Read Online Mutation by Chris Morphew - Free Book Online Page B

Luke and Peter to hurry up and get changed. I hadn’t told them about the notebook yet. We’d spent all of PE on opposing teams, and whenever I got close enough to talk to them, Mike or one of the others seemed to be hovering somewhere in earshot.
    It could be nothing, anyway, I reminded myself. It could be his stamp collection for all you know.
    But it was more than that. More than coincidence. There was a reason I’d found that book.
    I walked back over to the door. Tank’s voice had suddenly risen up above the noise of the guys’ change room. ‘Hey – No, don’t you – Mate, no, you’re a dead man!’
    A loud snap, shouts of laughter from the other boys, and Mike came running out of the gym, shirt unbuttoned, bag swinging from his shoulder. Tank ran out after him, tie stretched tight between his hands. He flicked his wrist and caught Mike right between the shoulder blades. Mike shouted, whirled around, and raised his tie into the air to return fire.
    â€˜That will do, gentlemen!’ called a voice from across the grass.
    It was Mr Hanger. Mike and Tank both started talking at once.
    â€˜Come on, sir!’
    â€˜We weren’t even –!’
    â€˜Quiet,’ said Mr Hanger. He narrowed his eyes at the gym. ‘Where is Peter?’
    Mike grinned and ran back inside.
    â€˜Hey, Pete! Guess who’s come to visit?’
    A minute later he was back, with Peter and Luke behind him. Peter saw Mr Hanger and immediately did a one-eighty back towards the gym.
    â€˜PETER WEIR!’
    â€˜What, sir?’ snapped Peter, spinning around again.
    Mr Hanger pulled out a crumpled piece of notebook paper. I recognised it as the ‘essay’ Peter had handwritten in the ten minutes before school started this morning.
    Mr Hanger held up the page and read the first line. ‘Why World War II would’ve been so much more awesome if they’d used robot soldiers.’
    â€˜Yeah, sir, about that, I thought your original question was kind of restrictive, so I decided to –’
    â€˜Detention, Peter. Now.’
    â€˜Screw you,’ Peter muttered, pulling his bag up over one shoulder.
    Mr Hanger snarled. ‘What was that?’
    â€˜I said you’re an awesome teacher, sir!’ Peter said loudly. ‘Your comb-over isn’t even that noticeable!’
    More of the class had arrived by now. Shocked laughter from a few of them.
    â€˜Anybody else care to join us?’ asked Mr Hanger, silencing the class. He grunted and turned back to the English block. ‘This way, Peter.’
    â€˜He’s going to die,’ I said as soon as they were gone.
    Luke sighed. ‘Which one?’
    The bell rang from somewhere inside the gym, and Ms Jeffery reappeared, shooing the last few students outside. Luke and I headed over to the maths block to get our bikes, with Cathryn, Tank and Mike right behind us.
    â€˜Crap,’ said Luke. ‘Just remembered Mum wanted me to go to the supermarket for her this arvo.’ He dragged his bike out from the rack. ‘See you tomorrow, okay?’
    A tug of disappointment. I thought about calling him back, but there wasn’t much I’d be able to say to him with the others still so close. And now that the school day was over, making sure Georgia was okay suddenly felt much more important.
    â€˜All right,’ I said. ‘See you.’
    I spun my bike around and headed for the back gate, thinking that if I was quick, I might catch Dad coming in to pick Georgia up. But when I rode down through the primary school, there was no sign of either of them.
    I rode straight home and found Dad stooped over his laptop at the kitchen bench. He worked from home on Tuesdays. One of those ‘great working conditions’ the Shackleton Co-operative hoped would help distract its employees from the weirdness of life in Phoenix.
    â€˜Hey,’ I said. ‘Where’s Georgia?’
    â€˜She’s