Entry #5: MASH-UP

MASH-UP
69,000
MG science fiction/mystery


Pitch:

Twelve-year-old Jared lives for video games. So when sunglasses turn everyone at school into their favorite avatar armed with laser gun, sword or fireballs, it’s a dream come true.

Before jumping into the fray, Jared searches for his little sister.  Maxine’s such a bookworm. She can’t handle the ninjas and space marines battling in the halls. But Maxine doesn’t want to hide. She’s decided the game is trouble and is searching for a way to shut it down. Worse yet, she wants Jared’s help to do it! His first instinct is to lock her in a closet so he play. But the school descends into chaos and people start to vanish. Jared has a decision to make:  get his game on, or help his annoying little sister take down the Best. Game. Ever.

MASH-UP is told in alternating POV (Jared’s and Maxine’s).



First 5 pages:

MASH-UP

Chapter 1:  One Odd Day (Jared)

I stepped through the steel, gray front doors of Thompson Middle School, then stopped dead.  Aaron followed my gaze to the center of the wide-open foyer and snorted.

My tall, balding, evil science teacher stood in the middle of the room wearing rock star sunglasses even though the fluorescent lights weren’t bright. The glasses were dark and mirrored, the kind that wrap around on the sides so no sunlight could get in. Sykes held a second pair high over his head. He yelled something I couldn’t make out over the start-of-school-day confusion. But I could see a crowd of kids listening to him.

Voluntarily listening to him.

Huh?

There was something odd going on.

“Somebody’s needs tell Sykes he’s just not cool.” Aaron grinned.

“Not me. My science grade is at half a heart and I’m out of health potions.” I cocked my head to the side. “Still, this is odd, even for Sykes.”

“Yo!” someone behind us called. We were blocking a busload of kids on their way in.

What’s your hurry? I wanted to ask. Why rush to get stuck in a desk all day? But when you’re one of the shortest boys in the sixth grade, you don’t go looking for trouble. Trouble finds you easily enough. I started forward.

We were sentenced to two years of torture in this brick and cement building. Fifth and sixth grades. Then we got turned over to the junior high for torture of a different flavor.

As I trudged past the door to the front office, I saw Principal Colgan had her eye on Sykes too. She looked out through the window in the door, her lips pressed into a line, her eyes narrowed. The cheery smile with which she usually greeted a new school day was gone.

“Try these, Jared.” My friend, Brad, walked up wearing sunglasses identical to Sykes’s. He drew a small black case out of a bag slung over his shoulder. With a flourish, he scanned a bar code into his smart phone, selected my name, Jared Cooke, from a list of students, then handed me the case. He repeated the process for Aaron.

“What’s this?” I opened the case. Inside was a pair of those sunglasses.

“Free trial of Game On! glasses,” Brad replied. “Mr. Sykes says they’re supposed to be great. The next big thing. Only catch is you gotta fill out a feedback form on how you liked them at the end of the day.” With a nod, he stepped past us, taking two more cases out of his bag.

I stared at the sunglasses in my hand. They did look cool. It was weird that my evil science teacher had gotten them for us. But I’d try them. I slid them on. The frames fit snugly, like they were made for me.

“So,” I turned to Aaron, “do I look good?” I struck a pose, arms crossed over my chest, head cocked to one side, big attitude.

“Sure, dude. Cooler than Sykes anyway.” He grinned and slid on his own pair.

Aaron was my gaming bud. He was also the most chilled-out guy in the sixth grade. You could tell right off by his shoulder-length black hair and lopsided grin. For him, the black sunglasses totally worked. I hoped they looked as good with my short brown hair and freckles. Probably not. I had the brains of our video game team. Aaron would never get through the major battles without me. But he had looks.

I imagined I looked as cool as Aaron, and we headed down the hall to our first stop, Aaron’s classroom.

“Later.” Aaron gave me a mock salute.

“Later,” I echoed, tipping my imaginary hat.

I wished we were home, settled in for a marathon session of LEGO Lord of the Rings. But today was Tuesday. There were four full days ‘til we could get a serious game going. Maybe we could catch an hour if we had a light homework night. But there weren’t many light homework nights for sixth graders at Thompson Middle School.

I forced my feet down the hall to my own classroom.

Four days.

“For heaven’s sake, Jared,” Mrs. Wainright called in a shrill voice as walked to my seat, “will you please take off those ridiculous sunglasses? I don’t know whothought it was a good idea to run a sunglass trial at school! You can use them outside at recess.”

But, of course, she did know who thought it was a good idea. Everyone who’d come in the front entrance had seen Sykes waving these sunglasses around. I smirked as I pulled them off. Sykes was gonna get an earful when he stepped into the teachers’ lounge.

I flipped open the case to put them away, and a piece of paper floated to the floor. I picked it up.

We Need Your Feedback! Thanks for trying Game On! glasses, a revolutionary product designed to bring out the best in your  inner warrior! Please provide us with feedback by rating these sunglasses on the dimensions below.
	Strongly Disagree		Neutral		Strongly Agree
Game On! glasses are cool.	1	2	3	4	5
Game On! glasses make me look good.	1	2	3	4	5
Game On! glasses make me feel powerful.	1	2	3	4	5
Game On! glasses make the day more fun.	1	2	3	4	5
I would recommend Game On! glasses to a friend.	1	2	3	4	5

Strange feedback form. I didn’t generally expect sunglasses to make me feel powerful. Or to make the day more fun. I just expected them to keep the sun out of my eyes. I guessed they should look cool too.

I shook my head and tossed the case into my backpack. How could sunglasses make the day more fun?