Today is my first day. I'm nervous. I have never been new in a school before. I am heading to my locker when I tripped and fell. I am so clumsy. I got that from my Dad, according to my mum. My dad died in the army before I was born. "Sorry!" I cried, as I began picking my books. "Oh, no worries. My name's Luke Smith. Are you new?" The person, now identified as Luke, said as began to help me. "Yeah, that obvious? My name's Asha, by the way." I said, laughing. "No, it's just that I've never seen you before. What class do you have now?" He said, helping me stand up. "Mr. Cunningham's form. You?" I asked. "Same. I'll introduce you to my friend Clyde. You look like you need a guide," he said. "Thanks." I said.
"Luke-y boy! I've been looking for you!" said a dark skinned boy said, with a huge grin on his face. "That's Clyde." Luke said. Clyde reached us and took a double take. "Who's this?" he asked. "This is Asha. Asha, Clyde. Clyde, Asha" Luke said. "You new?" asked Clyde. "Yes." he made an "oh" with his mouth "Thought so. Where you from?" he asked. "Japan. Just moved to Bannerman road. 17, to be exact." Luke grinned. "I live in 13. I'm still wondering who moved into 12." I smiled for the first time today. "Where's class?" I asked. Just then, a pretty honey skinned girl bumped into Clyde. "Hey! Watch where you're…going." he said as she looked up. "Don't mention it. It's no problem," he said. " Sorry." she said. "I'm looking for Mr. Cunningham's form." "That's our class." I said, exited. "I start today," she said. "Me too." I said. "And you run into me. Now that's what I call a start." "Yeah, like starting the 100 meters in the Olympics and tripping over your laces," she said sarcastically. "This is Clyde. He thinks he's cool. I'm Luke," "Who isn't?" Clyde snapped. "This is Asha, She's from Japan." Luke said, as though Clyde hadn't spoken. That's a talent. "Rani. My family just moved into Bannerman Road." I looked up. "Me too! Awesome." "Luke suddenly asked. "Bannerman road?" "Of course. Where else?" Clyde said. "Sarah Jane's right. The universe never stops weirding you out," he continued. Luke's mum I'm guessing. "Sarah who?" asked Rani. "Never mind. I'll take you to class." Luke said. The bell rang. A clown crossed my vision. "Did you just see that?" Rani and I asked at the same time "See what?" asked Clyde. "Nothing." I said. "Come on, we'd better not be late." Rani said.
The teacher stood at the front of the class to give the announcements. "The school football team has been knocked out of the Inter-school Challenge by west hill after a 4-0 mauling last night." queue booing. Okay, I was annoyed too, but really? They tried. "Yeah, settle down. We're looking for better news in the National Schools Science Challenge. Anybody who wants to sign up for the team should see Miss Webster. I'll be expecting to see your name on the list, Luke." he said. The class started chanting, "Luke-y, Luke-y" Rani leaned over me and asked, "You a bit of a brain box then?" Clyde scoffed. "They haven't got a box big enough," he said. I giggled. "That's how people described me in Japan!" I exclaimed. Everyone laughed. Suddenly, the head teacher came in. "That's enough! Silence, the lot of you! This is a class room, not the home end of Stamford Bridge." Rani looked awkward. Her dad I'm guessing. They looked similar. The teacher got very nervous. "Class, this is Mr. Chandra, our new head," he said. "This is a school. My school, and you come here to learn, not to play about. You, boy! Sit up straight and pay attention! And that goes for all of you. I know it's been a while since your last head teacher, Mr. Blakeman disappeared, and it looks like the standards around here vanished with him. But, listen up, Park Vale has a new captain on the bridge now." "I'm getting a very serious sinking feeling," said Clyde. I didn't giggle, even though I really wanted to. "I'm a fair captain, but, believe me, I run very a tight ship," Clyde took it upon himself to make a comment. "Aye, Aye skipper." He said. Everyone giggled at that. I giggle a lot, don't I? "Ah, the joker in the pack." Mr. Chandra stated. "I do my best," he said. "Well, Clyde Langer, I hope your classwork is as sharp as your wit." he said. There's a clown, outside the window. But how? We're on like, the second floor. "It takes brains to be this funny." Clyde said. "No, Langer. It takes brains to when to shut up and listen." I looked back at the window, and the clown had gone. "Now, a third child has gone missing. I'm speaking to all classes today, reminding you all to be careful, and, just as importantly, telling you all that if you see anything or anyone suspicious, to tell the police immediately." Rani looked so embarrassed. Defiantly her Dad.
