Broken Bones and Shattered Hearts

Chapter One.

“She’s never going to do it.”

“No way.”

Seven year old Bam and his best friend Ryan stared up into the tree in Bam’s back garden, where their friend, and Ryan’s cousin Alex was clinging to a branch, preparing to jump off and land on an old mattress.

“Hurry up if you’re going to do it Alex, my mom will be back in like fifteen minutes.” Bam shouted, pointing his brother’s hand held camera up to record Alex’s reaction.

“Shut up Bam, I’m going to do it!” she replied, with a determined tone to her voice. Bam and Ryan stood back, their jaws wide open as Alex leapt gracefully from the tree and landed square on the mattress with a bounce.

“Wow that was amazing!” she exclaimed, picking herself up and dusting herself down. “Did you get in on camera?” she asked, hurrying over to where her friends were standing.

“Yeah!” grinned Ryan, as she peered over the boys’ shoulders to see the camera screen.

“Wicked!” she smiled. “Come on Ryan, I’m going for lunch, see you later Bam.” With a little wave to Bam, Alex skipped off in the direction of her own house with Ryan in tow.

Alex had lived in West Chester all her life. She, Bam and Ryan had been friends since they were born and they were practically inseparable. The three seven year olds were in the same class at school and spent all of their free time together. Alex had always been a tomboy, refusing to wear ‘pretty’ clothes, and she preferred the company of Bam and her cousin, to that of girls her age. Her house was only six doors down from Bam’s, where she lived with her mother Vivian, her aunt Janet and her cousin Ryan. Ryan’s mother Janet was a nurse who worked long shifts and she was rarely around, leaving Vivian to look after her son most of the time.

Later that afternoon, Alex and Ryan were playing a computer game, when Vivian appeared in the doorway and stood with her arms folded. Alex and Ryan sighed simultaneously and put down their controllers, wondering what they were in trouble for this time.

“I’ve just had a phone call from April.” Vivian began, referring to Bam’s mother. “You three are in a lot of trouble. Come with me.”

Alex and Ryan exchanged disgruntled looks, before getting up and following Vivian in the direction of Bam’s house. Alex had a feeling she knew what was coming. They walked inside the house to find Bam sitting at the table sulking and April standing in the middle of the kitchen with the video camera in her hand. Alex’s suspicions had been confirmed and she rolled her eyes at a similarly annoyed Bam. Evidently Jess had grassed them up. Alex and Ryan sat down miserably at the table next to Bam, under the watchful eyes of the two mothers. April and Vivian began to rant and rave about the dangers of climbing trees and wondering aloud just how could they have been so stupid, and that they were lucky no one had been hurt. Alex, Bam and Ryan scowled, vowing in silence to get revenge on Bam’s older brother.

As soon as their scolding was over, Alex, Ryan and Bam scampered out of the kitchen and into their secret den at the bottom of Bam’s garden. They took seats on a log that functioned as a bench and the boys began to complain about their punishment.

“I can’t believe Jess told on us!” Ryan grimaced, snapping twigs in frustration.

“He’s such a dick.” Bam moaned, kicking the grass angrily. “Mom’s taken my skateboard off me for a month!”

“We need to get him back!” announced Alex. She stood up and paced back and forward, trying to think of a brilliant prank to play on Jess. Alex, Bam and Ryan prided themselves on their talent as pranksters, and they were always getting up to some kind of mischief in an attempt to play jokes on their family. Bam’s uncle Vincent, known better as Don Vito, was their favourite target.

That evening, April was throwing a garden party for all of her friends and family. Despite the fact that they were supposed to be being punished, April and Vivian had agreed that Alex, Bam and Ryan could attend, as it was the only way of guaranteeing that they could keep their eyes on the trouble makers. It was the perfect opportunity to turn the table on Jess.

“What’s the plan then?” Bam asked Alex, resting his chin in his hands.

“Give me a second.” She replied, an impish grin spreading over her face.

