Back to School Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Copyright Page

  I stood on stage, under the spotlight. Even though the rest of the concert hall was in darkness I knew that it was full of people, watching me. But I wasn’t nervous at all. I’d practised this dance routine hundreds of times. I knew I wouldn’t make a mistake.

  The music started and I began dancing. My costume trailed behind me like mist as I moved. I had to be careful that I didn’t step on it. It would be terrible to fall over in front of all these people. But I didn’t fall, even when the music became really fast.

  The hardest part was towards the end when I had to spin five times in a row, then jump into the air. I started spinning and the spotlight followed me across the stage. By the third twirl I knew everything was going to be OK.

  I finished with the splits and the crowd went wild. They rose to their feet and cheered. My best friend, Dani, ran on to the stage and gave me a big hug.

  ‘That was really cool, Chloe,’ she said.

  As she spoke, the concert hall and all the people disappeared.

  We were in Dani’s loungeroom.

  ‘I think our dance routine is looking great,’ Dani added.

  ‘Me, too,’ I said.

  Dani and I had been working on this routine all summer. Dani did dance lessons, so she worked out most of it. But I had made up a few steps, too, which Dani said were really good.

  After our practice, we were both pooped. We flopped down onto the floor, still in our costumes. Dani’s mum had given us a bag of old stuff to use. I was wearing a soft silky dress covered in tiny gold beads. It was excellent to dance in because it swirled out around me when I spun. Dani’s outfit was a satin skirt with a zebra pattern. It was too big so to keep it up she had on a wide stretchy belt.

  ‘Can you believe it’s the last day of the holidays?’ said Dani.

  I shook my head. ‘This summer has gone so quickly,’ I said.

  ‘I’m actually looking forward to going back,’ Dani admitted. ‘Is that weird?’

  I knew what she meant. It had been a great holiday, but I was also excited about going back to school.

  Everything was going to change this year. We were moving to a whole new area, where the older kids go. There would be different classrooms, different toilets. There would even be a different playground. It was almost like starting at a new school.

  ‘But I’m a bit nervous, too,’ Dani said. ‘Everyone says the work will be much harder now. Especially maths.’

  I got butterflies in my stomach when she said that. Maths wasn’t exactly my best subject. I had done OK in Mrs Khan’s class last year, but the work was pretty easy.

  ‘I think it depends on which teacher you get,’ I said. ‘Mr Stavros is nice but Mrs Clarke is really strict.’

  My big sister Ashley used to go to the same school as me. She’d told me all about the teachers.

  ‘Mr Stavros gives out stickers if you do good work,’ she said. ‘But Mrs Clarke only ever gives ticks. And no-one ever gets more than one tick.’

  I wanted to be in Mr Stavros’s class. He played guitar and gave his kids silly nicknames. There was a boy in his class last year called Alec Jamieson but Mr Stavros called him ‘I-lick-jam-and-scones’. It was kind of dumb, but it was funny, too.

  Mrs Clarke always called kids by their proper names. She didn’t even shorten them. If your name was Samantha, that’s what she’d call you, even if everyone else called you Ant.

  But there was another reason I didn’t want Mrs Clarke to be my teacher. It was because of something bad that happened last year.

  I was playing four square and I ran backwards to hit the ball. I didn’t notice Mrs Clarke standing right behind me, and I knocked her over.

  I mean, completely over.

  I turned around and there she was, flat on her back, looking really surprised. I was worried she was hurt but she got up and brushed herself down.

  ‘I’m sorry, Mrs Clarke,’ I said nervously.

  I thought she’d say something like, That’s OK, I know you didn’t mean it. That’s what Mrs Khan would’ve said. But she didn’t.

  Instead she gave me a really mean look and said, ‘It’s not a good idea to run backwards.’

  Then she walked off.

  That’s how I knew that Mrs Clarke didn’t like me. It felt like there were two things that might happen that year – I might get Mr Stavros and have lots of fun or I might get Mrs Clarke and have no fun at all.

  I woke up early the next morning – way before the alarm went off, and way before Ashley. I was excited.

  Last year Dad used to drop me off at school but this year I was going to catch the bus with Dani. I didn’t want to miss it, especially not on the first day. Ashley kept telling me the bus wasn’t that great but I didn’t care what she thought.

  I was looking forward to it.

  Ashley was waiting outside the shower when I got out.

  ‘About time!’ she said, which is funny, because she takes ten times longer than I do in the bathroom.

  Ashley and I used to be good friends but Ashley thinks she’s too cool to hang out with me now she’s in high school.

  Back in my room, I got my school uniform out of the wardrobe. It was hanging next to my favourite skirt, the one with the glittery flowers. I wore my skirt all the time during the holidays. But that day I was actually excited to put on my uniform again, even though it doesn’t glitter. I look much older in it.

  Then I did my hair. I always do my own hair and I like making up new hairstyles. The one I thought of that day was pretty tricky and I spent so long on it that I started to run out of time.

  When I looked at the clock I got a fright. If I didn’t hurry I was going to miss the bus. I rushed to the kitchen and ate my cereal really quickly. I knew Dani would be waiting for me at the bus stop.

