2 Rockwell Riley

2 Rockwell Riley AS Peanut trudged through the school gates, she spotted a tall, rangy boy with a perfect sphere of black hair exploding from the top of his head waiting for her at the bus stop. As soon as he saw her, Rockwell Riley smiled, stood up and tossed her an apple. 'Thought you might want a snack.' 'Thanks,' she sighed, 'but you really didn't need to hang around.' 'Oh, that's OK. I did some chemistry revision while I was waiting. Atomic

structure is so interesting, don't you think? Did you know that when sodium reacts with non-metals, like chlorine, it totally loses its outer electron? The entire shell surrounding it just disappears, leaving absolutely nothing. Not a sausage. Nada. I mean, talk about mind blown!'

Peanut looked at him blankly 'I have literally no idea what you're talking about,' she said. ' Yeah, right,' said Rockwell, smiling. 'You don't fool me. You like to hide it, but I reckon you're smarter than the rest of us put together. Is that why you're not keen on this whole Study Buddy thing in case you accidentally let slip how super-clever you are?' Peanut sighed. St Hubert's Study Buddy scheme was designed to help new students settle in at the school. Buddies were supposed to meet up for an hour each day to discuss any issues that the new pupil might have, but ever since she and Rockwell had been paired up on her first day two months earlier, he had become her shadow. Still, Peanut always tried to dodge the session. She suspected that Rockwell had been assigned to her as much for his benefit as hers because, as far as she could tell, he didn't have any friends at the school. She wasn't sure why, as he seemed perfectly nice. Had she been in the market for a new friend, she could certainly have done a lot worse. But she wasn't, and that's all there was to it. Peanut had no intention of settling in at St Hubert's, study buddy or no study buddy, because, as far as she was concerned, she wasn't going to be staying for long. 'Listen, you missed our session again today. If lunchtime is a problem, how about we meet up in the morning 'before

school?' said Rockwell, eyes wide with hope. 'What about tomorrow? We don't want to get into trouble for missing it again, do we?' Another sigh. Knowing he wouldn't give up until she agreed to meet him, Peanut surrendered. 'OK then. If we must. 'Really? Amazing!' Rockwell's face flushed with pleasure. I'll, er, I'll call for you at around eight then, shall I? Melody Road, isn't it?' 'Yes.' She exhaled, loudly. ' Number eighty.