by Ann Bryant
Suki and the girls at the next table got up to go before us, because we’d arrived later than them. As they all left, I made sure I was talking to Sasha on the other side of me from Antonia, so that I didn’t have to say goodbye to Suki, and then I immediately started worrying in case I was in the same class as her for any subjects. I knew there were four classes altogether in Year Seven, and that we’d have most of our lessons in these classes. But we were also going to be put into sets for maths, English and science, so even if I wasn’t in the same class as Suki for most of the subjects, we could easily find ourselves together in one of the sets, which would be terrible, as she seemed really mean.
The sun was starting to go down as we left the dining hall and made our way back to Forest Ash. I looked up at what I guessed was our dormitory window. Sasha followed my gaze.
“Isn’t it weird to think that we’ll all be sleeping in that room tonight,” she said thoughtfully.
“Yes, and even weirder to think that we’re going to wake up and walk to school and it’ll only take about two minutes,” said Izzy.
“Don’t talk about that,” said Emily. “I’m dreading lessons. I bet I’m in all bottom sets.”
“No you won’t be!” said Bryony.
“I hope we’re all together,” said Sasha.
“Also I,” said Antonia, looking a bit worried, which made me feel anxious for her again.
“Me too,” I quickly agreed, and then wished I hadn’t spoken because it sounded as though I was correcting her. “I mean…so do I,” I stammered. But then Antonia slowed her step. Perhaps she didn’t want to walk with the horrible girl who reeled off house names at a hundred miles an hour, talked about things like takeaways that you didn’t understand, turned her back on you and corrected your English. I bit my lip, and felt disappointed and cross with myself for getting so many things wrong.
When we got to Forest Ash, a smiling Mrs. Pridham greeted us in the hall. “Miss Stevenson is going to be the guide for the girls from Emerald dorm, while I’ll be showing round the other Year Seven girls from Ruby dorm. And then we’ll all meet up in the common room, all right?”
I’d been secretly hoping that Mrs. Pridham might be our guide, because Miss Stevenson seemed a bit stern even though I guessed she was only in her early twenties. She didn’t smile as much as Mrs. Pridham, and nowhere near as much as lovely Matron.
Forest Ash turned out to be miles bigger than I thought. There are the two big dormitories, or dorms as I’m going to call them from now on, for the Year Sevens. Then there are three slightly smaller ones for the Year Eights, with four girls in each, four for the Year Nines with three girls in each, six for the Year Tens with two girls in each, and the Year Elevens have a single room each. I love the way it’s organized. It seems so fair, and I suddenly realized that one day I’d be a Year Eleven with my own room too. That was such a weird thought.
Miss Stevenson showed us where her room and Matron’s room were on the top floor, not far from Emerald dorm, but she didn’t open the door to let us have a quick look inside, like she had with the dorms.
“If any of you need anything, you can knock on my door,” she said in her quiet voice. “I’m on duty two or three nights every week. You have to look on the rota to see who’s on duty, because it changes each week.”
When we came to a huge room on the second floor with lots of tables and chairs, I guessed this was where we’d do our homework.
“This is the prep room,” said Miss Stevenson. “All the Year Sevens and Eights have one hour’s prep each evening. One of the house staff will be supervising, or occasionally a Year Eleven. It’ll all be written on the rota.”
I didn’t know what she was talking about, but none of the others looked confused and I felt a bit embarrassed having to ask what prep was. But then I saw Antonia’s blank-looking eyes and realized how much worse it was for her, because Miss Stevenson wasn’t even speaking her language. And that gave me the courage to ask.
“Er, ’scuse me, but what exactly is prep?”
“Oh sorry,” said Miss Stevenson. “I should have said. It just means homework.”
“Homework,” repeated Antonia in a small voice. And I felt sorry for her again.
It was complicated finding your way around Forest Ash, but the ground floor corridors seemed nice and warm and busy, with all their corners and turnings. The boot room and one of the kitchens were on this floor, along with a room that had a big table and lots of comfy chairs in it.
