Free Looking for a Hero by Cathy Hopkins

you know that you had your head kicked in and are now in hospital with brain damage and a broken leg? The rumour is that you may never walk again,’ said Leela as she came out of the school canteen at lunchtime. ‘I just heard Ruby and Nicole in the lunch queue.’
    Zahrah raised her eyebrows. ‘Typical,’ said Zahrah. (Ruby and Nicole were two girls who I almost got in with in the first half of term, but then I realised that they liked to gossip about people all the time and a lot of it was really unkind or exaggerated to make a big drama.)
    I nodded. ‘No wonder some people are staring. People must think I’ve made a rapid recovery. I overheard some other girls talking in the girls’ cloakroom and, apparently, my hero Tyler is a black belt in karate and he kung fu-ed and karate-chopped my muggers into oblivion.’
    We linked arms and made our way to our favourite radiator outside the sports hall. ‘And I heard that there were six muggers and Tyler floored them all,’ said Zahrah.
    ‘Maybe you should release a statement for the school magazine,’ said Brook. ‘India Jane is alive and well and hasn’t missed a day of school.’
    ‘I could,’ I said, ‘but it’s good to have a bit of fun after what happened. I like hearing just how far the Chinese whispers will go. I just wish Tyler would get in touch so I could thank him properly.’
    ‘With a big snog,’ said Brook.
    ‘Still no word from him?’ asked Leela.
    ‘Disappeared into thin air.’
    When we got to our radiator, there were three girls from Year Nine lounging there.
    Zahrah gave them a look as if to say, ‘That’s our place.’
    They took no notice and a small blonde one nudged her friends when she saw me.‘Hey. Aren’t you India Jane Ruspoli?’
    I nodded.
    ‘Aren’t you supposed to be in a coma?’ she asked.
    ‘She is,’ said Zahrah.‘She’s a zombie. The undead walking the corridors of school. I’d get out of her way now if I were you, before she rips off your arm and hits you with the soggy end.’
    ‘Take no notice of her,’ I said. ‘I was in a coma but my friends came in and sang songs from The Sound of Music to me and that brought me back.’
    Zahrah, Brook and Leela nodded. ‘It was like a miracle,’ said Leela in a trembly voice that sounded as if she was near to tears. ‘We thought we’d lost her.’
    Brook burst into the song that the nuns sing in the movie. ‘Climb every mountain,’ she warbled in a silly voice.
    ‘Ford every stream,’ Zahrah and Leela joined in while I put my hand on my heart, nodded and looked gratefully at them.
    The Year Nine girls’ eyes grew large and then the tallest of them screwed up her nose. ‘Pff. They’re winding us up,’ she said to her mates. ‘Come on, let’s go.’
    They slunk off down the corridor, leaving us to lean up against the radiator and get toasty warm.
    ‘We really ought to have a system in place for the future though,’ said Zahrah, ‘so that we can see each other safely home.’
    ‘Seems mad to have to do that in broad daylight,’ I said. ‘I think the best thing is that, if we have to go home alone, we stick to the busier streets. I should have known better than to go down the road I did – it’s always quiet and there are a couple of alleyways there where people can hide.’
    ‘My mum makes me and Ranjiv carry two mobile phones since he got mugged last year,’ said Leela. ‘An old one that doesn’t work and isn’t worth anything in our pocket so that if anyone grabs us and demands our phones, we can hand them over. And she says to keep the good ones in our rucksacks.’
    ‘Good idea,’ I said. ‘I should do that and tell Dylan to as well.’
    ‘Yeah but I keep forgetting,’ said Leela, ‘and I carry both of them in my pocket. I won’t in future though. Talking of which, are you looking forward to Italy?’
    I nodded. We were going later that day. I’d packed my bag the previous night, and Dad was going to be waiting outside school at the