  ‘Slow down!’ said Mum, smiling. ‘You’ll be sick.’

  I slowed down a bit, but not much.

  ‘I really don’t want to miss the bus,’ I explained.

  Dad shook his head. ‘Anyone would think you’d rather catch the bus to school than get a lift with me!’ he said.

  I gave him a hug. ‘It was fun driving with you when I was little,’ I said, because I didn’t want him to feel bad.

  Then I really had to go.

  ‘See ya!’ I called, running out the door. But I had to come back in straight away – I’d forgotten my school bag.

  Ashley rolled her eyes. You would think she never made mistakes!

  Dani was already at the bus stop when I arrived. She looked excited.

  ‘I think it’s coming,’ she said.

  Sure enough, the school bus appeared around the corner and slowed to a stop. But the moment I got on, I wasn’t sure I wanted to be there anymore.

  It was really crowded, and the other kids all looked much older than us. It was really noisy too. Everyone was talking over the top of each other.

  ‘There aren’t any seats left,’ I whispered to Dani, as we squeezed down the aisle. I wondered if it was too late to get a lift with Dad after all. But then Dani pointed.

  ‘Look! There are two spots,’ she said, and dragged me to some spare seats right at the back of the bus.

  We’d only been sitting down for a minute when the boy in front of us turned around. He stared at us like we were from another planet. Sometimes the older kids think they can boss everyone else around. They act like
they’re almost teachers.

  Callum is like that.

  ‘Don’t you know the rules?’ he said, giving us a really nasty look. ‘No little kids down the back of the bus.’

  I was ready to move straight away, but not Dani. She didn’t give up easily. She wasn’t scared of anything, either. Big dogs, big kids, big storms. Nothing.

  ‘We’re not little kids,’ she said. ‘Little kids aren’t even allowed to catch the bus.’

  Callum looked annoyed.

  ‘If I say you’re a little kid, then you are one,’ he growled.

  Everyone around us went quiet. They were waiting to see what would happen.

  ‘Come on, Dani,’ I muttered. ‘There are some seats up the front.’

  ‘Your friend’s right,’ Callum said to Dani. ‘That’s where the shrimps belong.’

  ‘Well, then you should go up there,’ replied Dani. ‘I’m much taller than you!’

  Everyone laughed then because it was true. Even though she was much younger than Callum, Dani was taller.

  ‘Yeah, Callum,’ one of his friends said. ‘You should go up with all the little kids.’

  Callum looked like he was worried someone really would make him move. ‘No,’ he said, crossing his arms. ‘I’m not going anywhere.’

  Everyone turned back around and started talking again. It looked like we could stay!

  I squeezed Dani’s hand and thought for about the hundredth time how lucky I was to have her as my best friend.

  It was weird when we arrived at school. Instead of going to our old building we walked right past it to our new area, called the Multi-Purpose Area.

  There were already heaps of kids waiting there. Dani and I soon spotted our gang – Nicole, Sarah and Annabelle.

  It was excellent to see them again. We’ve been friends since the first day of school. People often ask if we are all sisters. This is pretty funny because we look totally different.

  For example, Dani is tall with lots of freckles while Annabelle is short and has olive skin. But we think the same. One day we all turned up at school with our hair done in the same style! It was like we belonged to a secret hairstyle club. No-one believed it was an accident.

  We didn’t have long to chat. The bell rang and our new teachers came in. Everyone went quiet.

  Mr Stavros winked at us but Mrs Clarke didn’t even smile. My friends and I all looked at each other. I knew we were all thinking the same thing – I hope we’re in Mr Stavros’s class.

  Mr Stavros read out his class list.

  Nicole’s name got called.

  Then Sarah’s.

  Then Annabelle’s.

  They went over to the left side of the room looking happy. Dani and I were left on the right side.

  We were in Mrs Clarke’s class, and our gang had been split up for the first time ever. I was glad that at least Dani and I were together.

  The two classes left the area behind their new teachers. Already Mr Stavros’s class was laughing at some joke he’d made. But our class was completely quiet.

  Our classroom looked much bigger than Mrs Khan’s did last year, and the walls were really bare. The first thing we had to do was choose a seat. Naturally, Dani and I sat together. Then Mrs Clarke started talking.

  ‘You’re not babies anymore,’ she said, ‘so I don’t want to see any baby behaviour.’

  She told us the classroom rules.

  Dani looked at me and pulled a face and I pulled one back. But we made sure Mrs Clarke didn’t see. There was probably a rule about that too.

  Next, Mrs Clarke had a surprise for us. But it wasn’t a good one.

  ‘We are going to have a maths test,’ she said. ‘I’ll call out the problems. Write the answers down as quickly as you can.’

  I couldn’t believe it. We’d only been back at school for an hour and already we were having a maths test!

  Through the wall I could hear Mr Stavros’s class. He was playing guitar and they were singing along. I could tell they weren’t doing a test.

  Mrs Clarke started calling out the questions. I knew the answer to the first one, but then they got harder and I started having trouble.

  I looked around. Everyone else was scribbling down the answers.