“This is the Year Seven ‘break-out’ room,” explained Miss Stevenson, “where you can come to work, or just to be quiet if you want to read in peace or something like that.”
After we’d seen the laundry rooms in the basement, we came back up to Mrs. Pridham’s flat, and Mrs. Pridham suddenly appeared with her group, and insisted that everyone should see her living room.
“This is where you come if you want to talk about anything, girls. When I’m around I generally leave my door open. You might see Mr. Pridham from time to time, although he works quite long hours, so don’t blink or you’ll miss him!”
While Mrs. Pridham’s group went off to see the rest of the ground floor, we went to the common room. It was huge and divided into four areas – three cosy areas, with squidgy chairs and beanbags and sofas and a TV with a DVD player, and a fourth area with a table and chairs – so it was almost like four separate rooms. Emily and Bryony both made for a big beanbag and flopped back on it together. Sasha and Izzy sat in chairs and I sat on a sofa. Antonia could easily have sat down next to me, but instead she perched on the arm of Sasha’s chair, and when the girls from Mrs. Pridham’s group came in, chattering and laughing, they filled up the rest of the sofa and the other beanbags.
“Well, I hope you feel as though you’re getting to know the layout of Forest Ash,” said Mrs. Pridham, smiling, when we’d quietened down, “and more importantly I hope you’ll soon start to find it’s like a home from home! There’s so much to get used to at Silver Spires, isn’t there? But don’t worry, it won’t be long before you’ll feel as though you’ve been here for years! Now, I always reckon it takes about two weeks to settle in to the timetable and the rules, and that’s when I like to hold a party for all the girls here at Forest Ash.” She beamed round and even Miss Stevenson smiled.
Why did my heart start to beat faster?
“So, a week on Saturday, we’re having a getting-to-know-you party, when this common room will be transformed with all sorts of decorations. There’ll be games and delicious food, some of it made by Forest Ash girls, and best of all, you can dress right up in your favourite party outfits!”
Everyone broke into clapping and cheering at Mrs. Pridham’s words. And I joined in. But inside I was panicking. I didn’t have any party outfits. Nothing in my wardrobe was even the least bit partyish. I didn’t realize we’d need those kind of clothes. And even if I had realized, I wouldn’t have had anything special enough to bring. I was going to stand out for being the least dressed-up person at Forest Ash. What was I going to wear? What was I going to do?
Chapter Three
The paper in front of me looked neat and tidy. I’d just finished checking my answers for the seventeenth time, so I stared around, and as I looked, I thought what a lot had happened since I’d first come across this prep room the day before.
Today had been such an exciting day, right from the very moment I’d woken up to hear Emily telling us all to “rise and shine”. She was in her jamas, leaning out of the window and taking deep breaths.
“Shut it! It’s freezing!” wailed Bryony.
“You’re joking! It’s stifling in here,” said Emily. “I’m going for a walk.” And she’d got dressed and showered in no time at all, then we didn’t see her till breakfast.
The rest of us had taken our time and hardly said anything. I think we were all feeling a bit nervous, wondering what the day held for us.
And now it’s eight twenty-five in the evening, and in five minutes’ time pre
p will finish, and then I’m going to e-mail home.
I quickly checked my work one last time, but I wasn’t really concentrating. I was thinking back to all the different lessons we’d had. I’d enjoyed every single one of them, and it had been a big relief to find that I was in a class with everyone else from Emerald dorm, but an even bigger relief to find that Suki wasn’t in the same class as us. We’ve not been put in our sets yet for maths, English and science, so I might find she’s in the same set as me for one or more of those subjects, but at least I didn’t have to put up with her loud voice and cold eyes today.
“Right, girls,” came Mrs. Pridham’s voice, breaking the silence, and startling one or two people who were deep into their work. “That’s it! You’re free for half an hour now till bedtime, but remember the rule about not leaving the Forest Ash premises.”
