Despite all the commotion, Jake and the Del Zottos hadn’t moved. The bully was still staring Harlan down, and dancing seemed to be the farthest thing from his mind.

But then Harlan felt a hand on his arm and heard a voice whisper in his ear, “Let’s dance!”

It was Kiera Kennedy, the girl from behind the refreshment table, and she was pulling on Harlan’s arm.

“Go on,” said Noble, with a nudge of his shoulder. “I think she likes you.”

Harlan handed Noble his drink and followed Kiera onto the dance floor. Moments later he was dancing…badly. But no one seemed to care. The dance floor was full of people now, including a couple of teachers, and everyone was moving to the music as best they could.

Noble, with Argus by his side, looked over at Jake MacKinnon, who was staring at Noble as if he were still looking for a fight. “What’s your problem, MacKinnon?” Noble asked, when Argus was by his side.

Jake flashed a devilish grin, looked at Noble and Argus in turn, then shook his head and walked away.

Noble took a sip of Harlan’s soda…and cringed. “What’s wrong?” asked Argus. “This tastes funny.”

“Leave it,” Argus said, setting the cup onto the refreshment table next to the empties. “There’s a girl I want you to meet.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” Argus said, leading Noble away. “I don’t know why, but for some reason she thinks you’re cute.”

Chapter 2

After introducing his brother to Maggie Baird, a girl from his science class who was always asking about Noble, Argus retreated to the edge of the dance floor and watched everyone else dance.

But less than a song later, Noble was back by Argus’s side, alone.

Argus put a hand on his brother’s shoulder, leaned in close, and asked, “Where’s Maggie?”

“She’s dancing…” Noble answered, lifting his head in the direction of the dance floor. “…with someone else.”

That didn’t make sense. Maggie Baird had seemed crazy about Noble, calling him “cute” and “dreamy” all the time.

“What happened?”

Noble shrugged. “I don’t feel much like dancing.”

“What are you, sick?”

“Yeah.” Noble nodded. “I think so.”

Argus pulled back and looked Noble over. “Now that you mention it, you don’t look so good.”

Noble’s skin was damp and his hair looked to be pasted with sweat. One hand was resting protectively on his stomach. “Well, I don’t feel so good, either.”

“Did you catch Harlan’s cold?”

“Maybe. I don’t know. I just feel sort of…weird.”

“’Cause if you are sick, we should go home,” Argus said. “Do you want me to call Ranger Brock to come get us?”