CHAPTER 1
Max Stinson hit the ground hard and got a mouthful of mud. Over the sound of his own coughing, he heard mean laughter.
“Have a good trip, Max,” a nasty voice said from above him. “See you next fall!”
Max looked up and saw Alex Werme, the biggest, meanest boy in the sixth grade. His goons were with him too. Each of them would have been happy to be the school bully if Alex hadn’t claimed the title.
Max stayed where he was. Whevener Alex was around, Max always seemed to end up in a mud puddle.
“See ya, Max,” Alex added as he lightly kicked Max’s shoulder. As he walked away, Alex muttered, “Sooner than you think.”
Pulling himself up onto his knees, Max saw his best friend, Owen Juele, walking toward him. Max and Owen had grown up on the same block and spent every afternoon after school together. Both of Owen’s parents worked full time, so they always went to Max’s house.
Owen came to a stop next to Max. He made sure to keep his sneakers just out of the mud puddle.
“Come on,” Owen said. He held out his hand. “They’re gone.”
“Thanks a lot,” said Max. “You could have helped me before they tripped me into the mud.”
“Then I would have ended up in the mud too,” said Owen. “Sounds like a bad idea.”
Max grunted and climbed to his feet, knocking Owen’s hand away. “Some friend you are,” he said.
Suddenly, he spotted something that made him forget all about Owen. His backpack — packed full of all the junk he’d finally cleaned out of his locker — was sitting in the mud, soaked.
“Oh, no,” Max said. “My mom is going to kill me.”
“Yeah,” said Owen. “Probably.”
Max sighed and grabbed his bag. “Let’s just get out of here,” he grumbled.
“Hey,” said Owen, patting his friend on the shoulder. “At least the paintball league starts tomorrow. That’ll give you something to look forward to.”
“Maybe Alex and his friends will join,” said Max with a sneer. “I’d love to cover all of them with splotches of paint.”
He wiped mud off the face of his watch and checked the time. “Speaking of the league, we’d better hurry,” he said. “Sign-ups already started.”
With that, the boys climbed on their bikes and headed off.