Horrid Henry: Teenage Years

"When I'm king, there will be no more school"

Henry's POV

I'm thankful this is the last day of school.

Wait- Of course I am. I'm Horrid Henry and I hate school.

That's what I keep reminding myself anyway.
Who would have thought Moody Margaret would change me? I'm finding it harder and harder to be myself lately. She's the one to blame, but for some reason I don't. I love her and I can't help myself.

Wow. Did I actually just think that? Margaret is my enemy. We will never be together. Just like she said, we were always meant to hate each other and it can never be changed.

"Henry what are you doing? Get to lesson right now"
"Yes Sir" I replied and headed off to cooking class.

I walked in to the room where Miss was going through last minute exam details on the whiteboard. She glanced at me quickly, gesturing for me to sit down and listen. I never get told off for being late to lessons anymore, all the teachers get used to it after the first few weeks of teaching me. I've done quite well for myself in bending the rules of Ashton Secondary School.

I took a seat next to Ralph who was rapidly jotting down notes.
"What are you doing mate?" I asked, whispering slightly
"Taking notes, obviously"
"Yeah. But why?"
"Because" he paused, finishing off the last sentence, "unlike you I need to pass this exam"
"Whatever" I sighed, turning to the window to look at anything which would be more interesting than the bunch of nerds around me, stressing about the cooking exam.
I've practiced my recipe hundreds of times, and with my secret ingredient it's a guarantee I will pass.

A few people from my year walked past. Gorgeous Gurinder and her stupid boyfriend were holding hands and laughing to each other. Gross. I don't even know why I used to fancy her, but she can still do better than him.
His friends trailed behind, and a group of girls followed. Margaret was in the middle of them, she looked like she had been crying. Not that I care anymore.

Ralph nudged me. He had seen me looking at Margaret.
"I take it things didn't go well between you two" he whispered.
"Things are great Ralph" I lied "Nothing is going on between us and that's the way I want it to be"
"If you're sure" he said, raising his eyebrows
"Of course" I replied.
I knew I wasn't convincing. To anyone else, I can lie successfully. But Ralph knows me too well, and he can tell what I think without me telling him.

The day flew by, my final GCSE classes were as boring as ever, but lunch was the highlight of the day as usual.
Friday= chips.
I sat down at our table with my beautiful meal. All the boys were there- Rude Ralph, Aerobic Al, Beefy Bert, Greedy Graham, Anxious Andrew, Naughty Nathan, and Joyful Jacob.
"Well lads, we've only got one lesson of school left. Forever!" Nathan announced
"I.. I don't want to... to... do GCSEs" Andrew reminded us
Jacob put his arm around Andrew "All will be fine mate, you'll probably get the best grades out of all of us"
"Definitely" Graham replied as he shoved another handful of chips into his mouth. "When's your first exam Bert?" he asked turning to him
"I dunno" he, of course, replied.

I stared at my food.

"Don't feel like eating Henry?" Graham asked eagerly, whilst also staring at my food
"Go for it" I said, sliding the tray across the table.
"So what's the deal with you and Margaret then?" Al questioned loudly, making me annoyed.
"I don't want the whole school to know, thanks Al" I replied sternly
"He doesn't have to tell us" Jacob glanced at Al, "not everyone chooses to tell the world about their love life".
Al laughed sarcastically.

Aerobic Al has become the gang's heartthrob. He's slept with almost every girl in our year and he's not ashamed to let people know. I put it down to his competitive attitude- he seems to think that having sex with as many girls as possible will gain him some sort of trophy.
In reality, most of the occasions occur when he's drunk, which doesn't really gain him many points, if you ask me.

"On that note, we better get moving to lesson"