Worse Than Boys Read Online Free

have done it to anyone else who stuttered. But Sonya didn’t seem to care. I was sure she only stuttered to wind us up.
    I saw her eyes dart to me as I pushed my way through the door, checking to see if my mates were with me. A look of relief flashed across her face when she saw I was alone. Sonya was overweight. Not quite fat, but heading that way. I used to say they could use her for a battering ram. She didn’t like that. Sonya had a reputation as a good fighter, but I’d never really seen her fight, just land on people. Honestly, that’s not fighting, is it?
    She sneered at me. ‘You’ve g-got it coming, know that?’
    ‘S-s-ssorry, S-s-ssonya, did you s-ssay s-ssomething?’ Then I laughed.
    Sonya’s face went brick red. She threw a punch at me, but I stepped away from it, missing it easily.
    ‘G-g-ggot to be qu-quicker than that, S-s-ssonya.’
    She would have lunged at me again, but right at that moment the toilets were invaded by a bunch of older girls, prefects, always ready to step in and stop any trouble.
    ‘What’s going on here?’ one of them asked.
    I shrugged my shoulders. Sonya’s face was red with anger. It gave her away big time. She pushed past them and crashed out of the toilets.
    ‘You lot are always causing trouble,’ Pam Ward said. Head girl, a force to be reckoned with.
    I was all innocence. ‘They’re the ones who cause the trouble. I was only sticking up for myself.’
    She didn’t look as if she believed me. I didn’t care. It would make a great story when I told it to the girls later on.
    ‘You’re in Erin’s crowd, aren’t you?’ Pam said.
    Why did they always say that? Just once I wanted Erin to be in my crowd, but pointing that out seemed like some kind of betrayal, so I said nothing to correct her. ‘Erin’s my best friend,’ I said.
    Pam sniggered. ‘Do the other two know that?’
    I pushed my way out the door, half expecting Sonya to be lying in wait for me. But it was Heather who was there. ‘I heard that,’ she said. ‘Thanks very much. Erin’s your best friend, is she? Not me.’
    I put my arm around her shoulder. ‘I only said that because they were talking about Erin.’
    But it was a lie. Erin was my best friend. She and I were special. Soul mates, me and Erin. I tried to make it up to Heather as we walked to class.
    There was a crowd round the school noticeboard and we pushed our way to the front. ‘Hey, look what they’re putting on for the school summer show! Grease !’
    Everyone loved the school summer show, except maybe Wizzie and her lot. People like her, the low lifes, wouldn’t have anything to do with the school show. But we loved it. It was always such a laugh.
    ‘We must tell Rose. She’d be brilliant playing Sandy.’ Rose was a really good singer. She had dreams of going on the stage one day. She’d been in the show the year before. She’d definitely be up for this one too.
    Suddenly, Heather burst into song. ‘ Summer lovin’, I came in last …’
    I joined in, totally off-key. Didn’t know the words either. ‘ Summer lovin’ … Wizzie got gassed …’
    We laughed ourselves silly as we walked up the corridor, hurrying to tell Rose about the auditions. Erin caught up with us and joined in. I noticed Sonya and Lauren watching us. Surely it was envy I saw in their eyes. What else could it be? Who wouldn’t want to be one of us?

Chapter Seven
    There was a fight coming. We could all sense it. Nothing was said, but the tension was there. And it was coming from Wizzie’s crowd, the Hell Cats. I said it was probably BO and we all laughed.
    Even the teachers sensed it.
    Mr Hammond, the teacher who produced the school show, called us together one day and asked us just what was going on.
    ‘Nothing, Mr Hammond,’ Erin said, before I had a chance to speak. She looked round at us. ‘We don’t know what you mean.’
    Heather looked blank. Not a difficult thing for Heather. Rose just looked bored.
    Mr Hammond spoke directly to Erin.