School Spirit

by Meredith Badger

  She didn’t wait for Lily to answer, she just took off across the playground towards Mr Mack.

  Holly felt like she was a jumble of feelings. On top of everything, she was excited to be going to her first meeting as class captain. Underneath that was worry about Mr Mack being annoyed that she didn’t have Oscar with her. In the middle of the jumble, there was a little bit of guilt that she was having an exciting day when Lily was having a bad one.

  And wrapped around it all like a ribbon was a big, stinky mess of annoyance that her best friend was acting so … so …

  I don’t even know how to describe how Lily’s being, thought Holly as she reached the classroom. I knew she was upset, but I didn’t think she’d blame me! What am I supposed to do about that?

  Mr Mack was sitting at his desk. ‘Hey there, captain. Did you find Oscar?’

  ‘No,’ Holly said, shaking her head and wondering if she was about to get into trouble with Mr Mack. She was already in trouble with one person for nothing. Why not make it two?

  ‘He might be in a meeting with Mr Campbell, though,’ she added.

  To Holly’s relief, Mr Mack didn’t look upset at all. ‘Oh, that’s right. Never mind. I’ll catch up with him later. But you and I can get started straightaway.’

  He clapped his hands together and looked very pleased. ‘I spoke to Miss Kyle in the staff room, and she loves your idea for raising money to plant trees. She even knows the right place to plant them!’

  Mr Mack grinned at her. ‘So, do you think you can make an announcement in assembly next Monday? Tell the whole school about your great plan?’

  Holly felt a wonderful warm glow. She nodded eagerly. ‘OK!’

  This is going to be great, she decided, as Mr Mack drew her a picture of where Miss Kyle wanted the trees.

  I’m really going to make my plan work! And if I can help change a whole school, then I know I can work things out with Lily.

  Not at school, though. Every time Holly tried to catch Lily’s eye or whisper to her, something would happen and the moment would be gone.

  A couple of times, Holly saw Lily biting her lip. Once Lily glanced at Holly, and when she saw Holly looking back, she quickly looked down at her workbook.

  I bet we could work this out in two seconds flat if we had a chance, Holly thought. I just need to find a way to make Lily feel better.

  She glanced at Mr Mack, who was writing maths problems on the board for them to copy down. It turned out he’d been serious about them doing fractions.

  While Mr Mack’s back was turned, Holly scribbled a note on a bit of paper and shoved it sideways onto Lily’s desk.

  Holly held her breath as Lily took the note and slid it carefully towards her so Mr Mack wouldn’t see. Lily read it, then nodded at Holly with a small smile.

  Yes! Holly grinned back, going back to her maths problems. She knew Lily was disappointed about not being class captain, but Holly thought her idea might just help her best friend feel better.

  Lily was waiting with her school bag by the bin when Holly came out.

  ‘Sorry I took so long,’ said Holly. ‘Layla was hogging all the space in front of my locker, taking ages with her books.’

  ‘It’s OK,’ Lily mumbled. She looked worried, which wasn’t like her at all.

  Then again, this whole day had been unlike Lily. When had Holly ever known Lily to mess up in front of the class? Or to get upset with Holly for doing better than she did?

  The thing about being best friends with someone was you got used to them being a certain way. Holly had always thought of Lily as confident, funny, and full of ideas. It was hard to get her head around a Lily who was cranky and jealous.

  It’s not like I could give the captain job to Lily, even if I wanted to! thought Holly. And I don’t want to. I really want to be captain. But will I have to choose between my best friend and being captain?

  Holly looked closely at Lily, wondering how to begin. She felt pretty nervous about having this sort of conversation. She didn’t want it to turn into a fight.

  ‘Well, anyway,’ Holly began, hoping she’d be able to think of something as she went along. ‘About this captain thing –’

  ‘Holly, I’m so sorry!’ Lily blurted out. ‘I know I’ve been a total dag, and I don’t even know why. I’m supposed to be your best friend, and I’ve been acting like a jealous … a jealous … a jealous something.’

