It mattered a lot to the other kids, too.
Later that day, a girl called Lorna came up to Denzil.
“Oh, poor you,” she said to Denzil. “You still don’t have any Rainbow Boots. Aren’t you fed up with those scruffy old trainers?”
“My Rainbow Boots are on order,” said Denzil, quickly.
“On order?” Lorna asked. “What do you mean?”
“Hand-made just for me,” Denzil said. “My boots will be customised. Not like yours, Lorna. Your Rainbow Boots are the same as everybody else’s. My boots will be special.”
Lorna gave Denzil a sly look.
“That’s great, Denzil!” she said. “Shall I tell all the other kids? I bet they’d love to hear about the special, hand-made, customised Rainbow Boots you’ve got on order!”
Lorna ran off, giggling.
Denzil heard a loud groan. It was Nadeem, his best friend.
“You’re such a liar,” Nadeem said to Denzil. “You haven’t got a pair of special, hand-made customised Rainbow Boots on order. You haven’t got any Rainbow Boots on order. You made it all up!”
Denzil looked down at his trainers.
Lorna was right. They were old and scruffy. They were creased from too much football in the street. They weren’t cool.
“OK,” he said. “So I made it all up. The other kids don’t know that, do they?”
“Not yet,” said Nadeem, gloomily. “But how long before they find out?”
