It was two minutes before the test and I was so nervous I could hardly grip my pencil.
McCreedy had made me sit in the middle of the front row, so he could keep a special eye on me. It’s hard to concentrate when someone is staring at you the whole time. And, to make things worse, he’d put me next to Stuey Jones.
Stuey Jones was the biggest fidget in the class, if not the whole world. He twitched even more than my hamster. No doubt he’d be constantly clicking his pen and tap-tapping his feet the whole exam, or wriggling around in his seat.
McCreedy coughed to get everyone’s attention.
‘I think you all know,’ he started, ‘about the bet that I have with Benjamin Jinks’s father. And I am hoping this will be a lesson to you: Cheats never prosper.’ He glared at me as he said those words. My face felt hot.
Then he walked around, handing out all the papers, leaving me till last. ‘Begin!’ he boomed.
Everyone started scribbling immediately. Apart from Stuey Jones, who was drumming his fingers on the desk. And apart from me. I froze.
I looked down at the questions. They were extremely tricky – even harder than the last test. I glanced up at Beardy and he was staring at me with this big evil grin on his face.
Then I looked back at my test.
People say they have butterflies in their stomach, to mean they’re really nervous. But butterflies are nice things, and what I was feeling wasn’t nice at all. I had this sick feeling, and my tummy felt completely empty. I could hardly breathe, let alone think.
I was trying to concentrate on the test, but all that was in my mind was me and Dad washing Beardy’s car, with the entire school surrounding us, pointing and laughing their heads off.
Calm down, I thought. Remember what Stinky said. These aren’t numbers on this page. They’re grains and poos and I can do this.
So I took a deep breath and started the test.
Maybe I wouldn’t pass. Maybe I really wasn’t clever enough. But one thing was for sure – I’d try my best.
