Tess shot her torch towards the noise. The wall behind her was … sliding open!Holy chocolate milk! thought Tess. I think I’m onto something.

Inside the secret room were shelves full of jars. Tess opened one. There was a fine, white powdery substance that smelled a bit like cream bun. They must have been mixing it with the food, she decided.

Tess was suddenly glad that her mum never ever gave her money for tuckshop, but made her gross sandwiches instead.

There was no telling how far this went up the psychotic adult chain. Obviously, there is a doctor monitoring the ‘experiment’. The teachers must know. They’d love it, Tess thought – a drug that makes every student a snivelling suck. Parents? Tess couldn’t be sure, but they may be in on it as well.

Not her Mum, though. Surely not.

The next morning Tess awoke to find … it wasn’t morning! She’d slept till 12 o’clock! By the time she’d snuck into her bedroom last night it was late, even later by the time she’d got to sleep. For some reason it took a long time to relax.

Normally she’d have the rest of the day off, but today she needed to get to school. She needed to see Jake. He was the only one who could help her.

Tess went to grab her lunch off the counter and noticed that there were no sandwiches, only money and a note:

Thought I’d treat you to tuckshop today. Can’t wait to see you tonight!

Love Mum.

Tess felt angry when she read this. Real angry.

She hurried to school and walked into class. Her eyes searched the room.

“Where’s Jake?” she said angrily to Angry.

“Watch your tone, Miss.”

“Where is he?”

Angry smirked. “Well, the tuckshop gave away free cream-buns at recess. Jake ate three and felt sorry for himself. I think he’s at the doctor’s right now.”

Tess began to feel a bit off colour herself …The End.

Diving into the shadows, Tess sat on her haunches. She could hear herself panting. Hopefully, she was the only one who could.

Suddenly, a man in a uniform waddled around the corner. There was a metal baton hanging off his pants, and he was holding a chain attached to a dog. A big dog.

It looked right at Tess.Far out! Tess thought. A security guard with a German Shepherd! What the blazing hell are they doing here?

The guard stopped and sucked on a cigarette. The dog growled again, just a little louder.

“What is it, boy?”Tess curled up in a tight ball and held her breath. She didn’t fancy becoming a dog’s dinner.

Silence.“C’mon, boy,” said the man after a few moments. “No one’s stupid enough to be ‘round here.”

Except for me, thought Tess.

The man pulled the dog away, which turned its head and looked back at Tess. Only when it was out of sight did Tess allow herself to breathe.

A few seconds later she was on her feet and inside the tuckshop, her torch throwing beams of light, searching for something. Anything. But stale hot dog rolls and a fridge full of drinks weren’t exactly what Tess was hoping for.

Where are they keeping it? she thought. What does it look like?

Tess decided what she needed was … a chocolate milk. It always helped her think. Hunting around in the fridge, she became annoyed. There was only stupid vanilla. Finally, right at the very back, Tess found a chocolate one, and as she pulled it out she noticed that it was hiding a red button. Tess didn’t know what it was for but she hoped it would freeze all the drinks by morning. That’d be funny.

She pressed it.Errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Even though it was the dead of night and the place was eerily quiet, it wasn’t easy getting in. Tess would never admit it to her mum (or the cops), but she wasn’t entirely inexperienced when it came to breaking and entering. In fact, you could say that Tess knew more about locks than a keymaster. This tuckshop, however, had some full-on security measures.

Double-cylinder deadlocks, security grille, back to base laser burglar alarm – it looked more like a place packed with gold than a place packed with golden roughs. Someone’s hiding something, thought Tess, and it’s not frozen sausage rolls.

Breaking in would have been mission impossible except for the fact that Jake had pocketed the school master key during weekend detention and lent a copy to Tess. Jake would have loved to be here tonight but unfortunately he had family duties. His mum and dad were in jail for two weeks so he had to babysit his five younger siblings. Sometimes being the son of criminals is not all it’s cracked up to be, he’d said.

Tess began by switching off the burglar alarm. It was located beside Principal Prickett’s office and she toyed with the idea of writing LOSER on his wall, but she decided not to. It might leave just a little too much evidence, and besides, she’d forgotten her favourite texta.

