They barely heard her. "Okay," Mal managed to reply. She and Ben wandered over to the Hobarts' front stoop and sat down.

If they sat any closer, Jessi thought, smiling to herself, Mal would be in Ben's lap! Jessi supervised the game of Statues. She had to give the Pike kids credit. Not one "Croc" slipped out of anybody's mouth, and Claire didn't call a single person, not even one of her brothers and sisters, a silly-billy-goo-goo. Jessi wasn't too surprised, though. The Hobarts might not have sounded "American," but they certainly looked it. They were all wearing jeans (James's were ripped fashionably at the knees), both James and Mathew were wearing Swatch watches, and their shirts were oversized and baggy. Johnny was even wearing a little pair of Reeboks.

Just when Jessi was congratulating herself and Mal on getting the kids together so happily, five other kids from the neighborhood - three boys and two girls - rode by on their bikes, stopping at the Hobarts'.

"Uh-oh," said Johnny.

"Hey, baby!" yelled one of the boys to Mathew, "whadja eat this morning?" "For brecky? Weetbix and toast with Vegemite." The five kids burst into laughter. "Brecky! Weetbix!" James pretended not to notice. He swaggered over to the kids. "Great bike," he commented, touching one. "Hey, are you a head banger?" he asked, eyeing the boy's punk hair.

"No," said the boy sarcastically. "I'm a ... Croc." "Funny as a funeral," muttered James.

He might have gone on, getting deeper and deeper into trouble, but he was rescued by Mal, Jessi, and Ben.

"Get on out of here, rev heads," said Ben. The kids were about to say something about "rev heads" when Ben, who is tall, stepped close to them. The kids hastily rode off.