School Spirit

by Meredith Badger

  ‘It’s a mud cake,’ said Isabelle. ‘My mum baked it, but I decorated it myself.’

  ‘It’s great!’ said Zoe. ‘When can we eat it?’

  ‘It’s all for you,’ said Isabelle. ‘You can eat it whenever you like. You can even keep the lunchbox, if you want –’

  ‘Oh, no,’ said Zoe. ‘We should definitely eat it together. And in fact, we should eat it right now!’

  ‘Zoe!’ laughed Iris. ‘We’ve only just had breakfast!’

  ‘So?’ said Zoe. ‘This is a special cake. I don’t think we should wait around.’

  Iris and Isabelle didn’t need much convincing. Zoe cut the cake into three rectangles, using the ruler from her geometry set as a knife.

  Quick as anything, before the bell rang for class, they each took a piece and scoffed the lot!

  It really was the most delicious cake. Zoe couldn’t think of a better way to start a brand-new week. A new beginning with the new girl, making up with Iris, plus the tastiest chocolate mud cake, too.

  Contents

  Title Page

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  ‘Come on, Mia!’ called her mum from the front door. ‘Time to go!’

  ‘Coming!’ Mia said, grabbing her school bag and rushing down the hallway.

  Her older sister Rose was still in the kitchen, waiting for her friend Ashley to come over. They walked to high school together every day. Rose was concentrating on her mobile phone as Mia hurried by.

  Probably sending text messages to James, Mia giggled to herself as she ran outside. Now that Rose had a boyfriend she seemed to be permanently glued to her phone!

  Mia’s brother Nick was already in the front seat when Mia jumped in the car. He was talking to Jack in the back seat.

  Jack Pang lived next door to Mia’s family. He was in Mrs Bonacci’s class at school, just like Mia. Mia’s mum often gave him a lift in the mornings.

  ‘Hi, Jack!’ said Mia, giving him a high-five.

  ‘Hey, Mia!’ said Jack, flashing her a cheeky grin.

  ‘About time,’ grumbled Nick. ‘It’s OK for you little kids. We older ones get in trouble if we’re late.’

  Mia looked at Jack and rolled her eyes. Nick was only one grade ahead of her and Jack at school. But sometimes he acted like he thought he was way older!

  Jack grinned at Mia. ‘Don’t worry, Grandpa,’ he said, leaning forward to pat Nick gently on the back. ‘We’ll make sure you get to class on time. Would you like me to help you up the stairs, or did you remember your walking stick today?’

  If I said something like that to Nick I’d be in BIG trouble! Mia thought to herself.

  But Nick just grinned and gave Jack a pretend punch in the arm.

  ‘Ha ha, very funny!’ he said. ‘I’m not that old!’

  Mia grinned. Jack’s lucky he can get away with it! she thought. I guess that’s one of the reasons I like him.

  It was funny. The Pang family had been living next door to Mia’s family for as long as she could remember. But for ages Mia didn’t know Jack very well. He’d always come over to hang out with Nick.

  Mia used to stay out of their way. Nick was fun to hang out with when he was on his own. But Mia felt a bit shy around her brother’s friends. They always seemed so loud and rough!

  Mia’s own friends from school — Michiko and Shae — didn’t live walking distance from her house. So she hardly saw them outside school.

  If only Jack was a girl, Mia used to sigh to herself when he came over to see Nick. It’d be so nice to have a friend living right next door to me.

  But then a weird thing happened. Gradually Mia realised that Jack was really nice. They had lots of things in common! He liked the same kind of music that she liked. He was learning to surf, just like she was. And best of all, he loved playing pingpong! In fact, he had way more things in common with Mia than with Nick.

  Jack started coming over after school not to see Nick, but to play ping-pong with Mia in her family’s shed. They started playing a huge ping-pong competition. Jack named it the ‘Ping-Pong-A-Thon.’

  ‘Whoever wins the most games out of one hundred will be the ping-pong champion,’ Jack had announced.

  So far, Jack had won twenty games and Mia had won twenty-five. It seemed like the more games they played, the better they both got at ping-pong. And the better friends she and Jack became!

  ‘Buckle up, everyone!’ called Mia’s mum, starting the car.

  ‘All right!’ said Jack. Then he grinned wickedly at Mia. ‘Let’s see if I can break my record today!’

