Disclaimer: All recognisable characters belong to HiT Entertainment. All OCs belong to me.

Chapter 5

The following Monday, I arrived at school ready to start my first day in grade five. I hadn't felt this nervous about school since my very first day in grade one. In fact, I was so nervous, I hadn't been able to think up any new practical jokes to play on my new teacher, Mr Davies. I'd never had a male teacher before, so perhaps that was part of the reason why I was so nervous. Being without any of my friends also put me on edge.

Mr Davies was waiting at the school gate when we arrived in Mr Evan's bus. "Which one of you is Samuel Jones?" Mr Davies asked as we started disembarking.

I timidly put my hand up. Mrs Davies nodded, and he grabbed hold of my hand firmly.

"Good. You're coming with me. I'm going to be keeping a close eye on you, young man."

Wow! Clearly, my reputation has preceded me. I had no choice but to go with Mr Davies. He led me inside my new classroom.

"This is your desk," Mr Davies told me, pointing to the desk directly in front of his own. "Your new text books are already in there. I want you to sit down and wait quietly until the bell rings."

"Yes, sir."

Sighing, I took off my satchel, and I sat down at my new desk. Curiosity got the better of me, and I started to look through my new science text book. It didn't look too hard. However, I could feel Mr Davies staring at me the whole time.

Finally, the bell rang. Instead of lining up outside the classroom, my new classmates came inside, and they stood quietly beside their desks. Feeling conspicuous, I slowly stood up beside my own desk. Mr Davies stood up.

"Good morning, class."

"Good morning, Mr Davies," my classmates replied in unison. Then, they all sat down. I did the same. Mr Davies remained standing.

"Before I mark the roll, I'd like to introduce you to your new classmate. Sam? Please stand up."

I did so, and I turned to face the class.

"Sam has just moved up from the fourth grade, so I hope you'll all make him feel welcome. You may sit down now, Sam."

After Mr Davies had called the roll, he asked us to take out our history books.

"Who remembers what we're learning about in history this term? Yes, Adam?"

"The Seven Wonders of the World, sir."

"Correct. And what are the Seven Wonders of the World? Jessica?"

"The Great Pyramid in Egypt. The statue of Colossus. Um… I've forgotten the rest, sir."

"Well, that's two. Would anyone else like to try and name the rest?"

I put my hand up. Mr Davies nodded to me. "The Temple of Artemis. The status of Zeus. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Um…" Oh, I know the rest! What's the name of that lighthouse? "There's a lighthouse, but I've forgotten what it's called."

Mr Davies smiled kindly. "That's okay, Sam. You've done well to get three correct. Does anyone remember what the last two Wonders are?"

Nobody responded. Mr Davies went over to the blackboard, and he started to write up the names of the Seven Wonders.

"The final two are the Lighthouse at Alexandria, and the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus."

I groaned softly. I knew that!

The boy next to me put up his hand. "Excuse me, sir. What is a mausoleum?"

"That is a very good question, Mark. Does anyone know?"

I put up my hand again. "It's an elaborate tomb."

Mr Davies nodded. "That's right, Sam. Now, I'm going to give you all an assignment. Since we now have exactly twenty-eight students in this class, this will work out nicely. You will be divided into groups of four, and I will assign one of the Seven Wonders to each group. You will have a week to research your Wonder, and write up a short, five-minute speech about it. You will then present your speech, along with any pictures and other material you wish to show to the class. The presentations will take place next Monday, so you need to all be ready to present to the class by then. You must all take part in the oral part of the presentation. Those who don't speak will fail this assignment. So, now for the fun part. I'm going to give you five minutes to choose your groups, starting now."

I hesitated. They probably all know each other, and they'll have their own little groups by now. So, I'll just wait to see who's left over.

Mark tapped me on my arm. "Would you like to join our group, Sam?"

Yay! At least I won't be the last one to be picked. "Sure! Thanks." I sat down on the floor with Mark and a group of two other boys.

"Sam, this is Luke and Daniel," Mark said, introducing me to the other boys. "We've been friends since the second grade."

"Did you really just move up from the fourth grade?" Daniel asked me.

I nodded. "It was too easy for me, and I was bored."

Mr Davies came over to us. "Have you boys settled on being in a group together?"

We all nodded. Mr Davies wrote our names down in a book. "Okay, I'm going to give you the Colossus of Rhodes for your assignment. If you need anything photocopied or made into sheets for the overhead projector, please let me know before Friday."

"We will, sir," Mark replied.

"Ydych chi bob amser yn dod i ben pob brawddeg gyda 'syr'?" I asked.

