CHAPTER TWELVE

“I’m sorry, Marco,” Nisha said quickly, clamping her hand over her mouth. “I shouldn’t have said that. I found your letter in your trashcan, but I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“Wait, you were digging through our trash?” asked Logan.

“I was looking for more 3-D goggles!” Nisha explained. “I thought I could make a pair of glasses for each of us. But I found Marco’s letter to his parents instead.”

“What did it say?” asked Maddy.

Nisha shook her head. “I’m sorry, Marco,” she said, her eyes rimmed with guilt. “Please don’t be mad.”

Marco tried to swallow the Shroomish in his throat. He wasn’t mad exactly. Just scared, as usual. Scared that his friends would think he was a big baby if they knew the truth.

But now he had no choice. He had to tell them.

“I’m afraid to ride the zip line.”

The words sounded tinny and far away, as if someone else had said them. And the silence that followed seemed like an eternity. Marco kept talking, just to fill it. But he kept his eyes on the floor.

“I didn’t want you guys to know how scared I was. Because you’re all so brave—you’re not scared of anything.”

When Marco finally glanced up at his friends, Maddy was smiling.

“That’s dumb,” she said.

“What?” Marco almost laughed out loud. “Why is it dumb?”

“It’s dumb because everybody is scared of something.” Maddy hesitated and then said, “I’m scared of the water. Because I don’t know how to swim.”

This time, everyone whirled around to face Maddy.

“Really?” said Nisha. “Is that why you wouldn’t go in the canoe?”

Maddy nodded as she stroked Dedenne’s head.

Marco felt something warm spread through his insides. “Thanks for telling me, Maddy,” he said. “That was pretty brave.”

Hearing Maddy’s confession did make him feel better. But still, he thought, she’s younger than me. She’s supposed to be scared of more things.

And Logan was being awfully quiet. Does he think I’m a loser? Marco wondered.

“Everybody’s scared of something,” Maddy repeated.

“Not Logan,” Marco couldn’t help arguing.

But his friend surprised him by sitting up on the couch. “That’s not exactly true.”

“He’s scared of bats,” said Maddy matter-of-factly.

“No, he’s not!” said Marco. “He thought the bat at the cave was funny. Right?”

But Logan wouldn’t look at him. And that’s when Marco knew the truth: Logan was scared of bats. He really was!

“So … did you hurt your ankle for real?” asked Nisha slowly, as if choosing her words carefully. “Or were you just afraid to go inside the cave today?”

Logan’s cheeks turned crimson. “Both. I mean I did hurt my ankle, but … maybe it’s not that bad.” He rotated his foot in a small circle.

“So you can do the zip line!” said Marco, jumping up.

Logan shook his head sadly. “No. Nurse Joy and Professor Birch talked, and they won’t let me.”

Disappointment washed over Marco all over again.

“What are you scared of, Nisha?” asked Maddy.

“I don’t know—let me think about that,” answered Nisha, nibbling on a nail.

“Maybe she’s scared that one day, she’ll chew her fingers right off!” joked Logan. He seemed relieved that the spotlight was on someone else now.

“Hey! Not funny,” said Nisha, swatting his arm.

“Sorry,” said Logan, sinking back in his seat. “Joking helps me feel less nervous about things.”

Really? thought Marco. Is that why Logan jokes around so much?

“I get that,” Nisha said thoughtfully, then turned back to Maddy. “What I really worry about is that one of my inventions won’t work. That it’ll be a total disaster and I’ll let you all down.”

“Really?” said Marco. “That’s what you’re scared of? But that’s never happened. Your inventions always work great!”

Nisha shrugged. “It could happen.”

Just like the zip line could fail, thought Marco, nodding. It could happen. He tried to chase the thought away by focusing on the positives. “At least there are still three of us doing the zip line tomorrow. So if I chicken out, you and Maddy have my back, right?”

“Of course!” said Nisha.

But Maddy fell quiet. When her cheeks got blotchy, Marco’s heart began to thud in his ears.

“Maddy,” he said. “You’re doing the zip line, right?”

She shook her head. “It goes over water,” she said, her voice trembling. “And I don’t like water, remember?”

Marco sank back against the couch pillow, wrapping his arms tightly around his body. He wanted to be mad. How could Maddy do this to him? But he knew how she could—and why. Maddy was just as scared of water as he was of heights.

Nisha gave him a reassuring smile. “So it’s you and me on the zip line,” she said. “Do you think you can do it?”

Marco shrugged. He wiped his sweaty palms on his shorts and told his friends the honest truth. “I don’t know.”

Then he caught Logan’s eye and said, “You’d better make sure my harness is really tight, because I’m probably going to faint.” He was kidding, sort of. And when Logan laughed, Marco felt a hint of pride. Cracking a joke helped—at least a little.

“Alright,” said Nisha. “I have to go. I have one more invention to make tonight, and it had better work!”

Marco’s other teammates began leaving, too, one by one.

“I’m going to spy on Nisha,” said Maddy, holding a finger to her lips. “I’ll report back on her big invention in the morning.” She put the lid on Dedenne’s box and hurried toward the door.

Then Logan reached for his crutches. “Professor Sycamore is going to teach me about Super Training my Pokémon. Wanna come?”

Marco shook his head. “No,” he said. “I have to finish my Wingull letter.” He didn’t know what made him say that, or even if he’d do it. The words just popped out of his mouth.

“Okay,” said Logan. “But make sure it doesn’t end up in the trash. You never know who might read it!” He grinned and hobbled toward the other end of the Media Center.

And then Marco was alone again.

And his fears began to creep back in.

Don’t think about the zip line, he told himself. But he had to think about it. He was running out of time!

Tomorrow is the big day, thought Marco, his throat tightening. And when that whistle blows, there’s no turning back.