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  It was my turn to eye roll. And snort, although not intentionally.

  “You’re joking, right?” I asked.

  “I’m not,” Michael replied. “I don’t know if we’ll even win another game this season.”

  “You actually believe in the Mr. Cougar superstition?” I said, shocked. “Do you believe in the tooth fairy and the Easter Bunny, too?”

  Michael didn’t answer either question. He just stormed off without saying a word.

  Hailey looked at me sympathetically. It was not the kind of look you want your best friend to give you right after you were talking to the love of your life and had maybe just blown it. It had I wish I could give you a do-over; you messed that one up so royally written all over it.

  “I know, okay, so please don’t say anything,” I said to Hailey. “I was just hoping he could put aside his football helmet and think about it from a reporter’s perspective. But I guess it’s too soon.”

  “Speaking of reporters,” Hailey said, “check it out.”

  Hailey pointed to a WKDH news van that was parked across the street from the school. I had to blink my eyes to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating. It certainly took my mind off of my disastrous Michael Lawrence encounter. April Weathers, award-winning television journalist, was exiting the van. A camera operator followed behind her.

  “O. . . M . . . ,” I shouted.

  “G!” Hailey finished my exclamation for me. “IT’S APRIL WEATHERS!”

  “No,” I corrected. “It’s April ‘Peabody-Award-Winning’ Weathers. And she’s heading our way!”

  What happened next seemed like a dream sequence. April Weathers, one of my journalistic idols, actually opened her mouth and spoke to me.

  “Excuse me, ladies,” she said in a voice that sounded as if she had perfected her reporter’s tone with years of practice. “Would you mind if I asked you a few questions?”

  “M-m-mind?” I stammered. “Not at all.” The cameraman turned on the light and it was really bright and hot. I suddenly realized I could end up on the evening news, and I got a little nervous.

  “How do you feel about what happened to the statue of Cherry Valley’s mascot?” April Weathers asked.

  “I think it’s terrible,” I said. “I don’t know why anyone would want to do that to a harmless piece of stone.”

  “I agree,” Hailey added. “No one messes with Mr. Cougar and gets away with it. It’s just wrong.”

  “Do you think that whoever did this wanted to bring bad luck to Cherry Valley?” questioned April.

  “I do!” Hailey said. “Everyone knows it’s good luck to rub Mr. Cougar’s paw. That’s why whoever did this destroyed the paw!”

  “Well, if that was their motive, it was a pretty silly one.” I chuckled. “If you believe in facts, like I do, you know that there’s no such thing as good, or bad, luck. Right, April?”

  April Weathers smiled at me, winked, then reached into her pocket and pulled out a set of keys. At the end of the key chain was a furry pink rabbit’s foot. Ugh! First I blow it with Michael Lawrence and now with April Weathers. Maybe there was something to this Mr. Cougar thing.

  “Do you have any idea who might have done it?” April asked.

  I pulled out my reporter’s notebook, trying to impress her. “Well, I’ve been keeping track of what people have been saying,” I said, “and it seems like almost everyone thinks that it was someone from West Hills. And for the record, at least one person mentioned the name ‘Danny Stratham.’ ”

  “Cut!” April Weathers said as she turned to the camera operator. “Roll back and edit that out.”

  Then she put her arm around me. “I can see that you have an interest in reporting,” she said.

  “I do!” I said proudly. “I’m a reporter for the Cherry Valley Voice.”

  She smiled again. “Here’s a tip. Repeating gossip or something that’s hearsay, or what you’ve heard people saying, isn’t something you can report. It’s called speculation. A lot of the time it turns out that person wasn’t involved, but if you name them, it can be very harmful and hurtful, especially if it’s connected to a crime. That’s why we’re really careful about these things. This may look like some kind of a prank gone wrong, but it’s vandalism, and that’s a crime.”

  “I’m so sorry,” I said, feeling as dejected as the Cougar players. I also felt really stupid. I should have known that. I do know that! We learned it in Journalism 101, for goodness’ sake! I’d just gotten so excited and, well, I had wanted to impress April.

