Riley Mack Stirs Up More Trouble Read Free Page A

that his team was fully assembled. “Is she really trying to bump you out of the competition by sabotaging your act?”
    â€œNot me ,” said Briana. “This is way worse. Sara, Brooke, and Kaylie are out to crush the fifth graders!”
    â€œWhich ones?” demanded Jamal, the only fifth grader currently seated at the table.
    â€œStaci Evans and that bunch. Six of them are doing this dynamite roller-skating act that’s absolutely fabtastic ! I saw them rehearsing it on Friday.”
    Jamal nodded. “I helped choreograph a few of their smoother moves.”
    â€œSo what makes you think Sara wants to sabotage the roller skaters?” asked Riley.
    â€œOkay, this is way weird. I was in my bedroom, working on my makeup like I said, when I got this text. From Sara!”
    â€œInteresting.”
    â€œYuh-hunh. I figure it was a mistake because I’m still in her phonebook or whatever.”
    Riley knew that, last year, in the sixth grade, Briana had been Sara Paxton’s “fourth musketeer.” But, the instant seventh grade started, Queen Bee Sara and her two other “best friends forever,” Brooke Newton and Kaylie Holland, had turned on Briana and made her their primary target.
    â€œSo, what’d the text say?” asked Jake, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
    â€œHang on,” said Briana as she pulled her iPhone out of the baggy hip pocket of her granny dress: “‘MEET ME AT SKATE TOWN. NOW! IT’S TIME FOR OUR COMPETITION TO HAVE AN ACCIDENT.’”

3
    â€œSO, ANYWAY,” SAID BRIANA, “SINCE I was already in disguise and everything, I decided to head over to Skate Town and spy on them!”
    Skate Town was a small shop on Main Street that specialized in skates and skating gear. Roller skates, rollerblades, and skateboards in the warm months; hockey skates and figure skates in the cold ones.
    â€œWhat’d you find out?” asked Riley.
    â€œTwo things. One: this is an absolutely amazeriffic disguise. Nobody knew I was even in the store. I spent most of my time flipping through Spandex pants on a circular rack. Two: Sara, Brooke, and Kaylie were totally flirting with Disco Dan, the high school dude behind the counter—you know, the one who never buttons the top three buttons of his shiny shirt?”
    â€œDid you hear what they were talking about?”
    â€œNun-unh. Just a bunch of giggles from the girls and ‘Right on!’ from Disco Dan. He is so-o-o-o stuck in the seventies. His hair is sproingier than a full-blown Chia Pet. And who wears purple-tinted sunglasses— indoors ?”
    â€œOkay,” said Riley. “We need to check this out. Jake? How late is Skate Town open?”
    â€œHang on.” Jake swiped his fingers across the glass face of his smartphone. “According to their website, they’re ‘open Sundays till six.’”
    â€œExcellent. It’s time to put together our countersabotage response.”
    Mongo raised his hand. “Um, Riley, don’t we have to figure out what Sara and the mean girls are going to do before we can stop them from doing it?”
    â€œExactly.”
    â€œWell, whatever it is,” said Jamal, “I’m sure it is foul and heinous. You know what that means?”
    Riley just shrugged because he knew Jamal would tell him.
    â€œIt means Sara Paxton and her associates are up to some kind of chicanery. You know what chicanery means?”
    â€œThe same thing as heinous?” said Mongo.
    â€œNo! Chicanery means ‘dirty tricks’! Sara Paxton and her posse are attempting to steal this talent competition from people with talent!”
    â€œWhich would be everybody except them,” said Briana.
    â€œOkay, Briana?” said Riley. “Head home. Get out of your costume and makeup. We may need some voice work this afternoon.”
    â€œWho am I gonna pretend to be this time?”
    â€œDon’t