‘What’s that?’ asked Michiko.
‘It’s cool!’ said Jack. ‘One person hits the ball over the net, drops the paddle and runs off to the side. Then the next person has to run over, grab the paddle and try to hit the ball.’
‘So every shot is hit by a different person?’ said Michiko.
‘Exactly,’ Nick nodded.
‘Sounds fun,’ said Shae, jumping up. ‘Let’s play!’
It was the weirdest game Mia had ever played. The moment one of them hit the ball over the net they had to run off to the side, to make room for the next person. Then they had to run to the other side of the net as quickly as they could. Mia found herself getting very puffed!
Shae kept missing the ball. ‘I’m hopeless at this!’ she said laughing, but looking frustrated.
‘No you’re not,’ said Nick. ‘You just need some coaching. Here, I’ll show you.’
Mia stared at her brother in surprise. He never gave her any coaching! Nick showed Shae how to hit the ball so it was really difficult for anyone to hit it back. After that, Shae was much better.
‘Your brother is really nice,’ Shae whispered to Mia. Her cheeks were suddenly very pink!
They kept playing until everyone was too tired to run anymore. Then Nick threw his paddle down.
‘I’m totally stuffed!’ he groaned, flopping down onto the ground. Everyone else sat down, too.
‘That was sooo fun!’ said Michiko. ‘We should play ping-pong at school some time. There’s a table in the storeroom.’
‘Great idea,’ said Jack. ‘I know Flynn would be into that. He loves ping-pong.’
‘Really?’ said Michiko. ‘Hey, Jack … does Flynn have a crush on anyone?’ she added, as if she didn’t care either way.
Jack gave her a sly grin. ‘I’m not telling you that!’ he said. ‘You’ll have to find out for yourself if he likes you!’
‘I didn’t mean me,’ said Michiko, blushing.
‘Sure you didn’t!’ teased Shae.
Michiko looked at her watch. ‘Hey!’ she said, jumping up. ‘Let’s take some more photos. My mum will be here soon.’
Jack got up to leave. But Shae grabbed his arm.
‘You have to be in at least one photo with us,’ she insisted. ‘You’re Mia’s friend, after all.’
Jack paused. ‘Aren’t we all friends now?’ he said, pretending to be hurt.
‘Of course we are!’ said Michiko. ‘Does that mean you’ll be in a photo? Go on … say yes!’
Jack grinned cheekily. ‘Not if it means I have to dye my hair pink!’
‘That’s OK,’ Shae laughed. ‘You can stay just as you are.’
Michiko, Shae, Mia and Jack posed in front of the ping-pong table, holding their paddles. Nick pointed the camera.
‘Say sneeze!’ he said.
‘SNEEZE!’ yelled everyone.
Mia could just tell it was going to be a great shot. One that would always remind her of this afternoon, playing with all of her friends.
And all of a sudden, Mia knew just what she should write for her friendship tribute.
Mrs Bonacci had told the class that they would bury the time capsule straight after lunch on Monday. The morning went really slowly for Mia. Even lunchtime seemed to drag by.
Jack came past on his way to join his friends. ‘Hey, guys,’ he said. ‘Mr Perelli is going to set up the ping-pong table for us tomorrow.’
‘Cool! I can’t wait!’ said Michiko excitedly.
‘How funny,’ chuckled Jack. ‘That’s exactly what Flynn said.’
‘Is he going to play?’ asked Michiko, fiddling with her hair.
‘He was totally into the idea,’ said Jack. ‘Especially when he heard you’d be playing.’
Mia laughed at Michiko’s red cheeks. It was kind of good to know she wasn’t the only one who got embarrassed!
Just then, the bell rang. They all jumped off the bench.
‘Finally!’ Mia said happily. ‘Come on!’
Mrs Bonacci’s class met in the native garden beside the tuckshop.
Mrs Bonacci put the empty jar down. ‘OK, who wants to go first?’ she asked.
Mia’s heart did a double-quick beat. This was the moment she’d been worrying about!
Michiko nudged her. ‘Hey, Magic Mia, go for it!’
