Alice Parker's Metamorphosis (Book 1 of the new adventure series for children) Read Online Free Page A

himself as a comedian and often nominated himself as doorman. It was school tradition that someone would stand outside to greet the teacher, but also provided the opportunity for that pupil to bang on the door on their approach, warning everyone to shut up and look sharp. For Sebastian it was the chance to practise his stand-up comedy on all who entered, making a witty or cruel remark, depending on who you were. This morning for Alice, he simply pulled down his eyes to reveal the red, bloodshot part, then yawned ‘Sorry to drag you out of bed.’
    She pursed her lips and waited as he opened the door, waving his hand in a grand gesture. ‘I can see you as a toilet attendant rather than a comedian,’ she said as she walked in. He pulled a face like a sad clown and darted back outside. The room was noisy with friends chattering and laughing about their weekend. Sarah was waiting for her in their usual place, second row from the back, but Alice had to walk past the coven to reach her.
    ‘ Nice tights,’ said Lucinda No-Bottom, pointing a bony finger at the hole in the left knee. Quinton O’Connor looked over and wolf-whistled.
    ‘ Won’t Mummy buy you some new ones for doing so well?’ he asked with a grin. His sidekick, Lawrence Lovett, sniggered, while trying to extract a chewy sweet from his brace with his finger.
    ‘ Want this?’ asked Alice sarcastically. She waved the window pole in front of him, which had a large brass hook on the end. Lawrence shut his mouth and went red.
    Sarah was laughing, but soon stopped when she realised that Alice wasn’t. ‘So? Did you get some rest yesterday?’ she asked, changing the subject.
    ‘ Yes, thanks. I had a much better night’s sleep too.’
    There was a frantic banging at the classroom door as Sebastian alerted them in his usual, subtle manner to the arrival of Mrs Barnett, their form mistress. They fell silent and stood up when she entered the room.
    ‘ Good morning Year 8!’ she beamed.
    ‘ Good morning Mrs Barnett,’ they droned in reply, like bored infants at a pantomime. They sat down, scraping their chairs and shuffling in their seats as Mrs Barnett called the register and read out some announcements. Over the heads in front of her, all Alice could ever see was a talking mass of red curls at the front desk. She had the most wild, curly hair, which she attempted to tame with combs and clips, but by the end of the school day it had usually broken free, making her look as though her pupils had dragged her through a hedge. At 9 o’clock the buzzer sounded for first lesson.
    ‘ Enjoy maths!’ she said and dashed off.
    ‘ Is she trying to be funny?’ asked Quinton, pulling out his maths textbook and beating himself over the head with it in slow motion. He hated maths and they had a double lesson on Monday mornings. Alice tried to look sympathetic, though it wasn’t very convincing.
    ‘ Ooh, test results today!’ remembered Sarah. ‘Bet you’ve done well.’
    ‘ If I have I’ll be amazed. I didn’t even revise I was so tired.’ Towards the end of term, there was always a maths test on everything they had learned that term, which was quite a lot. It had taken place on Thursday and Alice had felt so rotten last week that she just didn’t feel up to revising.
    ‘ So you say,’ Sarah sneered.
    ‘ I wrote what I could on the day and that’s it,’ protested Alice. ‘My dad says not to worry as long you answer every question.’ And she had, with time to spare, which she found disturbing.
    Announced by a thump on the door, Mrs Myers walked in briskly, waving her hand in an impatient gesture telling the class to sit down before they could say a word. Unnerved, they looked at each other anxiously.
    ‘ Oh dear,’ sighed Sarah.
    ‘ Well, everyone, we can safely say that wasn’t your greatest performance. I take it you haven’t enjoyed algebra this term?’ she asked menacingly, in her lilting Welsh accent. After no reply from the roomful of pupils