the single spotlight shining down. Trevor lifted his guiro as if to salute and cheer me on. The gymnasium was dark, but I could still make out the crowd staring me down.

  I couldn’t believe this was happening! I had nothing to sing. The room went completely quiet. Even the really little kids shut up to give me the best possible chance to embarrass myself.

  I cleared my throat and scanned the crowd, trying to think of what to say. I wanted everyone to know that I was sorry, but there was no way I was going to sing about it. I felt like Katniss in The Hunger Games as she was forced to be the tribute and play the game. The biggest difference is that she was brave and capable and probably could sing if she had needed to. As I was looking out, I noticed that in the dark, back behind the crowd, Kat was pulling herself up and leaning over the side of the dunk tank. She snatched a bow and arrow off the back of some kid dressed as Robin Hood.

  Then she let the arrow fly. I just stood there with my mouth open as it sailed over my head.

  The arrow flew across the room and hit the switch to the spotlight. The light went out, making the gymnasium completely dark. Before anyone could react, a beautiful voice filled the air.

  It was Kat singing, but the room was dark and the acoustics were making it difficult to tell exactly where the singing was coming from. Before the lights went out, I had been standing there looking like I was about to sing, so I had a bad feeling that everyone thought it was me.

  I don’t know what the song was that Kat was singing, but the words were horrible. Her voice was really beautiful. In the dark I could see how some-one might think it was a really lovely boy’s voice. I just stood there wondering if I should scream out to let people know it wasn’t me. I threw my hands up to holler, but as the verse ended and I was standing there with my mouth hanging open, someone turned the lights back on.

  Kat had stopped singing. The crowd was completely quiet. I could see Janae. I was so embarrased. I knew that I would now probably need to move to some glass bubble at the bottom of the sea to get away from everyone.

  The silence ended as everyone in the crowd began to laugh. Principal Smelt slapped me on the back.

  People thought what I had done was funny. They had no idea that Kat’s heartfelt song was anything other than me trying to make them laugh.

  People kept slapping me on the back and telling me how clever and funny I was.

  I tried my hardest to act like I had been in on the joke, but I was more concerned about Kat. She wasn’t in the dunk tank any longer, and I knew that she needed water. I got Trevor, and we pushed through the crowd to find Kat. She wasn’t behind any of the other booths or displays.

  CHAPTER 20

  BAFFLING

  Trevor and I split up to see if we could find Kat faster that way. As I was running behind the school, dodging families and students heading to their cars, I saw Janae. She was walking by herself, and she didn’t look as mad at me as she had in the past.

  I was surprised she was even talking to me. I expected her to either ignore me or yell. I had hurt her feelings, and to make things even more awkward, I had just sung in front of the whole community.

  I couldn’t remember what I had sung. I knew the words were kind of dumb, but I couldn’t remember what the message was. But Janae was smiling at me and she had said she liked it, so I went with it.

  Janae handed me one of the small pieces of white paper we had cut up and put into those balloons a few days ago.

  The water had smudged it in my favor this time. What Jack had written was “Rob never likes making you mad,” but it had gotten smeared just perfectly. I looked at Janae.

  For the record, I want to let you know that apologizing is pretty cool. I mean, most of the time saying you’re sorry is kind of painful. Apologizing to Janae was different. Janae leaned in and kissed me. I’d draw a picture of it, but the moment seemed a little

  I dropped my wood block, and it knocked against the ground. Janae stepped back and smiled at me. I returned the smile as she walked away, leaving me to wonder about what just happened.

  My confused thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a car horn. I looked up to see Trevor hanging out the front seat window of Tim Knollmiller’s mom’s station wagon.

  I ran up to the car and hopped into the back seat. Kat was sitting there, looking happy to see me. She was smiling as if she knew she had accomplished what she needed to.

  Trevor had found Kat hiding in the school’s fountain out front. She had dragged herself there, looking for water. After Trevor found Kat he spotted Tim and talked him into giving us a ride to my house. Like everyone else, Tim thought Kat was wearing a costume. Tim was also happy to give us a ride.

  Before I could explain to Tim why we didn’t want to hang out with him or eat any of his family’s groceries, Kat spoke up.

  I figured I would get Kat home and then decide what to do after that. Tim pulled out of the parking lot and drove quickly down the street to my house. I was happy Tim knew how to go fast. It was pretty important that we beat my parents home. When we got to my house I was relieved to see that my family hadn’t beat us. Trevor and I got Kat out of the car and thanked Tim.

  We said no three times and Tim left. We then carried Kat through the front door. I was going to take her to the swimming pool, but she had other plans.

  Kat insisted, so we carried her down the hall. Before we could get there, we ran into one more obstacle.

