Undercover Read Free Page B

everyone wanted as their best friend.
    The door opened again and everyone went quiet. This must be the teacher , Elly thought. Out of habit, she started climbing onto her desk, which is how fairies greet their teachers in the morning. Once the teacher has said hello, they all glide into the air and fly gracefully back into their seats. Well, most of them fly gracefully. Somehow Elly often ends upside-down in her chair. Jess grabbed her arm and pulled her down. Elly went red. She’d made yet another mistake.
    â€˜Good morning, class,’ said the teacher.
    â€˜Good morning, Ms Buttercup,’ chorused the students.
    Elly liked Ms Buttercup straight away. She had smiley eyes and walked in a way that was almost like dancing.
    â€˜We have a new student today,’ said Ms Buttercup. ‘Come up here, Elly, and tell everyone a little bit about yourself.’
    Elly looked at Jess nervously as she walked to the front of the room. What should she say? She had already slipped up so many times today that she couldn’t afford to make things worse. But the harder she tried the more she couldn’t think of anything to say. She felt like everyone was staring at her — as though they knew that she was different, and couldn’t work out how.
    â€˜What sport do you play?’ asked Ms Buttercup kindly.

    â€˜Um ...’ said Elly, trying to think. She had learnt about human sports in Human Studies classes at fairy school. Elly remembered thinking that they sounded much more fun than fairy sports. But right now her mind had gone blank and she could only think of one human sport. She couldn’t remember what sort of sport it was but she had to say something.
    â€˜Sumo wrestling,’ she blurted out.
    Everyone laughed and Ms Buttercup looked very surprised. ‘How unusual!’ she said.
    Elly looked at Jess, who was shaking her head violently and pointing at something in the corner. ‘And playing baskets,’ said Elly.
    â€˜Baskets?’ said Ms Buttercup, in surprise.
    Elly glanced at Jess again, who was now pointing to something else. A ball.
    â€˜Basketball!’ she said, triumphantly. ‘I play basketball.’
    Jess nodded and slumped back into her chair, looking exhausted.
    Ms Buttercup was delighted. ‘That’s great, Elly!’ she said. ‘We have a school basketball team. Our headmistress, Mrs Hayman, is the coach. Maybe you can join.’
    Elly nodded politely but she didn’t think this would really happen. She had never been any good at fairy sports, so why would she be any better at human ones?
    â€˜OK,’ said Ms Buttercup, sending Elly back to her seat. ‘Now it’s time for your spelling test.’
    Elly was surprised. She didn’t think humans did spells. She wondered what kind of wands they used.
    â€˜Cartwheel,’ said Ms Buttercup, and everyone started writing in their notebooks.
    â€˜Immediately,’ said Ms Buttercup, a moment later.
    Elly looked at Jess in confusion. What was going on? Was she supposed to do what Ms Buttercup said? And if so, it was the weirdest spell she’d ever heard of.
    â€˜Just write the words down,’ whispered Jess.
    Elly couldn’t believe it. Was this all you had to do in a human spelling test? It seemed way too easy. Perhaps there was some kind of trick.
    But there was no trick. When the test was over Ms Buttercup got them to mark each other’s tests. Jess, who was a pretty good speller, got eight out of ten. But Elly got nine out of ten! She couldn’t believe it.
    â€˜Wow,’ said Jess. ‘That’s really good for your first ever spelling test.’
    The bell went.
    â€˜OK, class,’ said Ms Buttercup. ‘Mrs Hayman is taking you for a basketball lesson in the gym today. Make sure you get there in time.’
    â€˜We’d better hurry,’ said Jess. ‘The gym is way over on the other side of the school.’
    Elly pulled her skateboard out