Foxworth Academy Read Online Free

ask Ally if he could research her subject.  Brett was a shy person to begin with and his brain was brimming with ideas on how to approach her.  Drop his books?  Bump into her?  That was quickly decided for him as he exited into the hallway and saw Ally talking to another kid leaning against a locker.  He stopped and looked in her direction.  She returned his gaze.  The kid was saying something and she turned her head and said something back to him.  The kid smiled and left her standing there as he walked away.
    “Hey,” she said in Brett’s direction.
    He looked around startled.  Was she talking to him?
    “Brett, right?” she said
    “Umm yeah,” he replied, walking in her direction.
    “How was the rest of your weekend down the shore?” she asked.
    “Ahh, cool, I guess,” he replied.
    “Do you ever wonder what Mr. Martin has going on?  Should be fun from what I hear.”
    “Yeah, hey, I was going to ask you,” Brett stammered.  “Do you wanna swap ideas and I can do a paper on your idea and maybe you can do mine?”
    “Aww, I wish you would’ve been here a minute ago,” Ally replied.  “Lance just asked me.”
    Brett wanted to crawl into a hole.  He glanced in the direction where the kid had just left and he saw him with a group of guys looking in his direction, smiling.  “Oh, okay,” he managed to say.
    “Hey, Brett!” he heard from behind him.
    Frankie!
    Frankie came up behind him and put his hand on his shoulder.  “We gonna swap papers?” he asked.
    Brett wanted to say no.  He wanted to trade with Ally but what choice did he have.
    “Sure,” he said.
    “Well, see you around,” Ally said, closing her locker and walking away.
    “Man, she is hot,” Frankie said.
    Brett ignored him and started to walk away in the opposite direction.  Frankie caught up and walked beside him.
    “So, Apple, huh?  Wish you would’ve chosen something cool like me.”
    Brett looked at him and raised his eyebrows.  “Yeah?  What am I stuck with?”
    “Stuck?  You should be happy to research...ready...drum roll...the microwave oven!”
    Brett lowered his head and said, “Seriously?”
    “What?  The microwave oven was voted in the top five most important inventions of the twentieth century.  Where would we be without microwave popcorn!”
    Brett continued walking down the hallway, dreading his research paper on the microwave oven. 
    CHAPTER FOUR
    T he rest of the week moved rather slowly for Brett as he unenthusiastically wrote his paper on the microwave oven.  Mr. Martin gave them time during each period to stay in the class and write, or to go to the school library and do their research.  All the while, Mr. Martin would disappear into the closet for most of the whole period, leaving the class to wonder what on earth he was doing in there.  He and Frankie would usually go to the library with Frankie complaining how boring the Apple computer was.  On the day before the paper was due, Ally and her partner, Lance, walked in and sat nearby.  Lance Hawk was the kid’s name, and in Brett’s eyes, he was a punk.  He had that rich kid’s aura.  He always wore the designer jeans and fancy shirts that Brett shied away from.  His dirty blond hair was slicked with gel and never out of place.
    “Hey, Brett,” Ally said, “How’s it going with the paper?”
    “It’s okay,” Brett replied, rolling his eyes.
    “You boys having fun?” Lance said with a smirk.
    “You believe he picked the Apple computer?” Frankie said.
    “Ha,” Lance chuckled.
    “I love Apple,” Ally said.  “My parents bought me the iPhone for my eighth grade graduation.”
    Brett showed a little grin and asked, “What did you guys pick?”
    “I picked Bill Gates,” Lance replied proudly.  “The richest man in the world.”
    Now Ally rolled her eyes.
    “She gave me Amelia Earhart, of all people.”
    “Cool,” Brett replied.
    “Yeah, cool,” Lance said sarcastically.
    In the short time Brett had known