Lightning Strikes Twice: Escaping Great Expectations
Moonie Carter Lewis jumped when he felt a light smack on the back of his head He looked up from his book and into the grinning face of his best friend Matt Are you actually reading Matt asked He looked in surprise at the thick book in Carter’s hand Then his eyes widened I didn’t miss an English assignment did I No I just felt like reading Carter said You must have a fever Matt reached out to put a hand on Carter’s forehead Carter swatted it away Did you want something for real Carter asked Matt slid into the chair across from Carter at the lunchroom table Dad bought me Cow Racer 2 over the weekend because my report 4
card was decent Then his eyes widened Oh man is that why you’re reading a fifty-pound book Did you get busted for your report card No my report card was fine This is a good book Carter leaned back in his chair stretching his long legs out to crowd Matt on the other side of the table Matt leaned forward and pulled on the book so he could see the cover Frankenstein Wasn’t that a really old movie The book’s different Matt shrugged Hey it’s your brain cells So do you want to come over and race cows Sure Carter said The bell rang for the end of the lunch period Carter shoved a bookmark in his book and dropped it in his backpack with a thump Matt was right about one thing the book weighed a ton Carter hadn’t lied about the book not really It was good but that’s not why he was reading it He was reading it because of his uncle Dan 5
Uncle Dan was a crazy smart computer programmer and inventor He’d invented the coolest virtual reality tech Most virtual reality gear involved a helmet or goggles with speakers to let you see and hear the virtual reality world Uncle Dan’s VR suit let you smell it taste it and feel it too And every one of Uncle Dan’s virtual reality worlds came from a classic book The only problem was that some crazy hacker had tried to ruin the program Carter had ended up battling the hacker in the virtual world more than once After the last time Carter had realized something It was a lot easier to win the war if you’d already read the book So he’d gotten into classic books On the up side his report card really rocked On the down side his backpack weighed a ton And his friends were starting to notice Carter didn’t want anyone expecting him to be some super smart nerd type They already had one kid in the family for that job He just wanted to know enough to help his uncle 6
Carter Speak of the nerd Carter thought as he turned to face Isabelle I’m on my way to algebra he yelled I know Isabelle said Carter rolled his eyes Of course she knew everything What exactly do you need Izzy Has Uncle Dan talked to you lately she asked Carter shook his head I’ve barely seen him since he got back Well she said Storm did pretend to kidnap him just a couple weeks ago I think we should check up on him You mean go over there Carter asked Uncle Dan tended to be a little paranoid and he didn’t like uninvited drop-ins Just showing up didn’t seem like a good idea at all Isabelle sighed and shoved a strand of limp blonde hair behind her ear He might not like it she said but I think he needs to be checked up on once in a while 7