Classes went well. Now, It's break. "So what were the last people like that lived in our house? Mr. Jackson and his daughter?" Rani asked. I was curious as well. "Nice. I miss Maria," said Luke. "Oh yeah?" I asked in a teasing manner. "I mean we were friends. Maria, Clyde and me." " We can be friends." Rani said." "Yeah. It wouldn't be the same," he said. "Oh, sorry I suggested it." she said. "No, I didn't mean it like that." he said. "I can't explain. Inter-personal relationships. Is something I haven't mastered yet." he said. "Me neither. I was a loner in Japan. Reason? I belive in Aliens." I said. "You know, I hope you don't mind me telling you, but you do know you're a bit weird, don't you? I mean, I think you're all right. Just a bit strange." said Rani. "I'm not strange, I'm just different. There's a difference," he said. "Yeah. I suppose." was her only response. "These kids going missing though, that is weird." I piped up. "Three in two weeks. And the police don't have a clue." Rani continued. "Don't worry. Statistically, the chances of either of you getting abducted are extremely remote." I noticed Clyde looking at Mr. Chandra. Uh oh. Bad news. "I'm not worried. I'm interested, that's all. It's weird. I'm into weird." She looked around "Have you seen anything strange? Around the school?" I decided to try and be funny. "Yeah, Me." I said. They laughed at that. Not meanly, like the kids in Japan. "Like what?" asked Luke, turning serious. Suddenly, we heard Mr. Chandra yell, "LANGER! My office, now!" He looked at us, and I giggled. I don't normally do that this much.
I saw the clown again, so logically I left it. Yeah right. I ran after it. I saw Luke and Clyde, about to take a balloon. "NO!" I called. "Don't touch it" Rani said, appearing behind me. "Why not?" asked Clyde. "I don't know why. Just don't." Rani said. The Clown's face was there, laughed, the balloon popped. Just like that.
"But neither of you told anyone?" Luke asked. "Yes, I told my mum, my step-dad, Mr. Chandra, oh, and Mrs. Green from the planet of faxabolicobabalatorious. Of course I didn't." I said. Rani was a lot less sarcastic. "What am I supposed to say, 'look Mum and Dad, I don't want to worry you, but I'm seeing clowns that no one else can see?'" she said. "Why not?" Luke asked. Boy does he ask questions. "Do you want them to get me locked up?" She snapped. "Why would they do that?" Luke and I both asked. "What planet are they from?" She said, annoyed. "Oh, earth, mostly." Clyde said about Luke. "Her, no idea." He said. "Faxabolicobabalatorious." I said, without hesitating. "Yeah. You're so funny Clyde. No wonder da, the head teacher loves you." I noticed her near slip up on the word dad. We all walked across the road. "Look, Rani, whatever this clown thing is, I think we should leave it to the police. Don't you?" Clyde said, trying to calm her. "They don't even believe it exists. You know that." I said. "Clyde's right. It's nothing to do with us." Luke said. "There's something happening that doesn't make sense. Maybe you can ignore it because in doesn't go with your mp3 player or your designer trainers," at this, Clyde looked at his shoes, "but I can't" Rani said. "Me neither." was my answer. "I've got to know what's going in." I said. "Sarah Jane's going to love these two." Clyde said. "Look, there's something I've got to tell you." Rani said. "Something about me you ought to know." she finished. "You're from another planet. I already guessed." Clyde joked. "No Clyde, Her dad is Mr. Chandra, and he just pulled up." "Honestly, he's alright! It's just his job!" Rani said. "Yeah! That's what they said about doctor Frankenstein." Clyde grumbled. "Rani." he said, as he got out of the car. "Hi Dad" she said. "Haresh! Don't worry, there's still plenty of boxes for you to open." said a woman, who I'm guessing is Mrs. Chandra, as she joined us outside their house. "Rani, who was your first day?" she asked. "Did your dad go all Captain Bligh again?" she asked, pretending to whisper into Rani's ear. "I do