Project Best Friend (3 page)

Penelope bit her lip. Class had started
seven
minutes ago. Ms Pike had finished the roll call, and still there was no sign of Brittany O’Brien. Penelope squashed down a terrible feeling. What if Brittany had changed her mind about coming to Chelsea Primary?

She glanced around the classroom. Alison was leaning over the table she shared with Eliza, doodling something on Eliza’s notebook. Eliza covered her mouth to hide a giggle. Rita Azul was whispering something in Tilly’s ear (which was always worrying). Underneath the table, Joanna (the naughtiest girl in the class) was tying her own shoelaces to Sarah’s. Normally, Penelope would do something to stop her. In fact, she suspected that was why Ms Pike had put Joanna on Penelope’s table – to teach Joanna how to behave better. But at that moment, with no Brittany O’Brien, she didn’t have the heart.

Penelope got out her English work and put her head down. She was decorating the heading with some very careful and complicated colouring in when she heard a breathless voice.

‘Sorry I’m late, Miss! No joke, my dad got lost about twenty times. It was crazy!’

Penelope looked up. So did the rest of the class. A couple of kids laughed.

Penelope did not gasp. It would not be polite to gasp at her new best friend. Still, seeing Brittany O’Brien was a bit of a shock.

It wasn’t her height that was a shock. Brittany O’Brien was only slightly taller than Penelope. It wasn’t her nose that was a shock, either. It wasn’t pointy, even from the side, but it did have a little ski jump at the end that was a tiny bit similar to Penelope’s nose. But her blonde hair was definitely not shoulder length. In fact, it was so short around her ears that it must have been cut with clippers. At the top, it stuck up high, a bit like a cocky’s crest.

Penelope collected her mixed feelings. She breathed them in and breathed them out slowly. Just because Brittany O’Brien had
extremely
short hair, and spoke to Ms Pike in a very casual way – like she was a friend, rather than a teacher – that didn’t mean that all Penelope’s hopes were lost.

‘My dad,’ Brittany O’Brien said with a smile, ‘can’t read a map for nuts. And the GPS was completely wonky, Miss.’

Eliza and Alison were both smiling, as though they found Brittany O’Brien very amusing. Penelope sat up very straight and smiled her Very Best and Brightest Smile, hoping that Brittany would look her way before she saw Eliza and Alison. Her heart was beating very fast. She took some more deep breaths.

‘Don’t worry about being late, Brittany,’ Ms Pike said kindly. ‘You can call me Ms Pike. Ms, not Miss.’

Brittany nodded.

‘While we’re getting names sorted, Ms,’ Brittany said quite loudly, as if to make sure the whole class could hear, ‘I don’t go by that name. Not ever.

‘Just call me Bob.’

Penelope frowned.
Bob?
Why would someone with such an elegant name want to go by their initials instead?

Penelope was examining this thought, and adding it to Brittany O’Brien’s very short hair and very casual attitude, when she saw Alison Cromwell put up her hand.

‘Ms Pike?’ Alison said. Then she paused, and giggled in a silly way. She pushed Eliza’s books across and Eliza moved to the next chair. ‘Can Bob sit with us?’

Penelope held her breath as Bob sat down between Alison and Eliza. She should have thought of that. But she had been doing too much
examining
to act quickly. That was a big mistake. Once she and Bob became best friends, she would surely be able to help Bob become a Brittany. But right now, Penelope had let a perfectly good chance go by. She was furious with herself.

Penelope tried to get on with her work. But it was difficult to concentrate. Joanna and Sarah were walking, three-legged, to get a pencil sharpener. And she could see Alison and Eliza in front of her, leaning on their elbows, talking to Bob as though they were already friends. Penelope was so distracted she made an error on a comprehension question. She had to rub out the answer and start all over again.

It seemed as though the morning had stretched out forever when Ms Pike finally called pencils down.

‘Penelope, could you stand up please?’ she asked.

Penelope stood behind her chair, pushing it in carefully. She noticed Bob turning around to look at her.

‘Bob, this is Penelope Kingston,’ Ms Pike said. ‘Penelope, I wonder if you would show Bob around at recess?’

Bob gave something like a salute, her hand whipping up to her eyebrows. It looked like a very friendly type of salute. Penelope’s heart skipped a beat. Ms Pike was the best, loveliest teacher on the entire planet – possibly even the universe.