“You mean we can’t even go outside at all?” asked Emily, and I realized again how much of an outdoor life Emily must have always lived. She didn’t like being cooped up inside at all.
“If you want to go and get some fresh air for five minutes, Emily, that’s fine,” said Mrs. Pridham. “But only five minutes, mind, and take someone with you now it’s dark.”
“I’ll come with you,” said Bryony straight away.
“I’m going to the internet room to e-mail my parents,” I said to the others.
“Also I,” said Antonia. Then she shot me a quick look. “Me too.”
I smiled at her but she wasn’t looking, and I so wished she had been because then I could have shown her I hadn’t been correcting her when she’d said Also I the last time. We walked along the corridor together and I was just wondering how to start a conversation with her when her phone rang, and she stopped in the middle of the corridor and began talking really quickly in Italian. So I went into the internet room on my own and wrote an e-mail to Mum and Dad, sending it to their two separate addresses. Then I wrote a short one to Clemmie and Clare. It only took me about ten minutes altogether and I expected to see Antonia still in the corridor when I left the room, but she wasn’t there, so I made my way up to the dorm.
“Nicole, look!” said Sasha as soon as I opened the door. “We’re all sorting out our clothes for the party next weekend.” I didn’t want to look, but Sasha had shut the door behind me and was pulling me over to her bed. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Antonia looking through her cupboard.
I climbed Sasha’s ladder and saw what she’d laid out. There was a pair of black leggings with buttons down the sides, an amazing-looking crinkly pink and purple dress with a swirly pattern, and a very wide black shiny belt with a huge buckle.
“I haven’t decided about my jewellery yet,” she said, grinning at me as I got back down the ladder with shaky legs. “What are you going to wear, Nicole?”
“Er…I’m not sure, really… Where are Bryony and Emily?”
“They haven’t been in to the dorm at all,” said Sasha. “Maybe they went to the common room.”
“They must have come back in by now,” said Izzy, looking at her watch. “It’s nearly time for bed. Do you want to see what I’m wearing for the party, Nicole?”
“Well, actually, I’m just going to find Emily and Bryony,” I mumbled as I turned to the door. But before I went out I caught a glimpse of what Antonia had hung up on the end of her bed on a hanger, and it was the most stunning outfit I thought I’d ever seen. It was a strappy dress that came in at the waist and had a very full skirt that looked as if it would swirl out when she walked. It was in the most gorgeous dark red and black colours.
My heart sank as I trudged back down to the common room. I still had no idea what I was going to wear. I’d only got plain black trousers, and they weren’t even particularly silky or anything. And now that I’d seen Sasha’s and Antonia’s clothes, my best top just looked really dreary and boring, even though I used to love it. Another problem was that my jewellery consisted of one thin chain necklace and a pair of silver earrings.
Even though I hadn’t seen what Izzy was planning on wearing, I guessed it would be something just as amazing as Sasha’s and Antonia’s outfits. Somehow I couldn’t imagine Emily and Bryony wanting to dress up quite so much, but all the same, I wasn’t going to risk asking them, because I was scared of finding I was wrong. I suppose it was obvious they’d have something suitable in their wardrobes, because who would dream of coming away to a lovely boarding school like Silver Spires without taking any special party clothes? I was really cross with myself for being so stupid that I hadn’t asked Mum for just one dress.
By Wednesday, I found out that I’d been put in top sets for maths, science and English. I was really pleased, because my parents had drummed it into me that I had to keep working hard throughout my time at Silver Spires, otherwise there was a chance I might have my scholarship taken away. And it was only because of the scholarship that I was at the school in the first place. I remember when we were buying my uniform, Mum kept on biting her lip and frowning as she looked at the prices of the different items, because it all seemed so expensive and we still had the PE kit to buy. Poor Mum. I was determined never to do anything except my total best in lessons, so then I wouldn’t risk losing my precious scholarship.