  “Oh, don’t be sorry. I just wanted to steer you in the right direction for the future,” she said cheerfully. “I can tell you’re serious about reporting. I was too, when I was your age. And I have some news for you. You’re going to be on television tonight. Make sure to watch WKDH news at six p.m.”

  “WE WILL!” Hailey and I screamed at the same time.

  We didn’t want to look immature in front of an award-winning journalist, so we waited until April Weathers had walked out of sight, and then we grabbed each other and started jumping up and down. Hailey’s dad walked over and looked at us, perplexed.

  “I thought we lost the game,” he said.

  “We did, Dad!” Hailey said. “But we’re going to be on the news tonight!”

  “And April Weathers said I’m just like her!” I shouted.

  “Not exactly.” Hailey laughed. “But close enough.”

  “Oh, okay.” Hailey’s dad laughed too. “In that case, let’s get you home so you can set your DVR!”

  Chapter 3

  CURSE HITS HARD; CHERRY VALLEY PANICS

  The next morning the school was buzzing with excitement. Everyone was talking about what happened to Mr. Cougar and everyone thought that a West Hills student was responsible. The name of the day seemed to be Danny Stratham, even though I now knew better than to report that name until I gathered some hard evidence that proved he was involved. Thanks, April Weathers!

  Too bad April hadn’t gotten to the rest of the school. The stories about Danny Stratham were becoming wilder by the minute.

  “Did you hear that Danny Stratham has to report to the dean’s office every afternoon because he’s in trouble all the time?” Hailey asked as she breezed over to my locker.

  “No,” I replied. “Where did you hear that?”

  “Jeff Perry said that he knows a kid who knows a kid who’s Danny Stratham’s cousin,” Hailey answered.

  “That’s a real reliable source.” I laughed. “And shouldn’t the vice president of Cherry Valley Middle School be a little more considerate about spreading rumors?”

  Hailey’s cheeks turned red. She takes her responsibilities as student body vice president very seriously.

  “You’re right,” she said. “It’s just that everyone’s talking about him.”

  “Talking about who?” Jenna asked, as she and Kristen squeezed in between Hailey and me as we walked down the hall to our first class.

  “Danny Stratham,” Hailey said.

  “Oh, yeah, he’s bad news,” Jenna said. “I heard he once kicked a neighbor’s dog on the way to school just to show off how mean he is.”

  “Jenna!” I said, alarmed. “That’s ridiculous.”

  “No, it’s true. I heard that, too!” said Kristen. “Everyone knows he’s the one who vandalized Mr. Cougar.”

  “Everyone thinks that,” I corrected her. “But no one knows, because there’s no proof.”

  “We’ll see,” Jenna replied. “Did you see the way he was laughing and smiling at the end of the game? He looked pretty guilty to me.”

  “Um, maybe he was laughing and smiling because his team had just won by almost seventy points?” I asked. “And he set a West Hills record with eight touchdown receptions?”

  “Maybe,” said Jenna. “We’ll see.”

  Then she dropped her voice to a whisper. “I heard he wanted to get a tattoo when he was six years old, but his mother wouldn’t let him,” she said.

  “That
’s enough!” I said. “No more Danny Stratham talk!”

  “Okay, fine,” huffed Kristen. “What, do you have a crush on him or something? We all know how much you like football players. Does Samantha Martone only like winners?”

  Kristen, Jenna, and even Hailey laughed. I stormed off to Spanish class.

  There was definitely a disturbance in the Cherry Valley force. Mrs. Cassas said, “Class, bonne journée,” which is French, at the beginning of Spanish class and then she took out a French textbook! A frog escaped in the science lab and caused eleven minutes of chaos until John Scott heroically captured it in a beaker. Missy Davis slipped on some pudding in the cafeteria and went flying through the air in a fall that was worthy of a blooper reel.

  “Bad luck reigns at Cherry Valley,” Hailey noted, scooping white rice with salt and butter into her mouth, her typical lunch. “Told ya.”

  “Whatever,” I said. “The only bad luck I’m having is that I haven’t seen Michael all day. I wonder if he’s avoiding me.”