"Do," Danial replied. "Roedd yn gofyn i ni." We exchanged smiles.

"Okay, I didn't understand what you two just said," Luke muttered with an air of annoyance.

"Mae'n o Birmingham," Daniel explained.

I giggled. "Iawn."

Mark scowled. "Can we keep this conversation in English, please? Since half of us can't understand what the other half of the group is saying."

"You're just jealous," Daniel shot back.

"We need to work out who's going to do what for this project," Luke interjected. "Who wants to get books from the Newtown library?"

"I can do that," Mark volunteered.

"I can get some books from the school library," I offered. "I'll do that during recess."

"What about lunchtime?" Daniel suggested.

I shook my head. "I don't want to miss playing football."

"Are you any good?" Luke asked.

I smiled. "Why don't you see how I go at lunchtime?"

"Okay," Luke agreed. "Daniel and I live only a few houses away from each other, so we can get together to start making the posters."

"It sounds like we've got everything sorted," I said. "Mark and I will do the research and write up the script. And Luke and Daniel can make up the posters."

"Okay, everyone!" Mr Davies called. "Time's up! Back to your seats now, please."

...

By Thursday, I'd fully settled into my new class. Mr Davies was a kind, but fair teacher, and he ensured that I was kept occupied in the classroom. Obviously, he'd been warned that I was easily bored, so sometimes he'd deliberately keep some extra work ready for me in case I finished an activity before the rest of the class. Often, the extra work would just be a crossword or some other puzzle related to the topic, but they kept me busy for long enough. And, if I didn't finish the extra work in class, I'd finish it for homework even though I didn't need to.

However, I noticed that Mark, Luke and Daniel were beginning to lose interest in our group project. While Mark had managed to get some books from the Newtown library, he hadn't bothered to read them. Instead, he gave them all to me to read, saying that he didn't have the time. Luke and Daniel had also purchased the cardboard to make posters, but they couldn't seem to co-ordinate themselves to put them together. There was always after-school sport, or a family activity going on.

And so, I decided to take everything home on Thursday, and work on the project by myself. After all, we needed to have something to present on Monday, or we'd all fail. And I knew that if I failed, I'd be dropped back into the fourth grade. I wouldn't be able to bear the humiliation if that happened.

I'd been home for about an hour on Thursday afternoon, when the front doorbell rang. I was in the sitting room at the time, gluing some pictures of Colossus onto one of the posters. Mum answered the door.

"Hello, Nurse Jones. I'm Mr Davies. Sam's teacher."

I groaned and rolled my eyes. Here we go again!

Mum also groaned. "What's Sam done this time?"

"Nothing bad, I can assure you. I just wanted to discuss his progress with you."

"Please, come in."

I continued cutting out a photocopied picture of Colossus. Just pretend he's not there...

"Hello, Sam," Mr Davies said as he and mum entered the sitting room.

And that's a lot easier said than done! "Hello, sir."

"Please, make yourself comfortable," mum said to Mr Davies. "Would you like some tea?"

"Not right now, thank you." They both sat down.

"So, has Sam been behaving himself?" mum asked.

Mr Davies nodded. "I haven't had any problems with him. That's why I wanted to see you. The other teachers insist that he's a trouble-maker, but I haven't seen any evidence of that. He's engaging with his studies, and going far beyond what's expected of a child his age. His social skills are also quite good. He's already made friends with some of the other boys. And, I can see that he's just as studious at home as he is in the classroom."

"He always has been," mum replied, and she fondly stroked my hair. "Perhaps moving him up a grade was just what he needed."

"Yes. It's still early days though, but so far, it seems to have worked. How's your group project going, Sam?" Mr Davies asked me.

I sighed with frustration. "I'm not sure I'll get it done by Monday, sir. I haven't even started writing the speech yet."

Mr Davies frowned. "Surely that's up to the rest of the group, since you're doing the posters?"

I shook my head. "Mark and I were supposed to be writing the speeches. But Mark and Luke have football training tonight, and Daniel has gone to Cardiff for his cousin's birthday. They don't have the time to help."

"I see. How much work have you done so far?"

I gestured to the posters. "And I've read all the books we got."

"Do you think you could discuss your project off by heart by yourself?"

I looked up at him in surprise. "I... I suppose I could. I know most of the information."

Mr Davies smiled reassuringly. "In that case, I want you to just focus on your part of the assignment. Don't worry about the posters or the scripts for the rest of your group."

"Okay. But...what about the others?"

"Well, if you give your part of the presentation off by heart, they're going to be in a spot of bother, aren't they?" And Mr Davies winked at me.

I smiled. "Thank you, sir. I won't let you down."

"I know you won't."