Criminal (3 page)
Authors: Helen Chapman
Zeke noticed something. âJust look at the clock on the video,' he said. âWe were at Mr Newman's dance rehearsal then.'
âThat means whoever
wasn't
at the rehearsal at that time â¦' began Jacky.
â⦠is the thief,' finished Zeke.
The rehearsal hall was noisy with students practising their street dancing. Principal Blake walked in with Jacky and Zeke. Everyone stopped dancing. âMr Newman, I need to check the register,' said Principal Blake.
After a minute, he looked up and said, âOne of you was late for the dance rehearsal today.' Nobody moved. Nobody said a word.
âSimon,' said Principal Blake. âWhy were you late?'
âDon't bother lying,' Jacky said. She held out her camera. âWe have proof that you are the thief.'
Simon slowly took off his mask. His face stayed as stiff as a mask carved out of wood. He was angry that he had been found out.
âI just wanted to get Zeke into trouble,' he said. âI thought if I got him kicked out of the Gang-Stars they'd let me take his place. But they didn't! They stuck by him.' Simon let go of his anger and became embarrassed. âThen I thought that if Zeke got kicked out of the dance performance, I'd get his part at the concert. I wanted to be the lead dancer.'
Principal Blake led Simon to his office.
Zeke was happy it was all over.
âThanks Jacky,' he said. âBecause of you, nobody thinks I'm a thief and I get to stay at All Star High after all.'
Jacky smiled. âAnd we both get to do Concert in the Park tonight,' she said.
âThat reminds me,' said Zeke. âI'll ask the Gang-Stars to film us. They'll probably want to borrow your camera. Is that all right?' ALL ST*R HIGH
confused
â finding it hard to understand things; getting mixed up
criminal
â someone who commits a crime
dress rehearsal
â practising a show in full costume
expel
â throw someone out of school
glowsticks
â disposable torches with coloured lights
innocent
â not guilty of doing something wrong
memory stick
â a device for moving files from one computer to another
mp3 player
â a personal music player that you can carry round with you
panic
â feeling you can't think straight because you're so worried about something
  1
What was Jacky looking for?
  2
Why did Jacky wonder if Zeke was the thief?
  3
Why had the Concert in the Park been cancelled?
  4
What trouble had Zeke been in before?
  5
Why didn't Jacky's plan work the first time?
  6
Why didn't it work the second time?
  7
Why didn't it work on Wednesday?
  8
Why didn't Zeke dance well at the rehearsal?
  9
Where had Jacky left her video camera?
10
Which student was trying to get Zeke expelled? Why?
  1
Her camera
  2
Because he was the only one who hadn't had anything stolen.
  3
Because of a storm.
  4
He got caught shoplifting.
  5
The camera ran out of battery.
  6
The camera had fallen over.
  7
The thief was wearing a mask, so they couldn't see who it was.
  8
He couldn't concentrate because he was thinking about the thief.
  9
In Principal Blake's room.
10
Simon. He wanted to be in the Gang-Stars and to have the lead dancing role at the Concert in the Park.
Helen Chapman is an Australian author of eighty books who has been published in the United Kingdom, the U.S.A, New Zealand and Australia. She has travelled extensively and lived in America and England and is currently living in Australia.
For further information on Helen and her books visit:
www.helenchapman.com
Helen has a special friend Rose Inserra who knows what her contribution has been to the ASH series and who can never be sufficiently thanked for it.
