Extraordinary Losers 1 Read Online Free Page A

turned back to Janice, she was already gone, with my secret. Which meant I still had a problem: I had to find that note!

    â€œAunty Maryanne!” I yelled the minute I got home. “Did you see a slip of paper this morning around or under my bed?”
    â€œYes, why?”
    â€œWhere is it? Pass it to me, quick!” I said desperately.
    â€œOh. It is just a piece of paper. It was on the floor, so I decided to recycle…”
    Before she could finish her sentence, I raced to the recycle bag outside our flat to retrieve my clue. It was filled with all kinds of family scrap. Our milk cartons, chicken rice wrappers and even Sophia’s used tissues. My yellow note was semi-buried in the mishmash, crying out to me. With a deep breath, I sliced through the waste and fished out the note. It was moist and smelly but still emblazoned with the special riddle. I kissed the papaya-smudged note.
    Wait a minute, Google might help with the riddle. Unfortunately, Sophia was in our room, on the laptop. Invading my space, as usual.
    â€œCute Watermelon is sooooo chatting with me,” Sophia giggled.
    â€œYou mean ANNOYING Watermelon,” I said.
    â€œHey, better be careful it’s not some 50-year-old man lurking behind his screen, pretending to be a cute watermelon while preying on young girls like you,” Aunty Maryanne added.
    â€œI know,” Sophia said. “You think I’m dumb?”
    â€œQuite,” I said.
    â€œWhat did you say?” Sophia yelled. “Mind your own business.”
    â€œLook at Mum!” I said, in an attempt to distract Sophia. Then I quickly caught a glimpse of the screen. It said, “Let’s meet, Soph. I have a secret to share with you.”
    Oh no, Sophia was being summoned to a secret meeting as well? Maybe someone knew about my family? At that moment, Mum was whistling and doing the chicken dance. When she caught us giving her incredulous looks, she stopped. Parents are typical Act Serious Adult Disorder (ASAD) sufferers. They are always “acting serious”. Plugging my earphones into my ears, I pretended to study. But I was really studying THE note. I must have pondered so hard I dozed off. Next thing I knew, Mum was yelling.
    â€œDinner time!”
    Grandma was already at the table, savouring every bit of her three-course meal on the dining table. Dinner was as predictable as ever – a “nutritious” soup (either chicken or pork), soggy green vegetables swimming in thick murky gravy, and a large pomfret fish (fried or steamed).
    What is really gross is that everyone sticks their saliva-coated chopsticks into the dishes and digs through the vegetables and fish like nobody’s business. It’s pretty disgusting when you find bits of mashed rice in the fish and Grandma’s missing dentures among the vegetables.

    Long after we had finished eating, Grandma was still grinding her food with her loose tooth. We accompanied her at the dining table, pretending to read our encyclopedias.
    â€œThey call this the tallest building?” Sophia asked scornfully.
    â€œYes, good,” Mum said. “Test each other.”
    â€œThere are so many skyscrapers taller than this today,” Sophia continued. “I can’t believe I am reading this when I can just Google everything.”
    Those encyclopedias were starting to make me sneeze when… something occurred to me.
    â€œWait a minute. Did you just say TALLEST?”
    â€œYah. So?”
    â€œLet me see,” Grandma said, grabbing the dust-laden book. She tasted the page with her finger before turning it. Gross!
    â€œDarryl! Take your cod liver oil!” Mum interrupted.
    Not that potent concoction again! (Mum believes it makes me less hyperactive. I believe it gave me superhuman ears.) Meanwhile, Grandma was locked in a studious moment, studying the ancient photograph. She loved to examine old photographs. I looked over her shoulder.
    â€œHmm,