How to Outfox Your Friends When You Don't Have a Clue Read Free Page A

answering more questions. Mr. Nicholson noticed too, snapping his fingers and pointing. “Bella! You’re up!”
    She blinked at her desk but spoke clearly. “Um, I loved Egyptian stuff as a little kid,” she said tentatively. “I guess you could say that influenced me. I tried to cut my hair like Cleopatra once.”
    Mr. Nicholson tossed her a tiny snail eraser. “Yes! That’s a great example.” I caught Bella’s eye and gave her a sneaky thumbs-up beside my desk.
    He scanned the room again, observing our blank faces. “You know, Cleopatra was the last pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, renowned for her beauty. Sort of like a Kardashian, only this was long before the time of all your iPods and iPads and iThingies. Write this down.” He cleared his throat dramatically. “Cleopatra did not take selfies.”
    The class tittered. Mr. Nicholson could be pretty cool for an old guy.
    â€œWhen I was a little kid, I was influenced by Batman,” he said, gathering a stack of papers from his desk. “I wanted to wear a cape everywhere and tried to go around fighting crime. In fact…” he said, leaning over to lift the bottom of his pant leg. “Some things never change.”
    The class gasped in goofy delight as he showed off the bright-yellow bat signal on his socks.
    â€œNice!” Eric exclaimed, nodding with approval. I couldn’t help but agree. For some reason, knowing my teacher was a giant nerd made me feel a lot more comfortable with my own inner geek-ball.
    He grinned. “You see? Sometimes the things that influence us stick with us for life. Sometimes they’re temporary and help us get through certain stages. Each of us is different, and because you guys are almost halfway through the year and going into big, bad high school next year, I thought now was the perfect opportunity to mark your time in eighth grade by creating something to show me who, or what, influences you now. It will be like a time capsule of sorts that you can look back on when you’re old and gray.”
    He began handing out the papers to the front of every row, making sure every student got one. I swiped the crisp paper from my desk and carefully stuck it in my binder, handing the rest of the pile behind me. Mr. Nicholson’s usual bold, dark font stared back at me, outlining the project along with some fill-in-the-blank prompts to help us begin.
    Five Influences in My Life—
A Media Project by:
    Already my mind was buzzing with ideas. As much work as new projects were, there was something deliciously fun about starting something different. Like having a gigantic sandwich in front of you that you couldn’t wait to dig into.
    Ashley’s hand shot up. “Um, Mr. Nicholson?” I could tell by the way her cheek puffed out a little that she was doing her best to hide her gum. Mr. Nicholson hated gum.
    â€œYes, Ashley?” He looked up from his own handout.
    â€œWhat exactly does the ‘media’ part mean?” she asked, holding up the sheet. “It says here, ‘A Media Project’?” Ashley squinted suspiciously.
    â€œGood question,” he said, sitting on his desk. “Does anyone know what media is?”
    I lifted my hand. “Is it a way of communicating?” I ventured.
    He tossed me a tiny unicorn eraser. “You got it. Media is the plural for medium. But not like ‘in the middle’ medium like an order of fries. This is stuff like newspapers, blog posts, videos, newscasts, magazines. Those are all forms of media. Once you’ve decided on your influences—and they can be people, places, things, even fictional characters—I want you to use one of the types of media listed to tell me about them.”
    A small grin curled at my lips. As far as projects went, this one rated pretty high on the Awesome Scale.
    Mr. Nicholson continued. “As you can see from your handout, you’ll have two weeks to