There is no safe place in this school!

There are two ladies at my school who welcome me more warmly than anyone else. They always remember my name. They always smile when they see me.

“Hi Ein! What can I get you today?” One of the ladies beamed.

“Hot fries, please!” I took great care in swiping my card with my pinky extended. I shook showers of chicken salt over my fries, coating them yellow. As I sniffed the essence of my food, I heard the handball bouncing on the floor, announcing my friend’s grand arrival.

“Ein! What’s up? Oh!” He squinted at me. “Let me give you a pro tip, from me, Lord Bodhi. When the canteen ladies know your name,” he said gravely, “you’re spending too much money on food.”

I nodded. “Good point.” Bodhi’s eyes drooped. “Yeah. I’m completely broke… I only have 500 in the bank.”

I gulped. Five hundred?!

That was at least five times the money I had.

And this man called himself broke.

Perhaps it was time to give up my VIP privileges at the canteen.

Sigh. Veni, vidi, vici.

We both walked back across the oval to the handball squares; I savoured what could be my final moments as a man of luxury chips. Yet alas! The moment I reached the squares, my friends sought me out, all shouting: “I want my fry! I’m your friend Ein! Surely!”

I smuggled the fries under my jacket, holding it as if it were a newborn baby. I was chased by my supposed friends, starving seagulls at the Sydney Opera House. I sprinted across the oval… then past the bubblers… over the Year 7s playing handball… and up the stairs.

On the railing above, a noisy miner sat. Watching. Patrolling.

I still heard them.

"EIN!"

Always the fries.

I sneaked downstairs. The silver elevator door stood before me. Head down. Crouching in the shadows of the corner. For one glorious moment, every second with my fries was a victory! What a wonderful world—

Ding!

A teacher walked out of the elevator, turned around and saw me. “Hey, what are you doing over here?”

He looked at me suspiciously. Wasn’t hiding beside an elevator with fries under your jacket perfectly normal behaviour? I froze… completely. He shrugged. He walked on.

At that exact moment, a handball bounced down the stairs. “THERE HE IS!”