The Mortal Knife Read Online Free

had a dark side few people knew about. Typically Adam had managed to fall for the one girl the Beast held a torch for. The fact that Melissa had only been out with him a few times and couldn’t stand him didn’t deter the Beast in any way from pursuing her – or treating Adam as a love rival.
    The Bulb shared in his son’s dislike for Adam, although for different reasons – namely that Adam was clever. The Bulb didn’t like clever boys. He liked boys who thought school was all about enjoying manly activities like wrestling. He especially detested geeks or anyone who liked science, computers, manga or Orc and Elf role-playing games – which placed Adam and his friends squarely at the top of his hit list.
    Still, they had recently put their skills to good use. After The Bulb had cancelled a planned school trip to Japan, they had created a fake Japanese sensei who promised to teach The Bulb secret ninja wrestling moves, as long as he performed a few challenges first. They had put The Bulb in some mortifying situations – and managed to get the Japan trip reinstated in the process.
    â€˜Morning, sir,’ Adam muttered as he slid past. It was hard not to smirk.
    â€˜You’re late, Mortson!’ The Bulb turned his cold stare on Adam, looking him up and down. ‘And what’s wrong with your blazer? Get yourself brushed down and get to class!’ Adam scarpered towards his form room, happy to have escaped detention.
    At the door, he paused, suddenly feeling nervous at the thought of seeing Melissa. There were still a few fellow stragglers in the corridor, so a full-on preen was out of the question but he
did
dust off his mucky blazer, squash his sandy hair under control and sling his bag on his unbruised shoulder in a more nonchalant manner.
    He was as ready as he was ever going to be. He rolled his shoulders back, took a deep breath and strode into the classroom.
    Two lessons later, Adam was slinking towards the library in a state of deep depression, all his good feelings long since evaporated. Why had he been so keen to get back here? Was he mad?
    He wasn’t sure what he’d expected but it hadn’t been Melissa greeting him with nothing more than a cool nod. He had stared at her beseechingly across his form room while his form tutor, Mr Fenton, ranted incoherently about incomplete homework leading inexorably to failed exams, unemployment and the lunatic asylum. Melissa studiously ignored Adam throughout, chewing her lip and doodling on the back of her pencil case. He could feel his heart cracking and warm goo running down the inside of his chest towards his stomach. His internal choir was wailing gospel style,
Why, oh why, Melissa, why?
He could still taste the memory of her strawberry lip balm.
    At breaktime he slouched through the library doors and mooched towards his usual table. His friends were in their usual spots, doing their usual things: Archie was sketching a scantily clad manga chick; Spike was on his laptop (no doubt hacking into the Pentagon or similar); and Dan was hovering between the two, devouring a pile of nuts and being irritating.
    It was Dan who noticed him first. He grinned up through a horrible mouthful of crushed Brazil nuts. ‘All right Adam? How’s it going?’
    Somehow Adam managed to avoid rending his own clothes and beating his chest in anguish. ‘Yeah, all right.’ He wasn’t all right. How could they not see? How could they not see the jagged splinters of his heart bursting out through his skin?
    Archie turned his sketchpad round for Adam to admire. ‘Here she is. My ninja babe. This is the woman of my dreams. And now that we’re going to Japan I’m actually going to get to meet her.’ He leered at his picture and tucked it carefully away in his bag.
    â€˜Of course we might not have to go to Japan to see a ninja,’ Dan muttered. He waggled his eyebrows and nodded at Adam meaningfully.
    Adam stared