Mo
The shiny lady didn’t leave until dinnertime. Even though she’d only just moved in to my lovely old house, there were no vans parked outside or boxes in sight and she said she didn’t have anything to do. It seemed strange – our house was chaotic, there was stuff everywhere. When I peeped over at number 79, the only thing that looked different was that all the curtains were closed. I kept sneaking peeks all weekend, to try to catch a glimpse inside, but the curtains stayed shut all day and all night. It was the same when we left for school on Monday.
‘It was nice of Emma to force you to show me the way to school,’ Lottie said the next morning, as we reached the zebra crossing in front of the gates.
‘Mum is always nice,’ I said, picking up a loom bracelet that was about to fall down a drain. ‘She probably put a chocolate muffin in your schoolbag, too.’
‘That probably has germs,’ Lottie said, wrinkling her nose at the bracelet. ‘But, yay! Muffin!’ She started fiddling around in her bag and nearly stepped into the road without looking.
‘Watch out. We have to wait until the lollipop man says we can cross.’
‘You have a lollipop man? How adorable! I thought that only happened in historical school dramas.’
The lollipop man dropped his stick and stared at us from the pavement opposite.
‘What’s his name?’ she asked.
‘I don’t know.’ I peered at the small part of his face that wasn’t covered by his neon hat, which was pulled down low, almost over his eyes. ‘It isn’t Derek, the old lollipop man. This one must be new.’
‘He’s quite starey, isn’t he?’ Lottie said.
The lollipop man suddenly stepped out into the road, without even looking at the traffic. His stick was on the floor, so none of the drivers saw him coming. Cars came skidding to a halt. Horns beeped loudly. Drivers shouted out of their windows. Finger swears were thrown around like it was a 12A movie. He didn’t even look at them, just carried on staring at us.
‘You need to pick up the stick!’ Lottie shouted at him.
‘Let’s just cross,’ I said. We were attracting far too much attention, and I really prefer to keep a low profile at school.
‘He’s probably going to be fired by the end of the day,’ Lottie said, as we made it safely to the other side of the road and the traffic started moving again.
I watched him picking up his stick while kids and their parents laughed behind their hands at him. He looked a bit lost, sort of out of place. I felt sorry for him so I turned back and gave him a smile and a thumbs-up.
He winked at me.
Lottie
I don’t know why Emma thought Mo would be able to help me settle in at school. I’d been there five minutes and I could already tell that he was the type of kid who pretended to be sick at lunchtime so he could spend the hour alone in the medical room, reading. He didn’t seem to have any friends. Of course, I didn’t either, but that didn’t bother me at all. Other people have always gravitated towards me – I think it’s because of my vibrant aura.
It was a small school and, as there was only a month between mine and Mo’s birthdays, we were in the same class.
‘Anyone not in a group for the Discovery Day Competition yet?’ Mr Chartwell, our teacher, said, on my first morning at St Pippins.
Mo put his hand up and looked at the desk.
I felt rather sorry for him. Yes, he was strange and grumpy, enjoyed picking up trash from the street and had a terrible attitude to hair, but he wasn’t all bad. Besides, everybody should have a friend.
‘May I work with Mo?’ I asked.
Mr Chartwell smiled. Mo looked surprised. ‘Yes, of course, Lottie. I’m passing round a handout with the competition details – have a read through and then you can all start brainstorming.’
At this point, I’d like to refer you to Exhibit A from the evidence box:
Mo turned to me while I read through the handout. ‘Before we start, Lottie, there’s something I want to say…’
‘It’s OK, Mo, you don’t have to thank me for working with you. You’re basically my brother, after all.’
‘No, I was going to say that this competition is really important. In case you didn’t know, my dad was an important biomedical engineer…’
‘A what?’
‘He was a brilliant scientist and I want to be just as good as him. I need to win this competition, so I don’t want you taking over and ruining it. It’s probably best if you follow my instructions very carefully at every stage, or just watch and let me do everything.’
‘Well, that’s rude and ungrateful.’
‘I thought you just said I didn’t have to thank you!’
‘Of course I said that, Morris, because THAT is what people say in these kinds of situations. Everybody knows that.’
‘But why say it if you don’t mean it?’
We were interrupted by a boy with straight, black hair and shifty eyes who slumped himself down in the chair next to us. ‘I’m new. The teacher said I have to work with you.’
‘I’m new, too,’ I said, giving him my most dazzling smile. If he was on our team, I wanted him to be on my side. ‘I’m Lottie, this is Mo. What’s your name?’
‘It’s Jax,’ he said.