Taken Over Read Free Page B

calm, control your fear,’ said Master Poon sternly. ‘And as an added incentive, anyone who doesn’t scream when they open their eyes gets a cancel card. You can use it to cancel out two penalty points from your record.’
    Jasper felt his spirits lift. He could really do with one of those. How bad can it be? he thought, almost willing to open his eyes.
    But then, the thing in his lap moved. In fact, it scuttled.
    â€˜Right! Open your eyes,’ Master Poon said. ‘Now!’
    Jasper clenched his teeth together, opened his eyes, and screamed.

5
    The hugest, hairiest, most hideous tarantula Jasper had ever seen was perched on top of his knee.
    Everyone in the class was screaming.
    â€˜RELAX, you bunch of pansies!’ yelled Master Poon.
    Every student had something they found horrific in their laps. Jasper leapt to his feet. The spider fell from his knee and scurried under a cupboard.
    Master Poon smiled triumphantly and put the cancel cards back into his pocket as the gong rang for the end of class.
    Jasper looked over and saw Felix screaming at a brussels sprout. He shook his head. He grabbed Felix and wrenched him to his feet. They didn’t speak as they ran out into the hallway. None of the other kids in the class followed.
    â€˜He hadn’t dismissed us,’ groaned Felix.
    â€˜I don’t care. My skin was crawling. I had to get out of there,’ said Jasper.
    Saffy arrived a few minutes later. ‘Barbie doll,’ she shuddered. ‘I didn’t like dolls much when I was little.’
    Jasper couldn’t help laughing. ‘You’re as bad as Felix. No card then?’ he asked. Saffy didn’t respond.
    A bunch of prefects came clomping down the hallway towards them.
    â€˜Hey, losers,’ one of them snarled. ‘All you pieces of dog drool had better get to class before you make me make you ... make ... yeah.’
    â€˜How do you get a piece of drool?’ Saffy asked.
    The prefect looked confused for a moment, then handed Saffy a penalty card. ‘Make that two penalty points, drool-head.’
    Saffy flashed him a pretty smile. ‘Afraid not,’ she replied and reached into the pocket of her hoodie. ‘Suck on this.’ She shoved a cancel card into the prefect’s hand and turned on her heel.
    Jasper and Felix charged after Saffy. They knew from past experience that the prefects weren’t choosy about who they punished. Jasper pitied the poor student who ran into that prefect next.
    â€˜You got a card? How did you get a card?’ Felix asked as they caught up to Saffy.
    Saffy ignored Felix and kept on walking. ‘Hurry up. I don’t want to be late. We’ve got private tutorials now.’
    Jasper looked questioningly at Felix. ‘Huh?’
    Saffy stopped at a large noticeboard. It was covered in papers, pinned on with some weird-looking drawing pins. Jasper leant in closely and saw the pinheads looked a lot like tiny human heads.
    â€˜If you two hadn’t run off so quickly, you would’ve heard Master Psycho back there explain,’ Saffy replied. She pointed to the board. ‘He had two announcements. The first is that we have a test next class.’
    Felix and Jasper both groaned.
    â€˜Not the Trail of Terror, please not the Trail of Terror,’ Felix begged.
    Saffy nodded. ‘Yep. He’s already set it up with our fears.’
    The Trail of Terror was the test all the students dreaded. Jasper, Saffy and Felix hadn’t done one yet, but the older kids had warned them about it. It took place in a room that was a bit like a maze. The path through the room was narrow and full of twists and turns. And around every corner waited the worst fear of each student in the class. The students had to make it through the room to the door at the other end. As a test of teamwork, every single student in the class had to make it through. If just one kid failed, the whole class had to do it again. Jasper