Extraordinary Losers 2 (11 page)

Clandestino chimed in, “And you came back on Saturday night to retrieve it, but you realised we were already there!”

“Tha-tha-that's ri-ri-right!” Mundi added.

As we were speaking, Miss Teo's eyes took on a look of contempt. “After all I have done for you LOSERS! I should have done away with all four of you when I could! Where is that silly boy Adam?” she raged.

“This school is pathetic! I hate this school. What am I doing here answering to all these losers?” she yelled. “I hate the way I have to do brainless paperwork. I hate it that the children are always squeaking and squealing! And I hate it that the teachers and principal pile me with so much mundane work. Who do they think I am? Their slave? I am a well-known artist! I am not just a clerk! They say I am an operations manager, but all I do all day is a clerk's job!”

Miss Teo was so hysterical that Mr Grosse quickly forced us out of the staff room.

“You will never get away with this, Miss Teo,” Mrs Priya said, as the police officer handcuffed Miss Teo.

“I don't believe this! You're listening to a bunch of losers!” she snapped. “Look at them!”

The police officer tried to restrain Miss Teo but her tongue was still on fire!

Mr Grosse continued to usher us out of the staff room. He put his arm around us and smiled. “You know what, children? You shouldn't have gotten involved in this, but thanks anyway. We appreciate your help. Rest assured, your courage and sacrifice will not be in vain. We will definitely get to the bottom of this. If Miss Teo is guilty, she will be dealt with.”

Before I stepped out of the room, I turned to catch a glimpse of Mrs Priya our principal. Her eyes met mine and just when I thought she was going to shoo me away, she beamed. The brightest sweetest smile any of us had ever seen.

“We scored with her, Darryl,” Clandestino whispered into my ear. Before I could smile charmingly back, the door was shut. Mr Grosse and Mrs Priya would definitely remember us for life! Just weeks ago, we were the chosen ones for Operation Pants on Fire and now we had solved the case of the great Vandal Scandal.

Darryl, Clan, Mundi! Look!” Janice toddled up to us, clutching something grey in her hand. We had assembled early the next morning in school. She slammed the newspapers on the wooden floor.

“I can't believe this,” she said excitedly. “We're famous!”

“We're famous?” Mundi looked surprised. “How so?”

“Really, we? Famous?” Clandestino scratched his neck, his itch aggravated by the excitement.

“There! Us!” Janice pointed to a paragraph with our names in an article. “A school's operations manager, Miss Teo Nee Suan, has been arrested for being a suspect of acts of vandalism in Brightstar Primary School. Police have her in custody for further investigations. Four children – Janice Chan Xiao Wen, Darryl De, Clandestine Chang and Mundi Sakdipa – played key roles in helping the police solve this case…”

Clandestino frowned. “They spelt my name wrongly, again. I hate my name.”

“Don't worry, Clan. We all know you are the hero. No matter how your name is spelt, no?”

“Yes… in fact, I like your name.” Janice smiled. “And I like…” she stopped.

“Like?” Clandestino probed.

“Oh, nothing.” She beamed bashfully, turning away.

Mundi and I arched our eyebrows, pretending we didn't see what just happened. I wished then that I could run as fast as Clandestino.

Janice rolled up the newspaper. “There, our school is finally safe.”

“We are finally recognised! I bet no one will call us losers from now on!” I said.

“Yes,” Mundi said, with a laugh. “Everyone is going to call us heroes, no?”

Clandestino put his arm around Mundi and me. “Thanks, my buddies. Without your ears, Darryl, without your brains, Mundi, and without your voice, Janice, I would still be a suspect and probably in Juvenile Prison now.”

“You know what? We don't need any special ability to help one another out. All we need is a tinge of courage, a little bit of heart and true friendship,” I said, smiling.

Janice beamed. “And what better way to celebrate friendship, than some of these.” She handed us a brown packet each. We opened it, and to our surprise, each packet had a perfectly-round mouth-watering chocolate peanut donut!

Mundi reached in and took his perfect crisp donut out. He smelled it and scrutinised it.

“Look, it has my name on it!” he exclaimed. “It says ‘Mundi' in white cream.”

“Yes, mine says ‘Clandestino' in white cream too!” Clandestino licked his fingers.

“See, Clan, I spelt your name correctly!”

“Yeah, you did!” he said. “Thanks!”

Just as we were about to dig into our perfectly customised donuts, I heard the distinct sound of something spinning. From the corner of my eye, I could see it. It was fast and it was coming in our direction.

“WATCH OUT!” I yelled. We ducked just in time, and the basketball missed us.

“Are the donuts safe?” Janice asked in panic.

“Yes, they are, Janice. No worries,” I assured.

The basketball had come in so fast and strong that it continued bouncing precariously near us. When it rolled to a stop, all four of us ran to take a look.

On it was a note, taped down. It said: This is not over, Losers! Watch out! The Credible Hulk

We stared at each other and then at our donuts. Putting them away, we wondered: When will we ever get to enjoy our donuts in peace?

THE END

I would like to express my appreciation for those who have contributed to this book:

• Serene See (Designer) whose creativity made the book extraordinary.
  
• Cherryn Yap (Illustrator) who read my mind so well and enchanted us with her drawings.
  
• To all my buddies especially Meliza and Shermay who patiently listened and gave me the courage to write.
  

J
essica has been teaching publicly and privately for over 10 years. She has written six English Model Composition books for Primary 1 to 6 students. Jessica's debut novel
The Singapore Kid
won the Popular Readers' Choice Awards in 2011 and was shortlisted for the Hedwig Anuar Children's Book Award 2011. Through her
Extraordinary Losers
series, she touches on the things closest to her heart: friendship, courage, the inner person and, of course, donuts and chips. She loves to listen closely to children's babble because she feels that childhood's the time in life when most truths are uttered.

COPYRIGHT

First published in 2013 by Bubbly Books Pte Ltd
26 Sin Ming Lane, Midview City #06-121, Singapore 573971

First published in digital form in 2014 by Monsoon Books ISBN (ebook): 978-981-4423-53-3

Text Copyright © 2013 Bubbly Books Pte Ltd

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

All rights reserved. You may not copy, distribute, transmit, reproduce, or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

This is a work of fiction. All characters, names, places and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or persons is entirely coincidental.

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