Read Online My Private Pectus by Shane Thamm - Free Book Online Page A

There's been the odd nod in each other's direction, recognition that never happened before, but nothing more than that. The last thing I want is to give her or anyone else the wrong impression.
    Dad told Hassold what I did to Cuppas, just like Roger suggested. He tried to drag me along, but when we got to school I just racked off in the other direction. But that's still the reason why I'm sitting here, along with The P and Steve. All of us on the footy team got summoned together in the sports shed after our second training run. I think I dropped every ball that came my way. Then Hassold came in to make matters worse.
    He gave us a real blast. He's got a squeaky voice like Elmer Fudd—until he gets wound up. Then he booms and his voice vibrates your bones. Cuppas stood on his own, smiling to himself, while the rest of us got sprayed with verbal diarrhoea. Dad was nearby, his arms crossed. Maloney was in the doorway. They looked chuffed with Hassold's performance. But neither of them saw Cuppas giving me the bird. Steve, The P and I copped two days of afternoon detention for our efforts.
    Gez pulled me aside afterwards. ‘Is that what really happened?’ I couldn't believe Cuppas hadn't told him the full details.
    I nodded.
    â€˜Bloody hell, Sticks, what did Cuppas do to you?’
    â€˜He spat on me and called me a poof. He deserved it.’
    â€˜Deserved it? He had half the team holding him back while you beat up on him. What the hell would you say in that situation?’
    I wasn't keen to talk about it. ‘I gotta go to class,’ I said.
    I watch Sam as she talks to the detention teacher at the front of the classroom, then she turns and smiles in my direction, just like she did at Ryan's place. She waves and I wave back, which sets The P and Steve off in whispers. Pretending to ignore them, I watch Sam from the corner of my eye. She takes a seat, pulls her mobile from her pocket and starts to text someone. At the sound of the beeps, the teacher looks up and Sam quickly stuffs her phone under her leg, but as she does so, she catches the edge of her skirt, pulling it up to reveal the pock-marked skin of her thigh. She covers it with her hand, wriggles, and pulls the skirt back down. The teacher comes over and I think for sure she's busted. But with the teacher there, I can stare in an obvious way without copping flak from Steve and The P, so I do. But the teacher doesn't ask about Sam's phone, instead she lectures Sam on how a lack of respect for the school uniform shows a lack of respect for the school. So that's why Sam's here: uniform detention. It looks fine to me. How can the girls get it wrong anyway? It's not like they have socks to pull up or shirts to tuck in.
    I wait for a lecture too, but it doesn't happen, so I take a magazine from my bag and get told to put it back. I sit and stare at the clock, figuring boredom to be the mode of punishment for the day. Sam looks over at me and rolls her eyes at the silence. I want to laugh, but I keep a straight face because of the guys. She goes back to reading the graffiti on her desk and twisting her ponytail around a finger.
    An hour later I get dismissed. I'm first out because I was the first one there. I can't be arsed walking home so I decide to wait for the bus. A few minutes later Steve and The P come out and sit next to me.
    â€˜Did you see her leg?’ Steve says and screws up his nose.
    â€˜Cellulite dump,’ The P says. ‘Imagine touching it.’
    â€˜Woooaaagh.’ Steve shakes his hands at the thought.
    The P turns to me. ‘Did you see it?’ he says.
    â€˜No,’ I say.
    â€˜Yeah, whatever,’ he says. ‘I saw you gawking.’
    Steve laughs. ‘Yeah, you got a real eyeful. Even looked back for more.’
    â€˜Rack off,’ I say. ‘She's a tart.’
    â€˜You bet,’ Steve says. ‘Remember when she screwed that guy from Beenleigh?’
    It happened at a party last year. Sam was