Trouble At School

by Chris Higgins

As Claudia reached crossly for her tray beneath what was now Bella’s table, Bella froze.

  Oh no!

  Her pencil was still in her pencil case.

  Her pencil case was still in her bag.

  Her bag was still in Mrs Goodenough’s classroom.

  What was it her mum had said earlier?

  First impressions count.

  Bella’s heart sank. There was no doubt about it.

  As far as Mr Smart was concerned, she had made a terrible first impression.

  LUNCHTIME

  Bella was glad when it was lunchtime.

  Things had continued to go wrong the whole morning.

  Mr Smart had tutted when she’d told him she’d left her bag in Mrs Goodenough’s classroom and Claudia Cleverley had tittered and rolled her eyes.

  Then, to make matters worse, when Mr Smart read out the spelling words one by one, Claudia had put her arm around her work as though she was afraid Bella would try to copy her.

  There was no need. They weren’t allowed to talk because it was a test or Bella would’ve told her she was:

  Good at spelling.

  Not a cheat.

  Now was her chance to show her new teacher what she was made of. And, luckily for Bella, she knew them all.

  “Swap your spellings with the person next to you,” instructed Mr Smart when they’d finished. Then he wrote the correct spellings on the board and they marked each other’s work.

  “Now add up how many they’ve got right out of twenty and write an encouraging comment to them at the bottom of the page,” continued Mr Smart.

  Claudia had got one wrong but it was a hard one. Bella wrote 19/20 at the bottom of the page and Well done! in her very best writing. And then she added a smiley face.

  To her surprise she noticed Claudia had marked three words wrong on her test. She leaned over to inspect them.

  “They’re right,” she said, puzzled.

  “No they’re not.”

  “Yes they are,” Bella persisted. “Receive is r-e-c-e-i-v-e, receipt is r-e-c-e-i-p-t and ceiling is c-e-i-l-i-n-g. It’s the rule: I before E, except after C.”

  “You wrote i-e.”

  “No I didn’t. I wrote e-i.”

  “It’s not my fault if your Es look like Is and your Is look like Es,” said Claudia. “I’ll correct them for you.”

  And before Bella could stop her, she’d written over them, pressing so hard you couldn’t see the original letters underneath.

  “All done,” she said, and scrawled 17/20 and Must try harder on Bella’s neat work. Then she jumped to her feet when Mr Smart asked for a volunteer to collect them in and put hers on top so he would notice her high mark.

  “Well done, Claudia,” said Mr Smart. “Top of the class again, I should think.” Then he set them some homework on the board and, when they’d all copied it down, he dismissed them for lunch.

  “Vomit!” said Magda, taking Bella by the arm and leading her off to the dining hall. “I bet Claudia cheated.”

  “How do you know?” asked Bella.

  “She always does. So does Hetty Snoop, who sits next to me. But I fixed her.”

  “How?”

  “I let her copy off me. And I got some wrong.”

  Bella’s eyes widened. “Deliberately?”

  “Well. Sort of.”

  Bella felt a whole lot better.

  Outside the dining hall was a long queue. “Oh flip!” said Magda. “I’m starving!”

  Bella was too. It seemed a long time since breakfast.

  “Come on,” said Magda. “Do what I say and you’ll get served quicker.”

  She bypassed the queue and marched Bella straight up to the counter.

  “This is Bella. She’s new and she’s gluten free,” she announced.

  “You’ve tried that one before, Magda,” said Mrs Mole the dinner lady. “And dairy intolerance and nut allergy and vegetarian.” She gave Bella a searching look. “You’re not really gluten free, are you, sweetheart?”

  Bella shook her head. She didn’t even know what it meant. She hoped that she wasn’t going to get into more trouble.

  But Mrs Mole just laughed and said to Magda, “You’re a caution, you are!” And she let them go first anyway, just this once.

  TIME FOR TEA

  Today Mum was picking up Bella and Sid from school because it was their first day.

  “Oh good!” said Magda. “Can I get a lift too?”

