Free Keep It Down! by David Warner Page B

tall girl with a long dark plait.
    â€˜Mrs Trundle!’ Mr Mudge was grinning like a crocodile. ‘Who do we have here?’
    â€˜Mr Mudge, 6M . . .’ Mrs Trundle ushered the girl in. ‘This is Tay Tui. She’s new at our school. Tay doesn’t know anyone here yet, so please introduce yourselves. I want everyone in Year Six to make her welcome.’
    â€˜I know Mo,’ the new girl said in a clear voice. ‘He’s the cousin of my second-best friend, Shania.’
    Mr Mudge smiled again. His ears, which changed colour to match his mood, were a rosy pink. ‘Well, that’s wonderful! Perhaps Mo can be your buddy for a while.’ He looked across at the great galumph slumped in the chair beside Davey.
    Mo nodded angelically. ‘Sure, Sir. Shania’s my favourite cousin.’
    â€˜In that case, Tay, we might sit you near Mo. He can help you settle in.’
    Mr Mudge glanced at Bella Ferosi, school captain and 6M’s most outstanding student. ‘Bella, would you mind moving places? You can take Dylan’s old spot.’
    â€˜I’d be happy to, Mr Mudge,’ Bella said, smiling pleasantly and giving her ponytail a flick. In a split second, she’d packed up her belongings, dusted down the desk and moved to Dylan’s place, right beside Kevin.
    Davey looked at his friend with sympathy. Sitting next to Bella should have had its advantages, but Davey had never been able to copy any of her work because she always kept it well covered. She also always reported him to Mr Mudge for the tiniest things. Now it would be Kevin’s turn.
    As Mr Mudge showed Mrs Trundle out, Tay Tui wandered over to Davey’s table. She pulled out the chair Bella had vacated, sat down and plonked her backpack on the desk.
    Davey noticed Tay’s bag had stuff written all over it, things like ‘IB4U’ and ‘B4U4ME’.
    Humming to herself, Tay unzipped her bag and took out her pencil case. It was covered in the same slogans.
    The new girl was clearly a big fan of the boy band B4U, a band Davey and his friends couldn’t stand on principle (the principle being that any band loved by so many girls must be bad).
    Now Davey noticed that someone – probably Tay – had drawn portraits in blue pen of each of the B4U members on the pencil case. Davey tried to work out who was who, but the pictures didn’t look much like Lochie, Wills, Finn and Zac, the four band members. (Davey kicked himself. How do I even know their names? )
    Now he noticed that Tay was singing to herself. She wasn’t too bad – but then he realised what she was singing. It was B4U’s big hit, the one that had catapulted the band to the top of the charts, where they’d been ever since, denying proper, good bands a shot at fame. ‘You’re My One, My Baby’ was the worst song Davey had ever heard. The trouble was, as soon as you heard it you couldn’t stop singing it – for weeks. Aargh !
    â€˜Who said that?’ Mudge peered around the room with piggy eyes.
    â€˜Warner did, Sir.’ It was Mo.
    Davey woke from his awful daydream with a start.
    For once, Mr Mudge let it go through to the keeper. He glared at Davey for a moment before continuing. ‘As I was saying, class, I’m pleased to announce that one of 6M’s students has been selected to perform at the town hall in the city as part of Senior Citizens’ Week celebrations.’
    Mr Mudge’s lips parted, revealing a hint of yellow teeth. Davey guessed the teacher was attempting to smile kindly.
    â€˜As we all know, Kevin McNab is a ballroom dancer, which I must say is a far better use of your time’ – Mudge looked across at Kevin and nodded approvingly – ‘than playing cricket. Anyway, Kevin and his dance partner have been selected to perform with a troupe chosen from all over the city.’
    Davey looked across at his friend and surreptitiously