Alfie Smith the Speedcuber

Alfie Smith Sp e e d c u b e r the

Chris Bonnello Tim Stringer

Alfie Smith Sp e e d c u b e r the

Written by Chris Bonnello

Illustrated by Tim Stringer

Chapter 1

Alfie tried to catch his breath. Despite having plenty of energy for running, he was struggling to cope on the inside. The sports hall was too loud and too crowded. The unending smack-smack-smack of the basketball against the floor attacked his eardrums and began to overwhelm him. It was difficult to think, as if his brain was one enormous noisy traffic jam.

“Pass!” yelled another child a few steps in front of him. Her voice was high-pitched and sudden, and made Alfie flinch. The basketball landed in the girl’s hands and she dribbled it away, the smack-smack-smack beginning again.

Most of the time, Alfie thought his autism was a strength. That was how Mum and Dad referred to it, anyway. Being autistic meant he saw the world differently, and people who saw the world differently were usually the ones who changed it for the better.

But it was difficult to be positive about his autism at that moment, with the noises of the basketball court screeching into his sensitive ears.

Alfie looked at the clock. Just 30 more minutes.

Another 1,800 seconds of this, then he could go home, and basketball club would be over for the summer.

Still, that meant another 30 minutes of Theo. He was two steps to Alfie’s left, with a sly grin on his face … as if he was planning something.

Alfie started to worry. All through primary school, Theo had always known how to “wind him up”, as other people phrased it. Theo knew exactly how to make Alfie feel uncomfortable, to the point where he couldn’t control his emotions.

Their teachers at school were smart enough to know what Theo was doing. But Mr Wright, the leisure centre basketball coach, was easier to trick. He always blamed the loudest child, rather than the child who actually caused the problem.

This is Theo’s last chance to bully me before the summer holidays, Alfie thought. And he’s going to a different school in Year Seven. He’s definitely going to take this chance while he can …

“Hey! To me!” Theo shouted at the top of his voice, far too close to Alfie’s ear – deliberately, of course.

Alfie barely had time to recover from the shock of the noise before the basketball flew across the court and passed by his twitching face, towards the hands of Theo at his side.

The ball didn’t stay still for long. It bounced out of Theo’s fingers, as he pretended to have missed the catch, and he threw it straight into the side of Alfie’s head.

Alfie couldn’t quite describe what he felt next. Just that it was too much.

A meltdown was coming – a total loss of control of his behaviour. The basketball court was too loud, his head hurt too much and his emotions were too strong.

Alfie screamed, because he couldn’t speak. He collapsed to the floor, taking sharp, frightened breaths. Tears were falling, from pain, anger and fear. The world around him was overwhelming, and he didn’t feel safe.

The other children were standing around him, like concerned statues. Staring at his every move, but not knowing what they were supposed to do. Even after years at school together and seeing so many of his meltdowns before, they still didn’t know.

Theo’s hand appeared at Alfie’s side, offering to pull him up like the good sportsman he was pretending to be. As if he had done nothing wrong and it was a real accident.

Upset, angry and unable to speak a word, Alfie expressed himself the only way he could – by picking up the basketball next to him and throwing it at Theo as hard as he could.

The ball barely skimmed past Theo, but he screamed anyway. It was an obvious trap, and Alfie had fallen straight for it.