off. James could hear Arif, a seventeen-year-old kid who was over six feet tall. He was exactly what was needed to break up the fight.
‘Help us,’ James shouted. ‘Bruce and Kerry are killing each other.’
That exact moment, someone reset the fuse and the lights came back on. Arif ran towards James’ room, along with twenty other kids who wanted to get a look at the action. Arif was first into the room, followed by James and Gabrielle.
Bruce was nowhere. Kerry was in the middle of the floor. Her face was twisted with pain and she had her hands wrapped over her knee.
‘Oh god,’ she sobbed. ‘Help me.’
Kerry had shattered her kneecap in training a couple of years earlier. It had been repaired with titanium pins, but it was still weak. Arif scooped her off the floor and sprinted downstairs to the first aid room.
‘Where the hell is Bruce?’ Gabrielle asked angrily.
James shooed the onlookers out and slammed the door. He leaned into the bathroom.
‘God knows. He’s not in there.’
Then he heard a sob under Bruce’s duvet. Bruce was a skinny thing, so when he pulled the covers up over his head it was easy to assume he wasn’t there at all.
‘Bruce?’ James asked.
‘I didn’t mean to hurt her knee,’ Bruce sobbed. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘If you start a fight, people get hurt,’ Gabrielle said severely. ‘That’s how it works.’
James had more sympathy. He sat on the edge of Bruce’s bed.
‘Leave me alone, James. I’m not coming out.’
‘Bruce, come downstairs with me,’ James said. ‘Everyone loses their temper sometimes. I’m sure the staff will understand and – speaking from personal experience – it’s always best if you get your own side of the story in first.’
‘No,’ Bruce sobbed. ‘Go away.’
Meryl Spencer, a retired Olympic sprinter who was James’ handler, burst into the room. She’d been in bed and was wearing a nightshirt and unlaced trainers.
‘What’s happened here?’ Meryl shouted.
‘They got in a fight,’ James explained. ‘Bruce is under his duvet and won’t come out.’
Meryl smiled. ‘Won’t he now?’
She leaned over the bed.
‘Bruce,’ she shouted. ‘You’re gonna have to face the music for hurting Kerry. Stop acting like a baby and get out of there.’
‘Go away,’ Bruce said, tightening the duvet around his head. ‘You can’t make me come out.’
‘You’ve got three seconds,’ Meryl shouted. ‘Or I’m gonna seriously lose my temper.’
Bruce didn’t move a muscle.
‘One,’ Meryl said. ‘Two … Three.’
On three, Meryl grabbed the tubular frame of Bruce’s bed and tipped it on to its side. Bruce thumped on to the floor and Meryl whipped the duvet off him.
‘Stand up,’ she shouted. ‘You’re eleven years of age, not five.’
Bruce jumped to his feet. His face was a teary mess. Meryl grabbed his shoulder and shoved him up against the wall.
‘I want all three of you in my office. You’re in serious trouble. This kind of behaviour is not acceptable.’
‘Me and Gabrielle didn’t do anything,’ James pleaded. ‘We tried to break it up.’
‘We’ll discuss it in my office,’ Meryl said. She took a breath and realised that James and Bruce still stank.
‘You two have ten minutes to shower, put clean clothes on and get downstairs. And if anyone starts up this hiding under the duvet nonsense again, I’ll have them running laps until they puke, every day for the rest of their miserable lives.’
4. GRASS
‘What did you do this time?’ Lauren asked. ‘When did you get back to campus? How come they sent you home early?’
James was half asleep in bed and he wasn’t in the mood for his nine-year-old sister. Lauren had knocked on his bedroom door three times. When James ignored her, she picked the lock. The most irritating thing about living at CHERUB was that every kid knew how to pick locks. James was planning to buy a bolt next time he went into town. There’s no way to pick a bolt.
‘Come on,’ Lauren said, sitting herself on the swivel chair at James’ desk. ‘Spill the beans. Everyone saw the ambulance take Kerry to the medical unit.’
Lauren was James’ only family since their mum had died the year before. James loved his sister, but he still spent a lot of his life wishing she’d go some place and stick her head in a bucket. She could be a total pain.
‘Tell us,’ Lauren said sharply. ‘You know I’ll just sit here bugging you until you do.’
James threw back his duvet and sat up, picking at a gluey eye.
‘Why are you up so early?’ he asked. ‘It’s pitch black outside.’
‘It’s half past ten,’