‘Yeah,’ whispered Shae, grinning. ‘Are you a rock star or not?’
Mia’s heart thumped. Her hands felt sweaty. She’d spent a lot of time decorating her tribute. There were drawings of flowers along the bottom edge and ping-pong paddles along the top. And she’d added swirls in the margins with her glitter pens.
She looked at the photo glued to the top. It was the one of all of her friends together in the shed, holding their pingpong paddles up. Jack was pulling a funny face, and Michiko was doing bunny ears behind his head. It made Mia giggle every time she saw it. And she just knew it would still make her laugh when they opened up the time capsule ages from now.
‘Mrs Bonacci?’ Mia spoke up. Her voice was loud and clear. ‘Can I go first?’
Mrs Bonacci looked surprised, and then she nodded.
Mia cleared her throat, and started to read. ‘I don’t think it matters if your friends are the same as you, or completely different, or if they’re girls or boys. What matters to me is that we have fun together, we laugh together and we understand each other.’
For a moment there was total silence. Then everyone clapped, and Michiko and Shae cheered loudly.
Wow, thought Mia happily. That wasn’t so bad! She looked over at Jack, and he gave her the thumbs-up sign. Then he mouthed the words Magic Mia!
Mia grinned back. She felt great!
One by one, everyone put their tributes in the jar. Soon, there was only a handful of people left.
‘It’s your turn, Michiko,’ said Mrs Bonacci.
Michiko held out her friendship tribute. She had decorated the edges with stars.
‘My friends are like bright stars, shining in the sky,’ she read. ‘I am so lucky to know them! They are always there for me.’
Then Michiko put her tribute into the jar, and everyone clapped.
‘Excellent, Michiko,’ smiled Mrs Bonacci. ‘Now, who’s left? How about you, Jack?’
Jack nodded. ‘I had lots of trouble finding a picture of all my friends together, Mrs Bonacci,’ he said. ‘But I finally found this one.’
Jack pulled out a picture and held it up. Everyone laughed. It was a picture of a group of monkeys, hanging from their tails. But over the monkeys’ faces, Jack had stuck photos of his friends’ faces instead! Oliver, Hugo and Flynn were the first three monkeys. At the end of the branch were Mia, Shae and Michiko.
Once the laughing had died down, Jack got out his tribute. He had drawn cheeky monkey faces around the writing.
‘I’ve known some of my friends for ages,’ he read. ‘But some of them are pretty new. They all have one important thing in common, though. They are totally awesome!’
Everyone clapped loudly.
‘The next time you see this you’ll be about to leave primary school!’ said Mrs Bonacci, as she buried the jar. ‘Do you think you will have changed by then?’
Everyone was quiet for a moment. Then Jack spoke up and said exactly what Mia was thinking.
‘Maybe,’ he said. ‘But one thing definitely won’t have changed. We’ll all still be friends!’
Contents
Title Page
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
‘OK, everyone,’ called Mr Perelli above the noise. ‘Ten more problems to do in the last ten minutes!’
Sophie groaned.
This was the longest maths class ever. Usually Sophie liked maths but today she couldn’t concentrate.
‘I wish the bell would ring,�
� she whispered to her friend Alice.
‘Me too!’ replied Alice. ‘I’ve got to finish packing for tomorrow.’
Sophie felt a shiver of excitement. Tomorrow they were going on school camp. They were staying near a lake and would be going canoeing. Best of all, they were camping overnight!
‘I wish it was just our class going,’ said Marie, who sat nearby. ‘Mrs Tran’s class is really stuck up. They’re going to hate camping!’
‘They’ll probably freak out if they get a tiny bit of mud on them!’ said Alice, laughing.
Sophie didn’t know what to say. The thing is, she used to be in Mrs Tran’s class. She started school with those kids and she got to know them all really well. Her best friend Megan was in Mrs Tran’s class.
Sophie and Megan had always thought they would go right through school together. But two months ago the teachers decided to swap over some kids from each class. Sophie didn’t know if she was excited or scared when Mrs Tran told her she was one of them. Probably a bit of both. Everyone in Mrs Tran’s class said that Mr Perelli’s class was rough and mean.
