When he told Vijay he would find someone to play the monster, Derek didn’t think it would be so hard to do. In the back of his mind, he’d figured he could always get Dave to do it.

But Dave’s reaction didn’t totally surprise him. Lots of people—especially shy ones—got stage fright. He would not have been in the talent show himself if he’d had to get up there and give a speech. Dancing was one thing—he had some decent moves—but speaking was another!

The problem was, with Dave out of the picture, where was Derek going to find a monster?

“Hey, Jeter! It’s D-day! Zero hour! You ready to do battle with The Great Par-Nell?”

Derek rolled his eyes. “Morning, Gary.”

Gary rubbed his hands together with relish. “English today, math tomorrow, and when it’s all over, you shall be defeated, and I shall be your final boss! Bwah-ha-ha-ha!” Gary burst out laughing.

“Seriously?” Derek said a little lamely. “Gary, why don’t you just come back down to Planet Earth? I know it seems alien to you, but… ”

“Face it, Jeter, you are toast. You can study from now until forever, and I’ll still be smarter than you. There’s no substitute for genius.”

Genius?

Gary’s casual use of the word suddenly gave Derek a genius idea!

“So wrong,” Derek said, a sly smile on his lips. “So very, very wrong.”

“Ha!”

“Shall we make a little bet?”

“Okay, Einstein,” Gary said, swallowing the bait. “You’ve got yourself a bet. If I beat you on the tests—no, when I beat you—I’m going to make you a T-shirt that says ‘Gary P. Is Smarter than Me.’ And you are gonna wear it. To school.”

“And if I beat you,” Derek said, “you have to be part of Vijay’s and my talent show dance!”

“Ha! No way!” said Gary, smirking. “There’s nothing lamer than a talent show—other than sports, of course.”

“What’s the matter, Gar?” Derek said. “Afraid of getting beat on the tests?”

“Are you nuts? There’s no chance of that happening!”

“Then what are you worried about?”

Gary was cornered, and he knew it. “Okay, Mr. Talent—you’re on! Highest total score wins. You lose.”

The two boys shook on it.

Just then, Ms. Terrapin walked into the room, holding a stack of booklets. “Testing time!” she chirped, and all the students sat down at their desks.

Chapter Eight RESULTS

“Dad? Can I go with you?”

Derek’s father cocked his head to one side. “Don’t you need to do math review? Remember, if you come along, you have to stay for Sharlee’s whole dance class.”

“That’s okay,” Derek assured him. “I’ll bring my math book with me.”

“I guess that’ll be all right, then,” said his dad. “I know the suspense must be killing you.”