Captain Nobody Read Online Free

Halloween.”
    Cecil’s eyes widened. “So you know who you’re gonna be?”
    â€œMaybe,” JJ smiled mysteriously. “Don’t you?”
    â€œAre you kidding?” Cecil scoffed, tapping the side of his head. “I got my whole thing planned from head to foot. And Newt, how’re you doing?”
    â€œYeah,” JJ asked excitedly. “Did you make a decision?”
    I looked at their expectant faces and shrugged. “Oh, y’know. I’m weighing a couple possibilities.”
    JJ nudged Cecil with her elbow. “Bet you he’s already got the whole thing drawn up in his Secret Sketchbook.”
    â€œCourse he has! And y’know why?” Cecil winked, still clapping along with the cheerleaders. “Because he’s Newt!” Clap, clap. “Newt!” Clap, clap. “Newt!” Clap, clap. “The Newt-ron bomb!”
    I smiled weakly as a bead of nervous sweat rolled from my right armpit to my waist.

    I raced home from school and pulled out a stack of my old Secret Superhero Sketchbooks from my closet. I hoped I might find inspiration from one of the characters I had created over the years. But with every page flip, that hope faded.
    For one thing, most of my heroes stretch and transform their bodies into fantastic shapes. Tommy Origami, for instance, can fold his body into a packet the size of a postage stamp.
    Who was I kidding? I can barely touch my toes.
    And even if I did dress up as one of my sketches, I’d have to explain who I was to everyone I met. After all, nobody but Cecil and JJ have ever even heard of Dwight, The Mighty Termite, who can chew his way through a wood wall in ten seconds. Or what about Gas Man, who can empty a shopping mall full of people just by . . . well, never mind.
    I went online and Googled “hero.” The first thing that came up was the headline “Hero Saves Stranger from Sharks.”
    â€œWhoa!” I clicked on the link.
    The story was about a lady who was taking a sight-seeing tour in San Francisco Bay when she fell overboard into a school of sharks. Before they could eat her, though, another tourist—a guy who didn’t even know her!—jumped in the freezing water, punched one shark in the snout, poked another one in the eye and pulled the lady to safety.
    The man who saved her was interviewed, and when he was asked if he considered himself a hero, he said, “Heck. I’m just the guy next door.”
    Maybe that’s the kind of hero I have inside, I thought. Not a shape-shifter or a pioneer, but an everyday, guy-next-door kind of hero.
    I was getting all excited about this idea until I scrolled down to a picture of the shark-puncher. He turned out to be a skinny guy in blue jeans. His wet hair was plastered to his forehead and his dripping T-shirt read, I ♥ KETCHUP.
    Uh - oh, I thought. If I wear that, how will people know I’m a hero?
    With a groan, I laid my head down on my arms. I must have fallen asleep for a moment, because the next thing I knew, I was having a terrible dream in which I was trick-or-treating on my block. When a neighbor answered her door and asked, “Who are you supposed to be, little boy?” I looked down to see my costume only to find that . . . I was totally naked!
    I woke up panting like a racehorse.
    Downstairs I heard Mom and Dad loading up their SUVs with supplies for the pregame cookout.
    â€œNewt!” Mom yelled up. “Where did I put the plastic forks?”
    â€œYou left them in the guest bathroom,” I called down. “I’ll get them.”
    With a heavy heart, I turned off my computer and put my Secret Superhero Sketchbooks back in the closet. My search for my inner other was going to have to wait.
    It was time for the Big Game.

4
    IN WHICH FOOTBALL IS PLAYED AND MISTAKES ARE MADE

    That night, so many people showed up for my parents’ tailgate barbecue in the stadium parking lot that in just a half hour