‘The boys catch bugs,’ Megan said, wrinkling her nose. ‘Then they eat them.’
‘The girls hang from the monkey bars even when they’re wearing dresses,’ said Katie. ‘They don’t care if their undies are showing.’
‘And Mr Perelli yells all the time,’ added Claire.
Sophie’s heart was beating fast when she walked into Mr Perelli’s class for the first time. Mr Perelli was standing up the front of the classroom. He was frowning at something on the blackboard but when he saw Sophie he turned and smiled. It was a broad, friendly smile and it made his face look totally different.
‘Hi, Sophie,’ he said. ‘Welcome to our class! There’s a spare seat next to Alice. She’ll look after you.’
Sophie had seen Alice in the playground. She was tall and strong and spent most lunchtimes playing games. She always had scabs on her knees and grass stains on her clothes.
‘She’s so rough,’ Megan had said one day, as Alice went rushing past.
Sophie had nodded. Alice did look a bit rough. But Sophie thought that she always looked like she was having fun.
Sophie might never have started talking to Alice if she hadn’t made a spelling mistake in the very first class. She looked for her rubber but realised she had left it at home. Sophie didn’t know what to do. If she had been in Mrs Tran’s class she would have asked Megan or Katie if she could borrow one. But she didn’t know anyone in Mr Perelli’s class.
She suddenly felt very alone.
Then she felt a tap on her arm. It was Alice and she was holding out a rubber.
‘Here,’ she said kindly. ‘Use mine. And just get anything else you need out of my pencil case.’
Sophie looked at Alice properly for the first time. Alice had friendly brown eyes and a dimple in one cheek. Sophie took the rubber. It was shaped like a strawberry and even smelt like one.
‘Thanks!’ Sophie said, and smiled at Alice.
Ever since then, Sophie and Alice had been best friends. At least, they were best friends during class. But every lunchtime, Sophie went and found Megan.
‘Don’t you get bored hanging around with Megan all the time?’ Alice asked Sophie one day.
Sophie shrugged. ‘A bit,’ she said. ‘Sometimes.’
Her Mrs Tran friends liked to read magazines and chat. This was OK, but sometimes Sophie felt like running around with her new Mr Perelli friends.
They always came back from lunch laughing about some new game they had invented. It would be nice to join in every now and then.
So one day Sophie decided to play with Alice during lunch. She had a great time, and even made up a game that Alice said was the best thing she had ever played. But afterwards Megan had been really upset.
‘Do you like Alice more than me?’ she asked.
Her voice sounded strange, like she was about to cry.
‘Of course not,’ said Sophie.
She wanted to explain that she liked both of them, but she wasn’t sure if this was what Megan wanted to hear.
Megan looked relieved. ‘I’m so glad you still like me the best!’ she said, hugging Sophie.
After that, Sophie hadn’t spent any more lunchtimes with Alice, even though Alice kept asking her to. It was weird. Sophie had always thought it would be nice having lots of people wanting to be your friend, but it wasn’t so great after all.
Whenever Sophie had a chance to make a wish she wished for the same thing — that her friends would start liking each other. It would just make everything so much easier.
Finally, the bell rang and maths was over. Everyone started talking and packing up. Mr Perelli had to shout to be heard.
‘Be here by 8am tomorrow morning. If you’re late, you’ll be left behind.’
Sophie decided she was going to be there at 7.30am.
‘Do you want to walk home with me?’ asked Alice.
‘I’m meeting Megan at the front gate,’ explained Sophie. ‘Maybe we could all walk home together?’
‘No, that’s OK,’ said Alice, quickly. ‘I’ve just remembered something I have to do. I’ll see you tomorrow.’
Sophie sighed.
Why wouldn’t her friends even try to like each other?
Megan was waiting by the gate. She was wearing a new outfit today but that was no big surprise — Megan often had new clothes. Her mum worked for a fashion magazine and brought home lots of cool stuff. Not just clothes either — she also brought CDs, posters and nail polish.
Sophie never felt jealous though, because Megan was very generous. She gave lots of CDs to Sophie, and even some clothes. But somehow the clothes never looked as good on her as they did on Megan.
