Agents Assistant - 1

         Max Macho kicked the door so hard it smashed into the wall behind. Clearly no one was hiding behind the door. The flimsy lock scuttled across the wooden floor and Max crept into the room, gun pointing wherever his eye moved.

         Max could smell the enemy in the room. He scanned the room quickly and carefully.

         A table and chair were in the middle of the room and wardrobe in the corner. The wardrobe door was open so no one was hiding there.

         Standard Operating Procedure (that's S.O.P in Secret Agent talk) for clearing a room was door - wardrobe - curtain. It seemed Max Macho was alone in the room, but the top spy knew it was important to follow the S.O.P - every time.

         He moved towards the curtain. Hiding behind the curtain would be so lame. Every spy knew the curtain was going to be checked.

         If someone was in the room, Max wanted to question him. So he put his gun back in it's holster and pulled a small shiny cylinder out of his jacket pocket.

         With a quiet click, the cylinder telescopically extended to half a metre long. Max pressed a hidden button making the end buzz with electricity. The small cylinder had become a Tazar stick.

         Max crept towards the curtains, poised for combat.

         "Thomas! It is time to go to school now!"

         Dad's timing could not have been worse. Dad never left the house a minute earlier than he needed. I groaned quietly and moved slowly towards the TV, creeping as Max Macho did, to turn it off.

         "Come on, Thomas! Turn the TV off and let's get going. It's recorded so you can watch it after school" Dad said as he opened the front door and they both went outside.

         My Dad walked quickly, but I could keep up easily. I was used to his pace of walk. I had had my 8 years old birthday during the half-term holidays.

         I was taller now and my longer legs were able to walk and run faster.

         It was the first day back at school after the half-term holidays. I liked this day. It's not that I don't like holidays; it's just that I miss playing with my friends at school. Now that I had seen a Max Macho film, I had a lot to tell my friends.

         My school, Morton Primary School was at the end of my road, so it never took us long to get to school. "Dad?"

         "Yes, what's up?"

         "When can I go to school by myself?"

         Dad looked hurt, but I knew he was pretending. "Why?" he whimpered. "Don't you like me walking to school with you?"

         "Yes, but I am 8 years old now and ... I think I should be able to go to school myself."

         "Well, I like these few minutes in the morning taking you to school. Don't you?" he looked at me hopefully.

         I liked the morning walk with Dad as well, but I was eight now and needed to be more grown up. I didn't know what to say. Thankfully Dad spoke first.

         "You know, Thomas." Dad stopped and looked me in the eye, so I knew he was serious.

         "The main reason you can't go to school on your own is that you never look both ways when you cross the road. There is only one road to cross getting to school, but it is busy with cars in the morning and you never look before you cross or while you are crossing."

         He was right, of course. The road in front of Morton Primary School was crazy. Cars came from everywhere and some parked on the pavement outside the school, without warning. It was scary now that I thought about it.

         "I will look both ways from now on" I said.

         "Good!" said my Dad. "Max Macho does, you know?"

         "How do you know that?"

         "Because Mr. Macho is a secret agent and he has to be aware of everything around him, to avoid danger", Dad said knowledgeably. "He must look both ways, before he goes anywhere!"

         While we walked across that road, through the school gate and across the playground, I was looking both ways.

         We were a little early for a change. There were still children playing in the main playground.

         The other great thing about the first day back after holidays is that there is always someone new starting at the school. I liked making new friends.

         As I walked across the playground with Dad, I looked for the new faces. The whistle blew before I had a chance to look properly. When we got to the door of my class, Dad said goodbye.

         As I turned back to my class door, I noticed someone new.

         She was about the same height as me, had very black, straight hair, which came down to her shoulders.

         She looked at me too quickly for me to look away in time. She smiled shyly. She was beautiful. I smiled back, I even waved, I think.

         "Come on Thomas, you are blocking the door!" the load voice of Wendy Welch startled me.

         "OK, OK, I am moving" but before I did, I looked for the girl one more time. I was to late and only saw her back as she went into the classroom. She passed a strange man who was looking at me from the classroom door.

         "Who is that?" I asked myself, but Wendy thought I was talking to her.

         "Do you mean the new teacher or ... the new girl?" asked Wendy mockingly.

         I was getting embarrassed now. Wendy Welch teased everyone and told everyone, everyone else’s secrets. We all hated her.

         I was not going to let her tease me. "The teacher, silly. Where is Mr. North?"

         "He has not come back. We don't know why yet." Wendy was pushing me into the classroom. "That man is a supply teacher. Kelsey said his name is Mr. Sowerby, but Kelsey is not always right."

         "Oh," I said, trying to sound as if that is all I had wanted to know.

         Most of the class was sat down. I went to my seat, but Wendy stood at the front of the class and said, "And the pretty girl you were waving to .."

         'Oh no' I thought as the everybody in the class started looking at me and oowing.

         Wendy knew she had everybody's attention. She continued in a louder voice, "your girlfriend is called Evie Wingfield!"

         It seemed like the whole world was laughing at me and I had a cage around my chair.

         “I was asking about the new teacher!” I shouted, but nobody heard me above the laughter.

         Then a voice came from behind me, “Shut up you lot! Would you like it if laughed at you for waving at someone?”

         I looked around to see a black haired boy a bit taller than me, sit down next to me. “Don’t pay any attention to them,” he told me. “They don’t even know what they are laughing about. Hi, I am Finn.”

         He offered his hand for me to shake, which I did when I realised what he was doing.

         “Finn Despard,” he continued. “I am new here”

         I did not know what to say. He did not talk or act like anyone else my age. I could not think of any 8 year old shaking someone else’s hand. Holding their Mum or Dad’s hand, yes, but not shaking hands.

         “And you?” he asked.

         “Oh, sorry,” I must have seemed really stupid to him. “I am Thomas Tokley. Sorry my name is not as cool as yours.”

         “What are you talking about?” he looked confused for a second and then smiled. “Can I call you Tom? Tom Tokley sounds cool, doesn’t it?”

         I liked this new boy a lot within a minute of knowing him. He had saved me from the class, had a cool name and even wore his hair a bit like Max Macho.

         ‘Yes,’ I thought to myself, ‘I really like the first day back at school and making new friends.’