5 Here Comes Max

CHAPTER FIVE HERE COMES MAX THIS TIME, IT wasn't Mr. Willow standing over us. It was Max Brutus. He was wearing his red-and black Evanston Eagles soccer jersey. It was stretched tight around his biceps. He's a big dude. "Umm," Simon said, looking up at him. "Hi, Max. How's it going?" "Bowman," Max said. He only calls his close friends by their first names. For everybody else, Max only uses last names. And Simon's last name is Bowman. "Do you have my—" "Hey, Max!" Simon interrupted. He was obviously trying to keep Max from asking about his World Cup

soccer ball. "I was just showing Molly and Rosie a new way I eat tater tots! Check it out!" Simon grabbed four tater tots—two off my tray and two off Rosie's—and shoved them into his mouth. He grabbed my ketchup cup and squeezed it in after the tots. Then he looked up at Max, chewing and smiling.

Max sort of squeezed his left eye shut slightly and scrunched his mouth over to one side. He said, "Umm. That's great. Did you bring—" To help Simon, Rosie interrupted. "Max, can I ask you a question?" she said quickly. Max turned to her. "Yeah, I guess," he answered. "I really just wanted to get—" "Great, thanks," Rosie said even faster, not allowing Max to finish. "I was just wondering. If you were a car, what kind of car would you be?" "Huh?" "If you were a car, what kind of car would you be?" Rosie repeated. I had never heard her talk so quickly—and her voice was a little higher too. "You can pick anything. An old-fashioned car, a new one, whatever. You can even choose a pickup truck if you want. Your options are wide open. Whatever!"

"Why do you want to—" "I'll use myself as an example," Rosie continued rapidly. "I would choose a Volkswagen Beetle. A green one! Because I'm interested in bugs. The study of bugs is called entomology! Isn't that an interesting word? Like, it should be bugology, don't you think? That would be way better. Anyway, what kind of car would you be?"

Max looked confused. After five seconds, he said, "I guess I'd be a van. We have a red van and use it to go camping."

"Awesome!" Rosie said with great enthusiasm. "That's a great choice." "Umm, thanks," Max said and shook his head a little. He turned back to Simon. "So, Bowman, where's my—" It was my turn. "Oranges are one of my favorite fruits, Max!" I shouted. He yanked his head toward me and said, "What?"