Megan was the sort of person that people turned around to stare at. Maybe it was her long, dark hair or her curly eyelashes. Perhaps it was her smile. Probably it was all of these things together.
When Sophie wore Megan’s clothes she felt like a little kid dressing up. But when Megan put them on she looked like she should be in her mum’s magazine.
Today Megan was wearing a pair of jeans turned up at the cuffs, a pink jacket and a checkered cap. Sophie knew the cap would look stupid on her, but on Megan it looked cute. Under the cap though, Megan’s face wasn’t happy.
‘I don’t want to go on this dumb camping trip,’ she sighed, as they started to walk home.
‘Why not?’ asked Sophie, her heart sinking.
She felt like she could never find the right thing to say when Megan was in a bad mood.
‘It’s going to be cold and awful,’ said Megan. ‘Mrs Tran said there isn’t any electricity!’
‘I’ve heard there aren’t even any showers,’ said Sophie, without thinking.
Megan looked at her in horror. ‘No showers? That’s gross!’
Sophie was actually looking forward to not having a shower.
‘It won’t be so bad,’ she said, trying to cheer Megan up. ‘Even if you don’t have a shower, no-one will think you smell, because everyone else will be smelly too!’
‘That’s what I’m afraid of,’ said Megan, gloomily.
Then Sophie remembered something Mr Perelli had said that might make Megan happy.
‘There’s going to be a disco,’ she said.
That worked.
‘Really?’ said Megan, actually smiling. ‘That might be OK, I suppose.’
Sophie had a feeling she knew why Megan was suddenly interested. She was imagining dancing with Joel Haddon.
Joel had spiky blond hair and green eyes and lots of girls had secret crushes on him. Sophie didn’t, though. She thought he was a big, fat pest.
The only person who was a bigger pest than Joel was his friend, Patrick Lee.
‘See you tomorrow!’ Sophie said, when they arrived at Megan’s house.
‘Bye,’ said Megan. ‘Don’t forget to bring snacks. The food will be terrible. Sultanas and stuff.’ Megan pulled a face — she hated sultanas.
‘OK,’ said Sophie. ‘And don’t worry about camp. I bet we’ll have fun.’
Megan snorted. ‘I’m glad you think so,’ she said. ‘I’m not so sure.’
And deep down, Sophie wasn’t so sure either.
Because it was the first half of the month, Sophie was living with her dad. She lived with her mum in the second half. This meant she had two lots of things — two toothbrushes, two beds and two desks. Other things, like her clothes, she had to pack up each time she swapped houses.
‘Hi, Dad!’ yelled Sophie from the front door.
‘Hi, Monster,’ her dad called back.
Monster was his nickname for her.
‘Are you going to work in here with me this afternoon?’ he called.
Sophie’s dad was an illustrator and worked from home. Sophie liked doing drawings on the floor of his studio while he worked at his desk.
‘I can’t today,’ said Sophie. ‘I have to pack!’
It didn’t take her long. Sophie was an expert packer now.
Toothbrush. Toothpaste. Hairbrush. Raincoat. Boots. Thick socks. Undies. Jumper. Puffy jacket. Beanie. T-shirt. PJs. Sleeping bag. Pillow.
There was even some room left over.
Just enough space for a bag of chips!
Sophie sneaked into the kitchen to see if there were any in the cupboard. Her dad didn’t let her eat much junk food so she would have to be sneaky. He was standing at the bench, chopping up vegetables for dinner.
‘Come to give me a hand?’ he asked, not looking up.
‘I’ll help in a sec,’ said Sophie.
She quietly opened the cupboard.
Excellent! There was a big packet of chips right there.
The packet started to rustle loudly as she picked it up. Sophie quickly coughed to cover up the noise.
Her dad looked up and Sophie shoved the chips behind her back.
‘Are you getting a cold?’ he asked, looking worried.
‘No, it’s just a tickle in my throat,’ said Sophie.
Then she skipped off down the hall, trying not to laugh. For once, she’d outsmarted her dad!
School Spirit Page 10