  Jack usually made Mia laugh within about a minute of the trip to school. It didn’t matter what kind of mood Mia was in when she got into the car, she was always laughing by the time they got to the school gates. Now it had become a competition to see how long she could last before Jack made her crack up.

  ‘Hey, Mia,’ said Jack. ‘What’s this?’

  He started swinging his arm wildly around in front of him. Then he did a funny little dance in his seat. He looked so silly that Mia could already feel the laughter burbling up in her throat.

  ‘Um … ’ she said, holding the laughter down. ‘Do you need to go to the toilet, maybe?’

  ‘No,’ grinned Jack. ‘This is what I’ll look like winning the Ping-Pong-A-Thon! Woohoo!’

  Mia burst out laughing.

  ‘Hey, that’s a record!’ chuckled Jack. ‘We haven’t even left the driveway and I’ve made you laugh!’

  ‘I’m not laughing because of your dance,’ giggled Mia. ‘I’m laughing at the idea of you beating me at ping-pong.’

  ‘There’s no way you’ll beat Mia,’ said Nick, turning around from the front seat. ‘I hardly ever beat her and I’m almost two years older. She turns into Magic Mia when she’s playing ping-pong. She never misses the ball!’

  Mia felt good when Nick said that. Sometimes he acted like she was annoying. It was nice to hear him call her Magic Mia.

  ‘Well, she might be Magic Mia,’ said Jack, whacking invisible ping-pong balls around the car. ‘But I’m Ping-Pong Pang, the Ping-Pong King!’

  Mia burst out laughing again. Nick chuckled too.

  ‘Yes!’ said Jack, punching the air. ‘I made you both laugh and we’re still in our street.’

  Then a song came on the radio that both Mia and Jack liked. Jack started singing. He had a great voice. To start with he sang the real words to the song. But then Mia realised he was making up his own words.

  ‘I know this girl Mi-AH, well she lives in a tree-AH!’

  There was no way Mia was letting Jack get away with that!

  ‘You know that boy Jack-O, well he is really whack-O!’ Mia sang even louder than Jack, to drown him out.

  Nick shoved his fingers in his ears. ‘Mum, I’m going to need some earplugs for when these two are together,’ he groaned.

  Their mum laughed. ‘I can’t believe Mrs Bonacci thinks you’re shy, Mia,’ she said. ‘If she could hear you right now she wouldn’t think that at all!’

  Jack turned and looked at Mia. ‘How come you’re sometimes shy and sometimes not?’ he said.

  Mia shrugged. She wasn’t really sure why. She just was. It was like the moment she walked into class she turned into someone else. It also happened when she was around people she didn’t know very well. She often knew exactly what she wanted to say. But somehow the words got lost on their way out.

  At school some kids called her Mouse because she was so quiet. Mia hated that nickname! She didn’t feel like a mouse inside. But being teased just made her even more shy.

  Mia’s mum stopped the car out the front of their school. Waiting near the front gate were Shae and Michiko.

  Mia smiled. Michiko was swinging on the gate as usual, which was ag
ainst the rules.

  I bet Shae’s warning her to get off before she gets in trouble! thought Mia.

  Shae and Michiko were really different to each other. And Mia was different to both of them. But they also had lots of things in common.

  Mia looked across at Jack. Lots of things about him reminded her of Michiko and Shae. He liked reading adventure books like Shae. And he was good at doing handstands like Michiko.

  Jack would get along really well with Michiko and Shae, decided Mia. But at school Jack played with his group and Mia played with hers. If a boy and a girl played together, everyone thought they liked each other.

  It’s a pity, Mia sighed, getting out of the car. It’d be so cool if we were all friends!

  Jack and Nick both spotted their friends and raced off to join them. Mia walked over to Michiko and Shae. She had the crazy song Jack had made up in her head.

  ‘Hi, Mia!’ called Michiko, hanging upside down over the gate. Michiko had just started going to circus classes and she was always practising her latest tricks. ‘What are you smiling about?’

  ‘Oh, just this silly song Jack made up this morning,’ replied Mia, grinning. ‘It was so funny.’

  Shae leant against the fence, watching the boys disappear across the front lawn.

  ‘You know, Jack looks a bit like Jesse McCartney,’ she said.

