Field Trip Read Online Free Page B

abdomen of a deceased body? After which a pump is attached so that the contents of the stomach and intestines can be pumped out? This also removes all of the gases from the body and prevents bloating.”
    “Wow,” I say. He’s not boring and dweeby at all.
    “Jacob thinks every day is the best day of his life.” Charlotte looks at me and Brig. “And that no information is too gross.”
    “Uh-huh,” I say. We’ll see about that after he’s spent some time with Brig and his bag of horrible food.
    “Can I tell you something?” Jacob asks. I nod. “This is the greatest day of your life, too!”
    I’m pretty sure he’s wrong, but there’s something about his goofy grin that makes me fake an encouraging expression. “Keep talking.”
    “You’re traveling with an international star in the making and a future household name in politics. Journalists will contact you in years to come to confirm that you knew us back in the day.”
    I must look confused. “Charlotte’s going to run the world someday, and I’m going to entertain it. We’re…”
    He can’t think of the word, so I supply: “Twincredible!”
    “Exactly! We’ve heard our callings at a young age; we discovered our gifts and we know how we want to spend the rest of our lives. Charlotte and I have worked like crazy to prepare for our futures.” I know about that. I punch Dad to make sure he’s listening.
    “I couldn’t agree with you more. Sounds, oh, I don’t know, Really Super Familiar, don’t you think, Dad? A serious lifetime goal at fourteen?” I’m happy to see Dad shift uncomfortably in his seat.
    “Tell me, Jacob,” Dad suddenly says in that fake-cheerful voice he uses when he’s trying to get something he wants but also seem like a nice guy doing it, “what kind of extracurriculars are you and your sister involved in, and aren’t you in all the high-level classes?”
    I zone out and glare at the passing road signs as Jacob talks. Our school has that many teams and clubs? Dial it back, buddy.
    “Impressive,” I lie when Jacob is finished with his list, “but don’t you worry that you’re the jack-of-all-trades, master of none?” I heard someone say that to Dad at a job site once and, from the way he screwed up his mouth, I could tell it wasn’t a good thing.
    “Oh, no. See, at our age, it’s all about exposure to a variety of options and taking advantage of as many opportunities as we can,” Charlotte says.
    “Now, doesn’t that sound Really Super Familiar, Ben?” Dad smirks.
    I glance back in the mirror on my visor; Charlotte and Jacob are leaning forward in their seats, eyes glowing. Brig is asleep, I think; it’s me against…everybody.
    “Ben wants to transfer to a new school, if you can even call it a school,” Dad says sadly, as if I told him I’m going to join an expedition to pillage the Amazon rain forest. “It’s a new hockey academy. He’ll concentrate on power plays and become well educated in blade sharpening and stick handling. He’ll never go to a school dance, his only friends will be puck jockeys, he won’t learn calculus or read Shakespeare, and he’ll have a frequent-flyer card at the emergency room, probably learn to give himself stitches with black thread and a sewing needle.”
    “But, Dad! You haven’t been listening to everything I’ve been saying! You’re missing the big picture I have in mind. The hockey academy is only the first step. Plus, they teach how to avoid injuries. If I do well there the next four years—and it
is
a real school with normal high school subjects—I’m bound to be recruited by some awesome college. I won’t go professional until after I have a diploma. I have it all worked out.”
    The man who quit his job and cashed in his retirement fund to buy a crack house to renovate, and who just unloaded our house, looks at me and shakes his head. Like crazy self-determination doesn’t run in the family.
    “You make some good points,” Charlotte