  The house was dark, and I had forgotten that Libby was home. She was wearing her ratty robe with her hair up and some sort of green mud on her face. Her eyes were covered with cucumber slices, so she couldn’t see that I was holding a mermaid. We pushed past Libby, and she yelled at me,

  We got to my room and shut the door. I turned on my bedroom light.

  Libby had looked a lot like the sea witch in The Little Mermaid movie. I would have to remember that insult. Trevor and I set Kat on my bed. She was smiling, but I could tell that she needed water and needed it soon.

  Kat looked toward my closet and smiled. At that same moment, Beardy clicked and the closet door opened an inch.

  I was hoping Wonk or Hairy might pop out again. I wouldn’t have minded seeing Pinocula, but nothing came out. I realized what was about to happen and looked Kat in the eyes.

  I couldn’t think of what to say. I knew Kat couldn’t stay forever. I also knew that I had probably reached the limit of where I could hide her. Of all the creatures from my closet, Kat had been the most honest and straightforward. She’d come to help me, and judging by the kiss Janae had given me earlier and everybody at school being nice again, I think she had succeeded.

  Kat didn’t answer. She nodded toward my dresser. There, on top, were the items Wonk and Hairy had left me. Next to those items were Kat’s bow and arrows. She had instructed Jack to put them there after r
inging the gong. Trevor was a little hurt that Kat wasn’t giving anything to him, so she quickly made something up.

  Kat then leaned in and gave Trevor a kiss on the cheek. That made him say “Wow” even louder.

  I helped Kat over to the closet. Before reaching for Beardy, she turned and gave me a hug. I don’t want to be obnoxious or anything. I mean, my parents have always taught me to be humble, but I was really hitting it off with the ladies tonight.

  Kat grabbed Beardy and pulled the door open a bit more. She then hopped a few inches behind the door and looked back at me.

  Kat smiled. She hopped a few more inches and then disappeared into the closet. A giant wave followed.

  Everything in my room was soaked. Beardy shut the door behind her and stared straight ahead like he usually did. I could tell from his expression that he had locked things up tight.

  Trevor left through my window, and my parents came home a few minutes later. My dad stuck his head into my bedroom and congratulated me on my singing.

  It was hard for me to fall asleep. Kat had come quickly and changed things for the better. I guess I’m not really sure what I should write down here. I know that it’s important for me to be keeping track of these things, but as weird as my closet was, it was finally beginning to feel pretty normal.

  I read Catching Fire for half an hour and then I did what I knew must be done. I grabbed everything off my dresser, climbed out my window, and snuck down the street to Mr. Foote’s yard. I wasn’t as good with the bow and arrow as Kat was. On my third try I hit the gong.

  After ringing the gong I ran home and put the items back on my dresser before crawling into bed. I was actually pretty happy. I was happy to know that things might be smoother at school. I was happy that Janae and I were on good terms. And I was happy that all closets were not created equal. My happiness helped me sleep well. It’s almost as if I had nothing to worry about. Of course, maybe I should have looked under my bed.

  Praise for

  THE CREATURE FROM

  MY CLOSET SERIES

  “Original and hilarious.”

  —School Library Journal

  “Highly amusing new series starter.… Skye gives Rob a self-deprecating charm and highlights the pleasures of books both subtly and effectively.”

  —Booklist

  “This pitch-perfect offering should appeal to reluctant readers, not to mention the legion of Wimpy Kid fans.”

  —Shelf Awareness

  “Skye captures all the silly action in the winning text-plus-cartoons format.…”

  —Publishers Weekly

  “The text is hysterical by itself, but acts as the straight man in relation to the one-two punch of the childlike drawings and captions.… Get multiple copies of this book: it will fly off the shelves.”

  —School Library Journal

  Henry Holt and Company, LLC

  Publishers since 1866

  175 Fifth Avenue

  New York, New York 10010

  mackids.com

  Henry Holt® is a registered trademark of Henry Holt and Company, LLC.

  Copyright © 2014 by Obert Skye.

  All rights reserved.

  eBooks may be purchased for business or promotional use. For information on bulk purchases, please contact Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department by writing to [email protected].

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Skye, Obert.

  Katfish / Obert Skye. — First edition.

  pages cm — (The creature from my closet; 4)

  Summary: Principal Smelt has created the Fun-ger Games for Softrock Middle School’s students, and Rob Burnside, his life in ruins, hopes that Katfish, a cross between Katniss and the Little Mermaid created in Rob’s closet, will help with game tips, advice about girls, and how to get people to stop hating him.

  ISBN 978-0-8050-9690-3 (hardback)

  ISBN 978-1-62779-247-9 (e-book)

  [1. Middle schools—Fiction. 2. Schools—Fiction. 3. Interpersonal relations—Fiction. 4. Family life—Fiction. 5. Monsters—Fiction. 6. Humorous stories.] I. Title.

  PZ7.S62877Kat 2014 [Fic]—dc23 2014017003

  First Edition—2014

  eISBN 9781627792479