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Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781524639181 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | AuthorHouse |
| Publication date: | 09/20/2016 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 68 |
| File size: | 170 KB |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
The Same Name Game
By Hanan Sheikhali
AuthorHouse
Copyright © 2016 Hanan SheikhaliAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-5246-3919-8
CHAPTER 1
New yet Different
I didn't know why Sydney (my best friend) loved my house. I mean, it was just a small house with a few cranky stairs and a big garden. Cat (my big sister) always said that our house was a castle and she was the queen of it. As if! I found this joke really irritating. Max (my young brother) didn't, probably because he could be even more annoying.
Yesterday Amy, Sydney, Callum, and I arrived at school, and everyone kept staring at me! I realized the remaining signs of a fake moustache Max had drawn on my face over the weekend were still there, threatening to embarrass me. That was a great start to the New Year.
After I wiped off my fake moustache, the bell rang; we had to go into classes. Luckily, it was only English, and truthfully, I don't really dislike English. I quickly grabbed my bag and dashed through the corridor and into the classroom, where my new teacher and classmates awaited.
I entered the room. Everyone was staring at me. And by everyone, I mean everyone!
"Sorry I'm late, sir," I whispered and made my way to my seat, which was next to the window.
"I'll let you off this time, but don't be late again! I am Mr Beachwood. Pleased to meet you!".
"Nice to meet you too" I introduce myself, "I'm Layla Russo."
"Now get your English book out and be ready to learn!" Mr Beachwood read out along motivational speech, and then he continued with the lesson.
Honestly, I wouldn't have been surprised if somebody couldn't stay alive during that lesson! It was the most boring lesson I have ever been in! My eyes were shut for half the lesson. I just couldn't bear it. Sydney, who was sitting next to me, prodded my shoulder to tell me we had been dismissed.
A large plague of children rushed out the door, as if it was a race to get to the playground first.
At playtime, Alisha thought it would be funny if she copied everything I did. I started talking gibberish to stop her, but that didn't work. Finally I shouted, "Alisha sucks!" and that stopped her immediately. I suspect she snitched on me to Mrs Leaffull, because Mrs Leaffull shouted at me as the bell rang.
Sydney had to go for an appointment, so I sat next to Amy. This wasn't too bad until Mr. Beachwood told us to get into groups of four so we could do an activity. Everyone went immediately into groups except us. There were only three of us: Amy, Callum, and me. I hoped Sydney would come back early, or we'd feel unhappy and miss her.
Well, quite obviously she didn't. Luckily we were allowed to stay in a group together, as everyone else had their groups already.
At home time, Callum and I walked home while Amy ran halfway. As we caught up with her, she was panting. "I'm bored," she moaned. "Let's go somewhere."
We all liked the idea of doing that, so we decided to call our mums and say we were going to be late home.
Our mums said that was okay, but we had to be home by six o'clock. We felt they were treating us as toddlers. We reminded them we were in year eight, not in nursery.
At about twenty to six, we entered an awesome park with the intention of playing for a while. We noticed a figure that made us all huddle up tightly. Then the figure started moving toward us. It was ... it ... it was —
Sydney!
We were so pleased to see her. Amy and I hugged her tight. From the way we were screaming, she knew we were over the moon to see her!
The dude who ran the park said, "Park is closed."
What sort of park did he run? A chicken park? Still, we had to get out of the park. I asked Amy what time it was. She screamed.
"I'm not deaf, Amy," I replied.
The four of us arrived at my house to overhear Mum and Cat arguing. I heard Mum saying, "I can't believe you made us pay forty pounds for your phone bill." I guess that happened because Cat spends so much time talking with Harley and April on the phone.
We ran up to my room, stifling giggles as we passed the open toilet door, which revealed Max sitting there. The second we were safe inside my room, we howled with laughter.
Next day playtime was awesome! The coach picked the football team, and these were the selected people. I was so happy I got chosen!
Year 7: Andrea, Maria, Tom, Maximus, Shania
Year 8: Amy, Bethani, Lucas, Layla, Leroy
Year 9: Callusio, Carl, Bart, Louis, Thomas
Year 10: Zack, Murray, Kate, Kateline, Scarlet
CHAPTER 2The Unfortunate Games
That Tuesday, the Athletic Games were going to be played.
Dum-dum-dum!
Oh, I couldn't wait until PE was over. PE was not my thing, whereas Amy loved PE. She adored her teacher telling her not to swing the bat too high and other players shouting "Handball!" in her face. Callum liked basketball but hated rugby for some reason, even though he was chosen for the team. Sydney was a lazybones like me. She hated PE just as much as I did. Alisha and Sam were big show-offs. They kept saying, "We're going to win every medal there is."
Kate, Zan, and the C twins were BFFs, were super shy, and never, ever talked to anybody but each other. They didn't even talk to the teacher! And they never answered any questions in class at all.
Finally, the bell rang. Hurray! It was home time! Everyone ran outside. Callum, Sydney, and I tried to catch up with Amy, who was running home from school. Cat was on the other side of the road with April again. I had no idea where Max had gone.
