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Aug. 20th, 2015 09:04 pmAs a rule of thumb, Fry doesn't like to go to the houses of people he doesn't know very well. But he was interested in whether the new girl George, who will be sitting next to him, is an actual rival or not, so he agreed to go over for an hour when her mum called.
"Try and be nice." Mum says, when she drops him off. "George is going to be nervous starting a new school and her mum says she wants to get to know you if you're sitting next to her."
"Okay." Fry says. Nice for an hour? He's pretty sure he can manage that.
George has been briefed on the no-touching rule, and the first thing she does is invite him up to her room, which gives him the spying chance he was hoping for.
The result is depressing. She has a whole dresser covered in trophies. Fry goes over to look at them.
"You're the under eight Girls Holby South Chess Champion?" he asks, with interest. "My sister won the under sevens this year. I only got third in the boys. I got beaten by Patrick Witherspoon."
"Oh, I remember her, Coral?" George asks. "She's really good, and she's only five isn't she? Not as many girls enter though, so third in the boys is pretty good."
"How did you do at the Holby regionals?" Fry asks.
"Oh I got knocked out in the final by this insanely good tiny kid, Jordan Jameson." George says.
"Yeah, she's Holby North." Fry says. "Lucky for Coral." He wanders around the rest of the room. Violin prizes, swimming trophies, certificates...
"What's the Marathon Maths Challenge?" he asks.
"Oh, they run it every October." George says. "They let me do it a year early last year. Does our school do it?"
"No, but I bet if we asked Mr Irons he'd let us." Fry says.
"Cool. I want to take the year 6 one." George says casually. "I did maths book five this summer."
"Wait, that's not fair, how come you got to take the book home?" Fry exclaims. "They never let me take the book home."
"Why not?" George asks.
"Oh, my Mum gets upset if I stay up all night doing it." Fry shrugs. "I find it hard to stop doing things when I start."
"That's stupid." George says. "But the school didn't give it to me, my mum's a teacher and my dad used to be a teacher, but he got harassed, and he decided to be a stay-at-home Dad."
"Kids harassed a teacher?" Fry stares at her. "Didn't they get expelled?"
"Not in the school he worked in." George shrugs. "I like having him home anyway. Look Fry, if you want the book so badly, why don't you just order it off Amazon? It'll only cost a couple pounds and I bet your parents leave it logged in."
Fry hesitates. There's something wrong with this scenario, but he's not quite sure what.
"Isn't that stealing?"
"You could put the money in their purse." George says. "Then it's not stealing."
They play chess for a little bit, before Fry goes home exactly on the hour. He doesn't find her annoying at least, but there's no way he's competing in that maths competition at a lower level than her.
It's surprisingly easy, when he gets home, to find an electronic device logged into Amazon. It's also pretty easy to find maths book five. Four pounds? Well, he's got that much in his money box easily from selling all those tomato plants.
He clicks on it, then clicks on Add to Basket. And then something else flashes up: another maths book. Well, that's only three pounds, and he's got three pounds too. He adds it to the basket. He clicks a few more buttons.
He hears Mum about to come downstairs and clicks the purchase buttons quickly. Then, thinking quickly, he flicks over to her email to delete the confirmation email. Then he freezes, looking at the screen. Why is the bill now eighteen pounds? What's this 'P+P' thing?
He deletes it quickly, then puts the tablet down and scarpers out of the room, up to his own room and tips out his money box. There's sixteen pounds in it, mostly made of small change. He scoops it up into a bag and starts looking for a bar portal.
"Try and be nice." Mum says, when she drops him off. "George is going to be nervous starting a new school and her mum says she wants to get to know you if you're sitting next to her."
"Okay." Fry says. Nice for an hour? He's pretty sure he can manage that.
George has been briefed on the no-touching rule, and the first thing she does is invite him up to her room, which gives him the spying chance he was hoping for.
The result is depressing. She has a whole dresser covered in trophies. Fry goes over to look at them.
"You're the under eight Girls Holby South Chess Champion?" he asks, with interest. "My sister won the under sevens this year. I only got third in the boys. I got beaten by Patrick Witherspoon."
"Oh, I remember her, Coral?" George asks. "She's really good, and she's only five isn't she? Not as many girls enter though, so third in the boys is pretty good."
"How did you do at the Holby regionals?" Fry asks.
"Oh I got knocked out in the final by this insanely good tiny kid, Jordan Jameson." George says.
"Yeah, she's Holby North." Fry says. "Lucky for Coral." He wanders around the rest of the room. Violin prizes, swimming trophies, certificates...
"What's the Marathon Maths Challenge?" he asks.
"Oh, they run it every October." George says. "They let me do it a year early last year. Does our school do it?"
"No, but I bet if we asked Mr Irons he'd let us." Fry says.
"Cool. I want to take the year 6 one." George says casually. "I did maths book five this summer."
"Wait, that's not fair, how come you got to take the book home?" Fry exclaims. "They never let me take the book home."
"Why not?" George asks.
"Oh, my Mum gets upset if I stay up all night doing it." Fry shrugs. "I find it hard to stop doing things when I start."
"That's stupid." George says. "But the school didn't give it to me, my mum's a teacher and my dad used to be a teacher, but he got harassed, and he decided to be a stay-at-home Dad."
"Kids harassed a teacher?" Fry stares at her. "Didn't they get expelled?"
"Not in the school he worked in." George shrugs. "I like having him home anyway. Look Fry, if you want the book so badly, why don't you just order it off Amazon? It'll only cost a couple pounds and I bet your parents leave it logged in."
Fry hesitates. There's something wrong with this scenario, but he's not quite sure what.
"Isn't that stealing?"
"You could put the money in their purse." George says. "Then it's not stealing."
They play chess for a little bit, before Fry goes home exactly on the hour. He doesn't find her annoying at least, but there's no way he's competing in that maths competition at a lower level than her.
It's surprisingly easy, when he gets home, to find an electronic device logged into Amazon. It's also pretty easy to find maths book five. Four pounds? Well, he's got that much in his money box easily from selling all those tomato plants.
He clicks on it, then clicks on Add to Basket. And then something else flashes up: another maths book. Well, that's only three pounds, and he's got three pounds too. He adds it to the basket. He clicks a few more buttons.
He hears Mum about to come downstairs and clicks the purchase buttons quickly. Then, thinking quickly, he flicks over to her email to delete the confirmation email. Then he freezes, looking at the screen. Why is the bill now eighteen pounds? What's this 'P+P' thing?
He deletes it quickly, then puts the tablet down and scarpers out of the room, up to his own room and tips out his money box. There's sixteen pounds in it, mostly made of small change. He scoops it up into a bag and starts looking for a bar portal.
