Kitten Catastrophe by Anna Wilson Read Free Book Online Page A

dreamy state, puzzled by what Fergus had just said. ‘Who’re you talking about?’
    Fergus laughed. ‘Who d’you think?’
    I stared at him blankly.
    He raised his eyebrows ‘Wow, are you dopey today! Something’s up, isn’t it?’
    I started again to tell him about Jaffa, but I thought better of it when I noticed a group of the Year 9 girls from the day before – Kezia and her friends – making their way towards us. They were looking at Fergus and me, then giggling to one another as they lurched and tripped their way down the aisle. I had a nasty feeling about those girls and I didn’t want them hearing me talking to Fergus about my kitten.
    ‘No, no,’ I said quickly. ‘Nothing’s bothering me, honest. So, what about you? How’re you feeling? About school, I mean.’ Lame topic of conversation, but I had to say something.
    Fergus shrugged and pulled a face. ‘School’s just school,’ he said. ‘I’ve moved around so much, I reckon it doesn’t really matter where I go, as long as I’ve got my music, that is. The teachers are all pains, there’s always a bunch of boys who only want to play football and punch each other, and there’s always a bunch of girls who only want to paint their nails and whisper and giggle.’
    He looked pointedly at the three miniskirted girls gossiping and shrieking their way past us.
    I let out a snort of laughter. Too right.
    ‘But there’s one thing I’ve never had before at any of the other schools I’ve been to,’ Fergus said, suddenly more serious. He stared at me for a bit longer than was comfortable.
    ‘Oh yeah – what’s that?’ I muttered, looking away. The straps on my rucksack had just become incredibly interesting.
    ‘I’ve never had a friend who’s a girl before,’ he said quietly. I looked up sharply in spite of myself. ‘It’s cool,’ he added.
    Get a grip, Bertie! I told myself. He’s only being nice to you cos he doesn’t have any other friends yet. I looked around quickly to see where Kezia and her mates were, but they were out of earshot, thank goodness.
    There was an awkward silence as I couldn’t think of anything to say.
    ‘So,’ Fergus said lightly. ‘How’s Jaffa?’
    ‘Well, that’s what I was trying to say earlier,’ I said, grateful for the change of subject. ‘She’s acting in a freaky way. I was going to ask your advice, seeing as you probably know more about cats than I do.’
    ‘Oh, right! I thought you were talking about Jazz. No wonder you looked at me weirdly!’ he laughed.
    ‘Yeah, no wonder!’ I laughed too. I found myself looking around, wondering vaguely where Jazz was. Maybe I should see if she’d texted me.
    Fergus nudged me. ‘Go on then, tell me what’s up.’
    So I launched into a description of the chaos my kitten had caused, and was just getting to the part where Jaffa had got herself shut in the fridge when I was aware of someone leaning right over me.
    I looked up slowly to see Kezia, or rather her unfeasibly long legs, pressing against the side of my seat.
    ‘You see Rashid yesterday?’ she was saying to Fergus.
    I gawped at her. Could she not
see
me? Was I, like, totally
invisible
, or did she think I was too small to be bothered with? She was crushing me, forcing me back into my seat so that she could lean over and talk to Fergus.
    Fergus’s face flushed. He looked up from under his fringe and said, ‘Oh, hey, Kez. I – er, yeah, I spoke to him. He says it’s cool, I’m in. You were right – they did need a drummer. We’re going to meet again tonight. Thanks for putting a word in.’
    So I
was
invisible, and not just to the girl. Fergus and I had been having a conversation, but now he was acting like I wasn’t there. It was horrible. I couldn’t even escape, because ‘Kez’ was blocking my way with her monstrously long legs. I wriggled around a bit and had just about managed to get slightly more comfortable when something horrible happened.
    My rucksack began to move – of its