  Holly laughed in surprise. ‘So, you’re not mad with me anymore?’

  ‘No!’ Lily pulled a face. ‘I wasn’t really mad. It was more just total embarrassment. Like, I was so embarrassed about mucking up reading out my poster, and then I was jealous of you getting nominated. But I thought, It’ll be OK, as long as she doesn’t get voted in, because then we’d sort of be even. But how horrible is that! To want your best friend to lose so you can be losers together. And so then I was embarrassed about that. It was a mess!’

  Holly laughed again, but kindly. ‘It doesn’t matter.’

  ‘Yeah, it does! I wish I could do something to make it up to you, to prove that I’m not jealous anymore, and that I really want to be your best friend.’

  ‘What are you talking about? Of course you’re my best friend. Whoever said you weren’t? But if you really want to make it up to me, not that you have to –’

  ‘Anything!’ said Lily. ‘Anything at all. You tell me and I’ll do it.’

  ‘Excellent,’ Holly smiled. ‘Because I need your help.’

  Holly and Lily both caught a bus from the stop outside the school, but they took different buses. So Holly had to be quick explaining her plan to Lily as they walked.

  ‘So, you know the thing with Mr Mack at lunchtime, right? When I couldn’t talk to you?’

  ‘Yeah?’

  ‘Well, he said he talked to Miss Kyle about my tree-planting idea, and she wants to do it! I have to announce it in assembly with Oscar and get the whole school involved and everything!’

  Holly was excited as she said it, but underneath she was still a bit wary.

  I hope Lily means it when she says she’s not jealous anymore, she thought to herself. If she’s secretly jealous and trying to hide it, then telling her all this will only make it worse.

  But to Holly’s relief, Lily looked as excited and proud as Holly felt. ‘That’s awesome, Holl!’

  ‘Yeah, but there’s more. The assembly’s next Monday, and as well as needing to write an announcement and practise reading it out, I also want a poster to take up on stage with me.’

  Lily didn’t say anything. She just looked at Holly with her eyes shining.

  ‘So, Lils, are you going to help me?’ asked Holly.

  ‘Yes!’ shouted Lily. ‘Of course I will! I thought you’d never ask!’

  ‘Cool,’ grinned Holly. ‘Then I’ll ask my dad if you can come over to his place on Saturday, and I’ll get all the stuff we need for the poster.’

  ‘And I’ll bring all my glitter glues and poster paints from home, too.’

  ‘See?’ said Holly. ‘I knew you’d be the best person for the job.’

  Lily smiled and then said more quietly, ‘Thanks, Holly. You’re such a top friend, and I’m really glad you were voted captain, you know.’

  Holly smiled back. It was amazing how long a day could be and how many things you could fit into it. She didn’t think she’d ever had a day quite like it.

  Arriving at school with her poster seemed like a million years ago. Now Holly was back on track with Lily after their very strange not-quite-a-fight, and she was also girl captain of the class, with a major project to organise!

  ‘Thanks,’ she said to Lily. ‘I’m just glad you’re going to be helping me.’

  That Saturday, Holly and Lily were trying to think up the best name for the treeplanting idea.

  ‘Mr Mack said each class will get to raise money its own way, so there will be loads of competitions and cake stalls and stuff,’ said Holly. ‘But I get to announce the actual name of the place where we are going
to put the trees.’

  ‘That’s cool,’ said Lily. ‘If we left it up to the teachers, they’d probably call it something boring.’

  ‘That’s so true,’ Holly giggled, but then she shook her head. ‘On the other hand, coming up with a cool name is going to be kind of tricky.’

  Lily threw a tiny pink rubber at her head. ‘Get lost!’ she snorted. ‘That’s what you said about coming up with ideas for your poster, and you did the best one in the whole class.’

  ‘Well, I did have one idea,’ Holly admitted. ‘But it might be a bit lame.’

  ‘Go on.’

  ‘OK, but don’t laugh. You know how Ms Kyle wants us to plant trees in that weedy old space behind the shelter sheds? Well, there’s a little stream in the corner, and I thought we could call it the Shelter Creek Garden.’