Bam and Ryan stared at her apprehensively. She enjoyed being the centre of attention and was always fighting Bam for the title of ring leader. Despite how much Alex and Bam had in common, they frequently clashed and it was up to Ryan to keep the peace.

“I think we should...” she hesitated, watching a worm crawl slowly through the mud under their feet. “I think we should make Jess a nice tasty worm burger!”

Bam and Ryan’s eyes lit up in delight. The idea of Bam’s older brother eating a worm was hilarious to the seven year olds. The plan was fairly simple. Alex would distract Jess from the table, whilst Bam and Ryan would place several especially large worms inside his beef burger. Jess would then bit down on his juicy surprise. It was flawless.

“Alex, Ryan, home time! Now!” Vivian shouted from the other end of the garden.

“See you in a bit Bam Bam!” Alex grinned, as they performed their secret handshake.

“You two need to change before this evening.” Vivian sighed, seeing the two cousins come scrambling out of the bushes covered in mud. Alex and Ryan groaned, following her back to their own house. “And Alex, would it kill you to wear a dress?” she asked her daughter.

“Yes.” Alex retorted in disgust, to her mother’s despair. Alex had not worn a dress since she had been old enough to speak her mind and had no intention of doing so tonight. Dresses were for girly girls, which Alex most certainly was not.

It wasn’t long until April’s party was due to start, so in an attempt to appease her already fractious mother, Alex changed into a pair of shorts that unfortunately revealed her scabby knees and bruised shins, and the new purple t-shirt that Vivian had brought her earlier in the week. She even pulled a brush through her tangled mane of hair, so there was no reason for her mother to complain tonight.

Ryan was unable to wear a pair of trousers without ripping holes in the knees, so Vivian knew it was pointless to argue when he appeared at the bottom on the stairs in a not so holey pair of jeans and a clean white shirt. His blonde hair was sticking up every which way, but she knew better than to approach him with a brush. He seemed fond of the wild cave-man look.

Alex and Ryan ran ahead of Vivian and burst into Bam’s back garden, where he was standing next to April. She was trying hopelessly to button up Bam’s new shirt but he was proving to be as uncooperative as ever, batting away her hands with a look of disgust on his face. Alex and Ryan laughed as he struggled against his mother and finally won. Bam hurried over to his friends and peered over his shoulder to make sure that no one was looking, before pulling a jam jar out of his pocket. In the jar were four large earthworms.

“Perfect.” Alex grinned.

It wasn’t long before Phil had lit the barbecue. Alex, Bam and Ryan waited impatiently for him to serve the burgers so they could execute their plot of revenge. Alex could feel her heart beat increasing from the thrill. Playing pranks had always given her a rush of adrenaline. They waited with baited breaths as Jess took his seat at the table and took the first bit out of his burger. This was Alex’s cue.

“Hey Jess.” She smiled, tapping him on the shoulder. The older boy put down his burger and turned to face her. “Could you help me? I accidently kicked the ball in the tree.” She pointed to the far end of the garden. “I would get it myself but mom says to ask you because I’m not allowed to climb trees anymore.” She pouted a little.

“Sure.”Jess sighed. He had always had a soft spot for Alex, in the sense that she didn’t wind him up nearly half as much as Bam and Ryan did. He got up from his seat and followed Alex to the same tree that she had jumped out of earlier.

Meanwhile, Bam and Ryan wandered casually over to the table where Jess had been sitting between Don Vito and a little girl from down the street. When they were confident they were not being watched, Bam shook the jar upside down while Ryan held the burger open. The worms tumbled out on to the burger and Ryan dropped the bun back on top so that it appeared untouched. Without a second glance they ran as fast as they could to the end of the garden where Alex was standing with Jess.

“That’s weird, I was sure it went up into this one.” She sighed. Jess shrugged and headed back to the others.

“Did you do it?” she grinned.

“Yup. Any second now...”

The three friends turned around to face the table where Jess was just about to put the burger in his mouth. They held their breaths.

“Argh mom! There’s a worm in my burger!”

Alex, Bam and Ryan erupted in a fit of hysterics and dove into the bushes to hide in their den.