  As the test went on I started feeling sick. There were some questions that I thought I understood. But Mrs Clarke was going so fast I didn’t have time to think.

  It was terrible!

  It looked like I was going to be handing in a piece of paper with hardly anything on it.

  I looked at Dani. She was writing down the answers as quickly as Mrs Clarke called out the questions. Did I mention that as well as being brave and funny, Dani was also really brainy?

  I didn’t want her to know I was having trouble with the test, so I started guessing. I just wrote down anything that came into my head and hoped that some of my answers would be right.

  At the end Mrs Clarke collected our sheets. Then she gave out some more problems to do for homework.

  ‘That was easy!’ said Dani, looking relieved. ‘I thought maths was going to be hard this year.’

  My stomach felt really weird – like I’d eaten a hot fudge sundae and done twenty spins in a row.

  Dani knew something was wrong.

  ‘Are you OK?’ she asked. ‘You look strange.’

  I almost told her that I had found the maths test hard. But I didn’t. Because if I told her then she would know my terrible secret – I wasn’t smart enough to be in this grade.

  When the recess bell finally rang, Dani and I went and met the others in our new play area. Annabelle was at a music lesson, but Nicole and Sarah were talking about what a great morning they’d had. Even Mr Stavros’s rules sounded good.

  ‘If you do something wrong you have to do a dead ant,’ said Nicole.

  ‘What’s that?’ I asked.

  ‘You lie on your back in front of everyone and wave your arms and legs in the air,’ explained Nicole.

  Dani and I laughed. That sounded funny. And really embarrassing.

  Mr Stavros had started teaching them all a song to perform at the first assembly of the year.

  ‘And he said that we three could work out a dance to do at the same time,’ said Sarah, looking excited.

  I couldn’t help feeling a bit jealous. I wondered if Dani felt the same.

  Last year our group used to make up dances every lunchtime and pretend we were on TV. We kept talking about how one day we would put on a concert. Now it looked like the others were going to do one without us.

  It was worse for Dani – she was the best dancer out of any of us. If anyone should be doing a show, it was her. But she didn’t look like she minded.

  The others couldn’t believe it when we told them we’d already done a maths test.

  ‘Mrs Clarke is really strict,’ said Dani. ‘But the work isn’t that hard.’ Then she looked at me. ‘The test was easy, don’t you think, Chloe?’

  ‘It wasn’t too bad,’ I said, but I couldn’t look at my friends as I said it.

  What would they think if they knew the truth? They might not want me hanging around with them anymore.

  Dani started doing some dance steps. They were part of the routine we’d been working on together over summer.

  ‘That’s so cool,’ said Nicole, watching her. ‘You’re such a good dancer.’

  It was true. Dani made dancing look easy. Her arms and legs always did exactly what her mind was thinking. My mind often had good ideas but the rest of me just couldn’t keep up.

  ‘Hey,’ said Sarah, grabbing Nicole’s arm. ‘Maybe Dani could help us work out our dance for school assembly!’

  ‘That’s a great idea!’ said Nicole. She looked at Dani. ‘Would you do that?’

  Dani shrugged. ‘Sure. Why not?’ she said.

  And then it was like they completely forgot about me. Dani started showing Nicole and Sarah different steps while I just sat on the grass and watched.

  I couldn’t help feeling a bit m
ad. And the more I watched, the madder I felt. Lots of the steps that Dani taught them were from our own dance. Some of them were even ones I’d made up!

  I couldn’t understand why Dani wanted to help them so much when we weren’t even going to be in the show.

  I was getting really bored when Annabelle arrived from her music lesson. She had news.

  ‘I just heard Mr Stavros talking to Mrs Clarke in the corridor,’ she said. ‘Mrs Clarke said, “If she doesn’t settle in soon she’ll have to be moved”.’

  ‘Who do you think she was talking about?’ asked Dani.

  Annabelle shrugged. ‘I didn’t hear that bit, but it sounds like they’re planning to get rid of someone,’ she said.

  ‘Or maybe move them down a grade,’ suggested Sarah. ‘They do that sometimes when a kid has trouble keeping up.’

  The others started guessing who the teachers might’ve meant. Maybe it was Dale, who was the youngest in the class. Or maybe it was the new girl, Stephanie.

  I kept quiet because I already knew who it was.

  Me.

  Mrs Clarke must have seen my test already. She must have realised that I wasn’t smart enough to keep up with the others. I knew that it wouldn’t be long before I got put down a grade.

  After recess Mrs Clarke got us to write a story about our holidays. Lots of kids groaned but I was happy. I like writing stories, even if teachers keep asking us to write about the same things. I think I’ve written a story about my holidays every year since I started school!

  When we finished, Mrs Clarke clapped her hands.

  ‘Now we are going to choose this week’s monitors,’ she said.

  Dani got chosen as lunch monitor and I was made pet monitor.

  Pet monitor sounds like a good job. And it would’ve been OK if I was in Mr Stavros’s class – their class pet is a terrapin named Boris. Terrapins are cute. But our class pets are two hermit crabs called Snippy and Snappy. They remind me of spiders, but they are worse than spiders because they have claws.

  Mrs Clarke got us to sit on the mat in a circle.