We dropped Callum off at his house and went to a shop. We bought a few things. Sydney bought a phone card and a new jacket. I bought a phone card and a white handbag with a patent black handle. Amy bought four skirts, a purple T-shirt with a cat on it, and a baseball cap!
We stopped at an ice-cream van when we were halfway home. We love ice-cream!
I didn't mind spending £16.50 in a day. I don't mean to brag, but I spent it well.
On our way home, we saw Zan and the C twins walking along and talking to each other quietly. On seeing us, they crossed the road and walked away like we were complete strangers. Huh, just perfect.
Amy headed home, and I decided to go with Sydney to her house. She has a baby sister called Florence and a big brother called Morgan. Her house is a small, lovable home, yet she complains about it like mad. She says our house is much better than hers, which I doubt.
Florence is sweet, but she cries when her mum leaves the room. Morgan does a lot of the housework. Morgan can be bit rude, but he is at least better than my brother.
I wish school started after lunch and not at the ridiculously early time of eight thirty. By the time I woke up next day, it was already eight in the morning, Amy and I missed registration due to late arrival.
Sydney is always on time. She leaves home at 8.20 and arrives promptly because she lives opposite the school. Amy and Alisha are both my neighbours.
Callum did not attend, so Lucas had nobody to sit next to. I sat between Leo and Sydney. Amy sat between Maria and Zandiya, although Bella sometimes sits next to Zandiya because they are best friends. I didn't mind where I sat until Mr. Beachwood said we had to change seats after play. At least, I thought, I won't have to worry about it for a long time.
At playtime, Amy started a game called Eeeh! Yep, I know what you're thinking: that is a weird name for a game. The rules are that one person has to try and touch someone else while hopping on one leg. Whoever falls first has to make the sound, "Eeeh!"
I know this sound like a pointless game, but to be honest, most things are pointless with us, so I think it fits in perfectly with our other games.
Play was quite fun, as we were not interrupted once by Alisha. However, we were interrupted by Mrs Leaffull. She hates me. She really does. It's as if she wants me to get excluded.
I don't really know anybody who has been excluded. Max was once, but it was only for a day, which was slightly a bummer. I'm not 100 percent sure what he did, but I think it was something to do with the roof. Sound weird? So does half this book. Have fun not understanding anything!
So, as I was saying, Mrs Leaffull came up to me and yelled right in my face, with her spit splashing onto my face like rain. It was honestly horrible. I'm not even sure what she was going on about, but I can tell you, if you have a breath mint, please give it to her!
"What was she on about?" I whispered to Sydney when Mrs Leaffull finally marched away.
"I am not really sure," Sydney replied. "But she sure was angry!"
I wasn't even that surprised. That's just like Mrs Leaffull. She leaps at you when you least expect it! Then again, she also leaps on you when you do expect it. Let's just say, she leaps at anytime, anywhere, on anyone. She is pure evil. And you can tell her that when you meet her, because I am certain nobody else I know has the guts!
As I went to my locker, just before it was class time, I saw a piece of paper outside of our class. And what was that paper?
The new seat schedule!
Wow. Just my luck. And from what I could see, Mr Beachwood had a slightly different table set up. Although I was not sure who was where or whom I was sitting next to, I was quite relieved I had found the seating order.
Just then, it was class time, and it was time for new seats!
I was apprehensive about having a new seat. I didn't want to know. Mr Beachwood had rearranged the tables into small groups comprised of two pairs facing each other:
Ash–Emma (unlucky)
Alex–Lucas (mega unlucky)
Bella–Zandiya (so, so lucky)
Bethani–Amy (unlucky)
Callum–Sydney (lucky)
Crystal–Carly (obviously)
Layla-Alisha (oh, man!)
Jacky–Maria (lucky)
Leo–Christopher (lucky)
Sam–Leroy (unlucky)
Melody–Tania (really lucky)
Natalie–Mike (UNLUCKY)
Yasmin–Mile (unlucky)
Zake–Lily (in the middle)
Zan–Kate (mega, super, duper lucky)
The next day at school, we started with maths first thing in the morning. On Tuesdays there is no assembly. Let me tell you, I am useless at maths and I suck at science, but I am okay at English. The reason I enjoyed this lesson was because we weren't expected to write anything down. While Mr Beachwood started talking away, I fell asleep.
I was so happy that was the Athletic Games, because I wouldn't have to sit next to the rudest girl.
PE, and definitely when PE involves the Athletic Games, was usually the lesson I dreaded most, but that day I was actually looking forward to it. Zan and Kate were faking being sick, and I can tell you they were doing some very good acting and getting a lot more attention than they were looking for!
Then it was time to get changed for the Athletic Games. We went to the girls' room, and Jacky told Mike and Christopher to stop making silly noises outside the door. Yasmin and Tania threw their shoes at the boys, and then we all threw our shoes at them. Zandiya and Bella talked their heads off while everyone else changed. It took them another four minutes to get ready.
