Living in the Real World by Chocolatemeerkat (classic books for 13 year olds txt) 📖

"Hey, Harry Potter."
"Look at her hair! It looks awful!"
"Why does she look so fat? Soon, no decent clothes will fit her and she'll be as big as a whale!"
That's what they all say at school. Not everyone though. Just Alice, Bella, June and Amber. But Amber's the worst. She's been horrible to me since primary. I've done nothing wrong, so I have no idea why Amber and her little friends started ganging up on me in the first place.
My name is Harriet Lockwell. I'm 12 years old, and I go to Blackwood School. If I had stayed in my old village, I would have gone to a really good school, where they treat everyone with the upmost respect. But I'm stuck here.
Blackwood's not a dump, it's a pretty good school. The only thing I dread is Amber and her gang. They make fun of me all the time. One time, when I was friends with June, she gave Amber my email, and she started sending me all these horrible death threats. I told Sam, but as usual, she did absolutly nothing.
Sam's my older sister. She's 17, and works at a nursery down the road. My dad had died out in Iraq, and my mum had been run over by a lorry, so we live together. Alone. No one at school knows, the teachers think I live with my parents and a baby sister. Well, that's atleast what I told them.
"Harry Potter! You'll be late for your Quadditch match!" Amber called down the corridor. I always got this. But now it was time for me to stand up for myself.
Unexpectedly, I rose from my chair and shouted "You be quiet, Amber. You don't care about anyone apart from yourself and your precious little gang!" But yet again, Amber just sat there, laughing hysterical. "Oh no, please don't turn me into a frog!" She replied in a sarcastic manner.
That set them all off. My entire class were laughing at me. But I was used to it, despite the fact my cheeks were burning red. Silently, I sat down and got my reading book out, waiting for Miss Ryder to come into the classroom.
Just as I started a new chapter, I felt a prodding in my back. It was the new girl, Lucy. She had curly red hair tied up in bunches and glasses. When she first came to school, I thought she was one of the cute little kids in Year 3. But I was proved very wrong when she came in with Miss Ryder. Sighing, I turned around slowly and stared at her. "Yes?"
"Have you done your maths homework?" Lucy asked silently. I glare at her. "Yes. I've never had a late homework." Lucy then started flicking her rubber across the table, a anxious look on her face. "I-I forgot." She stammered. "Will I get dentention?"
"Probably." I sighed. I thought she already knew what happened when you didn't bring your homework in.
The whole class then went into silence as Miss Ryder entered the classroom. She was one of the youngest teachers, with short blonde hair reaching her shoulders and hazel eyes. Many people liked her, because she was kind and didn't normally get cross. "Well, we'd better do the register." She said quietly, opening up the register left on her desk. "Laura?"
"Yes miss."
"Albert?"
"Yes miss."
"June?"
Suddenly, there was a very rude noise. Everyone giggled and looked at June, who was sitting there casually, like nothing had nothing. The obvious sign of guilt. Miss Ryder frowned. "June, please answer when I call your name. It is very rude. We'll try again. June?"
"Yes miss." June replied dryly.
"Harry?"
"Yes miss."
The register when on until it got to me. Miss Ryder stared at me. "Harriet?"
"Yes miss." I replied, my throat hurting. Sam didn't exactly help this morning with breakfast, so all I had was a slice of toast. I didn't have time to get a drink, so I was parched. Amber pulled a face at me, but I ignored her. I knew that the best thing to do was to ignore her. But no matter how much I tried, she wouldn't leave me alone.
Within a few minutes, the register had finished and we were all silent. Miss Ryder wasn't used to this akward silence, so she tried to create conversation. "Has anyone done anything intresting this week?" She asked. Several people put their hands up, and she picked me first. I cleared my throat and stood up. "At the weekend, my grandma came round and she took me to the zoo. It was really great, because I got to feed lots of animals and my grandma brought me a colouring book and a huge toy monkey. Then on Monday, I went to Scouts with Joy, Laura and Charlotte. We played lots of games in the dark and made a campfire. Our Scout leader even let us roast marshmellows, and we..."
I didn't finish, because Amber shouted out "Scouts is for boys! You're ment to be a Guide!" Again, the class laughed at me. Miss Ryder though came to my rescue and said "Amber, please let Harriet finish. Otherwise I'll send you to the headteacher's office."
That shut her up. Thankfully. So I continued. "On Tuesday after school, I went to Peter's party at the indoor play area. I had a really good time, and won a pack of Smarties for being the fastest in a race aross the indoor track. Mum took me shopping on Wednesday and I got lots of new paints and felt tips." I then sat back down in my seat. Peter smiled at me when I mentioned his party, which everyone in the class attended (apart from Lucy, because she had been ill on the day of the party) Even Miss Ryder came along, but she only chatted to the parents whilst we adventured around. We'd played Jungles and Hide and Seek, but when I was the seeker, when I found Amber, she ran off and cheated. When we played Jungles, I was a monkey swinging on the ropes, but Amber pulled me off and I fell. Thankfully, I only ended up with a small cut on my head, but everyone turned their backs on Amber afterwards. She just hung with her friends and sulked for the rest of the party.
"Can I tell everyone what I did?" A small voice piped up. It was Frank, one of my friends from across the road. Miss Ryder nodded, and he stood up. "On Friday, I went round Albert's house and we played loads of games on the Wii. It was really fun, and at the weekend I visited my cousin Cassie in Ireland. We went to the park a lot because the weather was hot and sunny, and my dog Captain came too. Afterwards, on Monday, I went to Scouts too and ate lots of marshmellows. I think I nicked a couple of Harriet too, which was funny, because she chased me around the field twice with her umbrella of doom." Several sniggers came from my classmates when Frank mentioned about me at Scouts. Yes, it was true that I had threatened him with my 'umbrella of doom'. Joy, my best friend, had helped me catch Frank and he owned me so many marshmellows. It was very amusing for the boys to watch Frank give in to girls. Everyone at Scouts keep mentioning it now.
"Right chaps, let's get on with lessons." Miss Ryder annonced. "Take out your art books and we'll crack on with our wildlife skectches. If you're good, I might let you get the paints out. But after last week's disaster, only a selected few will use the paints."
Ah. Many people had forgotten about the paint fight when Miss Ryder was off ill on Friday. Billy, one of the tallest boys in our class, started it when he flicked a a load of paint on Lucy's picture of a mouse. She got really annoyed and flicked her wet paintbrush at him.

Publication Date: 03-06-2012

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