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