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Feb. 9th, 2016 03:10 pm"You don't need her." Extremely Brian had commented, when to Coral's dismay her new friend Hannah had gone back to Karol. "She's not very reliable."
Coral had shrugged, trying to hide her disappointment. It wasn't that Hannah had been mean, she'd just happened to remember that Karol was taking her to see Frozen on Ice, and it had only taken Karol to remind her of this for Hannah to come back and be friends again.
"But you have to be nice to Coral." Hannah had warned Karol. "And no more calling her a midget."
"Yeah, you shouldn't call her that." Said Sally, who suspected she was about to find herself demoted from the position of Karol's best friend again and therefore had nothing to lose. "Coral's nice."
There had been murmurs of agreement among the other girls present, all of whom had at some point been on the receiving end of kindness from Coral, and Karol was forced to comply, for the time being.
It turned out it wasn't just the girls who had thought Karol was being unduly mean; even the boys, who as a rule avoided having much to do with girls with Girl Disease and cooties, had apparently noticed enough for Extremely Brian to open up his invitation of friendship to Coral.
It turned out to be a blessing in disguise: what Coral really wanted right now was a consistent friend and no drama. With Extremely Brian, she got both him and his friend Rong, and they got along right away.
Extremely Brian (whose real name was William) was an imaginative child who liked to make stories, and go on adventures, and pretend to be a robot, and tended to shout 'Kamehameha!' if he ever did anything involving hitting a ball. He has an older brother, Zack, who was in Fry's class and considered to be a hit with the girls.
Rong was Chinese and spoke English as a second language better than most people did as a first. He claimed he had heard every possible joke about his name, and kept a notebook with them all in. He was Extremely Brian's right hand man and tended to build on the ideas his friend started. Like Coral, he was an auditory learner, much better at thinking in his head than he was on paper. He accepted the addition of Coral to their duo good-naturedly; very little ruffled Rong.
***
"Karol Sanders." Mr Walker declares one morning, having observed the changing social dynamics of his class for some time. "You appear to be untying Coral's hair again. Maybe you better change places with Rong. You can change the contents of your desks over at break."
Karol, who had indeed been in the process of undoing Coral's ribbon, stares at him in dismay, before picking up her books and moving to Rong's place on the other side of the classroom. Coral and Extremely Brian grin at one another, then at their teacher; now the three of them are, if not on the same table, close together.
"Now remember." Mr Walker continues. "In two weeks it's Spring Charity Week, so make sure you sign up to make or sell cakes, or for the sponsored spellathon, or for the sponsored mental maths challenge, or if you have any other ideas come and see me, but everyone should be doing something."
"Hey Coral." Rong whispers. "Challenge you on the mental maths one? You nearly beat me the other week. I'll put two pounds in your sponsorship pot if you win, you put two in mine if I do?"
"You're on." Coral grins.
"I'll put two pounds on the winner." Extremely Brian whispers back.
By break, talk of the challenge has spread around the class. Extremely Brian suddenly found he was running the book.
"It's not really gambling." he says. "Since the charity gets the money either way. But people seem to be joining in anyway."
"Who's the favourite?" Rong asks.
"You, at the moment." Extremely Brian replies. "But a couple of kids think Coral."
"I think you'll win." Coral says. "I'm not that good at maths."
"You're good at mental maths." Rong says. "Just not the written down kind, same as me. Get your parents and brother to test you; my parents make me practice every day."
"Okay, you're on." Coral grins. Even if she doesn't win, it's nice to be involved.
Coral had shrugged, trying to hide her disappointment. It wasn't that Hannah had been mean, she'd just happened to remember that Karol was taking her to see Frozen on Ice, and it had only taken Karol to remind her of this for Hannah to come back and be friends again.
"But you have to be nice to Coral." Hannah had warned Karol. "And no more calling her a midget."
"Yeah, you shouldn't call her that." Said Sally, who suspected she was about to find herself demoted from the position of Karol's best friend again and therefore had nothing to lose. "Coral's nice."
There had been murmurs of agreement among the other girls present, all of whom had at some point been on the receiving end of kindness from Coral, and Karol was forced to comply, for the time being.
It turned out it wasn't just the girls who had thought Karol was being unduly mean; even the boys, who as a rule avoided having much to do with girls with Girl Disease and cooties, had apparently noticed enough for Extremely Brian to open up his invitation of friendship to Coral.
It turned out to be a blessing in disguise: what Coral really wanted right now was a consistent friend and no drama. With Extremely Brian, she got both him and his friend Rong, and they got along right away.
Extremely Brian (whose real name was William) was an imaginative child who liked to make stories, and go on adventures, and pretend to be a robot, and tended to shout 'Kamehameha!' if he ever did anything involving hitting a ball. He has an older brother, Zack, who was in Fry's class and considered to be a hit with the girls.
Rong was Chinese and spoke English as a second language better than most people did as a first. He claimed he had heard every possible joke about his name, and kept a notebook with them all in. He was Extremely Brian's right hand man and tended to build on the ideas his friend started. Like Coral, he was an auditory learner, much better at thinking in his head than he was on paper. He accepted the addition of Coral to their duo good-naturedly; very little ruffled Rong.
***
"Karol Sanders." Mr Walker declares one morning, having observed the changing social dynamics of his class for some time. "You appear to be untying Coral's hair again. Maybe you better change places with Rong. You can change the contents of your desks over at break."
Karol, who had indeed been in the process of undoing Coral's ribbon, stares at him in dismay, before picking up her books and moving to Rong's place on the other side of the classroom. Coral and Extremely Brian grin at one another, then at their teacher; now the three of them are, if not on the same table, close together.
"Now remember." Mr Walker continues. "In two weeks it's Spring Charity Week, so make sure you sign up to make or sell cakes, or for the sponsored spellathon, or for the sponsored mental maths challenge, or if you have any other ideas come and see me, but everyone should be doing something."
"Hey Coral." Rong whispers. "Challenge you on the mental maths one? You nearly beat me the other week. I'll put two pounds in your sponsorship pot if you win, you put two in mine if I do?"
"You're on." Coral grins.
"I'll put two pounds on the winner." Extremely Brian whispers back.
By break, talk of the challenge has spread around the class. Extremely Brian suddenly found he was running the book.
"It's not really gambling." he says. "Since the charity gets the money either way. But people seem to be joining in anyway."
"Who's the favourite?" Rong asks.
"You, at the moment." Extremely Brian replies. "But a couple of kids think Coral."
"I think you'll win." Coral says. "I'm not that good at maths."
"You're good at mental maths." Rong says. "Just not the written down kind, same as me. Get your parents and brother to test you; my parents make me practice every day."
"Okay, you're on." Coral grins. Even if she doesn't win, it's nice to be involved.
