pocket.
‘Wow,’ Penny said, as Xanthe ran off to fix Arthur’s photo next to her own on the board. ‘I think you have a fan club!’
‘Paparazzi after you again, Arthur?’ George grinned.
‘No!’ Arthur said, a little too curtly.
George looked surprised. Arthur cleared his throat; he couldn’t let on how anxious he was about having his photo taken.
‘I’ve been thinking about the imaginary friends,’ Arthur said, quickly changing the subject. ‘Do you think what Tristan said is true? That we’re in danger?’
George frowned. ‘To be honest, mate, the more I think about it, the more I reckon it was just a dream. I was seriously tired this morning and I may have blown things out of proportion.’
‘What do you think, Penny?’ Jake asked.
Penny sipped her tea and considered it. ‘George is right,’ she said firmly. ‘It’s so weird – what happened felt so real a few hours ago, but now I can hardly remember it.’
‘What does Lola look like?’ Jake asked.
‘She’s a doll,’ Penny replied. ‘Lola Lollipop. I saw her in Hamley’s when I was really small. She had red ringlets made of real hair, and huge, glass, blue eyes, and she came with her own china tea set. I wanted her so much, but she must have cost a fortune because I went home with a different toy. But I pretended that Lola had seen me in Hamley’s too, and had followed me home to be my friend. She was the same size as me and she knew all of the gossip about the other toys at the shop and she spoke like a princess. But she was only my imaginary friend for a few months because Mum bought me the real Lola Lollipop doll for my birthday, so I didn’t need the pretend Lola any more.’
‘A giant doll,’ George mused. ‘Creepy. What about you, Jake? Did you have an imaginary friend?’
A pained expression crossed Jake’s face. ‘It’s a bit cringe,’ he said.
‘It can’t be worse than Stripes!’ Arthur laughed.
Jake sighed. ‘Well, he was called Brian –’
‘Very imaginative.’ George cut in.
‘– and he was a morris dancer.’
The group tried to hide their mirth.
‘A morris dancer!’ George repeated gleefully. ‘What? One of those beardy blokes who prances around with a stick on May Day?’
‘Morris dancing is a very important part of British culture!’ Jake said indignantly.
‘If you say so, mate,’ George chortled. ‘Hey, they wear bells on their shoes, right? At least you’ll hear him coming.’
Jake tried to move the spotlight on to Arthur. ‘Come on, your turn.’
Arthur shrugged. ‘I didn’t have one.’
‘What?’ Penny said in disbelief. ‘Everyone had one!’
‘Nope,’ Arthur said. ‘Not me. I had these weird things called “real friends”.’
Chapter Seven
A few weeks went by, and soon the strange nightmares and Tristan’s doom-laden prophecy were lost in the demanding timetable of the new term. Jake had offered to help Arthur with some of the subjects he was already lagging behind in, bringing him up to speed in maths and biology. If Jake thought it odd that a student as spectacularly unacademic as Arthur had won a full scholarship, he was too polite to mention it.
Luckily, Arthur was far better at sport than he was at equations, and he successfully tried out for the Garnons football team, much to the annoyance of the Forge triplets, who tried to foul him at every opportunity even though they were on the same team.
Arthur was walking back to house after a particularly brutal game, covered in mud, when he spotted Amber, glossy and beautiful and walking in the other direction. Knowing that he wasn’t looking his best, he hid behind a nearby tree and waited for her to pass, praying she hadn’t seen him.
‘Arthur?’ he heard from behind his hastily chosen hiding place. ‘I can see your feet.’
Arthur sheepishly stepped out from the tree.
‘Were you hiding from me?’ Amber giggled.
‘No! What? No! Of course not,’ Arthur said, peering at the grass around the tree.
‘Wow,’ Penny said, as Xanthe ran off to fix Arthur’s photo next to her own on the board. ‘I think you have a fan club!’
‘Paparazzi after you again, Arthur?’ George grinned.
‘No!’ Arthur said, a little too curtly.
George looked surprised. Arthur cleared his throat; he couldn’t let on how anxious he was about having his photo taken.
‘I’ve been thinking about the imaginary friends,’ Arthur said, quickly changing the subject. ‘Do you think what Tristan said is true? That we’re in danger?’
George frowned. ‘To be honest, mate, the more I think about it, the more I reckon it was just a dream. I was seriously tired this morning and I may have blown things out of proportion.’
‘What do you think, Penny?’ Jake asked.
Penny sipped her tea and considered it. ‘George is right,’ she said firmly. ‘It’s so weird – what happened felt so real a few hours ago, but now I can hardly remember it.’
‘What does Lola look like?’ Jake asked.
‘She’s a doll,’ Penny replied. ‘Lola Lollipop. I saw her in Hamley’s when I was really small. She had red ringlets made of real hair, and huge, glass, blue eyes, and she came with her own china tea set. I wanted her so much, but she must have cost a fortune because I went home with a different toy. But I pretended that Lola had seen me in Hamley’s too, and had followed me home to be my friend. She was the same size as me and she knew all of the gossip about the other toys at the shop and she spoke like a princess. But she was only my imaginary friend for a few months because Mum bought me the real Lola Lollipop doll for my birthday, so I didn’t need the pretend Lola any more.’
‘A giant doll,’ George mused. ‘Creepy. What about you, Jake? Did you have an imaginary friend?’
A pained expression crossed Jake’s face. ‘It’s a bit cringe,’ he said.
‘It can’t be worse than Stripes!’ Arthur laughed.
Jake sighed. ‘Well, he was called Brian –’
‘Very imaginative.’ George cut in.
‘– and he was a morris dancer.’
The group tried to hide their mirth.
‘A morris dancer!’ George repeated gleefully. ‘What? One of those beardy blokes who prances around with a stick on May Day?’
‘Morris dancing is a very important part of British culture!’ Jake said indignantly.
‘If you say so, mate,’ George chortled. ‘Hey, they wear bells on their shoes, right? At least you’ll hear him coming.’
Jake tried to move the spotlight on to Arthur. ‘Come on, your turn.’
Arthur shrugged. ‘I didn’t have one.’
‘What?’ Penny said in disbelief. ‘Everyone had one!’
‘Nope,’ Arthur said. ‘Not me. I had these weird things called “real friends”.’
Chapter Seven
A few weeks went by, and soon the strange nightmares and Tristan’s doom-laden prophecy were lost in the demanding timetable of the new term. Jake had offered to help Arthur with some of the subjects he was already lagging behind in, bringing him up to speed in maths and biology. If Jake thought it odd that a student as spectacularly unacademic as Arthur had won a full scholarship, he was too polite to mention it.
Luckily, Arthur was far better at sport than he was at equations, and he successfully tried out for the Garnons football team, much to the annoyance of the Forge triplets, who tried to foul him at every opportunity even though they were on the same team.
Arthur was walking back to house after a particularly brutal game, covered in mud, when he spotted Amber, glossy and beautiful and walking in the other direction. Knowing that he wasn’t looking his best, he hid behind a nearby tree and waited for her to pass, praying she hadn’t seen him.
‘Arthur?’ he heard from behind his hastily chosen hiding place. ‘I can see your feet.’
Arthur sheepishly stepped out from the tree.
‘Were you hiding from me?’ Amber giggled.
‘No! What? No! Of course not,’ Arthur said, peering at the grass around the tree.
Similar Books
