Fountain grab

| was about to unwrap my sandwich when Nancy Bobofit appeared in front of me with her ugly friends - | guess she’d gotten tired of stealing from the tourists - and dumped her half-eaten lunch in Grover’s lap.

Oops.’ She grinned at me with her crooked teeth. Her freckles were orange, as if somebody had spray-painted her face with liquid Cheetos.
| tried to stay cool. The school counsellor had told me a million times, ‘Count to ten, get control of your temper.’ But | was so mad my mind went blank. A wave roared in my ears.
| don’t remember touching her, but the next thing | knew, Nancy was sitting on her butt in the fountain, screaming, ‘Percy pushed me!’
Mrs Dodds materialized next to us.
Some of the kids were whispering: ‘Did you see -’
‘- the water -’
‘— like it grabbed her -’
| didn’t know what they were talking about. All | knew was that | was in trouble again.