  She looked at Lily nervously, but Lily just closed her eyes.

  ‘See, what I thought was,’ Holly hurried on to explain, ‘we shouldn’t just have a bunch of trees that are roped off and we never get to see. We should make a little garden where kids could sit quietly and read and stuff, and –’

  ‘It’s perfect,’ said Lily, opening her eyes.

  ‘Really? You don’t think it’s boring?’

  ‘No, it’s good, and we can write on the poster, Help us build Shelter Creek Garden, and then it already sounds like a real place.’

  Holly smiled. ‘That’s kind of what I thought.’

  ‘See? Psychic sisters! We’re the ultimate team. Special hand slap!’

  Holly laughed and held out her hands to be slapped. It was so good having Lily back to normal.

  The next Monday, assembly seemed to go on forever. The kindy kids got up to sing ‘Kookaburra’, and then half of year two were awarded certificates for reading.

  Holly thought it would never end. Then all of a sudden, Ms Kyle said, ‘And now Holly Grundon and Oscar Morgan, Mr Mack’s class captains, have an exciting announcement.’

  Holly clutched her speech cards and stood up, turning to check that Oscar was getting up next to her with the poster.

  ‘Good luck!’ Lily whispered to her.

  Holly had wondered if her legs would shake on the long walk up to the stage next to Ms Kyle, but as she walked she felt her courage growing. It was just like when she read out her poster in front of the class.

  Well, it was a bit scarier than that, but still, she was actually looking forward to talking to everyone.

  She never would have guessed she’d love being class captain so much! Here she was, about to tell the whole school about how they can work together to make a difference. To make things better!

  When she got up on stage, Holly turned and checked that Oscar was ready with the poster. It looked fantastic, and Lily’s glitter lettering was perfect as usual.

  She glanced one last time at the cards in her hand, but she knew her speech off by heart.

  Holly smiled and lifted her face to the audience. She looked around the room and saw Lily sitting out there, grinning proudly at her.

  ‘Good morning,’ Holly said, and she heard her own voice ringing out clearly.

  This was going to go just fine.

  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

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  One Wednesday morning in the middle of term, a new girl arrived at Zoe’s school. It was the most exciting thing that Zoe could remember happening for ages.

  Ms Kyle knocked on the door during class. Mr Mack had to stop halfway through a sentence.

  Everyone looked up from their books.

  ‘Don’t mind us,’ said Ms Kyle. ‘I’m just talking to Mr Mack about the new student.’

  ‘Wow! A new student,’ Zoe whispered to her best friend, Iris.

  ‘I know,’ said Iris. ‘And what perfect timing. Mr Mack was speaking way too fast for me to keep up. Quick – while he’s still talking to Ms Kyle – are there two g’s in exaggerated?’

  ‘Shh,’ said Zoe. ‘I’m trying to listen.’

  But all around her the quiet whispers of the other kids were growing into loud mumblings. She couldn’t hear what Ms Kyle was saying at all.

  ‘Settle down,’ said Mr Mack, as Ms Kyle left. ‘All right, you all heard that a new girl is starting today. Her name is Isabelle Sinclair, and she will be joining us as soon as she’s finished buying her books and uniform at the office. I know you’ll all do your best to make her feel welcome.’

  Definitely, thought Zoe. Iris and I will be her best friends.

  ‘Right, then,’ said Mr Mack. ‘Let’s get back to our dictation.’

  Of course, it was impossible for Zoe to concentrate on her school work. Any minute now, Isabelle could walk through the door …

  Zoe wondered what Isabelle would be like. Would she be musical like Iris, funny like Ching Ching, brainy like Holly or shy like Olivia?

  When Zoe had finished her dictation, she started drawing little cartoons in the margin of her exercise book. She doodled all the different ways she thought Isabelle might look. Would she be tall or short? Would she have long hair, or –

  ‘Zoe!’ Iris nudged her sharply in the ribs.

  Zoe looked up and saw Mr Mack looking at her pointedly.

  ‘Nice of you to rejoin us, Zoe,’ he said, dryly.