She crept back to the canteen and went to work on the security grille. The master key only worked on the deadlocks so she had to use her bobby pin. After some gentle maneuvering she heard a familiar “click”. She looked at her watch. Darn! It took five seconds, not her usual three.

Tess was just about to slide the master key into the main door when she smelt something.

Smoke.

She heard something as well.

Grrrrrrrr!

“The tuckshop is having a special today,” Angry said after the bell rang. “All food and drink half price.” He gave Tess his best attempt at a smile. “You really should try the cream buns, Tess. I hear they’re delicious.”

“Quick, call Shaggy and Scooby,” Tess said to Jake on their way to maths. “There is something seriously wrong with this educational facility.”

“Remember David Duffy, my mate who came here after he was expelled from Grammar?” Jake said. “Well, he’s a graffiti guru: I’m talking unofficial head decorator for Queensland Rail. But when I asked him to help me spray my local bus shelter, he said, “I have given up all illegal activity. I must behave in a responsible manner at all times.” It’s dork city, Tess, and we gotta find out why.”

Tess and Jake communicated by note form during maths, and came to the following conclusion. Students were going to the doctor, then turning into geeks. So they weren’t exactly the Hardy Boys, but this was no normal teenage mystery.

After lunch was science, but because she had forgot her homework and knew Mrs Rigby would skitz, Tess went to the park instead. She lay under a tree, and before she knew it drifted into nightmare on Sleep Street.

“Try a cream bun, Tess.”

“I must study to the best of my ability at all times.”

“Try a cream bun, Tess.”

“I must study to the best of my ability at all times.”

She woke up with a start.

“I’ve bloomin’ well got it,” she said to the old man passed out on the bench beside her.

Last week, Jemma McKenzie wore a nose stud and a cheeky grin. She’d convinced Tess (though it wasn’t hard) to wag double English and sneak off to the shopping centre for chocolate thickshakes and air conditioning. Tess enjoyed it so much that she asked Jemma to pull the same stunt again this week, but Jemma just gave a glassy-eyed stare and said, “I must study to the best of my ability at all times.”

“What?” asked Tess.

“Study is good. Missing class is bad.”

“C’mon, Jemma. Stop mucking around.”

“I don’t muck around. I am good. You are bad. I tell teacher on you!”

Jemma marched off and Tess was left scratching her head.

But it was only when Tess was called to the deputy principal’s office for a lecture on the importance of attending class that she realised Jemma hadn’t been joking, but actually had told the teacher on her.

What the bloomin’ hell is going on at this school? Tess thought as the deputy blabbered on about rules, responsibilities, and the really inappropriate hoop earrings that Tess was wearing. Jemma had morphed from a rebel into a supernerd in less than a week. Her bad behaviour had disappeared along with her cool nose stud.

Whatever it is, Tess thought. I’m gonna find out.

Tess Peterson slung her school bag over her shoulder and grabbed the four stale slices of bread and vegemite that her Mum had left her for lunch. She hadn’t seen her Mum in the morning of a school day since … Michael Jackson had something on his face that resembled a nose. Tess didn’t mind; she fought more than talked with her Mum these days, anyway.

Mostly about school. Shady College was Tess’s fifth high school in two years. At her last school, Our Lady’s, she was expelled for pasting Paris Hilton’s face on a statue of the Virgin Mary. The other four schools had politely but firmly asked her to leave.

Shady was the only place that would take her. It had a reputation for accepting the most hardcore students, and as Principal Prickett liked to say, ‘Others get the best, we get the rest.’

It was certainly different. Not good different, but weird different. It was only the second week of term 1, but Tess reckoned some strange stuff was going down already. Jake had noticed it, too. Jake was Tess’s friend from CHS, or was it St James? He was no angel himself, but he’d always looked out for Tess.

She arrived for class with Mr ‘Angry’ Anderson and walked straight into the Twilight Zone. Three students were absent, which wasn’t ultra abnormal, but last week lots of different kids were away. When Tess asked about it they’d all said, ‘Doctor’s appointment.’  What’s more, after this mysterious doctor’s appointment, every one had changed.