So it’s not weird that I haven’t seen him all day. But it is weird that he is sneaking in through the back. And it’s even weirder that there’s what looks like a pee stain all over the front of his pants.
Did Nico wet his pants?
“Nico?” I say.
He tries to hide his pants behind the kitchen table, but I already saw it. “What?”
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” he says. “I was at the Lowells’ house, and I spilled some water I was drinking on myself.”
Except I don’t think he did. Because now that he’s closer, he also smells like pee. He can tell that I don’t believe him, and then he gets a worried look on his face.
“Don’t tell anyone, okay, Ada?” he says.
“I won’t,” I promise. “But… I mean… how…”
How does a nine-year-old kid wet his pants? There was a time when Nico was about four years old when I remember he used to wet the bed, but that was a long time ago.
“I just held it in too long,” he says.
I still don’t get it. But he looks so embarrassed, it’s not like I’m going to give him a hard time about it. “Okay…”
“You swear you won’t tell anyone?”
“I swear.”
“Because if you do, then you’re a tattletale.”
“I said I wouldn’t!”
Finally, he looks satisfied, and then he hurries up to his room to change. But I can’t stop thinking about what happened. Nico is already acting weird, and this was the most weird thing ever. I wish he would talk to me. I wish he were the way he used to be.
I wish we never moved here.
SIXTY-SEVEN
At least my classes are going good.
I’ve always done well at school. Back at my old school, I always got all Es. That’s basically the same as an A, but that’s the weird grading system they used at my school so people wouldn’t feel bad about not getting an A. E stands for Exceeds Expectations, and it’s the best grade you can get. I got an E in everything except for gym. In gym, I got an M. (Meets Expectations.)
Mrs. Ratner gives a lot more homework than Ms. Marcus used to, but I don’t mind doing homework. I want to be a pediatrician when I grow up, so I have a lot more school left to go. Good thing I like homework.
In the middle of doing my math assignment, I get thirsty and go downstairs for a glass of water. Except the weird thing is, while I am climbing down the stairs, I see Nico disappearing into the wall.
You heard me right.
I didn’t know this, but apparently, our wall has a secret door on it. Nico has it open, and he looks like he’s about to go inside. Before he can close the door, I call out, “Hey!”
His face jerks up and he sees me. He doesn’t look happy about it. “Oh. It’s you.”
I hurry down the rest of the stairs to get a closer look. “What is that?”
The door is partially open, so I can see inside. It’s this tiny room, about the size of one of our bathrooms or maybe a little bigger. There isn’t much inside—just some comic books. It’s also dark. There’s only one light bulb hanging from the ceiling.
“You can’t tell anyone, Ada,” Nico says. “This is my secret clubhouse.”
Secret clubhouse? Really? “This doesn’t seem safe.”
“Ugh!” he cries. “You’re acting just like Mom!”
He means it as an insult, but maybe it isn’t such a bad insult to be compared to the one totally normal and rational person in this family. But I also hate that he is upset at me.
“Can I come inside?” I ask.
He makes a face. “It’s my clubhouse, Ada. No girls allowed.”
I know for a fact I’m his only friend around here because I always see him alone at the playground at school lately, so if he doesn’t want to hang out with girls, he will have nobody to hang out with. He isn’t allowed to play with Spencer anymore, even though our parents don’t know about that.
“Please?”
Finally, he nods. I follow him inside the small square room, and he shuts the door behind us. It makes this terrible scraping noise when the door closes, and I have to cover my ears.
Once we are inside, the room feels really small. I could tell it was small from the outside, but when you’re inside, it feels even worse. It’s like being in a coffin. Or being buried alive. One of those two things.
Also, it’s dirty. The floor has a layer of dirt on it so you can see his footprints from all the times he came in and out. It has cobwebs in the corners, which means there are spiders. People say spiders are the good kind of bugs, but I don’t like anything creepy-crawly. But Nico likes bugs, so it doesn’t bother him as much.
I can’t help but think about that little boy, Braden Lundie. The one who disappeared. I imagine him finding himself locked in a little room like this with nothing but a small pile of comic books.
