Extraordinary Losers 3 Read Free Page B

sure what caused my feet to feel heavier. It must have been those stupid shoes!” He pointed to them, a pair of luminous green Nike shoes with orange ticks emblazoned on them.
    â€œWoah… Cool!” I said, my first reaction that of envy. I looked at my white muddy shoes, the kind that gave you corns and blisters and could be bought from any provision shop in the heartlands. It had no logo, no striking shoelaces and only an embarrassing velcro strap that announced to the whole world that my shoes cost just $10.
    â€œNot so cool! Those shoes are the cause of my downfall! They failed me!” Clandestino ranted.
    Janice finished up her donut, dusted her fingers and ran to retrieve the condemned shoes.
    â€œLooks perfectly normal to me,” she said, analysing them. “No holes or tears and your soles are all intact.”
    â€œWait, let me see!” I grabbed the shoes from Janice.
    â€œIt’s no use. I have lost the race! Because of ME, Red House has lost! That’s all that matters! Nothing we do can change things.” Clandestino sunk deeper into his seat.
    I wasn’t about to give up. Something must have caused his loss. Clandestino, the fastest boy in the whole of Brightstar and possibly the whole of Singapore, stumbled because of a pair of super cool Nike shoes? It couldn’t be so simple…

CHAPTER 3: SNIFF MY SHOES?
    While Clandestino was wallowing in sadness, I was determined to get to the bottom of this.
    I brought the shoes close to my eye level and examined them closely. They didn’t feel heavy. On the contrary, they were light, sleek and there was a certain aerodynamic feel about them. They felt almost like a paper plane that would soar through the skies if aimed correctly.
    As I held them close to my face to examine every feature, I caught a whiff of something strange. I couldn’t be sure. It was a faint whiff. Was it dog poo? I waved the shoe in front of me again. That same smell wafted to my nose again! It was more like a fume. Nail polish? My sister and mum were nail polish fans and some bottles had really really odd names like I Lilac You, Scarlet Fever, Thanks A Latte, and No Place Like Chrome.
    I brought the shoes close to my nose one last time. This time, in a brave attempt, I decided to sniff the soles. It was then I realised why Clandestino had stumbled, why his legs had felt heavy and why Adam and Leonard had congratulated each other with a high-five.
    â€œHey, Clan! Hey, Janice!” I yelled. “Smell this!”
    I offered the shoes to Janice, dangling them by their orange laces.
    â€œI can’t smell anything!” Janice whined.

    â€œCloser!”
    She came closer, took a deep breath and then looked at me incredulously.
    â€œYeah so?”
    â€œWhat do you mean, yeah so?” I said.
    Janice brought the shoes closer and inhaled deeply. “Eeeww! Glue!”
    Clandestino’s eyes widened. “Did you say glue?”
    â€œYES!” Janice and I chorused. “SUPER TOXIC SUPER GLUE.”
    â€œLet me see!” He rose and seized the shoes brusquely. In my opinion, the shoes deserved more tender loving care than that! If I were the owner of those $200 shoes, I would probably polish them, frame them up, tweet about them, post photos of them on Facebook a few times and use them as my WhatsApp profile picture.
    Clandestino sniffed the soles of the shoes. “Ah choo!” The smell had released his mucus floodgates. “Ah choo! Yeah, it is really glue!” He wiped his wet nose with his sleeve. Eeeww.
    By then, all the pupils had gathered on the field to watch the winning house receive their trophy. Madam Siti, our Science teacher, was making sure no one was left out. “Children, come down to assemble here!”
    It was almost 12 noon, way past her classroom time, and she had no patience for lingering children. Like me, Madam Siti was not into Sports Day. In fact, she was clinging to a stack of worksheets