Free Obsidian Pebble by Rhys Jones

the teachers here, if you ask me,” Ruff said.
    Oz looked at his friend and smiled. Ruff had a knack of summing things up in just the right way. But just as Oz had feared, Miss Arkwright’s attention had not gone unnoticed.
    â€œOy, Chambers, what’s with the cosy chit-chat?” Jenks demanded, bouncing over like an over-wound jack in the box. “What have you got that the rest of us haven’t, eh?”
    â€œJust shut up, Jenks,” Ellie said.
    â€œNo one asked you, Messenger. Come on, Chambers, let us in on your little secret.” Jenks had pushed himself among the three of them. He had a thin, ferret-like face, which he belligerently thrust in front of Oz’s. Behind him Skinner loomed.
    â€œYeah, little secret,” Skinner said, parrot fashion. He liked nothing better than to repeat whatever he heard Jenks say.
    â€œWeird echo in here, have you noticed?” Ruff said, pretending to look around.
    Not one person in year seven was scared of either Jenks or Skinner, but they were like a pair of maddening insects that were persistent and annoying and just wouldn’t go away.
    Skinner started chanting. “Secret. Secret. Secr…”
    No one realised that a group of year eight pupils had joined them in the corridor until a new voice spoke. It wasn’t loud, but it silenced Skinner in an instant.
    â€œNow, now, ladies, what’s all the fuss?”
    Jenks swung around and Oz saw his eyes light up. “Hey, Phillipa. Wassup?”
    Jenks held his hand up, waiting for a high five. It hung in the air for a long and embarrassing ten seconds until Pheeps shook her head sadly, at which point Jenks pulled the hand sharply back down to his side.
    â€œWhat’s all this about secrets?” asked Pheeps calmly. She looked from Jenks to Oz and then Ruff, avoiding Ellie totally.
    â€œChambers, here, gets special treatment from Hippie Arkwright. We were trying to find out what makes him so special.” Jenks sniggered.
    Pheeps smiled and the image that sprang into Oz’s head was that of a wolf cornering its prey. Okay, a very tidy wolf, but a wolf nonetheless. Behind her, three Pheeps clones followed, each of them with perfect hair and uniforms that looked as if they’d been worn for the first time an hour ago. They were collectively known as Pheeps’ creeps, and Oz could never remember what their real names were. But he did know that they had a reputation for being arrogantly unpleasant.
    â€œArkwright’s got a soft spot for losers,” Pheeps said. “Stray kittens and lost puppies. Which one are you, Chambers?”
    â€œIs Chambers a dog?” Skinner asked, a finger probing his left nostril. “I fancy being a pit bull terrier, myself. That would be a way cool secret.”
    Jenks, Ruff and Ellie turned to look at him with expressions of varying incredulity, whilst Pheeps’ creeps all regarded him as if he was something they’d just wiped off the bottoms of their shoes.
    â€œShut up, Skinner,” Jenks hissed scathingly.
    â€œDon’t tell me you haven’t told them?” Pheeps continued, turning back to Oz as a nasty smile smeared itself over her face.
    â€œTold us what?” Jenks asked.
    Oz could feel the flush spreading up from his throat but was powerless to stop it.
    â€œAbout his situation,” Pheeps continued, almost casually. “About him being half an orphan.”
    â€œHalf an orphan?” Skinner frowned.
    â€œEveryone knows that my dad died, if that’s what you mean,” Oz said through gritted teeth. In his peripheral vision he saw Ellie wince.
    â€œThat’s right, ’cos Arkwright set us an essay on what we did with our dads over the hol—” A frown of realisation creased Jenks’ forehead and his mouth suddenly stopped working.
    â€œShould be a nice short one for you, then, eh, Chambers?” Pheeps grinned. “But give Hippie Arkwright some credit. Maybe