not go Captain Bligh," he said, glancing at us. "No offense sir, but you kind of did." I said. Rani grinned at me. "Yeah, just a bit. These are Luke, Clyde and Asha. Ash's Japanese." "Luke Smith pleased to meet you." Luke said, moving forward to shake her hand. "And I'm Asha Yamamoto. Nice to meet you." Mr. Chandra looked shocked. "Luke Smith and Asha Yamamoto?" He said in something akin to awe. "Luke's my son. I'm Sarah Jane Smith." said a pretty woman with brown hair from over the road. "I've been looking at their results for the past year. Luke from his last year at Park Vale and Asha from her time in Japan. Very, very impressive. Remarkable, in fact" Clyde made an "L" on his forehead at Luke, who looked discouraged at Clyde's action. So, being the mature person I am not, I stuck my tongue out at him to stick up for my first friend. "Yes well, Luke's very gifted." Sarah Jane said. I wished my mum would be that proud of me. "Sarah's a journalist." Mrs. Chandra said. "For real?" exclaimed Rani. "I'm really interested in becoming a reporter. Maybe I can come over some time?" she said. "I really am rather busy." Sarah Jane said. "Oh, maybe some other time then." said Rani, discouraged. "Clyde Langer, the joker in the pack, apparently." said Clyde, shaking Mrs. Chandra's hand, then turning to Mr. Chandra. "Oh, and I see clowns that don't exist." he said, still angry.
I was over at Rani's house, helping her unpack. I had another argument with my mum about my obsession with Star Wars. "So, it looks as if the boy disappeared like the others." Mr. Chandra said. "Oh, his poor parents must be going out of their minds. Ugh, makes me ill just thinking about it." Mrs. Chandra shuddered. "You watch yourself, won't you, girls?" she asked. She seems to have grown rather fond of me. "They'll be fine. As long as Rani stays away from that Langer boy." There's nothing wrong with Clyde, he's just a bit annoying. "David Finn is one of Clyde's best friends dad. He wasn't making it up," she said. "I agree. Clyde reminds me of my old Japanese teacher, back in Japan. He was a joker, but not a liar." I said. "Clyde saw a clown. Why would he lie?" We both asked at the same time. "I don't know. But a clown, it's ridiculous. I was thinking I should let the police take a look at Finn's schoolbooks. There's a chance that something was worrying him and he ran away. If so, there may be a clue." Gita then cut in. "Before that, you can help me move the bed. The removal men didn't listen to a word of what I said." She said, rolling her eyes. "And they got out alive?" he said in a joking way. "Come on, I'll show you." She said, leaving the room. Rani took one of his books as soon as her dad left the room. She flipped it over and there it was. The clown. We both looked up and there he was. He was staring at us through the window. I shut my eyes and said, "No. You're not there. You can't be." I opened my eyes, and to my dismay, he was standing right behind me. "Rani, Asha, you've got a visitor." Gita said, escorting Luke in. He had gone. "Thought you might need another hand unpacking," he said. He's so sweet. I thought.
"It was in the kitchen, Luke. It's getting closer to us." I said, pacing in Rani's room. "Don't worry, it's gone now," he said, trying to cheer us up. "There's more. Look at this." I said, handing him one of David's books. "Dad's Taking Finny's books to the police. They're looking for clues, but I don't think they'll be looking for size 20 footprints." Rani said as Luke looked at the books. There were a lot of clowns. "If they do take this seriously, there might not be anything that they can do." I got exited. "You see none of this is natural." Rani continued. "It's supernatural!" She exclaimed. "I doubt it's supernatural." Luke said. "You've got such a closed mind!" she exclaimed. "The supernatural is only science we don't know yet, like life on other planets." Rani continued. "That's different." I said. Luke nodded at what I said. "I'm not supernatural." I said, trying to make them laugh. It worked.
