Read Online Hello World by Joanna Sellick - Free Book Online

the mud.
Except he doesn’t stop there, and continues sliding and rolling down the hill,
yelping as he goes.
    ‘Jay!’ I yell, although end up bursting
into fits of laughter at the top of the hill, my belly and cheeks aching from
the motion before I start making my way hurriedly down to meet him, careful not
to fall into the same fate.
    Jay comes to a rolling stop and lies there,
dumbstruck in the mud. Even when I’m down at the bottom I can’t stop laughing,
my eyes beginning to well up at the hilarious sight.
    ‘Ow.’ He groans and face-palms for his
idiocy, then holds a hand out.
    ‘Help me up?’ he begs. I deliberate whether
to leave him there or not before offering him a hand up.
    Note to self; never be nice when it comes
to Jay Ellsworth.
    Instead of pulling himself up, he yanks me
down with him and I have to send my palms flying out in front of me to stop
myself face planting the mud. My palms sink into the wet ground and Jay pushes
me sideways so I fall completely into it.
    ‘Ew,’ I squeal, cringing when Jay throws a
handful of wet dirt at me. I get revenge by picking out my own handful of dirt
and we proceed to attack each other before we end up both lying on the ground
in fits of laughter. The rain is so thick now, a curtain of falling water blurs
everywhere you look.  
    ‘Weren’t we on some sort of mission?’ Jay
sits up, trying to flick some of the mud off of himself.
    ‘The mechanic!’ I remind him. This time we
both manage to get up and slip and slide down to the outskirts of the village.
We find the nearest shop and pile into it, the shop assistants and customers
all looking with bewilderment at these two kids, muddy and soaked through.
    ‘Hi, can anyone direct us to the nearest
garage?’ Jay asks politely, clearing his throat before hand.
    The shop assistant gives us directions and
we finally find what we are looking for. We explain where our car is and they
agree to tow us back home. Jay gives them his address and pays them handsomely.
    ‘You guys don’t happen to have a shower
here do you?’ I venture, only to be met with amused smiles and silence. ‘Worth
a try,’ I shrug, although I do manage to dive into the loos and scrub away some
of the dirt from my arms and face.
    We get back up to the hill and the
mechanics do their thing, claiming that ‘ the
engine is bust ,’ in Jay’s words. We ride in the cab of the pick up truck as
we’re towed away, and I notice as Jay fidgets around next to me, a pained
expression on his face.
    ‘Are you okay?’ I frown, worry seeping into
my voice.
    He sees my expression and tries for an easy
smile. ‘Ah, the tumble was just a bit more painful than I originally thought,
its nothing. Sorry our road trip got cut short.’
    I snort. ‘To be fair, it wasn’t that much
of a road trip, just a day at the beach and a lot of driving, but it was great.
I really appreciate it.’ We smile at each other and fall into comfortable
silence.
    The drive is a good couple of hours and we
both drift in and out of sleep, me resting against Jay since my only other
option is the beefy mechanic. I wake up again when Jay prods my arm and I blink
a few times in order to regain a sense of my surroundings. We’re back in town,
but not the part I’m used to.
    This street is dotted with fancy houses,
the rich side of town, holding at least five bedrooms per house. My mouth gapes
open.
    ‘This is where you live?’ I gasp. Jay
grins.
    ‘Yep, problem?’
    Silently, I shake my head as we pass. These
are the sorts of houses with columns in front of the doors and white picket
fences and fancy plants climbing up the brick walls.
    I don’t fit in here, what with my bright
red hair and converse. Not to mention that we look a complete state, given that
the mud had now dried, coating our skin and clothes like clay.
    ‘So you’re like… rich?’ I raise an eyebrow.
    ‘Sort of,’ Jay says sheepishly. ‘You look
worried.’
    ‘Of course I’m worried, I’m meeting