The Nerdy Dozen #2 Read Online Free Page B

ManofNeil!” shouted an energetic Robert Hurbigg, or just Biggs for short. Biggs made a hand signal that looked like a dying finger puppet.
    â€œBiggs! Everybody else!” Neil said, a goofy smile stuck on his face. He looked down the two rows of seats, both dramatically lit by the ceiling’s track lighting. Neil was surprised, but happy, to see that all his friends had arrived before him. He was realizing just how much he’d missed everyone.
    â€œGlad you could join us,” said a distinguished-looking African American man in a deep-blue suit. He stood behind a podium at the opposite end of the long table.
    â€œGlad I could, too,” Neil said. “You guys didn’t get started without me, did you?”
    The man said nothing but gestured to the empty seat at the end of the table closest to the door.
    Okay, maybe not the best time for jokes.
    Neil took the seat next to Yuri, who was clad in gray sweatpants with a velvety cape. The pale dungeon master gave a nod of his greasy forehead, and Neil scanned the ten other faces lining the table.

    They were the same video gamers who’d been previously recruited by the military for Neil’s last mission. They’d all been deemed the best, based on their top scores from a leaked military flight simulator, Chameleon. The scores were apparently good enough to merit a second chance at saving the world.
    Across from Neil sat the identical faces of brothers Dale and Waffles, the tips of their round ears peeling with sunburn. Incognito superhero Jason 2 smiled at Neil, a glittery black costume peeking out from under his shirt collar.
    Next to him Jason 1, sporting a freshly cut fade, threw a make-believe football at Neil. It may have actually been a make-believe cantaloupe, but Neil mimicked catching whatever it was with both hands.
    â€œGreetings, Lord Neil!” whispered Riley, a doughy boy wearing a dirty yellow tunic. As he bowed with a royal flourish, Neil wondered who was left at his Renaissance fair to act as swineherd.

    â€œGreetings, my fair pig wrangler,” Neil responded. Jones and the well-dressed stranger were busy talking, so Neil’s eyes darted to tally the remaining crew. There was JP waving hello in a sweet Taiwanese soccer jersey, and Corinne in the next swiveling chair. Her hair was wrapped into two spongy buns, and she wore a new pair of dark-brown plastic glasses. She mouthed, “Hi, Neil!” He was a bit disappointed when she didn’t spell anything using her body, the source of her spelling bee YouTube fame.
    Neil locked eyes with Trevor, who offered a kind of long, extended blink. Neil knew not to expect much more from someone he classified as a certifiable wiener.
    From the far end of the table, Neil felt another pair of eyes on him. He turned to see Sam staring straight at him. Her shiny brown hair was now tucked up in a ponytail, the front chopped into a curled row of bangs. She smiled weirdly, doing her best to hide two rows of new braces. They were silver, with tiny sparks of orange stuck to the front of each tooth.
    While Neil was happy to see everyone, it was Sam who made him feel a slight buzzing in his fingertips. As his palms grew sweaty, for reasons Neil wasn’t altogether sure of, Jones’s voice broke his trance.
    â€œWill do, sir,” said Jones. He stepped back from the podium, nodded at the man in the blue suit, and headed for the room’s exit.
    â€œWait, you’re leaving?” blurted Biggs, his face distressed. “But who can I steal sunflower seeds from?”

    â€œKeep it together, Hurbigg; you’ll be fine. Keep an eye out for this one, Draymond,” said Jones, playfully pointing toward Biggs. As he stood in the doorway, he gave a salute. “You’re in good hands, team.”
    And with a swish of the doors, their former leader was gone.
    Well. This doesn’t seem to be going like I’d expected.
    Neil and the others directed their eyes back