Then came the Athletic Games themselves. First up, the three-legged race. Okay, not a bad start. I paired up with Amy. Go! You would think that it would have been easy to win with the fastest girl in the school. Well, it wasn't. At least we came in fifth out of nine!
Next up, the long race. Ready, set, go! I came in third place, which was really good. I needed some water. I figured I had better go to the water stand. Oh, that was really refreshing!
Next up, the egg and spoon race. Woo-hoo!
But oh, man, I came in ninth of eleven!
Last one, the short-distance race. I was ready! I thought, Boy, I am gonna run like a gazelle, faster than a tiger, quicker than a mouse. Go!
I just had to get past Leroy and Amy. Aha! "Leroy! Your pants are falling!" I shouted. He bent down to see, and that gave me a chance to run in front of him. I couldn't get past Amy; she was way too quick. But at least I came second.
Alisha came first in the egg and spoon race, ahead of Sam, and then boasted about it a lot.I didn't really listen because I was distractedly staring at my two impressive and incredible medals!
CHAPTER 3Goodbye Cat!
I was so happy I got two medals!
I went home and went to Cat's room to see if she liked my two medals, but my rude, mean, and always girly big sister was not there. I thought she was still coming back from school, so I waited for another ten to fifteen minutes until I got bored, so I went to Max's room to ask Max where she was. Just like last year and the year before and the year before that, he was wearing —
Four medals!
But he didn't know where Cat was.
The doorbell rang. It was Callum. I couldn't ask him if he had seen Cat because he had just arrived.
I really wanted Amy and Sydney to come quickly, because Callum and I were getting bored looking through the window for Cat. We went into Cat's room and celebrated that Cat was not there, until a familiar face with dyed hair and suitcases came in.
"Hi, Cat," we muttered and slowly walked to the door.
We asked her what all the suitcases were for and why her room had not got as much stuff as it used to have. She obviously didn't tell us but said, "Mind your own business." Harsh. Where had she heard that from? I became very suspicious. Instead of spying or stealing her phone, I had a much easier way of finding out what all the suitcases were about. I walked halfway down the stairs.
"Mum!"
I asked Mum why Cat had all those suitcases. She said something about a school trip, and then she went on about how she needed to buy me a new jumper.
"What school trip?" I asked.
Mum said that Cat was going to the beach with her class for two weeks.
Yes! Yeah! Woo-hoo!
Amy, Callum, and Sydney could sleep at my house. Callum and Amy could sleep in Cat's room and Sydney and I in my room! I could do what I wanted; I could jump from one of Cat's beds to the other. (For some reasons she has two beds in her room.) I could listen to her music and have a party in her room. Oh, yeah! Finally, she was going!
I wished my pea-brain, annoying brother Max were going too. If that idiot had left, it would have being great! And I would have a triple room.
That's just dreaming. I bet it will never happen. But still ... I could draw all over Cat's walls! I planned to take her diary from behind her wardrobe before she packed it. She didn't want to lose it, did she?
Morning! It was Cat's leaving day. And the last week of school time. Hang on–that meant presents. Yeah!
That looked like a present. Was it? I thought it was ... An iPod! Oh, that was probably for Cat. I thought I had better keep it, just to make it a surprise that was all.
Oh, and let's just say, in my room bits of wrapping paper were everywhere!
The iPod was real beautiful. It let me make a password: 2442. Please do not tell! Well, you really couldn't unless you found my diary, which is almost impossible! Not like Cat's diary, which I had already stolen, and boy, it was interesting. Ha! Look at this!
Dear Diary,
I am so embarrassed. While I was in class, my tights ripped. Just before class I saw a tiny ladder. But now. They totally ripped. And people could see my knickers! I have never been so embarrassed! My whole class was staring!
I was going to stick this other really awesome thing in Cat's diary, but I ran out of glue and Celetape. So I was trying to beat my high score on a game I downloaded on my iPod before school, which was in Jive minutes! I had to get ready! Oh, I put my skirt on before I took my pyjamas off! I better run! Jacket on, Cat's diary inside my bag, shoes on, and go!
Wait until I show Amy Cat's diary! She said that her big brother Nickolas was going too. Then I realised that Morgan was going as well. Awesome! I told Sydney and Callum when we got to school, and obviously Sydney knew. Then she said that Morgan had a lot of presents. Then I told them about the iPod. Huh? I forgot to bring it! Never mind, I decided. I would bring it tomorrow. I told them I had Cat's diary, and they laughed a lot more than usual. Then they asked, "Why are there ripped pieces?" Oops!
All year ten students had lots of suitcases, especially the girls. When they were about to leave, everyone said goodbye. Well, every parent and every child who was not related to them said goodbye. The other kids just talked to the person closest to them. In my case it was Anna Maria from class seven. She was shy, so I didn't talk much.
Then they waved goodbye. Sydney tried to stop Callum from saying goodbye, and boy, it worked! He didn't even breathe until year ten had gone, and by then he had turned red!
(Continues...)
Excerpted from The Same Name Game by Hanan Sheikhali. Copyright © 2016 Hanan Sheikhali. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse.
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