Accidental Hero (Jack Blank Adventure) Read Free

away for Mount Dismoor. He wasn’t thinking about the footsteps on the library’s second floor, inching ever closer. He wasn’t thinking about any of it until he was face-to-face with Rex Staples.
    “Found him, Mrs. Theeeeedwheck!” Rex shouted back in the other direction.
    “Ha!” the old bat shouted back.
    Jack’s face fell. “Oh, great,” he groaned.
    “Whoa,” Rex said, looking at all the comic books. “You’re in trouble now, Weirdo Face.”
    “Don’t call me that,” Jack said, standing up.
    “Who’s gonna stop me?” Rex asked, shoving Jack back down to the ground.
    Rex stood over Jack and snickered. He had a pudgy face with freckles, spiky hair, and big teeth. He was the same age as Jack, but he was twice the size. At times like this, Jack really wished he had superpowers like the characters in his comics. Rex picked on him all the time. Calling him names, pushing him around, spilling coffee on his drawings… that’s right, Rex drank coffee. A twelve-year-old who drank coffee! He was a classic bully, but no matter what Rex did, somehow Jack was always the one who wound up in trouble.
    “Good work, Rex!” Mrs. Theedwheck declared as she made her way through the stacks of books toward the two boys. “I knew you were up here, Jack, I just kn— oh my goodnessl Are those comic books?”
    “Yes, ma’am,” Jack replied in a sullen voice. What else could he say? He was caught red-handed.
    “The comic books I told you to throw away?!” Mrs.Theedwheck let out a horrified gasp. “That was years ago!”
    Jack just stood there looking guilty while Rex smiled on.
    “This explains everything,” Mrs. Theedwheck said, still in shock. “Why you won’t behave, why you never listen… it’s these! These ridiculous magazines poisoning your brain with nonsense! Childish nonsense! This is why you’re always such a problem!”
    “It’s why he’s always such a weirdo,” Rex added.
    “At least I’m not a snitch,” Jack said to Rex, who immediately punched him in the shoulder. “Ow!” Jack yelled. “Mrs. Theedwheck, are you just going to let him hit me?”
    “You deserved that,” Mrs. Theedwheck scolded. “Calling Rex names when he’s only being responsible,” she added, shaking her head. “Young man, when are you going to grow up?”
    “Grow up?” Jack said. “I’m only twelve years old.”
    “Well! When I was your age, I was much older than that!” Mrs. Theedwheck fired back. “Mr. Calhoun is going to hear about this, Jack. You can count on that. And as for all of these absurd comical books, this time we are going to throw them out. Rex, before you get back on the bus, Iwant you to put every one of these childish publications in the incinerator.”
    “No!” Jack yelled, and the lights in the room suddenly grew brighter, before fading down to their regular levels.
    “What in the world?” Mrs. Theedwheck wondered aloud.
    “It’s Jack,” Rex said. “He’s messing with the lights!”
    “What are you talking about?” Jack said. “I am not!” The lights grew incredibly bright again, then slowly returned to normal.
    Mrs. Theedwheck went to the window and saw sparks coming off the electric fence. “Calm down, Rex, it’s just the rain shorting out our fence. It drains the power from the school’s generator. This won’t happen when we get the new one.”
    “I’m telling you, it’s him, Mrs. Theedwheck. This kind of crazy stuff always happens with him,” Rex said. “Like with the bus breaking down, or that time Jack broke my calculator in the middle of a math test.”
    “That was my calculator!” Jack replied. “You stole it from me! And I didn’t break it!” The lights intensified to their brightest setting yet.
    “It’s him, Mrs. Theedwheck! He’s doing it! Make him stop!”
    “I’m not doing anything!” Jack said, raising his voice for the last time, as the lightbulb above them surged with power until it blew out with a crash.
    “Oh!” Mrs. Theedwheck