James knew ferocious furry monsters still lurked under his bed.
But am I wrong? - No

Some say they don't lie under my bed but are inside my head!
Are they wrong? -No

But I've seen both the thoughts meet up and plan a conspiracy against me.
Against James, James the brave.

The bell rang so sharp, that its sound pierced through my ears, jamming the flow of my ear veins. I took my bag and slammed the locker shut and turned right. My eyes redirected towards the locker. Something crawled. Crawled so swiftly. No human. Something dark and eight legs crawly figure. I raised my toe and slammed open the locker. Nothing. That thing wasn't physical. My head went deeper into the hollowness of the locker.

'Ouch!', someone knocked on my head.

'Another James trying to find his giant peach, huh?' a familiar heavy voice spoke.

It was fatty Donny, he thinks he's 'The Don' of his class. He is never gonna stop his nonsense.

His other companions giggled after his comments not knowing, that the James in the book stood out from everyone. He was famous for saving lives.

I ran straight for the class through the corridors. I would have stepped back before, but now I knew it was a math class. I'm not bad at math, just allergic to the numbers. They're a headache.

'Mr. Rodriguez, please have a seat '. Ms Linda spoke in utter seriousness.

She was blonde and wore specks way smaller than her chubby face, I wondered if it ever tightened her face.
Reluctant, I took a front seat, knowing that the backbenchers always did something awful I didn't like. Fatty Donny was behind and I don't want to face him.

As I sat, a squeaky sound quickly got me up. My eyes widened. I looked back, it was a squeaky yellow toy duck. Miss Linda looked back in surprise.

'Looks like little Jamey didn't wear his diapers after the bath !' Fatty Donny mocked. The students started laughing.

'It was you, isn't it?' I exclaimed while grabbing the squeaky duck in my hand.

'Stop disturbing the class you both, and especially James, my eyes will be on you now!' Ms. Linda warned.

'But-'

'Enough!' she interrupted and went back to writing on the board.

Donny was this teacher's smart little boy, she spoke highly of him regardless. Donny completed his homework, he arrived on time, and he was by surprise in the library yesterday! And whatnot! It's only a mere delusion for her, as she was a new teacher for our math subject. They both were like those old nasty cartoon monsters resembling from the show Courage the Coward Dog. Evil.Sorcery. Green ginger smelly liquid poison. There was no word that I couldn't use, to describe them.

My eyes narrowed towards her back as I lowered my chin, and went back to writing.

The flashes of the crawly figure still lingered in my mind, but wait something was tickling my back as I tried to focus on the calculations. It was crawling up my spine and came to my shoulders. What it was?

I turned a slight and stood up. I widened my eyes. In a sudden reflex, I shot away the big sticky spider from my shoulders. A short screech went from my throat. The spider landed on the desk I raised my notebook to kill it. It vanished. Like proofed. I shook my head several times not able to believe it. Not only the boy beside me was staring at me but others too.

I saw Ms.Linda. She clenched her teeth. I tried to smile.

'Get out of the class!... Now she barked at me and gestured her finger to stand out in the corridor.

I heard Fat Donny giggling with hysteria. My head tilted down, but I took strength and went outside the class, standing for almost half an hour.

The corridor floor was all dark blue tiled, big windows were showing other parts of the school's building. I don't want to see it anywhere. I hope no one sees me, or I don't see anyone familiar, so I stared down at the floor, just like a typical nice schoolboy. I sighed.

Sometimes I don't know what's happening. Things are going against me. But what's the biggest question is, how can that spider just vanish? or emerge out of nowhere?

The bell rang, and Ms Linda came out after a minute. She looked at me.

'Beware of your nonsense, before attending my classes went away, but glanced back if I did another mischievous behavior.

I know, she just wanted to say, that I've left my new pet Fat Donny to keep a watch on you, beware before he bites you. For a moment I thought about it twice before entering back in the class.

I slowly sat on the front seat, ignoring everyone, who was busy chatting and laughing. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I hope fat Donny wasn't glaring at me. He must've been confused or maybe planning to use my behavior for the advantage of some kind further.

