Archvillain Read Free Page A

stargazing event in a couple of weeks. Mairi and Kyle had always gone to them together and he didn’t see why that would change now. “Of course.”
    “It’s your turn to bring the snacks.”
    “I know. I’m not an idiot.” That was more true than ever now.
    Mairi punched Kyle in the shoulder. “No one said you were an idiot, you idiot.”
    Kyle grinned back at her, but inside, he was suddenly cold and worried. Mairi was pretty tough; she had a decent punch.
    But when she’d punched him just now … he hadn’t felt a thing.
    By the time they got to school, Kyle was still thinking about that punch. Had Mairi pulled her punch, worried about hurting him since he’d been sick? That made sense.
    At school, he’d barely gotten off the bus when his Great Nemesis swooped into view.
    “Hello, Kyle!” his Great Nemesis burbled.
    “Hello, Great Nemesis.” Kyle gritted his teeth.
    “Oh, Kyle! Are you still calling me that?”
    Melissa Masterton. Bouring Middle School’s guidance counselor. She had been Bouring Elementary School’s guidance counselor and then transferred to the middle school at the same time Kyle started. He was convinced she was stalking him. Isn’t that what a Great Nemesis would do?
    Ms. Master ton was always trying to help Kyle. This was particularly annoying because Kyle didn’t
need
any help. Ms. Masterton called what she did “channeling your energies.” As if Kyle were a raging river that needed a dam.
    She also didn’t seem to understand that Kyle really, genuinely did not like her. She thought he was kidding about the “Great Nemesis” stuff.
    “You’ve been out of school for a week,” she went on. “I want to make sure you don’t need any help getting back on your feet.”
    He glared at Ms. Masterton, who beamed down at him like a deranged grandmother. Her eyes had blue eyeliner all around them and her face was thick with pasty makeup. Kyle wondered how many pounds of makeup she went through in a year. It had to be a lot.
    “I’m on my feet just fine,” he told her. “Standing up and everything.”
    “A long illness can be difficult, especially for someoneas bright and competitive as you are,” she babbled. “You might be afraid that you’ll never catch up.”
    Ha! Kyle had done his missing work and more. He started calculating her makeup poundage, just to make the time pass.
    “So I just want you to know that I talked to your teachers and they’re all willing to give you as much time as you need to get acclimated.” She paused. “Acclimate is a word that means —”
    Become accustomed to a new climate or new conditions,
Kyle thought, still calculating. In lipstick alone, she probably used twenty pounds a year. Eyeliner weighed less, but she probably used more of it, so figure another twenty pounds there.
    “And I just know you’ll do great!” Ms. Masterton went on, and then did the most horrible thing a Great Nemesis could do: She leaned down and hugged Kyle, right there in broad daylight!
    “Now go on inside and don’t be afraid to come to my office if you need to!”
    Kyle broke away from her, grateful that no one had seen that little display.
    Fifty pounds, he settled on. Fifty pounds, ten ounces, to be exact. That’s how much makeup Ms. Masterton went through in a year.
    That’s a kindergartner’s weight in makeup!

CHAPTER
FOUR
    Once he got inside the school, Kyle realized the cold, hard truth: He was in middle school. He had an intellect the size of a moon and he was trapped in the sixth grade. The boredom would crush him like an egg and leave a gross, gooey mess. In truth, “bored” was too small and too normal a word to describe what he felt. School had never been much of a challenge for him, but now he was so smart that his old smartness looked like stupidity, and that made his boredom come alive like a giant wearing steel-toed boots, crushing everything in its path.
    He occupied his mind with other things instead. Like: How had his intelligence