Just then the door swung open again. Dylan spun around to see who it
was toppling Hulk. He bent to pick up Ben before he got bent, and hit
the dresser with his butt. He could hear the sound of the wand rolling
across the dresser top.
"Where's Jeremy? What are you doing in his room? And what's with all
this football junk?" demanded Josh. He was Jeremy's friend and had
come over because Jeremy had emailed him that he had something neat to
show him.
"Oh, lil' dude, I don't know exactly what happened to Jeremy, but this
cardboard cut-out is Ben."
"No. It's the Hulk. Ben Grimm is the Thing," Josh replied. He was
ticked at being called "lil dude". He was a little short for his
grade, but he'd skipped two grades.
The wand rolled right off the dresser next to him. Josh had good
reflexes and caught the wand in midair.
"Whoa, be extra careful with that thing. It's the real deal."
"Oh, please! You think you can spoof me with that Harry Potter spiel.
I'm not a little kid, and I want to know where my friend is - right
now," he said shaking the wand at Dylan for emphasis.
"Please be careful. I'm Dylan, I'm Jeremy's brother's friend and team
mate. Jeremy was going to put on a talent show to raise money for the
team. And he wasn't here when I got here. Honest. Neither was his
brother."
"Okay," said Josh taking command. He slammed the wand into his palm
the way George C. Scott had slammed the riding crop in Patton.
Dylan flinched each time Josh waved the wand. He had to convince the
guy somehow, or at least get the wand away from him.
"Listen, I'll prove to you what I'm saying is true," Dylan said with a
suddenly evil idea. He really needed a new wetsuit, his old one was
thrashed. "Point that wand at your chest, and say I wish I was a
custom fitted wetsuit."
Josh raised an eyebrow and jabbed his chest with the wand. He asked,
"Like this?"