  “Hmmm,” Hailey said. “Now that I think about it, I haven’t seen him either. He’s probably just lying low and feeling sorry for himself. It was a bad loss yesterday, especially if you’re the quarterback.”

  “It was,” I agreed. “I guess I’ll find out later at our newspaper meeting.”

  If you are a fan of the strong, silent type, you would have fallen head over heels in love with the Michael Lawrence who attended the newspaper meeting later that afternoon. Michael almost always had strong opinions to share, but I guess he decided to keep them to himself. He wasn’t sitting by my side in our usual spot on the love seat, either (yes, there’s a love seat in the office, and I love sitting in it with Michael Lawrence). He was slouched in a chair on the other side of the room. Maybe he was going for the sullen loser look. I think I heard Allie say that was popular on the fashion runways this year.

  Mr. Trigg, on the other hand, was a whirlwind of excitement.

  “Ladies and Gentlemen!” he announced as he gathered the Cherry Valley Voice team together in the newsroom. “We’ve had quite the incident! And it is our job as journalists to investigate and report what we’ve found to our peers!

  “Samantha Martone, I spied your familiar face on my television screen last evening,” he continued. “Nice quote. You and Mr. Lawrence also did a stellar job on the school election pieces, so I’d like you to continue that tradition with an investigation into the cougar statue story. Good luck.”

  “More like bad luck,” grumbled Michael.

  “What was that, Mr. Lawrence?” Trigg asked. “Did you have something to add to the conversation?”

  “No. I’ll work on the story with Sam,” said Michael. “I’m just not hopeful that we’ll be able to dig up any answers.”

  “Mr. Lawrence,” Trigg replied. “Winston Churchill once said, ‘The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.’ I highly encourage you to channel your optimistic side for this assignment.”

  “Got it,” Michael said as he slumped back into his seat.

  Normally, I would have taken his behavior personally, considering our failed conversation outside the locker room, but I was too excited by the thought of reporting an actual news story to get upset by it. Any other day, Michael’s behavior would have sent me into a panic, but now I was actually getting a little ticked off. He needed to stop pouting like a baby and get to work.

  As Mr. Trigg handed out the assignments for the rest of the team, I tried to look casual and cool as I sauntered over to Michael’s chair.

  “Hey, Michael, this is going to be great, right?” I said. “We get to investigate a real crime!”

  I was almost positive that I had spoken loud enough for Michael to hear me, but he didn’t respond.

  “Earth to Michael,” I said even louder. “Do you read me?”

  “Huh?” Michael said as he looked up at me, distracted by his own gloomy thoughts. “Oh, Sam. Hey, what’s up?”

  “Did you hear Mr. Trigg?” I asked. “We’re working together on the cougar story. It’s only the biggest news story Cherry Valley Middle School has ever had.”

  “Yeah, I heard him,” Michael said. “It’s big news, all right. Everyone is talking about it. I can’t wait to find out who did this. The whole football team can’t wait to find out who did this.”

  “Okay,” I said, trying to stay calm. “Let’s focus on our job as Cherry Valley Voice reporters, shall we?” I continued, trying to sound detached and professional.

  “Sure,” said Michael. “What’s your plan?”

  “Well, first, I think we need to get some advice from Mr. Trigg,” I told him. “This is real news, and we haven’t worked on anything this big before.”

  “Okay, that sounds reasonable,” Michael agreed.

  It could have been my imagination, but I had a feeling that the sullen football Michael was being pushed aside by the excited reporter Michael a teensy little bit.

  Mr. Trigg relished his role as advisor to the news team. He was thrilled to sit with Michael and me after the meeting to go over proper procedure and give us some tips for getting started. In fact, he had already done some of the work for us. He gave us the name of the police officer who was leading the investigation and said that most reporters begin with the official side of the story by getting a copy of the police report and talking to the officers who collected evidence from the crime scene.

  “We need to e-mail Officer Mendez and schedule a time to meet her,” I said.

  “Would you mind doing that?” Michael asked. “I’m meeting with Coach Dixon after this to go over our plan for the game against Valley View. If we have another loss like the one to West Hills, we could get knocked out of the playoffs.”

