Shadow Boy Read Online Free

It’s a bit late in the season to get the baseball team, according to Max, even though he REALLY wants to get them, too. Me? I’m in the bus, carrying a football and a bunch of sharpies from one member to the next as Max does his speech to the people below.
    “So sorry about this,” I say, holding out the ball to the next guy. They all make me look like a string bean, I note idly. None of them are capes, though—there’s a testing process before they’re even allowed to play college football, much less the pros. That means skinny little me is probably a good deal stronger than any of them. Doesn’t matter, though, I have a huge amount of respect for sports players. In a way, they’re a lot tougher than capes—they don’t have the whole ‘speed healing’ thing going for them.
    “So you’re all super villains?” one of the players asks, motioning to cute little Piper as she hands out gifts from the school. Max insisted that we give them something in exchange for their time—they have a game to get to in a few hours, after all.
    “No, sir,” I say, “we’re acting as lackeys. We’re undeclared.”
    “What do you mean?” he asks.
    “We’re high school students,” I say.
    “Oh! Hey, they’re from Cape High!” the guy behind him says as Piper hands him a special pin with the school’s new logo on it. “Awesome—I knew they were from around here!”
    “So why kidnap a football team?” another asks.
    “Maximum’s a huge sports fan,” I admit, rolling my eyes. “We’re doing all of this to get an autographed football. You guys WERE told we were coming, right?”
    “I was,” the coach says. “This is just a publicity stunt, boys, so relax and enjoy the ride. We should be ‘rescued’ soon, right?”
    “Yes, sir,” I say, shooting him a grin. “Kid Liberty should be showing up at any moment—but actually, if you would all line up and grab hands, we should be leaving… now,” I say as Lance calls me over the com. He’s our eyes on the ground today.
    “What?” the coach asks. “We’re not going to jump out of a flying bus, no matter what you tell us—”
    “No, sir,” I say respectfully, heading for one of the walls. “We’re going to walk out of a flying bus.” My hand sinks into the shadow there, disappearing from view. “I’m a shadow walker.” The bus jerks, shaking wildly as Max and Trent start fighting. I hold out my hand and Piper grabs it first, holding out her hand to the nearest player and giving him a shy little smile. The player stands and takes her hand.
    “This is crazy,” he says, “but hey, why not?” I give them a few moments to grab hands and I step into the shadows, dragging an entire football team with me. I think Max is having WAY too much fun with my freakin’ abilities, I decide darkly as I lead them through the Shadowlands. He definitely owes me for this one.
     
    ***
     
    “And then he goes off on an entire RANT about how he could have kept the bus as a memento,” Trent says as we lounge around the pool that night. It’s too cold to swim—unless you’re Malina and Carla, apparently. The rest of us are just hanging out drinking soda as the major players talk about the little football escapade this morning. The poolside is lit up with bright, colorful lights that change color randomly, and I find myself glancing over at the pool once in a while—especially as they let out squeals of laughter.
    “You already blew it,” Max says as he sees me looking.
    “Blew what?” Trent asks, distracted from describing the way they delivered the new bus to the players.
    “Carla had a thing for him,” Max says cheerfully. “He blew it.”
    “I didn’t realize she had a thing until—” I protest, only to get blown off by a wave of Max’s hand.
    “You blew it. I caught sight of her chatting up that Cisco kid the other day when he was moving in—”
    “Cisco’s only twelve!” I say, feeling irritated all around. I refuse to be replaced by a