I know fatty Donny would again mock me in front of the whole class, and they would laugh. I sighed. Maybe I'm getting used to it. But I don't know why I got nervous to attend the last lecture. Sweat was pouring down my head, still trying to shake away the feelings of nervousness.

Before Donny could shut his mouth, the science teacher arrived, carrying some books and notebooks by her side. She made a poker face. As the window sunlight light drew on her, I noticed her hair was brunette and her skin was bright smooth, and clear akin to Albanian. She was around my mother's age, not too old for a sixth grader. She knelt, and put the books on the table. All the kids stood up. She smiled and told everyone to sit down.

Ms.Andria wasn't like Ms. Linda. Never.Ever. That is why Donny tries to impress her but fails in every attempt. I giggled as I could now see his face dropping a little open.

Science was at least a subject I was interested in now. It was fun to explore aquatic creatures, but turning to the next page almost fainted me out. My eyes widened. Not again about the insects! The thought of the spider again came back. It almost gave me shivers. No, certainly I have no Arachnophobia, its ghostly emergence almost made me jump on my seat. My heart took five minutes to get back to normal. This time, I held my ground and didn't try to look anywhere else, not towards the window or the bully's.

'Okay,' she said, 'As the chapter is complete, it might be completely off the topic today, but I want to ask you all, what have you all thought of doing shortly? She brushed her hair away from her face.

'Anyone of you?... Fredrick?' she pointed and asked him. He shrugged, he had no answer.

'It's okay if you don't know anything. It doesn't need to be big. She told.

'Uh yeah, Fredrick said, I've decided to become a ninja!... Uh but only on Tuesdays and Thursdays!' Some blurted out their laughs. He looked around him. Fredrick was all red and eyes trying to hide himself.

'Are you a spy or something Fredrick ?' Donny asked.

'Uh, no!' He told

She nodded.' That's nice, maybe you can try martial arts! You know, all that practice will make you better. She said.

Fredrick, he was joking, or was Ms. Andria imitating his way? He says down.

'I'm good at drawing' maybe I'll be an artist. Jenna the blonde said. 'That's great sweetheart, you will surely achieve your dreams'.

'Unless you're not in bed, or a couch potato !' Donny muttered and giggled.
The same girl shot a creepy look at fat Donny.

Lastly, I wanted to raise my hand, but it was shivering.
'Yes, what about you James' she asked so politely. She knew I wanted to tell.

'I...Uh, a scientist, I would like to be a scientist! ' I said.

After a second of silence, almost half the class laughed—especially Donny Winchester. My embarrassment knew no height.

'Whoa, that's a really good thing, James. I wanna see your next inventions, what say? She chuckled and praised me. I thought, I said something serious, which might not be forgiven. I took a sigh and smiled.

'I guess, he wants to find his next giant peach!'. Donny knew no boundaries.

Ms. Andria had it enough. She changed her expression from a smile to a little frustration.

'How about you, Donny Winchester? Wouldn't you tell us all?'

'I?' He asked. 'Oh, why not '.

 He stood with pride as if no one going to say a word to him 'I am the ruler of this class. I'm Donaldo, but most people call me Mr.Donny. So maybe I would suit the work of a leader. He said.

'Or you should try controlling your mouth, and be sympathetic'.

She looked at him with sharp eyes and arms folded. The bell rang she went outside. His mouth hung open. It was the first time he got this kind of remark about his attitude. I was relieved. He will get some sense one day, after all, he's so madly behind the story 'James and the Giant Peach'.

                                                                                        __________

This is a story I've been working on for a long since I joined this app. Due to some reason I could not update or complete it, but last year I gave it another chance to work on it with a good storyline sitting in my mind. I am still busy with other stuff, but I want to still take time for it, as it is connected to my emotions and experiences. I never wanted to give up on it. This story will remind you not to give in so easily on your wonderful dreams and to stand brave and strong for who you are!

This story is currently in progress on Wattpad by the same username.

Any constructive feedback is appreciated too!

Have a happy reading journey ahead! :)

- NightisNotForever