  “Sure, no problem,” I replied. “I’ll do it as soon as I get home.”

  “And, Michael . . . ,” I added, a bit nervously, “I’m sorry if I seemed insensitive after the game. I know it was a tough loss.”

  “It was,” Michael admitted. “I was awful.”

  “It wasn’t just you,” I said. “The rest of the team was terrible too.”

  “I’ll tell the guys you said that, Pasty.” He chuckled.

  Great. Martone Insults Entire Cougar Football Team, Including the Love of Her Life; Gets Banned from Future Games.

  Later that night, I asked my mom to read over my e-mail to Officer Mendez. Even though I’m confident in my writing skills, I had to admit I was a little nervous about contacting a police officer. Mom proofread it and showed me how to rephrase some of my sentences to make them sound more professional.

  “This is really great, Sam. I’m so proud of you,” she said when I hit send. “Am I still allowed to say that, or is that too embarrassing?”

  “You can still say that.” I laughed. “I’m actually proud of myself. I can’t wait to dig deeper into this story and find out what really happened.”

  “Okay, just remember, it was a crime,” said Mom. “And even though no one was hurt, there can be danger involved. So keep Mr. Trigg and me informed about everything you do, and be smart.”

  “That’s impossible,” Allie snarked as she walked past Mom’s office. “I got all the smart genes. You just got lucky. And speaking of luck,” she added, “I heard the black cloud of bad luck has already parked itself over Cherry Valley Middle School. Is that true?”

  “Come on, Allie. Be real,” I said. “Every little thing looks like bad luck now. That’s what everyone’s focused on. There’s no such thing.”

  The rest of the week appeared to be some kind of cosmic sign intended to prove me wrong. Murphy’s Law was in full effect: Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.

  On Tuesday, I walked into school to find Hailey on her hands and knees, crawling around the lockers.

  “Is this some kind of strange soccer drill?” I asked.

  “Weird,” Hailey replied. “I lost my new sunglasses, and I can’t find them anywhere. I thought I put them in
my locker, but maybe I dropped them.”

  Just then, Anthony Wright came running over to talk to Hailey. Before he could say a word, we heard a crunching sound. Hailey put her head in her hands and moaned.

  “Thanks, Anthony,” I said. “You just found Hailey’s sunglasses.”

  “And you don’t believe in the Cougar Curse,” Hailey sighed, holding her broken sunglasses.

  On Wednesday, I saw Jenna sitting in the lunchroom by herself, crying. Hailey and I went to sit with her and found out that she had failed the math test.

  “I studied for two weeks!” Jenna said. “And math is my best subject. This has to be because of the curse.”

  “Sure seems that way,” Hailey said as she glared in my direction.

  On Thursday, Hailey and I went to watch Anthony Wright compete against West Hills in a chess competition after school. He went to make a move during the match and knocked the whole board onto the floor. It was the first time that had ever happened to him, and he’s been playing chess since he was three!

  “Cougar Curse,” Hailey whispered to me. “Just sayin’.”

  Friday was the worst day of the week, though. The Cherry Valley Cougars were facing the Valley View Vipers. The Vipers had a one-and-eight record, and if you had asked anyone before the cougar incident to predict the game outcome, even a Viper fan, they would have said the Cougars would win in a blowout. I knew the game wasn’t going to go well even before it started. Michael Lawrence and the other players on the team looked like they had been invaded by body snatchers.

  Usually on game day, the guys on the team give each other high fives every time they pass in the hallway. They growl, “Cougars, yeah!” so much, it made you wonder if they knew how to say anything else.

  Before Friday’s game, all signs of team spirit had been erased. Michael and his teammates might have been playing for Anthony’s chess team. I didn’t see a single high five, or hear any “Cougars, yeah!” chants. So yeah, I knew the game was not going to be a good one.

  I just didn’t know how bad it would be. It was one thing to fumble the ball five times, but when Connor Bourke fell to the ground and clutched his ankle in pain, even I groaned. He was the only kicker on the team who could even reach the goal posts. Without Connor, the Cougars really did look doomed.