Of the girls in my dorm, I was the only one to be put in all top sets. The others were in a mixture of top, middle and bottom, except for Antonia, who was in all bottom sets. That was only because of her problem with the language though. I’d heard Mrs. Pridham explaining to her that as she got better at English, her teachers would be able to assess her better and she might find she changed sets. In the meantime she would get lots of extra help with her English. And it was true, she was already understanding much more of what we all said. Suki wasn’t in the same set as me for anything, thank goodness, so that was one worry I could strike off my list.
And soon I was able to strike off another one. As far as lessons were concerned, I felt as though I was fitting in fine, and I certainly wasn’t the only one to be in all top sets. I still didn’t want anyone to find out about my scholarship, though, but at least no one thought I was geeky or odd. And then once, when the six of us were in our dorm together, all sitting cross-legged on our beds, Izzy actually said to the others, “Isn’t it great that we’ve got Nicole in Emerald? I’m very proud of your big brain, Nicole!”
“Yes, we’ve got our own personal factfinder and problem solver!” said Bryony.
I felt a bit embarrassed. “As long as you don’t think I’m showing off or anything…” I mumbled.
“No!” they all chorused loudly.
“No way,” added Emily.
Then Antonia echoed, “No way,” and we all laughed, because it was the first time we’d ever heard her use such an English phrase. I probably laughed the loudest, because I was so happy that she was joining in, especially with a kind of compliment to me.It was difficult to work Antonia out. Most of the time she seemed quite aloof with everyone, but I couldn’t help feeling it was all of the time that she was aloof with me, and I felt anxious again that we’d got off to a bad start in the dining hall.
Meanwhile, the big problem about what to wear for the party wouldn’t go away, although there was one piece of good news that I was clinging to like mad. At lunchtime on Thursday, Sasha suddenly started talking about a shopping trip at the weekend.
“It’ll be really cool. We get to go in the school minibuses and we’re free to wander round on our own as long as we’ve got at least one other person with us. I’m going to buy some shoes for the party, because I don’t like the ones I’ve got all that much.”
“How do you know about the shopping trip?” I asked.
“Yes, why didn’t we know anything about it?” asked Bryony.
“It’s on the noticeboard,” said Izzy. “But Sash and I also heard some of the Year Eights talking about it in the common room last night. They said there are shopping trips just about every weekend, and the Year Sevens are always desperate to go, but by the time you get to Year Eigh
t, you’re not that bothered any more.”
“I’d love to go,” I said, thinking that this was the perfect solution to my problem. I’d simply buy a new dress or new trousers or a new top. Immediately after I’d had the thought I started to feel guilty, though, because I didn’t have all that much spending money and I knew I must make it last for the whole term. Buying clothes on the very first weekend wasn’t a good idea. But, really, I had no choice. I’d just have to stay away from all shopping trips for the rest of the term.
“I’m going riding on Saturday,” said Emily firmly. “I can’t wait. I just wish I could magic my own pony here to Silver Spires.”
“Where are the stables?” asked Bryony.
“Haven’t a clue. All I know is that Miss Stevenson says there are riding trips every weekend.”
“I think I’ll spend Saturday afternoon exploring,” Bryony said. “Horses and me don’t really mix, and neither do shopping and me.”
“Will you be all right on your own?” Emily asked her.
“Yes, I quite like being on my own sometimes. I’m going to find out about every inch of this place, including all the other boarding houses – then I can be sure that Forest Ash really is the best!”
We laughed, then Izzy turned to Antonia and spoke slowly. “What about you? Do you want to come on the shopping trip?”
Antonia nodded. “Yes. I like to,” she said quietly.
As we carried on eating and chatting, I found myself relaxing. I was really enjoying the halloumi salad. I’d never heard of halloumi cheese before today, but I was definitely going to tell Mum about it so hopefully we could eat it at home sometime. It looked as though it had been cooked, and I was desperate to find out if that’s what you’re supposed to do with halloumi cheese, but I didn’t dare ask in case everyone thought it was pathetic not knowing the answer to such a simple question.
