Chapter 4
For once, everything seemed to be on our side. Mrs. Hazycurls
didn’t call us up to her desk for anything, she didn’t give us after-school
detention, and she didn’t tell us to take a snoozing Billy along with us, for
Billy was wide awake. No, she just gave us a wave as we left the room. Tom sat
furthest away from the door, and even if he had ran to it he wouldn’t have made
it before we did.
We hurried out of school, sprinted down the steps
(Will tumbled down most of them) and dashed round the corner, stopping a few
feet in front of the bike shed. We all heaved in a big, excited sigh. Finally,
finally, we had made it. We were ready for Tom to come around the corner.
I couldn’t help but feel slightly nervous, and glanced
at everyone to see if they felt the same. They all looked determined, even
Will. So I pushed my nervousness away and furrowed my eyebrows with determination.
We heard footsteps crunching along the gravel and dead leaves. Tom Sandy
rounded the corner. He wasn’t expecting to see us crowding near the bike shed,
blocking his way. He gave a yelp and hopped backwards.
“What are you DOING? You’re all scaring me to death
today. Just leave me alone!” the way he said that last part made me question
what we were doing; looking at it from Tom’s point of view, we really WERE
acting weird.
No one else really noticed.
“We’re here for our share of sweets, of course,” Eric
said sternly, and Will nodded excitedly.
Tom looked really angry, “And I told you I can’t! Now
leave, please.”
Leave? Why would he say that? He didn’t want us to
move out the way, he wanted us to leave.
I lowered my hands, which I realised were
outstretched, almost reaching for the sweets, “Tom?”
Tom looked at me, and I saw that he looked more scared
than mad.
“Tom, are you waiting for someone here?”
The others stared at me, confused. And then Tom,
looking very downcast, nodded.
“What?!” Eric Redmane turned to Tom, “Who, WHY?”
Tom sighed, and leaned against the cracked brick wall
of the school building, “Earlier today, before school started, these three Year
6 boys starting making fun of me, calling me names, because of how posh I
looked in my suit. It didn’t take long for them to realise that since I did look so neat, I might have a chance
of winning the sweets. And since they didn’t have a chance of winning, they
told me, threatened me to give them
the sweets after I’d won. Or they’d beat me up.” Tom stared glumly at the
floor, “They told me to meet them here, after school. But now you’re here and you’ll all get beaten up too.”
“Why didn’t you tell us?” Billy asked, “We could have
helped you.”
Tom shrugged, “Well, I mean, I wanted to, but I didn’t want to get you into trouble.”
We all nodded, understandingly.
Eric suddenly took charge (this was something that he
liked to do), “Well, they’re not getting it. ‘Cause we will fight them off.
They won’t be expecting us at all, and so won’t be prepared.”
Tom smiled gratefully, “Really? Thanks!”
“Wait, we?!
Who says I have to fight?” Will Freckles looked worried, “I mean–”
“Fine, don’t help out,” Eric Redmane snapped.
Will didn’t want to lose any of his teeth, but then he
didn’t want to miss out on possibly the best fight ever held at our school. So
he stayed. We all did, standing in a row, waiting.
And
then the bullies arrived.
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