The school gates were open and in half an hour or so, students would be streaming through them. Girls would be chatting as they hung their backpacks in the cloakroom, and the boys would probably be throwing a ball back and forth. But right now, Oliver walked through an almost deserted courtyard. He liked the peace of the early morning. No sound, except for the birds in the big tree outside the front office. No one around as the teachers met in the staff room for morning coffee. Oliver could wander quietly and pretend that he was alone. Not quite alone, however. It began almost as soon as Oliver began walking to school on his own. As Oliver had arrived early one morning, he had noticed another boy was already sitting in the classroom. He couldn't help but be annoyed, as he liked to read on his own at his desk before school. So, the next day, he had set out earlier. But once again, the boy was there before him. Something must have shown his face then, because the boy gave him a hint of a smirk. And without a word spoken, an unofficial competition had begun between them. Oliver would race through his breakfast, and almost run to school. At times, he would be there first, and sit there smugly reading as the boy later arrived. Other times, he would come in second, and would be greeted by the sight of the boy playing on the classroom computer, barely containing his laughter.

One day, the teacher was away sick, and the substitute wasn't entirely sure what to do with a class full of energetic seven-year olds. So, in the last hour of the day she decided, much to their delight, on a game of rugby. Anyone that didn't want to play could go to the library until the end of the day. Oliver went, and much to his surprise, he wasn't the only one. The boy wandered over as well and sat down at the table with Oliver. The boy's name was Jacob, and like Oliver, came to school early because he enjoyed the peace and quiet. Sheppardton Primary School only had about three hundred students. While this had the benefit of a close-knit student body, it also presented the problem of a lack of diversity. Almost none of the students would choose to spend a sunny afternoon in a small library instead of out on the rugby field. So, when Oliver and Jacob found out how much they had in common, the two were almost inseparable. Oliver liked to read books; Jacob liked to draw superheroes. Oliver ate sandwiches for lunch, Jacob usually had rice crackers. But the two of them would spend their breaks in the library together or go over to each other's houses after school. Jacob only lived two streets away from the school. Which was probably why, today, when Oliver walked into the classroom, Jacob was already there on the computer.

'Hey' said Jacob, looking up from the screen.

'Hi' Oliver pulled up a chair behind him. The class computer was meant for students to use the internet as a resource. But it was by far used mainly for playing games. Jacob was in the middle of Solitaire.

'Did you see the timetable?' asked Jacob, pointing to the whiteboard at the front of the classroom. When the teacher arrived each morning, she wrote the timetable for the day up on the left-hand side of the whiteboard. But normally, since the days were largely the same, it hardly needed changing from the day before. Which was why Oliver almost instantly spotted down the bottom where 'Maths' and 'P.E.' usually were, it had been changed to a big 'ASSEMBLY'.

'Wonder what that's about?' Jacob commented.

'Don't know. Maybe there's some announcement. One of the teachers might be leaving.'

From time to time, teachers would leave the school to go teach in one of the big cities. When this happened, the staff would usually make a big announcement of it during assembly and throw a small party at the end of the day.

'It's weird, though, right?' said Jacob 'Why isn't it on Friday like normal?'

“It might be something to do with us leaving school this year” Oliver guessed.

Jacob looked thoughtful at this.

“My parents have been talking about sending me to school in the city”

“What?” said Oliver shocked “What about the high school here?”

“They say it’s too rough” Jacob shrugged

Emily's high school was the only one in the area, so parents didn't have much of a choice when deciding on where to send their children. As a result, all the students in Sheppardton and the surrounding farms were crammed into one space, quickly overcrowding the school and overwhelming the teachers who desperately tried to keep them under control.

As a result, the school was known to be filled to the brim with boys who would fight in the hallways, girls who would smoke in the bathroom, and teachers who slammed down punishments at the smallest signs of disobedience.

Oliver dreaded the place, after hearing all the horror stories that Emily would bring home every night. His only consolation was that Jacob would be going with him next year. Now he would have to face it alone.

"Are you going to move?" Oliver asked worriedly

"Yeah" replied Jacob heavily "I tried to tell them that I could take the train and come back on weekends, but they were dead set"

"So... that's it? We won't see each other again?"

"I... guess not"

Oliver felt sick. Jacob was leaving. Forever. He wouldn't be going to high school with him. And it wasn't like Oliver could go to school in the city as well. There was no way his father could afford to send him there.

"When are you going?" he asked quietly.

"At the start of next year. My parents wanted to have one last New Year's celebration here before the move" said Jacob. Seeing the look on Oliver's face, he added hopefully "You can come to the party if you want"

Oliver nodded slowly. Only a month and a half. That was all they had left. Staring at the back of Jacob's neck as he turned back to the screen, Oliver felt a sudden surge of anger.

Jacob's parents, who had suddenly felt the local high school was a bit too rough for their precious little boy, were going to completely uproot their family and drag them all the way to the city. Didn't they stop to think what they were leaving behind? Didn't they think Jacob might not want to go? Did they not consider the friends who would be left in the dust as they pranced off on a whim? But no, wrapped up in their hysteria, they decided to just leave everything for a place that they had never been to, ignoring what their children actually wanted.

Furious, he turned to Jacob, opening his mouth, to tell him exactly what he thought of his parents, what Jacob should have said to them.

"Have fun in the city, I guess"

*

The bell rang half an hour later. By then, the rest of the class had arrived. The boys were throwing a ball back and forth outside in the courtyard. The girls were chatting around their desks. The teacher, Miss Wilson, was writing up the first lesson on the whiteboard. Oliver watched her as Jacob still sat wrapped up in Solitaire. Miss Wilson was a devout student of grammar, and every morning she would write exercises up for her class to solve. Oliver loved this lesson. This was because he was good at it. Only last week, Miss Wilson had shown Oliver's work to the class as 'a perfect example of proper use of our language'.

Jacob would often snigger when this happened, but he always sat next Oliver so he could peer at his work.

When the bell rang, Jacob closed his game. He had never won a game of Solitaire, since he didn't have a full grasp of the rules, but he always enjoyed watching the animations on the computer when he did something right.

As the two went to go sit at their desks, the girls continued chatting as if nothing had happened.

"Can I borrow a pen or something?" asked Jacob "I left my pencil case at home"

Oliver nodded and handed over a black ballpoint from his pocket. He opened the lid of his desk to get his grammar and let out a groan.

"What's wrong?" Jacob glanced over into Oliver's desk.

"Oh, not again" he muttered

All of Oliver's books, papers, and everything else inside his desk, were covered in thick pink yoghurt. Not only that, someone had upended a bottle of glitter and covered the inside with glue, so everything was stuck to the wood. The whole thing was a pink sticky mess.

Oliver sighed. He knew who had done it.

He looked over at the group of chattering girls, who Miss Wilson was now trying to get to sit down at their own desks. Sitting among them was a beady eyed, sweet faced girl, with long blonde hair. Her name was Hannah, and as far as Oliver could remember, she had taken every opportunity she could to make his school life a daily hell.