  Bella’s heart missed a beat. Mum might still be cross with Magda after the yoghurt incident. Still, she wasn’t going to say no, was she?

  Lots of cars were waiting outside school.

  “Look at that one!” Sid pointed to a long, low, open-topped sports car that was like something off a TV advert. The lady in the driving seat had streaked blonde hair and a sticky-up nose and she looked like Claudia Cleverley.

  Next to it, their car looked old and battered.

  “Mum? Can we take Magda home?” asked Bella.

  “No,” said Mum, and everyone’s faces fell.

  Then Mum laughed. “Look at your faces! We can’t take her home because we’re going to the café for a treat first. Jump in, Magda – you’re coming too. I’ve cleared it with Babcia.”

  Bella, Magda and Sid cheered and tumbled into the back of the car.

  “Which café are we going to?” asked Magda.

  “Konrad’s,” said Mum.

  Magda opened her mouth to speak but –

  “Shhh!” said Mum with her finger to her lips, and Magda giggled.

  “What’s going on?” asked Bella.

  “It’s a secret,” said Mum mysteriously, and off they went.

  The café was in town. It was small and cosy and very busy. It had little metal tables, each with a jam jar full of wild flowers, sofas with colourful throws, and lots and lots of cushions. Sid sat on three while they waited to order. Everything was pretty and nothing matched, not even the cups and saucers.

  A waitress came out to serve them. She was skinny and smiley with a blonde ponytail.

  “I want a whole chocolate cake!” demanded Magda immediately, which Bella thought was a bit rude.

  So did the waitress. “Don’t be greedy!” she said. “And sit up straight and take your elbows off the table.”

  Magda did as she was told, and so did Bella and Sid.

  This waitress is fierce, thought Bella, and wondered who she reminded her of.

  “Mu-um!” moaned Magda.

  So that was the secret! It was Magda’s mum and dad’s café.

  “How do you do?” Magda’s mum continued. “Welcome to our café. I am Krysia and my husband is the chef here. He is called Konrad.”

  “After the café?” asked Bella.

  “Actually, it was the other way round,” said Krysia as she took their order. “We only opened the café a few weeks ago. We work all day and half the night. We are lucky to have Babcia to keep an eye on Magda for us at home.”

  Her English was much better than Babcia’s.

  “It is good to meet you at last – I have heard so much about you. I hope Magda is not too much trouble?”

  “Not at all,” said Mum, who seemed to have totally forgotten about her sooty living room and the hole in her bedroom ceiling and her yoghurt-splattered car, and was more intent on deciding between a skinny latte or a decaf cappuccino.

  In the end, Mum plumped for the latte, Sid chose a milkshake, and Bella and Magda opted for fruit smoothies. And, because it was the first day of school, Mum said they were each allowed a chocolate brownie for a treat.

  When the order came, they stared at it in surprise. As well as the drinks and the chocolate brownies, there were delicate little sandwiches cut into nice shapes with yummy fillings like salmon and cream cheese, ham and tomato, and crab and cucumber.

  “We didn’t order these,” said Mum worriedly as Krysia disappeared back into the kitchen.

  But that wasn’t all. She then brought out a whole cake stand with the top tier lade
n with cupcakes, the middle tier full of scones stuffed with jam and cream, and the bottom tier crammed with slices of lemon drizzle cake and raspberry and almond sponge.

  They looked scrumptious.

  Sid’s eyes were wide with wonder but Bella’s heart dropped. It seemed that Krysia’s English wasn’t so good after all. Now Mum would send them back and there would be trouble.

  But Magda’s mum said, “Ta-dah! Don’t look so worried – they’re on the house!”

  “On the house?” asked Sid, puzzled. “What does that mean?”

  “Complimentary,” said Krysia, but Sid was none the wiser.

  “Free!” explained Magda, and her mum nodded.

  “First day at school is a special day. Enjoy your tea!”

  So they did and it was delicious.

  Afterwards, Krysia cleared the table and Bella and Magda did their homework while Sid, who was completely stuffed, had a snooze on Mum’s lap.