‘Certainly, Ms Pike.’ Penelope made sure her voice was normal and her smile wasn’t too big. It wasn’t easy. This was definitely the best thing that had happened to her all morning.

As the class packed up, Penelope made a mental list of Things to Show Bob. Obviously, there were practical concerns, like where the girls toilets were. But there were also other important considerations.

Perhaps Bob would like to see the art room, where Penelope’s latest painting just happened to be on display? Her painting had been inspired by a Spanish artist, just as the art teacher, Mr Cattapan, had instructed. Penelope secretly thought that her picture was just as good as the original. At least the lady’s eyes were in the right spot.

She was just ordering her list from Most Important to Least Important when Oscar interrupted her thinking.

‘Hey Penny-lope, see you at the sausage sizzle at lunchtime. We’re on coleslaw duty. Hopefully we’ll end up with loads of gold coins to donate. Apparently the village is getting a well –’

‘Thank you Oscar, I’ll be there,’ Penelope said in her Very Busy voice, turning away from him.

She did not need to be reminded that she’d volunteered to help at the sausage sizzle fundraiser. Helping people less fortunate always made Penelope feel good. Plus, there was an extra bonus. When she helped out at sausage sizzles, Penelope got to make her own sausage, exactly the way she liked it. (With extra coleslaw and a tiny squirt of hot mustard.)

Right now, though, Penelope could not afford to get distracted. Bob had walked straight past Penelope and was heading towards the corridor with Eliza and Alison. She must have forgotten who was showing her around at recess.

Penelope rushed into the corridor. Bob had wandered into the area where the boys hung their schoolbags. Penelope would have been horrified to make such a mistake. She would be careful to tell Bob very quietly, so she wouldn’t be embarrassed. Penelope had to admit she did feel a tiny bit glad that Bob was in the wrong area.

For one thing, it meant that Alison and Eliza were finally away from Bob. Also, it gave Penelope a chance to tell her something helpful.

She reached in, avoiding the sea of boys around her, and tapped Bob on the shoulder.

When Bob turned around, Penelope was pleased to note that she was smiling.

‘Just to let you know,’ Penelope said in a very soft voice, ‘you’ve actually hung your bag in the –’

‘Oh my god! Bob!’ Eliza yelled, coming up behind them.

‘You’re in the boys area, dude,’ Alison squealed. ‘Get. Out. Of. There.’

Penelope could not understand why Alison, Eliza and even Bob were laughing. She did her best to laugh along with them.

‘We’d better make sure we show you where the
girls
toilets are,’ Alison squealed.

For a moment Penelope forgot she was supposed to be pretending to laugh, but nobody seemed to notice anyway.

‘Actually,’ Penelope said after a few false starts – when she tried to speak but the girls were laughing too much to hear her – ‘the girls toilets are number one on my list of things to show Bob at recess.’

For some reason that set them all off again.

‘The library is just up those steps, Bob,’ Penelope said. She pointed, and spoke very loudly.

Several girls had (very annoyingly) joined Penelope’s tour and were chatting loudly among themselves. Rita and Tilly kept getting left behind and making everyone wait while they caught up. Alison and Eliza were in front of them, and Joanna and Sarah were directly behind.

At least Bob was walking next to Penelope, trying to listen. Joanna kept interrupting. She’d tapped Penelope on the shoulder to interrupt with something random three times already. The last tap had been in the art studio, while Penelope had been telling Bob where the paints and brushes were kept. Bob was probably just about to notice ‘The Crying Lady’ – and possibly even comment on how good it was. That tap had made Penelope very cross.

The fourth tap came when they were passing the gym.

‘What?!’ Penelope said.

She breathed deeply to calm herself. ‘What do you want to say now, Joanna?’ Penelope asked.

Joanna lodged herself between Penelope and Bob.

‘See that tree?’ she said, pointing to a tree with strong branches and a dense canopy of leaves. Bob nodded.

Penelope braced herself. She knew how that tree was used. This was not information to be shared with a student on her very first day.

Especially not Penelope Kingston’s Future Best Friend.

Joanna lifted a leafy branch to make a kind of doorway. Penelope and the others waited as she and Bob stuck their heads in.