I woke up sneezing. My nose was blocked and itchy. I head ached that little bit more than every joint in my body. My throat felt sore and my stomach felt awful. I was ill. I wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing.
"Dil, get up, get ready for school," Mum said popping her head around the door.
"Mum, I'm ill," I said, my voice was croaky and dry.
"Come on, Dil, I know you don't want to go in today but you have to," Mum said then left.
"Dil it's only one little detention and you deserve it so get up," Tommy said looking in. He was already dressed but he was probably meeting Olivia this morning.
I got up though, tried my hardest to get myself clean and ready for school.
"Hey champ, you're not looking so good this morning," Dad said as I came downstairs.
"I'm ill," I replied.
"Feel better son," he said then left for work. I may have Dad believing it but he wasn't here now.
I went into the kitchen were Mum had all the cereal out and Tommy was eating.
"Mum I think I've caught what Lil has," I said sitting down.
"A blocked nose? Chuckie has one of those everyday!" Tommy said between mouthfuls.
"Dil, you have to get over it. This evening it'll all be over with," Mum said. They didn't understand I was truly ill. This wasn't just to get out of school and delay my detention.
"Mum, I'm sick!" I tried to tell her.
"You're going to be late if you eat," Tommy said as he ran out the door.
"Tommy's right, the bus will be here soon, hurry along now," Mum said, more concerned with her morning television. I picked up my school bag and headed for the door. Tommy was right; as I opened the door the bus was just stopping. I hurried onto the street and climbed on.
"Where are Phil and Lil?" I asked Kimi and Chuckie who were sat in front of me.
"Lil's still ill and I think she gave her bug to Phil as well," Chuckie said.
"Wow, you sure you're not ill too Dil?" Kimi asked turning around.
"I feel dreadful but Mum said I'm okay for school," I said sniffing hard.
"You sound like me!" Chuckie said, we laughed and I tried to enjoy the ride to school.
"Pickles, what's wrong with you?" Pete said as I sat at my desk.
"Just a cold Pete," I replied. I was kind of surprised that Pete said something about it.
"That's good," he said, "Didn't see loser boy on the bus today, where's he?"
"If you mean Phil...he's ill," I said.
"Ill! Whatever! He's scared of us," Rod said proudly rocking back in his chair. Pete went and sat down at the back after that. I was always a little scared when they were behind me.
Morning break came. I couldn't find Kimi and Chuckie anywhere.
"Pickles," I turned at Pete's low voice. He walked up to me with Tessa and Rod either side, "Where's my money?" They pushed me against the metal fence that surrounded the school. I dug my hands into my pocket and pulled out the usual.
"Here...here it is," I held it out.
"Skinny, there was more money in that pocket," Pete said grabbing the money and moving closer. I was scared now. They weren't usually this aggressive at school. Tessa grabbed my neck and held me against the fence. Rod stuck his hand into my jacket pocket and pulled out the extra money.
"What do you know, he brings double to school," Rod said counting it.
"Been holding out on us Pickles? I thought we had a deal," Pete said in my face.
I shut my little eyes and wished they'd go away.
"Someone will notice you in a minute," I said quietly. He backed off and looked around. He then wiped dust of my jacket as if we were in a movie.
"Nice doing business with you," he said then directed his mates to leave. As I walked away I saw Kimi looking at me. She ran over.
"Dil what was that? That was that guy again wasn't it," she said.
"I owed him money," I repeated though she wouldn't believe it.
"What's he doing to you?" She asked.
"He just takes the money I owe him, that's all!" I cried, then turned and walked in the opposite direction.
I didn't eat lunch that day. I sat at a picnic bench through lunch thinking about what Pete would do to me. He said he would wait for me after my detention; he'd walk home with me. I was scared now. It turned out that Pete had a detention as well today, that's why he would wait for me.
The detention was okay; I sat there in my seat and wrote out lines, 'I must not laugh or be cheeky' over and over. My hand ached and Mr. Radford kept asking if I was okay, he said I looked ill. I said I was fine.
I asked Mr. Radford if I could go 10 minutes early but he said only if there was a reason. I couldn't tell him about Pete so I had to sit down again.
The hour ended and Mr. Radford let me out. I walked through the empty corridor rather quickly; I tried to get out before Pete. But then I heard footsteps following me. I picked up the pace but so did he. Suddenly he was by my side.
"Trying to run away Pickles?" he asked.
"No, never Pete," I said but he laughed. We got to the door and he opened it for me. Outside was Tessa and Rod, sitting on the steps.
"Pickles, finally," Tessa said getting up.
"We've been waiting forever," Rod said. We started walking; they talked to me s if I was one of them. They made jokes and made me feel welcome into their little group. But then we turned into Chefard Street. They all turned on me. Pete started counting down from 5 and I did the one thing that was in mind, Run. Home wasn't too far away now, I could probably sprint most of the way. I could hear them chasing me, chanting 'Skinny, Skinny' as they did. Their laughs grew louder but then they started to slow down. I didn't want to stop though. I got home and went straight in.
"Dil? Dil is that you home?" Mum called from the kitchen.
"Yes mum," I called back.
"See, it's all over with now," Mum said expecting me to feel better. I didn't reply. The phone started ringing but I walked straight past it.
"Dil, get that would you," Mum called.
"Where's Tommy?" I asked holding the phone.
"At the Java Lava I expect," she replied. I pressed the button on the phone.
"Olivia?" I said uninterestedly.
"Err no this is Phil," the croaky voice at the other end said, "Is that Dil?"
"Yeah," I said, "You feeling okay?"
"Not as bad as I did this morning," he replied. I took the phone to my room and sat on my bed. "Sorry I wasn't there for you today."
"No worries," I said coolly.
"You don't sound okay, what's wrong with your voice, you been running?" he questioned.
"Oh, err, yeah, Pete had a detention too, he kind of chased me home. I think I picked up what Lil had as well," I said. He started asking how I was. Then I explained about what happened with Pete today. It felt great talking to Phil. I could just tell him everything and he totally understood.
"Well I'm coming into school tomorrow, how was lunch?" he asked as if he'd only just thought of it.
"Err...great, normal really," I said. I didn't want to tell him about the money incident right then.
"Well, you're fine, that's good," he began, "I've got to go, someone's at the door for me." Then he clicked his phone of after I said bye.