Belly Flop Read Online Free PDF Page A

round the door and yelling that Mrs Stegnjaaic in the office wants to see me.
    You’re a genius, Doug.
    I wouldn’t have thought of something as brilliantly simple as that in a million years.
    How do you come up with stuff like that?
    Do angels have to study and take exams, or is it just a skill that develops naturally like pig shooting?
    Either way, it’s working.
    If I keep my head down and keep on walking fast, in fifteen seconds I’ll be in the office and Troy and Brent’ll be scratching their heads in the playground thinking I’ve turned invisible.
    Don’t stop what you’re doing, Doug.
    If you’re in the middle of something important like finding a kid lost in the desert without a hat, ignore me.
    But if you can spare half an ear, you might be interested to hear how things went in the office.
    Just like you planned, that’s how.
    Usually people are only called to the office for family emergencies, so I was half expecting Mrs Stegnjaaic to say something like ‘your mum and dad are being held captive in the bank by a gang of armed farmers’ or ‘your gran accidentally set fire to a plate of chocolate crackles and burnt the house down’.
    I was quite surprised when all she did was hold up my excursion permission form and say ‘we need more information’.
    For a sec I thought she meant more information about the excursion.
    I wouldn’t have put that past you Doug, getting me away from the Malleys by having Mrs Stegnjaaic send me on a special three-day trip over to the coast to find out if the school there’s got lockers.
    Then I realised she meant more information about the name I’d put on the form under Next of Kin.
    Your name, Doug.
    I hope you don’t mind.
    â€˜This isn’t your dad’s name,’ said Mrs Stegnjaaic.
    My heart started going a bit wobbly.
    I explained that Mum and Dad have got a lot on their plate at the moment.
    Mrs Stegnjaaic looked sympathetic. She can be really kind and understanding, not like Ms Dorrit the principal.
    â€˜Doug’s not enough,’ said Mrs Stegnjaaic. ‘We need a full name and phone number.’
    â€˜Um,’ I said, ‘that’s a bit difficult.’
    At that moment Ms Dorrit came out of her office.
    â€˜Are you being a pest species again, Mitch Webber?’ she said.
    I shook my head and Mrs Stegnjaaic said I wasn’t and explained the situation.
    â€˜So what’s the problem?’ said Ms Dorrit, turning back to me. ‘Why can’t you give us this Doug’s full name, address and phone number?’
    I told her I don’t know what they are.
    Ms Dorrit’s eyes narrowed, which happens when she thinks kids are having a lend of her.
    â€˜Who exactly is this person?’ she said in a voice that made my neck prickle.
    I tried to swallow but my throat felt even more drought-struck than the district.
    â€˜A close friend,’ I said.
    Ms Dorrit’s eyes narrowed so much I started worrying that if she tried to leave the room she’d walk into the filing cabinet.
    â€˜Perhaps,’ she said, in a voice that grated almost as much as the gearbox on the council water truck, ‘he could pop in and give us the information himself.’
    I felt sick.
    Ms Dorrit’s eyes were stabbing into me.
    â€˜It’s a bit tricky,’ I said. ‘He’s invisible.’
    Ms Dorrit took a deep breath.
    She looked at me for ages.
    â€˜In other words,’ she said, ‘he doesn’t exist.’
    I couldn’t help it, Doug.
    I had to say it.
    â€˜Yes he does,’ I said. ‘He’s my guardian angel.’
    Ms Dorrit looked like she’d just swallowed a filling.
    I explained to her how angels can’t hang around all day because they’ve got other kids to protect and how you’re squeezing me into your Schedule as it is.
    â€˜Wouldn’t be fair on the other kids to drag him back,’ I said, ‘just for