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Later that night, I asked my mom to read over my e-mail to Officer Mendez. Even though I'm confident in my writing skills, I had to admit I was a little nervous about contacting a police officer. Mom proofread it and showed me how to rephrase some of my sentences to make them sound more professional.

“This is really great, Sam. I'm so proud of you,” she said when I hit send. “Am I still allowed to say that, or is that too embarrassing?”

“You can still say that.” I laughed. “I'm actually proud of myself. I can't wait to dig deeper into this story and find out what really happened.”

“Okay, just remember, it was a crime,” said Mom. “And even though no one was hurt, there can be danger involved. So keep Mr. Trigg and me informed about everything you do, and be smart.”

“That's impossible,” Allie snarked as she walked past Mom's office. “I got all the smart genes. You just got lucky. And speaking of luck,” she added, “I heard the black cloud of bad luck has already parked itself over Cherry Valley Middle School. Is that true?”

“Come on, Allie. Be real,” I said. “Every little thing looks like bad luck now. That's what everyone's focused on. There's no such thing.”

The rest of the week appeared to be some kind of cosmic sign intended to prove me wrong. Murphy's Law was in full effect:
Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong
.

On Tuesday, I walked into school to find Hailey on her hands and knees, crawling around the lockers.

“Is this some kind of strange soccer drill?” I asked.

“Weird,” Hailey replied. “I lost my new sunglasses, and I can't find them anywhere. I thought I put them in my locker, but maybe I dropped them.”

Just then, Anthony Wright came running over to talk to Hailey. Before he could say a word, we heard a crunching sound. Hailey put her head in her hands and moaned.

“Thanks, Anthony,” I said. “You just found Hailey's sunglasses.”

“And you don't believe in the Cougar Curse,”
Hailey sighed, holding her broken sunglasses.

On Wednesday, I saw Jenna sitting in the lunchroom by herself, crying. Hailey and I went to sit with her and found out that she had failed the math test.

“I studied for two weeks!” Jenna said. “And math is my best subject. This has to be because of the curse.”

“Sure seems that way,” Hailey said as she glared in my direction.

On Thursday, Hailey and I went to watch Anthony Wright compete against West Hills in a chess competition after school. He went to make a move during the match and knocked the whole board onto the floor. It was the first time that had ever happened to him, and he's been playing chess since he was three!

“Cougar Curse,” Hailey whispered to me. “Just sayin'.”

Friday was the worst day of the week, though. The Cherry Valley Cougars were facing the Valley View Vipers. The Vipers had a one-and-eight record, and if you had asked
anyone before the cougar incident to predict the game outcome, even a Viper fan, they would have said the Cougars would win in a blowout. I knew the game wasn't going to go well even before it started. Michael Lawrence and the other players on the team looked like they had been invaded by body snatchers.

Usually on game day, the guys on the team give each other high fives every time they pass in the hallway. They growl, “Cougars, yeah!” so much, it made you wonder if they knew how to say anything else.

Before Friday's game, all signs of team spirit had been erased. Michael and his teammates might have been playing for Anthony's chess team. I didn't see a single high five, or hear any “Cougars, yeah!” chants. So yeah, I knew the game was not going to be a good one.

I just didn't know how bad it would be. It was one thing to fumble the ball five times, but when Connor Bourke fell to the ground and clutched his ankle in pain, even I groaned. He was the only kicker on the team who could even reach the goal
posts. Without Connor, the Cougars really did look doomed.

Oh yeah, and they lost the game, too. It wasn't a romp like the game against West Hills. It came down to the last play of the game, and that's when Brandon Abrenica intercepted the ball and ran it in for Valley View's winning touchdown. Final score: twenty-six to twenty-one. Ouch!

I didn't bother waiting for Michael after the game. I knew what his reaction would be, and anyway, I had investigating to do. Everyone else in Cherry Valley could walk on eggshells because of the Cougar Curse. It wasn't going to stop Samantha Martone, girl reporter extraordinaire, from doing her job.

Back at home, Allie and her friends had completely taken over the kitchen. Mural paper stretched from the refrigerator to the kitchen door, and Allie looked like she had taken a bath in glitter glue.

“School project?” I asked. “On a Friday night?”

“Yup,” said Ashley Flynn. “We have to depict a historical event we've learned about this semester in an inventive way. It's due on Monday. We decided to combine it with a sleepover.”

