Read Online Nowhere Boys by Elise Mccredie - Free Book Online Page A

exist.’
    ‘Really?’ sniped Jake. ‘Then how come no-one knows us?’
    Sam reached over and pinched Jake’s arm. Hard.
    ‘Oww!’
    ‘See? Proof of your existence.’
    ‘Very funny.’ Jake slumped over, putting his head on his knees.
    ‘You know,’ said Andy, sitting up, ‘Jake’s right. No-one knows us. But if we had concrete evidence that we exist in this world, maybe our families would believe us. It could be the trigger to cure their amnesia.’
    ‘Yeah, good one. And where are we going to get that from?’ asked Sam.
    Everyone was quiet for a minute or two as they thought.
    That’s it! Jake got to his feet. Andy had given him an idea. He pointed at the school buildings. ‘There.’
    Sam shook his head. ‘Seriously? You want to go back to school? The only good thing about this is not –’
    ‘There must be proof at school!’
    Andy looked at him. ‘That’s not such a bad idea.’
    ‘There must be records of us on file,’ said Jake.
    ‘And how are we supposed to get in there?’ asked Sam.
    ‘I know the door codes. At least I used to,’ volunteered Felix.
    Jake felt a surge of excitement. If he could get hold of his school record then he could show it to his mum. She couldn’t argue with that. Her name would be on it as an emergency contact. Relationship to student: Mother . Surely if she saw that she’d have to believe he was her son.
    ‘The only person here on a Sunday is the janitor, and he does his rounds first thing and then again around five,’ said Felix.
    Everyone turned to look at him.
    ‘I had a month of weekend detentions in year eight.’ He shrugged. ‘You pick up stuff.’

    The boys approached the front entrance of the school. Felix punched some numbers into the security pad.
    To everyone’s surprise, it buzzed open. Jake clapped him on the back. ‘Nice one, freak.’
    Felix sighed. ‘Do you think you could stop calling me that?’
    He considered it for a moment, then shook his head. ‘Nah.’
    Jake made his way down the corridor, followed by the others. He knew what he had to check first: the photos in the gym. If he existed, he would still be there. They entered the gym and Jake looked at the photos along the wall.
    SPORTS HOUSE CAPTAIN: TRENT LONG.
    FOOTBALL CAPTAIN: TRENT LONG.
    BEST AND FAIREST: TRENT LONG.
    Jake turned away. That wasn’t right. Trent was a deputy, a wingman. He was never a captain. He didn’t have the leadership skills. That was Jake’s domain.
    Andy put his hand on Jake’s shoulder sympathetically. ‘It’s okay. It doesn’t prove anything except that Trent’s a better player.’
    Jake shrugged him off. ‘And that’s supposed to be comforting?’
    ‘Come on,’ called Felix. ‘I know the code to the staff offices. We can check the student records there.’
    When they got to the staff room, Felix punched in the codes and Andy quickly booted up the computer.
    Jake watched over his shoulder. Part of him wanted to stop Andy. If he didn’t actually check, then they could keep believing …
    SAM CONTE, Andy typed in.
    A window came up: NO RECORD FOUND .
    FELIX FERNE, Andy typed.
    Another window: NO RECORD FOUND.
    ANDY LAU.
    NO RECORD FOUND.
    There was silence. Andy looked nervously at Jake.
    JAKE RILES, he typed in.
    NO RECORD FOUND.
    The boys stared at the blinking cursor.
    ‘We officially don’t exist,’ whispered Andy.
    Jake turned and ran out of the staff room. He belted down the stairs. He burst into the gym, grabbed a basketball and hurled it at the hoop. This he knew: you pick up a ball, you bounce it, you throw it through a metal ring and then you pick it up again. Simple. Maybe if he could just keep bouncing the ball he wouldn’t have to face the fact that he was officially a nobody.
    He bounced the ball harder and threw it through the hoop. A perfect shot. He imagined the crowd roaring for him. The way they used to when he shot the winning hoop at the District Championships. How his team would pick him up on their shoulders, their