Jake had been playing video games at Cosmo"s Game Room for nearly two hours. He loved spending time in the arcade, but now he was out of quarters, and it was time to go. He removed the half-eaten bag of Salty Sam"s potato chips from his backpack. He then slung the bag over his shoulder and walked toward the exit, munching chips as he did. When he stepped outside, he came face to face with Karter, the biggest bully in the whole school. Karter and his friends, Eric, Max, and Devin, were smoking outside the entrance. They were only in the fifth grade—a year older than Jake—but they smoked cigarettes like they were grownups.
Jake tried to slip past them but was unsuccessful. Karter reached out and grabbed the strap of his backpack, twirling him around. Max knocked the bag of chips from Jake"s