“And this event is . . . ?” I wondered as I looked at globs of glue on the mural paper.

“The Battle of Gettysburg, duh,” Allie huffed.

“Wow! Combining war and glitter glue is definitely an original concept,” I noted.

“Hey, Sam, how's that Cougar Curse going?” Ashley Diaz chimed in.

“Oh, I don't believe in the curse,” I answered. “But what's really exciting is that I'm investigating the story for the school paper. I'm going to interview police involved, get information from the first people to arrive at the scene, and talk to students at Cherry Valley
and
West Hills—”

“Um, Sam,” Allie interrupted. “
My
friends.
Your
room.”

Allie pointed her finger toward my room as if she were ordering me to leave her presence. While I walked away, I could hear Allie and the Ashleys burst into a fit of giggles. Sometimes Allie could be kind of cool, but most of the time, she's, well . . . a big sister. Ugh!

I kicked off my sneakers and turned on my computer. Some people might get distracted and waste their time poking around on Buddybook or making a wish list on their favorite
shopping site. I was focused on the investigation. I checked my e-mail and saw that Officer Mendez had replied.

Dear Miss Martone,

I received your e-mail request. I'd be happy to talk to you and Mr. Lawrence about the case. We can arrange a meeting at the precinct one afternoon next week. Let me know what day and time work best for you. We will need to keep the meeting under thirty minutes, so please prepare your questions in advance.

Looking forward to meeting you.

Sincerely,

Officer Jeanine Mendez

Perfect! I was tempted to write back right away and suggest the best day and time to meet, but I knew that wouldn't be fair to Michael. Now I had a dilemma. Should I put my eagerness on the backburner and wait to call Michael tomorrow, or should I keep things moving forward
and call him on a Friday night, after another heartbreaking Cougar loss? If Allie hadn't been so rude, I would have asked for her advice, but from the sound of the shrieks coming from the kitchen, I knew I was on my own. I had so much nervous energy, I decided to channel it into making a pros vs. cons chart.

I sat on my bed, staring at the chart, still unable to make a decision. And then I did something that I wasn't sure was the best use
of my reporter skills, but that had been itching my brain for the past few days. I typed “Danny Stratham” and “West Hills” into a search engine. I looked at my computer screen for what seemed like an eternity, but was probably no more than fifteen seconds, and then I hit the return key.

There weren't a lot of entries, only ten, in fact. None of them referred to suspensions or a criminal record, dog-kicking or tattoos. Eight were about West Hills football games and his role as a star receiver. One was about a volunteer park cleanup that he'd helped to organize. The last showed a picture of him and the West Hills principal—Patricia Stratham, his mom!

I printed it out because I couldn't wait to show to Jenna, Kristen, and Hailey the real reason that Danny Stratham went to the principal's office every afternoon. I looked at my chart again and then my clock and decided that even if it meant a sleepless night, it would probably be best to wait until tomorrow to call Michael. I decided to forward Officer Mendez's e-mail
to him instead with a quick note. Except that my “quick” note took about twenty minutes to write, because I kept rewriting the first line.

Hey, Michael,

Sorry about the loss to Valley View.

That was a tough game.

You played a lot better than you did in the game against West Hills.

It seemed impossible to get the “friendly, encouraging, and concerned” tone I wanted, so I decided to just stick to the facts.

Hey, Michael,

See below. Officer Mendez will meet with us. What day/time is best for you?

—Sam

I almost fell out of bed when my computer chimed a minute later. Michael had already
e-mailed me back! It said only:

Want to talk?

So I replied:

Sure. Call me whenever you want. I'm home.

The phone rang almost immediately. Michael obviously was in need of a diversion from thinking about football.

“I GOT IT! I GOT IT I GOT IT!” I yelled out my bedroom door as I grabbed the phone.

“Hi, Michael,” I heard Allie say with a giggle. “Sam's here. Hold on a minute.”

“Hi, Michael,” I said on the other receiver. “I got it, Allie. You can hang up now.”

I heard a
click
, and then it sounded like a herd of cattle were thumping down the hall outside my room. Allie, Ashley, and Ashley poked their heads into my bedroom.

“Are his brothers home?” Ashley Diaz whispered.

“Could you ask?” Allie said.

“Um, Allie,” I replied, covering the receiver.
“
My
call.
Your
room.” I pointed to her room across the hall. Payback is awesome!