GO! GO! GO!

Sal’s job was to cut the lights. She was positioned near the stairwell leading to the basement, where the fuse box was located. I saw her looking over at me and Ellie and Nico behind the curtains, waiting for the final go-ahead, while Mayor Coogan droned on. Sal raised her eyebrows in a question.

I was about to give the thumbs-up to start things rolling when an image of Principal Stricker suddenly flashed into my mind.

I’d been given this trip to Australia as a gift from the towns of Hills Village and Shark’s Bay. If we did this thing—if we followed through with Operation ROCK and everyone knew I’d caused so much trouble here—Principal Stricker would not be happy. Nobody would be happy—not Mom, not either of the mayors, not a single one of the good citizens of Shark’s Bay other than the Outsiders.

But it was the thought of how Principal Stricker would react that sent a shiver of pure fear trickling down my spine. I could feel her disapproval vibrating all the way across the Pacific Ocean.

At that moment, Ellie reached out and squeezed my hand. She must have known I was wavering. I don’t know how, but she just did, and the quick touch of her hand gave me all the confidence I needed.

I gave Sal the thumbs-up. She nodded and ducked out of sight, down the stairwell. Stage one had begun.

“You ready?” Ellie said.

Before I could reply, all the lights went out in the lobby and we were plunged into blackness. There were a couple of jokey screams and a few people started laughing.

“Someone forgot to pay the power bill!” Kell shouted.

“At least it stopped the speeches!” someone else shouted.

“Initiate stage two,” I whispered to Nico.

I heard some rustling in the dark as Nico fumbled for a switch hidden somewhere inside the asteroid costume. Nico was the Outsiders’ expert on lighting and sets. Mikey and Dingbat were in their positions in the basement, making sure we had power.

From under the bubbling water in the pool at the foot of the waterfall, an eerie green light began to glow. A thin mist drifted up from its surface. Green shadows danced spookily across the walls, and the lobby grew strangely quiet. People began to cluster around the edge of the pool.

“Wow,” I whispered. “That looks great!”

“I went for the zombie-apocalypse look,” Nico replied.

“It’s the end of the world!” Bradley yelled, but no one laughed.

“What on earth…?” I heard Biff Coogan say.

I saw Forest DeAndrew starting to look interested for the first time all evening. It was all the incentive I needed.

“Do it,” I whispered to Ellie.

She picked up her remote control and thumbed the On switch, and we moved to stage three of Operation ROCK.

I ignored Principal Stricker’s and the Hills Village mayor’s imaginary voices expelling me from the middle school and the town. That’s the great thing about imaginary people.

Besides, it was too late to stop now.