  Mia laughed. ‘No he doesn’t!’ she said. ‘Jack’s got black hair, for one thing.’

  ‘But he’s got green eyes like Jesse. And the same hairstyle. Ella thinks he’s cute.’

  Mia didn’t know what to say. She’d never thought of Jack as being cute before. He was just Jack.

  ‘Hey, watch this!’ said Michiko. She held onto the gate and then flipped her legs carefully over her head. Mia watched her friend admiringly. Michiko made it look so easy!

  ‘Can you show me how to do that?’ Mia asked.

  ‘Sure!’ said Michiko.

  ‘Uh, Mia,’ said Shae nervously. ‘You’re not supposed to swing on the gate. I’ve been telling Mich that all morning.’

  ‘Don’t worry, Shae,’ said Michiko. ‘We’ll be quick. No-one will catch us.’

  Michiko showed Mia how to hook her legs over the gate. But just as Mia was about to somersault off the gate, Brooke walked through. Brooke was in Mrs Bonacci’s class, too. Mia almost accidentally kicked her.

  ‘Careful, Mouse,’ Brooke said crossly.

  Mia flushed. ‘Sorry,’ she whispered.

  ‘Well, you should be!’ said Brooke huffily hurrying past.

  Michiko stuck her tongue out and crossed her eyes as Brooke walked off. Shae waggled her fingers in her ears. Mia laughed. It was pretty babyish behaviour, but it was funny, too. Her friends always made her feel better.

  ‘Hey, guess what!’ said Shae, her eyes sparkling. ‘I’ve got some goss about Brooke. She’s got a boyfriend!’

  ‘Really!’ said Mia. ‘Who?’

  Shae looked around to check no-one was listening. ‘Oliver Radcliffe!’

  Oliver was in Jack’s gang of friends, along with Flynn and Hugo. He had nice brown eyes and a big smile.

  Mia knew lots of girls liked him. All the same, she was surprised by Shae’s goss. ‘Are you sure?’ she asked doubtfully. ‘I’ve never even seen them talk to each other.’

  ‘That doesn’t matter,’ said Shae. ‘They’ve liked each other for ages.’

  ‘How can you tell that?’ asked Mia curiously.

  Shae grinned. ‘I can always tell,’ she said. ‘There are all these little give-aways. Like, some people check their hair a lot when they’ve got a crush on someone. Others get really clumsy or really shy. And some people just totally ignore the person they like!’

  Mia laughed. She wasn’t sure if she believed Shae. It sounded too weird. Why would anyone want to ignore the person they liked?

  ‘It’s true!’ insisted Shae. ‘I can tell you who everyone in our class likes. For instance, I know Cassie likes Sam and Adrian likes Bec.’

  ‘Who do I like then, Smartypants?’ asked Michiko, grinning.

  ‘That’s easy,’ said Shae. ‘You like Flynn!’

  Michiko went bright red. ‘No I don’t!’ she said. ‘I don’t like anyone!’

  Shae chuckled cheekily. ‘You do so like Flynn. You always wave at him when he walks in the room. Plus he’s the first boy you pick if you’re team captain.’

  Michiko gave Shae a friendly push. ‘That just means I like him. It doesn’t mean I like like him!’ she said. ‘Anyway, you obviously like Jack!’

  Shae shrugged. ‘Jack is nice,’ she said. ‘But there’s someone who likes him heaps more than I do.’

  ‘Do you mean Ella?’ asked Mia. Ella was always talking to Jack.

  Shae laughed. ‘No, I meant you, Mia!’

  Mia felt a blush creep up her neck, over her cheeks and then rush towards her ears. ‘I do not!’ she said.

  ‘Yes, you do,’ teased Shae. ‘It’s totally obvious he’s your boyfriend. You’re always talking about how funny and cool Jack is. And he likes you, too. He’s always smiling at you!’

  Mia shook her head. ‘He’s not my boyfriend,’ she insisted. ‘He’s my …’ Mia stopped for a moment. ‘He’s just my friend who’s a boy … my friend-boy!’ she said eventually.

  ‘Boyfriend, friend-boy — it’s the same thing!’ giggled Shae.

  ‘No it’s not!’ said Mia. ‘Jack is my friend like you guys are my friends.’

  ‘Sure he is!’ chuckled Michiko. ‘We believe you!’

