Jake was glad to sit down. He stretched his legs out under the table. He wondered what Dave would ask them to do today. Mixed-up Monday. Could be anything. He could feel his ankle throbbing. He’d thought about taping it but knew that would give him away. He figured if he just tied his spikes tight enough, he should be okay. Tough it out, he thought. But it hurt. Dave stood at one end of the table, put a foot up on the bench and started by asking each of them how their weekend had gone. Tony had survived the twins’ birthday party, but just barely. Shawn had had a video game-and-pizza party. Sam had gone to his brother’s high-school science fair. Paul had nailed his rendition of the Star Wars theme at the recital and then spent the rest of the weekend making a log cabin for Social Studies. He showed them the poison ivy on his leg from collecting sticks in the woods and the two burns on his fingers from using a glue gun to stick them together. Dave shook his head. “Guess we’ll have to take it easy on you today,”
