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Chapter Seven

So, Janine’s Sandwich Emporium (and its namesake) isn’t the innocent victim of Lunch with Louie (and its eponymous proprietor). That actually makes me feel a little better—the rivalry isn’t friendly, but at least it’s reciprocal. And slipped in is another sighting of that Zippy van.

Carter’s observational skills are strong—he sees Mr. Grimes’s deterioration and analyzes it to result from his teacher’s brother’s visit—and we get to see that the wheelchair-bound snoop isn’t limiting himself to spying on just Lacey and Maddox (and not just outside of school hours). The guy in the red Maserati, some small tragedies unfolding before his remote eyes… and then…

…and then—is Carter being rewarded for his inattentiveness in class? Will he finally get some 1:1 time with Lacey?

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Glad to see you here, @Darren! Looking forward to your dumpster/Dumpster reveal (and I might have a few GRK titles to add to your Dumpster list). Funny you should bring up the proper name question—I didn’t mention it yesterday but Chapter Six had me scratching my head over a different brand name. Ethan mentions “Captain Crunch” as a fro-yo topping—I would’ve expected the Scholastic editors to mark it as “Cap’n Crunch.”

And @Owen, you may have the best philosophical question yet in the SNOOP discussion: Why does Carter think Lacey is all that? And how does the universe decide who we should have crushes on? That’s wisdom right there—you’ve cracked the code early. Darren instructed you well on sourcing older GRK titles. And it sounds like you have some connections at your school library. That’s huge. (Librarians can answer any question and locate just about any book—they’re at least miracle workers, and possibly actual wizards.)