  Then Magda helped Bella write out Mr Smart’s rules twenty times. Bella didn’t even get into trouble with Mum because Magda said it was part of their homework.

  Then they went home.

  I’m so lucky to have Magda as my friend, thought Bella that night, as she checked that her bag was ready for school the next day. To her surprise she realised she was looking forward to it. And her homework was done so that was good.

  But then she noticed that her homework book had Magda’s name on it. She must have picked up the wrong book by mistake!

  Never mind, Bella told herself sensibly. She could swap it in the morning.

  Tomorrow, she and Sid and Magda were allowed to walk to school together!

  She hoped Magda wouldn’t be late.

  PANCAKES FOR BREAKFAST

  The next morning Bella and Sid didn’t have to wait for Magda. Magda had to wait for them!

  It was a bit hectic in the Button household.

  Mum had left early, before anyone was up, and taken her car to go and visit Granny, who lived a long way away. Dad was in charge.

  The trouble was, he’d gone back to sleep after Mum left so everyone was running late. A lot late, actually. When Bella and Sid came downstairs dressed for school (Bella in a clean change of uniform after yesterday’s messy start), he was in the kitchen in his business suit, shaving and talking on his phone at the same time.

  “Can we have pancakes for breakfast?” asked Sid.

  “Um … yes,” said Dad. “Hold on, I’m speaking to work. I’ll do them in a minute.”

  Sid couldn’t believe his luck. They sat down to wait.

  There was a knock at the door. It was Magda.

  “Dad’s going to make us pancakes!” shouted Sid.

  “Yum,” said Magda. “I love pancakes.”

  “Would you like some too?” asked Sid.

  “Yes please,” said Magda. “Can we have raspberries in them? From your garden?”

  “Ye-e-e-ssssss!” shouted Sid, and he and Magda dashed out of the back door to pick them.

  Dad carried on talking to work, pulling funny faces as he shaved. Bella was glad she didn’t have to do that every morning. It took a lot of time.

  Too much time.

  Bella didn’t want to be late for Mr Smart on her second day. Especially as she’d been late on her first. At least she was spick and span today.

  The door burst open and Sid and Magda fell in, clutching handfuls of raspberries. Sid’s face and new school shirt were covered in raspberry juice.

  “We’ve got the raspberries. Where are the pancakes?” asked Magda, looking around.

  “Shh …” said Dad, who had finished shaving at last but was still on his phone. “I’ll do them in a minute. This is important.”

  He turned his back on them and carried on talking. Bella looked at the clock. That’s what he’d said ten minutes ago.

  “I can make pancakes,” said Magda. “Where do you keep your flour?”

  Bella’s heart lifted. Of course she could – her dad was a chef. Bella wished her dad was a chef instead of an accountant.

  She got out the big mixing bowl while Sid rushed to the cupboard to fetch the flour.

  “What else do you need?”

  “Um, milk and eggs to make the batter, that’s all. And oil to cook them in.”

  “I’ll get them!” said Bella. Thank goodness for Magda, she thought, as she opened the fridge.

  “Here you are, Magda,” said Sid, placing a big, heavy, open bag of flour on the table.

  On the edge of the table, to be precise.

  He didn’t push it in far enough. Bella turned around just in time to see it toppling over.

  She and Magda lunged for it but it was too late. Instead Magda knocked the milk and eggs flying out of Bella’s hands.

  The flour exploded. Eggs and milk went everywhere.

  On the walls.

  On the floor.

  On Bella’s nice clean school uniform.

  Bella screeched in horror.

  Dad turned around and groaned. “Got to go!” he said into the phone.

  The four of them stood in the kitchen surveying the damage. Not only were the floor and walls splattered with flour, eggs and milk, but so were they. Bella had come off the worst. Dad looked funny. His hair was white with flour and his smart business suit looked like it was covered in dandruff.

  Only Bella didn’t feel like laughing.

  “We could mix it up on the floor?” suggested Sid, who still wanted his pancakes.