  Zoe quickly sat up straight and covered her drawings with her hand.

  ‘Sorry, Mr Mack,’ she said.

  Mr Mack was just about to say something else when there was a knock at the door. It was Ms Kyle again, followed by a girl in a new school jumper.

  Isabelle!

  Isabelle Sinclair stood at the front of the classroom, looking coolly at her new classmates.

  I’d be terrified if that were me, thought Zoe. I’d be shivering all over.

  But Isabelle looked totally relaxed, even bored.

  Ms Kyle left the room and Mr Mack turned to Isabelle.

  ‘Well, Isabelle,’ he said, cheerily. ‘Welcome to our class. Would you like to tell us a bit about yourself?’

  Oh, no, Mr Mack! thought Zoe, dismayed. Don’t do that to her!

  Zoe couldn’t imagine anything worse on the first day at a new school. She wouldn’t have known what to say, and she would have blushed and stammered. But Isabelle spoke confidently.

  ‘My family just moved here because my dad got a transfer at work. He’s a lawyer and my mum’s a piano teacher. I don’t have any brothers or sisters, but I have a sausage dog called Banger who sleeps on my bed.’

  ‘Thank you, Isabelle. It’s good to have you here,’ said Mr Mack. ‘Why don’t you sit at that desk today, and we’ll find you a permanent place tomorrow?’

  He pointed to Lily’s desk. She was away sick.

  The bell rang loudly for lunch, and before Mr Mack could say another word, everyone had leapt to their feet.

  ‘All right,’ he called out. ‘Off you go! Just remember to give Isabelle room to breathe, and time to eat her lunch, while you’re busy mobbing her with questions.’

  Mr Mack was right – the class did mob Isabelle. Everyone wanted to speak to her, find out more about her and tell her about themselves.

  ‘See that mulberry tree over there?’ asked Oscar. ‘That’s where Dylan and I climbed out over the school fence.’

  ‘We got in the most massive trouble,’ said Dylan, grinning. ‘They made up a whole new school rule just for us. Now no-one is allowed to climb trees.’

  ‘And the back of that building is the music room,’ said Iris, pointing. ‘We have guitars, a piano, a drum kit, and flutes and everything.’

  ‘And next to the music room is the computer roo
m,’ said Ching Ching. ‘We do computers on Fridays with Mr Campbell. He’s a really good teacher.’

  Olivia giggled. ‘You would say that!’ she said to Ching Ching. ‘You’ve got the biggest crush on him!’

  ‘I so do not,’ said Ching Ching.

  ‘You so do so,’ said Olivia, laughing. ‘You lo-oo-ove him!’

  Zoe was frustrated – she didn’t want to hear all this stuff! She wanted to hear about Isabelle. She glanced over and saw Isabelle looking quiet and serious. Zoe realised she hadn’t seen Isabelle smile once since she arrived.

  By the time lunch finished and they went back to class, Zoe had only learnt two new things about Isabelle – she used to have a white Persian cat called Mash, and her favourite subject was maths.

  ‘Hey, I’ve got an idea!’ Zoe whispered to Iris as they sat down and got their books out for science. ‘I’m going to ask my mum if I can have Isabelle over after school. You can come too, and that way we’ll have her all to ourselves.’

  Iris beamed. ‘Ask your mum tonight, and then ring me. Then I can ask my mum straight away and we can invite Isabelle tomorrow.’

  ‘Perfect!’ smiled Zoe.

  It would have been perfect, too, but Zoe never got her chance to invite Isabelle.

  Zoe’s troubles began on the way home from school. Most of the kids caught the school bus from the main gates, but the bus didn’t go past Zoe’s house. Instead, she walked through the playground to where her little brother, Max, was in kindergarten.

  Usually Max was annoyingly bouncy, as if he hadn’t seen Zoe in a year. But today he slumped against the railings of the school fence as they waited for Mum. It was a warm afternoon and he had his jumper on, but he was still shivering.

  ‘Can I borrow your jumper, Zoe?’ he asked, sounding miserable.