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interesting up here?” he asked.<br />
“You’ll see,” I said mysteriously.<br />
“This way,” Lefty called eagerly, running to the little room against the far wall. He was so<br />
excited, he dropped his softball. It rolled in front of him, and he tripped over it and fell facedown on<br />
the floor with a thud.<br />
“I meant to do that!” Lefty joked, climbing up quickly and leaping after the ball, which had<br />
rolled across the floor.<br />
“Your brother is made of rubber or something,” Zack laughed.<br />
“Falling down is his hobby,” I said. “He falls down about a hundred times a day.” I wasn’t<br />
exaggerating.<br />
A few seconds later, the three of us were in the hidden room standing in front of the mirror. Even<br />
though it was a sunny afternoon, the room was as dark and shadowy as ever.<br />
Zack turned from the mirror to me, a bewildered look on his face. “This is what you wanted to<br />
show me?”<br />
“Yeah.” I nodded.<br />
“Since when are you into furniture?” he asked.<br />
“It’s an interesting mirror, don’t you think?” I asked.<br />
“No,” he said. “Not too interesting.”<br />
Lefty laughed. He bounced his softball off the wall and caught it.<br />
I was deliberately taking my time. Zack was in for the surprise of his life, but I wanted to<br />
confuse him a little bit first. He was always doing stuff like that to me. He always acted as if he knew<br />
everything there was to know, and if I were good, he’d share a little bit of his knowledge with me.<br />
Well, now I knew something he didn’t know. I wanted to stretch this moment out, make it last.<br />
But at the same time, I couldn’t wait to watch the look on Zack’s face when I disappeared right<br />
in front of his eyes.<br />
“Let’s go outside,” Zack said impatiently. “It’s too hot up here. I brought my bike. Why don’t we<br />
ride to the playground behind school, see who’s there?”<br />
“Maybe later,” I replied, grinning at Lefty. I turned to my brother. “Should I show Zack our<br />
secret or not?”<br />
Lefty grinned back at me. He shrugged.<br />
“What secret?” Zack demanded. I knew he couldn’t stand to be left out of anything. He couldn’t<br />
bear it if anyone had a secret he didn’t know about.<br />
“What secret?” he repeated when I didn’t answer.<br />
“Show him,” Lefty said, tossing up the softball.<br />
I rubbed my chin, pretended to be thinking about it. “Well… okay.” I motioned for Zack to stand<br />
behind me.<br />
“You’re going to make funny faces in the mirror?” Zack guessed. He shook his head. “Big deal!”<br />
“No. That’s not the secret,” I told him. I stepped in front of the mirror, admiring my reflection,<br />
which stared back at me in the glass.<br />
“Watch!” Lefty urged, stepping up beside Zack.<br />
“I’m watching. I’m watching,” Zack said impatiently.<br />
“I’ll bet you I can disappear into thin air,” I told Zack.