Extraordinary Losers 1 Read Online Free

and tossed my pillows off the bed. The secret slip was gone!
    â€œSoph, did you see a slip of paper?”
    â€œNo!”
    â€œNothing?” I felt around her bed. “Ow!”
    Sophia had kicked me hard in the stomach. That’s the price I have to pay for sharing the same room.
    It was already 7am, my bag wasn’t packed and I was not ready for school. The morning bustle made it simply impossible to find the note. Oh no, oh no, how could I have misplaced it? I hastily brushed my teeth and threw on my uniform. I rummaged around my room desperately until Sophie literally pushed me out the door, whining as usual. “What are you doing? You are going to make us late!”
    On my way to school, I tried hard to recall what that mysterious note said. That note could very well be my ticket out of the loser club.
    â€œTallest… shortest… you meet us. Or shortest something… 58 over 366, something something… ”
    Aunty Maryanne shot me a quizzical look. “Darryl, what are you doing? Walk properly,” she said.
    Aaargh. I had to solve this. Maybe I could surreptitiously ask around to see if my classmates could provide some clues.

    â€œHi, Janice!”
    I decided to make small talk with Janice. She would probably have gotten the note too. Class monitress and Miss Know-It-All, she would know something, surely. I had to ask gently, without divulging the clue.
    â€œJanice, anything weird happened to you lately? Like, anything strange?”
    â€œErr. Yah…”
    â€œOh cool… Is it something that you know, that I know?”
    â€œErr, no, because it’s something that only I know,” she said, cryptically. She was so sounding like part of the secret conspiracy.
    I seesawed my chin up and down, hoping to coax her into revealing more information. I thought there was a glimmer of understanding in her eyes. UNTIL… she uttered her next sentence.
    â€œI think I am different from the rest.”
    â€œHuh? Really? How?”
    â€œYeah, but I am not sure if I should tell you. ’Cause, you know, you might think I am weird or something. Already, I am the laughing stock of the class.”
    â€œHmm. That makes two of us.” I smiled.
    â€œYOU? How could that be?” she gasped. “Yeah, maybe you do stink at sports but that’s about it. Oh yes, and your ears are disgusting! I can see crusty flakes in them right now, Darryl!”
    â€œHeh,” I laughed. “They have to be extra coated with ear wax if I were to lead a normal life. Free from painful headaches.”
    â€œWhat? What do you mean?” Janice asked. I was reluctant to tell her. I had come to her for clues on the secret note, not to divulge my “secret power”!
    â€œIf I tell you, will you promise not to tell anyone?” I continued. “My mother found it hard to understand my dad as he was special too. That’s why he left us.”
    Janice zipped her mouth.
    â€œIf she knew, she would go crazy!” I sighed, then hesitated. What in the world was I doing blabbing away. And to Janice, of all people! Before I could stop myself, out came my secret. “Well, let’s just say I can hear very well. And I mean I can hear EVERYTHING. The sound of teachers walking to class from two blocks away, the sound of someone’s tiny fart, the sound of a butterfly flapping its wings. I can hear them all! Loud and clear. No one knows about this, not even my mum.”
    â€œOh!” Janice said. “Wow!”
    â€œWhat about you?” I asked.
    She was about to speak when my ears twitched. Someone was whispering to someone else. It was very very far away, but I could make out a few words.
    â€œRiddle.”
    â€œSolve, calendar.”
    â€œTo meet. Clock.”
    The voices were vaguely distinguishable. One sounded a bit “curly”, the other, rather nasal? Mundi and Clandestino? I wasn’t sure. I wished I had powerful eyes too! When I