"We've got to do something. Look at those pictures." I said. "Finny was seeing the clown, same as we are." Rani said. There's a ticket in the book. "Spellman's Magical Museum of the Circus?" Luke read out. Rani jumped up and ran over to her bag. "People were handing these out by the tube." Rani said. "I have one. In my room." I said. "I think you should both talk to my mum," said Luke. "We can't talk to anybody." I said. "You don't get it Luke, you haven't seen the clown. I think that only kids that get one of these can see it." "And then they disappear!" I cried. "Clyde saw it." Luke deadpanned. "Then he must have a ticket." Rani said. "My mum understands things like this." Luke said. "UGH, Luke, whatever's going on, no one understands things like this." Rani said, getting annoyed. "But this ticket, it's got to be a clue. Are you coming?" I asked. Luke got up and followed us.
"Come on!" I said, running up to the door. "I really don't think we should do this." Luke said, grabbing my arm. "Okay, we won't. Asha and I'll go in on our own," said Rani, grabbing my arm. Luke looked around, and then followed us in.
"Luke!" Sarah Jane said. "Mum!" said Luke from behind Rani and in front of me. "What are you doing here?" demanded Clyde. "What are we doing here? What are you doing here?" Rani asked. "You told me to stay with them." Luke said. "Are we missing something?" I asked. "And keep them out of the action." hissed Clyde. "What action?" demanded Rani. Suddenly, a hand grabbed my arm. I screamed. "What's happening?" asked Clyde. "They're moving!" cried Rani as I freed my arm. All the clowns had started moving. "Something's animating the clowns." Luke said. "Look out, all of you." said Sarah Jane, sounding scared. Does she have Coulrophobia? "They're alive!" I shrieked. "Run!" yelled Sarah Jane.
The clowns were still following us. "What happened to Spellman?" asked Clyde. "He's controlling them." Sarah Jane said. "I think they're like puppets, probably under some sort of Telekinetic control." she finished. "Walking puppets?" Rani asked, stopping Luke. "Telekinetic control?" I asked, having also stopped. "He's controlling them with his mind." said Luke, getting desperate. "We know what it means. Who's Spellman?" Rani said. "Probably an alien." said Luke, flapping his hands around. Then, we ran. There are too many clowns here. "Stand back." Sarah Jane ordered, whipping out her lipstick, which then rendered the clowns immobile. "What was that?" asked Rani. "Sonic lipstick." She replied. "Never leave home without it. I've sized up their joints. Should hold then up while we get out of here." We began weaving our way out. "Aliens, Luke said Aliens." Rani said in shock. "Actually, he said alien." I said. "And it will still be around here somewhere. Come on." Sarah Jane said. "There's no time for explanations." She said. "She's right. And from what I've seen, one alien can be as much trouble as a whole invasion. Come on"
We ran to the exit. Sarah Jane used her sonic lipstick on the door. It wouldn't budge. "He's sealed the doors." Sarah Jane said. "Telekinesis." said Luke. "The same way he animated the clown mannequins." I said. "Whatever we're dealing with here, it's extremely powerful." Sara Jane said as Rani and Clyde joined us. "What did I tell you?" Clyde asked Rani. "It's got us trapped!" exclaimed Rani. "No, it just thinks it has." Sarah Jane said. "Oh no, Ms. Smith." It was Mr. Spellman. "I'm convinced of it." He said. "Are you really an Alien?" asked Rani. "Stay back Rani. Leave this to me. Who are you? And what do you want?" said Sarah Jane. "Who am I?" he shifted into the Pied Piper. "I am the Pied Piper, who conjured away a whole town's infants and has chilled the hearts of parents for more than seven centuries." He shifted into the clown. "And now I am Odd Bob the Clown, who snatches children in the heartbeat their mother's back is turned. I am the thing that lives in the darkest corners. I am all these things and more. I am all that you fear the most." I needed to speak. "So, what would you do if some one had no deepest darkest fear?" He turned to me. "Everyone has a deepest darkest fear, Asha dear. And you are all mine to feed on!" he was way to happy. "Boo!" he said. Sarah Jane was trembling. I knew it! She is phobic of clowns. Poor her.
an: I do not own the Sarah Jane Adventures