  “It’s too late for that,” said Dad glumly. “Go and get changed while I clean this lot up and then I’ll run you to school in my car.”

  LATE AGAIN

  Not a good start to the day, thought Bella gloomily as she pulled yesterday’s uniform out of the wash basket. Now it wasn’t just stained – it was crumpled as well. But it was better than today’s, which was spattered with batter ingredients and sopping wet.

  It took a long time getting the flour and milk and eggs out of her hair. It stuck like paste to her cornrows. In the end she tried to wash them under the tap.

  By the time Bella got downstairs, with dripping hair and crumpled uniform, the others had cleaned themselves up (more or less), had breakfast (cereal, not pancakes) and were ready to go.

  “Hurry up, Bella!” said Magda. “We’re going to be late!”

  Bella hesitated. Magda had had two breakfasts and she hadn’t even had one. But she didn’t want to be late for school so she grabbed an apple and said, “Let’s go!”

  At least Dad was giving them a lift. And as Bella crunched on her apple her mood lifted. They should get there just in time.

  Outside school, cars were parked on both sides of the road, leaving only a single line of traffic able to get through. Mr Smart was in the playground.

  “Quick!” said Magda. “He’s about to ring the bell!”

  Sure enough, he did. And all the children in the playground rushed to line up.

  “I’ll drop you here,” said Dad. “Nip out quickly or we’ll be blocking the road.”

  “Our bags are in the boot,” Bella reminded him.

  A car behind them honked furiously.

  “Grr!” said Dad. He wound down his window and stuck his head out.

  Magda wound down her window and stuck her head out too. “It’s Claudia Cleverley’s car!” she said in disgust.

  “Hold on!” Dad shouted back to Mrs Cleverley. “I’ll park over there in that space.”

  He put his indicator on and drove past the space to reverse into it. But Mrs Cleverley followed him and nipped in first.

  Claudia jumped out of the passenger seat and ran in to join the line.

  Dad swore loudly. Magda looked impressed.

  Behind him another car tooted its horn.

  “Sorry, kids, I’m going to have to go on,” Dad said, and he kept on driving till he found a place to park.

  It was a long way up the road.

  By the time Bella, Magda and Sid had got their bags out of the car and run back to schoo
l, the playground was empty.

  “We are going to be in SO MUCH TROUBLE!” said Bella desperately.

  WHO FORGOT THEIR HOMEWORK?

  Sure enough, when she and Magda got into class, Mr Smart was VERY CROSS INDEED!

  “Rule number one: be on time,” he said, staring at his watch.

  “Rule number two: wear your uniform with pride,” he intoned, eyeing Bella’s wet hair and stained, crumpled clothes with disapproval.

  “Rule number three: be prepared,” he added. “Have you done your homework?”

  “Yes, sir,” said Bella and Magda.

  “You’re lucky,” he said. “Because if you break three school rules in one day you will be in VERY SERIOUS TROUBLE. Now sit down.” He peered around the classroom. “Who would like to collect the homework in for me?”

  Claudia Cleverley and Hetty Snoop shot their hands up before he’d even finished asking the question.

  Bella fished her homework book out of her bag and remembered too late it was Magda’s. Oh no! She’d forgotten to swap it in all the commotion of the morning.

  Then she took a deep breath and tried to keep calm. It shouldn’t matter. After all, they were all going in the same pile so Mr Smart would be none the wiser.

  “All present?” asked Mr Smart when Claudia and Hetty brought the books out to him.

  “Yes, sir,” said Claudia, sounding disappointed.

  Bella decided that she really didn’t like Claudia Cleverley very much.

  “No, sir,” said Hetty. “Not quite.”

  A gasp went around the class.

  Mr Smart folded his arms.

  “Magda didn’t hand her book in, sir,” said Hetty smugly, smiling her superior smile.

  Bella decided she didn’t like Hetty Snoop either, with her silly floppy bow that was a carbon copy of Claudia Cleverley’s.

  They were both the kind of people who loved it when others got told off.