Brain Freeze! Read online

The following Monday at school, I tried to act normal. There was a picture of me and Grandpa and Captain Corgi in the paper. So far, no one had said anything to me about it. I guess they didn’t recognize me in my ICK outfit. I knew it would happen: I ran into Wendy C. in the hallway.

  “Hello, Wendy.” I said. “Have a nice weekend?”

  “It’s Wendy C., and you know it, Irwin the butt-bag boy.”

  “From now on, I’m just calling you Wendy. Unless you want me to tell everyone about your evil grandma.”

  “You do that, and I’ll tell everyone your grandpa is Mighty Super Gus.”

  She was good.

  “Fine, Wendy C. it is.” I said.

  “So, I guess we have a pact about keeping our identities secret?” she asked.

  “I guess so,” I said.

  I definitely didn’t want everyone to know what Grandpa and I had going on with the superhero stuff. I hated making a deal with a girl like Wendy C., but I sort of had to. Plus, it was kind of cool to get that first lifelong enemy under my belt. We shook hands and swore to destroy each other . . . and went about our business.

  With all the excitement, and kids being disappointed school wasn’t closed since it had a massive hole in it, I thought Ronnie Herzog might have forgotten about our bet. He hadn’t. After school, the race with Elisha was on. The playground was packed.

  I think half the school was there to watch. I felt sick. I thought about getting an ice cream for superspeed, but I’d promised Grandpa the brain freezes were to be used only for crime fighting. I’d sworn on it.

  I was sweating, and my mouth was so dry I couldn’t stand it. I saw that Trey had a beverage.

  “Dude, let me have a drink. My mouth is totally dry.” I said.

  “No way. I don’t want your gross lips on my straw. That’s disgusting,” he answered.

  “TREY! I’m dying here. C’mon!”

  “All right . . . but you owe me for this,” he said, and

  then handed me his drink. I took a deep slurp of . . . cherry slushie.

  It wasn’t exactly ice cream, but it was enough to give me a slight brain tingle.

  We walked to the starting line drawn in the dirt. Elisha smiled at me.

  “Isn’t this fun?” she giggled.

  Someone yelled “GO!” and we took off. Elisha took a slight lead, but I was actually staying close . . . and then catching up . . . and then passing her right at the finish line! The slushie worked just enough to give me some speed. Or MAYBE I’d gotten faster over the last two days.

  Doubtful.

  Elisha was shocked. EVERYONE was shocked. The boys were going crazy. Someone had finally beaten Elisha in a race. I figured they would probably hold a parade in my honor.

  Then Elisha had to go and ruin my big moment.

  She kissed me and said, “Good race.”

  AAUUGGHH! Good sportsmanship and a smooch. This was horrible. At least Ronnie looked pretty green.

  I kept wiping off my cheek while Trey, Elisha, and I walked home. Elisha would NOT stop talking about the superhero-supervillain showdown. It’s not like it was that big of a deal. Seemed like Mock City was always in some sort of weird trouble. That’s what kept Mighty Super Gus in business all these years. But apparently this latest episode wasn’t handled the way she and the Firecamp Scouts would have handled it. I tuned out until she said, “I heard that little crime-fighter boy has super farting power. Isn’t that gross?!”

  “I, uh, heard that was the dog,” I mumbled.

  Trey had been pretty quiet the whole time. Just kind of listening and “uh-huhing” in agreement now and then. We got to Elisha’s house, and she skipped up the steps and disappeared inside. Strange how someone could be so happy after just losing a race. I guess that’s a big difference between boys and girls. Those things don’t bother them like they do us.

  Trey and I kept walking. He finally got in one shot about the kiss, calling me “lover boy.” We came to my house and I headed up the walkway, exhausted after the last couple of days of nonstop action.

  “Later, dude,” I said to Trey as he kept going.

  Then, I think . . . I’m not sure . . . but I thought I heard him quietly say, “If that pigeon doesn’t work out as a sidekick, you know where to find me.”

  Crud.

  Trey knows.

  The End

  Hey, guys! It’s me, Irwin! You’re not quite done yet! These next couple pages have some cool stuff on them for you to learn! Don’t worry; there won’t be a test on it. Just bonus fun! Like when you think you’re all out of M&Ms and then find one more stuck down in the corner of the bag. Don’t you love it when that happens? Have fun!

  The Ice Cream Kid: Brain Freeze! copyright © 2014 by Todd Clark. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of reprints in the context of reviews.

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  ISBN: 978-1-4494-5849-2

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