  Just then the bell rang. Mia had never been so happy to hear it in her life. This conversation was just way too embarrassing.

  ‘Come on!’ said Michiko, dashing off. ‘I’ll race you both to class!’

  Mia ran after Michiko. It was nice to be distracted from all the thoughts swirling around in her head.

  Still, she couldn’t help wondering. Jack was a friend. And he was a boy. Did that mean he was actually her boyfriend?

  Michiko and Shae seemed to think so!

  Mia, Michiko and Shae made it to their classroom just before the second bell rang. Mia looked around at everyone in her class, remembering what Shae had said about who liked who.

  She noticed Adrian playing with his fringe when Bec walked by. Then Cassie went bright red when Sam said hi. And on Brooke’s pencil case was a love heart with the letters O.R. written inside!

  The door opened and Flynn entered, late as usual. Mia couldn’t help grinning as Michiko looked up and gave him a wave!

  Maybe Shae does know everyone’s secret crushes! thought Mia. Then she started feeling weird. If Shae was right about everyone else, was she right about Jack, too?

  Mia looked around. Jack was up the back, chatting with Hugo. He saw her looking at him and crossed his eyes and gave her a big smile.

  Jack does smile at me a lot, realised Mia. Maybe he does have a crush on me!

  Suddenly Mia’s stomach did a flip. She liked Jack a lot. But just as a friend.

  ‘OK, class,’ said Mrs Bonacci, clapping her hands to start the class. ‘Can anyone tell me what a friend is?’

  Straight away lots of people put their hands in the air. But Mia scrunched down into her chair. She really didn’t want to be chosen!

  ‘Cassie,’ said Mrs Bonacci. ‘What do you think a friend is?’

  ‘Someone who is exactly the same as you?’ said Cassie.

  Then Michiko put up her hand. ‘I don’t think a friend needs to be exactly the same as you, Mrs Bonacci,’ she said. ‘Shae, Mia and I are really different but we’re still best friends.’

  Mrs Bonacci smiled. ‘Great answer,’ she said, looking around at the class. ‘What about you, Mia? Tell us what you like most about your friends.’

  Everyone turned and stared at Mia. Straight away she felt her face getting hot and red.

  Mia thought hard. There were heaps of fantastic things about her friends. She wanted to tell everyone about how funny her friends were, and how loyal. And how special she felt when she was arou
nd them. But when Mia opened her mouth, nothing came out!

  Mia shook her head quickly, feeling tears in her eyes.

  ‘Don’t worry, Mia,’ said Mrs Bonacci gently. ‘You’ll have another chance to tell us later.’

  Mia flushed, feeling so embarrassed. Michiko and Shae grabbed her hands, and gave them a squeeze. Mia felt a little better, and smiled gratefully at them.

  ‘The reason that we’re discussing friendship,’ said Mrs Bonacci, turning to the rest of the class, ‘is because we are going to make a friendship time capsule.’

  Straight away, Michiko asked the question everyone was thinking. ‘What’s a friendship time capsule?’

  Mrs Bonacci pointed to a large glass jar on her desk. ‘That’s one there!’ she said.

  Everyone stared at the jar. There didn’t seem to be anything very special about it, except that it was very big.

  ‘It’s just a jar at the moment, of course,’ smiled Mrs Bonacci, as if she was reading their minds. ‘It’s our job to turn it into a time capsule. Your homework over the weekend is to write a tribute to your friends. Then on Monday we will put the tributes into this jar and bury it somewhere in the school grounds.’

  Michiko rolled her eyes at Mia. ‘Homework over the weekend … yuck!’ she whispered.

  ‘I know,’ Mia whispered back, ‘but at least it sounds sort of fun.’

  Flynn put up his hand. ‘Mrs Bonacci, what’s a tribute?’ he asked.

  ‘It’s a piece of writing that explains why we think someone or something is special,’ explained Mrs Bonacci. ‘Before we bury the time capsule, we will read our tributes out loud so everyone can hear why we like our friends.’

  Mia felt her heart thump in her chest. She really wanted to write a tribute, but she wasn’t sure if she would be able to read in front of everyone. She tried to push the thought aside. I’ll worry about that later, she decided.

  ‘How long will the time capsule be buried for?’ asked Bec.

  Mrs Bonacci looked around. ‘What does everyone think?’ she said.